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2015-10-09
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This is a busy restaurant that locals frequent for their good value lunch set. Reasonably priced under $100, most sets include complimentary soup, tea, cold drink (choice of chrysanthemum tea or sour plum drink), banchan side dishes and dessert in addition to your main of choice. It was busy during today's lunch hour, and we were surrounded by other tables of high school kids and what seemed like groups of local workers on business lunch. Soup of the day was a kimchi seafood soup, which curiousl
Soup of the day was a kimchi seafood soup, which curiously tasted like cha chaan teng-style borscht, except made with kimchi cabbage. Interesting taste, and not unpleasant, but am I sold? No.
I did not take pictures of the banchan. They included the usual kimchi, soy-potato, and various vegetables mixed with sesame oil and sesame seeds to seem Korean, but that is all I have to say about them.My choice of main course today was the braised ox-tail. It came out piping hot in a cast iron dish. The sauce was flavourful and rich, punctuated nicely with the appropriate spices for a Chinese-style beef brisket stew. The oxtail was tender, and accompanied by sweet tasting carrot and turnip. Again, this was topped with a sprinking of sesame seeds, which I wonder, makes it more Korean? Otherwise, this dish would have been lovely served over some egg noodle at my local noodle store. In any case, this came as a generous portion, together with a big bowl of rice.
Our dessert was hot sweet-potato sweet soup with ginger. We sure have a lot of dishes in common with Korea. Overall, great value and very suitable for hungry lunch goers. Unfortunately, my personal opinion is that the taste lacks "Korean" flavour, in particular the deep, earthy umami derived ingredients like beef bone broth, fermented bean paste, gangjang, etc, which melds perfectly with sesame, leek, perilla, pepper and other ingredients that I have not tasted here. Really, all they have going for them is the kimchi and gochujang, which you can add to anything. So, if you love Korean-Chinese fusion, this is your place. For an authentic-tasting Korean feed? Keep looking.
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