The ABG. Purple Reign Tonic. Mo Matcha Mo Problems.
The drinks on the Pocha House menu match the laid-back and contemporary atmosphere at midtown’s newest Korean restaurant and bar.
Judy Han’s and Daniel Ngo’s neon-lit concept has been in the works for years. The Sacramento couple leased the space at 1910 Q St. in June 2022 and the soft opening started nearly a year later on May 22.
Pocha House is the Sacramento couple’s take on traditional pocha or pojangmacha: Street food sold from a small tent or wheeled cart along the streets of South Korea. A pocha is a blend of drinks and shareable comfort food with the energy of a bar or a lounge.
Pocha House has both.
Bar and restaurant-style seating are in the main area as well as a smaller bar coupled with lounge seating for more intimate conversations, or for customers waiting to be seated.
“We wanted to create a safe place for everyone to be; we want to show love to our community,” said Han.
She also owns Aloha Sushi in Folsom with her brother. This space was home to the now-closed American-fare restaurant Highwater.
It drips with musical flare.
Vinyl records of musical artists including TLC, Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill hang near the main bar. The bathrooms are covered with hand-plastered magazine cutouts of K-pop, hip-hop and R&B artists.
The sunlight shines through the huge windows during the day. When the sun goes down, only the neon signs that hang from the ceilings light Pocha House as the latest hits ring through the mounted speakers.
“We want to feel like we are transporting someone to somewhere else,” Ngo said.
The limited menu includes an $8 plate of bulgogi fries, deep-fried French fries with kimchi and furikake, as well as a $13 plate of kimchi pancake with soy dipping sauce. The menu also includes pork belly salad, hot Cheetos corn cheese, spicy Korean fried chicken and pocha shin ramen.
One of the No. 1 dishes is $14 tteobokki.
The spicy rice cakes and fishcakes drenched in sweet and spicy gochujang are torched at the table for smokiness. Pro tip from Han and Ngo: Add flat glass noodles and cheese.
The drink menu offers nonalcoholic beverages, cocktails, beer and soju, a Korean variation on a weaker vodka.
Drink prices range from a $5 bottle of Coors Light beer to a $16 Neol Bom Makgeolli, a milky sparkling rice wine.
What I’m eating
My name is Brianna Taylor, The Bee’s service journalism reporter, and I’m taking over for food and drink reporter Benjy Egel while he’s on vacation. It’s nice to “meet” you.
Fair warning: I don’t know nearly as much about the Sacramento-area food scene as Benjy, but I like to eat and write. I hope that meets your qualifications.
I moved to Sacramento a year and a half ago from New York City and since then readers who know the city best have guided me through their favorite $25 activities for the last seven months. I’ve visited a brewery in West Sacramento, an ice skating rink downtown, a soul food shack in Del Paso Heights, a drive-in theater near Rancho Cordova and an animal sanctuary in Folsom.
An East Sacramento grocery store established in 1947 was my latest stop.
The venerable Corti Bothers’ weathered tile flooring, quirky French decor and dim florescent lighting could make you believe it’s behind the times but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The beer and wine selection is vast. The narrow aisles are stocked with standard supermarket items like pepperoncini as well as hard-to-find products such as eggplant relish and moonshine honey.
Probably one of the most popular sandwiches in Sacramento is crafted behind the bustling deli counter on Folsom Boulevard: The $8.49 Corti Special.
Customers pick the bread and condiments and the sandwich-makers choose the meat from a selection of leftover cold cuts from previous orders. I ordered the sub on a Dutch crunch roll with provolone cheese, honey mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, onion and pepperoncini for a total of $9.21 after taxes.
The bread was crispy, yet soft in the middle and all of the ingredients tasted fresh. For those of you wondering which meats were chosen for me: salami, turkey, bologna with olives (not a fan) and prosciutto.
This was a classic deli sandwich — and I mean that in the best way.
This month I’m going wine tasting in Clarksburg. More to come on that.
In the meantime, I want to know where your favorite cheap eats and activities are in the Sacramento area. Whatever it is — big or small — let me hear it. Email me at btaylor@sacbee.com.
Corti Brothers
Address: 5810 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Phone number: 916-736-3800.
Website: https://cortibrothers.com/
Drinks: Beer, wine, kombucha and juices.
Animal-free sandwiches: The Veggie, made with sprouts, avocado and pepperoncini.
Noise level: Medium.
Openings and Closings
- Placerville Biergarten announced its official opening Friday in Placerville on its Instagram but exactly when it began operating is unclear. The pub at 696 Main St. is stacked with an extensive list of local wines and craft beer including tap and bottled beer, stouts and lagers.
- Shred Beer Company opened its doors in Rocklin on Friday at 4480 Yankee Hill Road with beer and food trucks.
- Cluck n’ Cone in Roseville closed in May. The restaurant at 1485 Eureka Road served waffle cones and chicken, sandwiches and bowls.
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Source: Yahoo News
