Paso Robles' Hana Korean BBQ shed its old Korean fusion food menu and now proudly serves fully authentic Korean fare under new ownership.

Take it from co-owner Mun Bong Yoo, who has a penchant for serving barley tea, or boricha, to customers.

"Barley tea helps in eating food and helps with digestion," Yoo said with a laugh. "I just like warm, hot tea. Young people like it very cold but hot tea is very healthy!"

• Photos By Bulbul Rajagopal
• CRUNCHY PERFECTION Served with a pair of plastic gloves, Hana Korean BBQ prepares eight large pieces of crispy fried chicken in a traditional sweet and spicy yangnyum sauce.

After cooking and serving in Bay Area restaurants for 20 years, Yoo and her family moved to Paso Robles last year to finally live out her dream.

"My mom's always wanted to open a restaurant of her own," said her daughter, Christina Pak. "She always wanted a better life for us when we were little. Ever since I can remember, she's always been saving up money to start a business of her own."

The family completed one year in May as new owners of Hana Korean BBQ on Creston Road. They purchased the restaurant from the previous owners—then called Hana Teriyaki—who were also Korean. Both families used to live in Castro Valley and connected with each other for the sale through long-standing mutual relations.

Meaning the number one, Hana underwent a makeover under Yoo's leadership. The first to get kicked off the old menu: the Philly cheesesteak with bulgogi meat and almost everything else that wasn't traditionally Korean.

"We do have the teriyaki and the stir fry because my mom wanted to include something from the previous owners, but those aren't really Korean," Pak said.

• Photos By Bulbul Rajagopal
• DITCH THE FORK Hana's beef galbi short ribs arrives on a sizzling hot plate accompanied by a bowl of rice. It's best to clean off the bones using your fingers.

Now, when you grab a seat at the small but busy restaurant, the server neatly places two rows of banchan, or vegetable side dishes, across the table. Meant to be nibbled on alongside the appetizers and entrees, the roughly 15 plates of banchan comprise seasoned soybean sprouts, spicy cucumber salad, kimchi, a spicy radish salad, steamed broccoli, and a pickled pepper, among other options. Eventually, Hana will offer vegan kimchi that's made without shrimp paste and fish sauce.

Arrive on an empty stomach and expect to burst at the seams when you leave. The Korean barley tea makes sense. The toasty and nutty tea not only gets your appetite going but is also a salve for your stomach at the end of the feast.

We ordered japchae—a huge bowl of bouncy glass noodles with stir-fried vegetables and chicken. Though it's piping hot when it lands before you, japchae is extra comforting on a hot day when eaten cold. Then came the sizzling platter of grilled beef galbi short ribs in a soy marinade. A bowl of white rice accompanied the meat, which was juicy and fun to eat. Make sure to clean the bones and floss later.

Finally, we tucked into our "appetizer" of Korean-style fried chicken. Our waiter warned us it's hardly an appetizer, and he was right. The basket bore eight giant wings and drumettes. They were unbelievably crispy but tender inside, and were coated with a red yangnyum sweet and spicy sauce. Another bowl of rice and plastic gloves came with this dish. Even though we ordered the spiciest level for the sauce, it leans sweeter with a subtle spice kick. Totally manageable. Other fried chicken coatings include soy and garlic, sweet cheddar, and "crunch sauce" made with a sweet soy-based sauce.

• Photos By Bulbul Rajagopal
• A WHOLE MEAL Hana Korean BBQ's japchae is a classic Korean glass noodle dish paired with stir-fried vegetables that can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Yoo leads the cooking with help from her husband while their kids manage the front of the house. Pak is partial to Hana's soups, especially the beef soft tofu soup or sogogi soondubu that Yoo makes with a vegetable broth seasoned with red pepper flakes and gochujang chili paste. All soft tofu soups are served with a raw egg in the middle.

"A second [favorite] would be yukgaejang, we call it spicy beef stew here," Pak said. "My picky little brother would eat this days in a row, which I think is really telling."

She also wants more customers to skip the American sodas and try the Korean ones with their meal. Green, pink, and blue bottles of Chilsung Cider and Milkis line Hana's soda fridge aesthetically but they remain relatively untouched.

"My parents went to LA and bought a bunch of Korean sodas, but no one ever tastes it," Pak said with a laugh. "The cider is a very old and popular brand in Korea. I would say it kind of tastes like Sprite, but my little brother says it's better. To me, Milkis is a classic because I grew up with that. It's a yogurt soda."

Hana Korean BBQ received a warm welcome from the Paso Robles community. The dinner rush continues to be popular and packed. The family said they enjoy seeing people try new things, and they'll remain steadfast to their policy of trying to serve only traditional Korean food.

When Hana KBBQ opened its doors last May, a community resident asked the restaurant to include jajangmyeon. But the family didn't budge for a simple reason: It's not really Korean.

"It's a Korean Chinese fusion dish of black bean noodles," Pak said. "But my mom said there are way too many menu items that are hard to keep up with, especially with only one main chef."

The family is enjoying the restaurant's early success after years of wanting to run a restaurant. Yoo said she enjoys the quietness and low traffic of Paso Robles.

"For the future, I want to live here a long time," she said with a laugh. "For [the restaurant's] future? '24 better than '23, '25 better than '24." Δ

Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal will take the soy garlic fried chicken and rice to go. Send gloves to [email protected].