Namu

439 Balboa St. (at 6th Ave.), San Francisco, CA
(415) 386.8332

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In a neighborhood better known for ethnic dives, Namu isn’t shy about its more refined intentions. Nor does it fall short of them. Its Asian small-plates menu hits repeated high notes with smartly rendered dishes whose range and quality belie their baseline price. Kalbi-style skirt steak leaves behind the grease of its Korean forebear without sacrificing its rich barbecued flavor, and shiitake mushroom dumplings are delicate craftwork: silk purses drifting in a shiso mushroom bath. There’s a lovely sake list with sharp, smiling servers to help see you through it, and a sprightly appetizer of scallop carpaccio drizzled with yuzu vinaigrette (one of many winning starters). The space is small and not quite as chic as it seems to want to be. No matter. Given everything else, it’s easy to forgive the clichéd hipster pretensions of the art-house movies screening on the plasma TV. (J.S.)