South Castle Korean Restaurant

Our Korean friends, Ana and Kay, took us to a new Korean restaurant called South Castle that had recently opened up on Austin  Avenue in Coquitlam. The original restaurant of the same name is in North Vancouver, and apparently the Coquitlam location is the second branch of this restaurant (around Austin Heights Pizza area - I didn't take down the address, and somehow there is no trace of this location in the internet!).

Our friends warned us that the restaurant is very specialized and caters to mostly Korean customers.

The restaurant is on Austin Avenue, and is the location of a string of failed restaurants. The decor is very typical for a Korean restaurant, with lots of wood, and booths. However, the first thing I noticed about this place as we walked in was how busy it was; all of the tables were nearly filled, and the servers were running around.  As a consequence, our service wasn't that great and was quite rushed.

There isn't your typical menu at this restaurant; in fact, the only menu they had was on one wall, and it was entirely in Korean. However, this doesn't seem to be a huge deal because the menu consists on variations of one dish - sausage encased in intestine, and soup with lots of intestines.

As usual, we were presented with an array of Korean side dishes. They were good, though not remarkable.

The only thing that didn't have intestines in it was the bulgogi soup, which is what Shane got ($8.99). This arrived in an impressive stone pot type vessel in full boil. In addition to the slices of marinated beef, the soup had lots of green onion, veggies,  a few strands of potato noodles. Shane enjoyed this, although for me, the soup had a bit too much sugary sweetness.

The rest of us went for their specialty, which is the intestine soup with sausage ($10.49). According to our friends, this is 'soul food' and the ultimate comfort food for Koreans. Apparently South Castle does a near gourmet version of the dish and is of a quality that you would unlikely find in Korea.  Like the other dish, it arrived in a rollicking boil. This too, was filled with onions, bean sprouts, and green onions. I was very surprised at the amount of pepper that was in the soup; it tasted overpoweringly peppery, which was a very different flavour than I'm used to.  Some of the intestines were enjoyable, and the sausage was pretty interesting, though the thick intestine casing made it a little too chewy. However, the dish had too much intestine for me. Near the end I couldn't really eat any more. 

I was very pleased that I was able to try this specialty dish. I definitely would try this again, though it's not a dish that I would crave on a regular basis. Judging from the number of customers, this restaurant seems here to stay.

Choon Ha Choo Dong Korean Restaurant

One evening, we met a few friends for a Korean dinner. Since a couple of our friends (who recommended this place) were Korean, we left most of the ordering to them. The restaurant is on Broadway, near Main St., where there used to be another Korean restaurant. Anyway, the space itself is a little hard to find, since the restaurant is actually located up a dark set of stairs. The interior is similar to many other Korean places: lots of wood, with many booths and semi-private 'rooms'.

We ordered the BBQ combo ($49.00), which came with rice cake and dumpling soup, chapchae, sashimi, assorted marinated meats, and dumplings. There was a vegetarian amongst our group, so we also ordered vegetarian bibimbap as well (alas, no picture of this). The soup arrived in a large bowl, and was very flavourful, with a delicate beef broth. There was plenty enough to share.

Ana and Kay always say that you can judge a good restaurant by the quality of their side dishes. The complimentary banchan at the restaurant was excellent. The kimchi was bracingly sour and the sprouts, potatoes and everything else was particularly tasty.

One of the best dishes that we had that night was the fried dumplings. Simply, these were the best dumplings we have had at any Korean restaurant. The outside was crispy and chewy, and the vegetarian filling was delicious.

The sashimi was good as well, though I was more excited by the other menu items.

As it often happens when I'm dining with friends, I tend to forget to take pictures. Here I only remembered after all the meat had been cooked! The meat was very well marinated and had great flavour. Nothing really beats cooking our own meat at the table.

Finally, there came a sweet rice water at the end of the meal. It was a little to sweet for me, but it was still pleasant.

We were lucky to have the inside scoop on this place. This is probably one of the better Korean restaurants in Metro Vancouver. We will definitely be back.

House of Tofu Soup

House of Tofu Soup is a restaurant that I'd heard about here and there from various friends. It's right in our neighborhood on North Road, and we often pass by it when we go out for walks.

The restaurant is surprisingly very large, with rows and rows of high booths and wooden tables, which lent a privacy to the dining space. The atmosphere is definitely one of a family restaurant, and while we were there, there were groups of young people, and families with young kids.

The service was a little bit weird. We were led to a booth and must have waited 15 minutes for tea and a menu, even though at the time, we were one of only a few parties dining. It was strange, because we'd thought they'd forgotten about us or something.

As is the custom of most Korean restaurants, first came the banchan-- kimchi, picked turnip, seaweed, and mashed potato. These weren't bad, though we weren't really fond of the mashed potato, which was too sweet.

For appetizer, we had fried dumplings. These were crispy, and filled with pork. They were quite tasty, though I didn't care for the dipping sauce, which I felt was too sweet.

Shane ordered the stone bimimbob ($10.99), with is rice served in a sizzling hot stone bowl and topped with egg, beef, carrot, radish, and raw egg (which cooked in the hot bowl). All this was served a giant stone bowl in a wooden pedestal, and it also came with a side of tofu soup. Stirred up with the red pepper sauce, this dish was really good and filling.

I decided to order the famous tofu soup (in mild, medium, or hot), and opted for the hot seafood version ($9.99). This arrived in sizzling stone bowl, and came with a side of rice (and peas) that was also served in a stone bowl (the 'burnt', crispy rice that's stuck on the bowl's side is quite tasty). The soup itself was rich, tasty, and spicy, and the tofu was deliciously silky and soft. I enjoyed adding the raw egg and observe it cook in the soup. However, the dish was a disappointment. When I think about a 'seafood' soup, I expect squid, shrimp, octopus, clams maybe, but the 'seafood' in this case consisted of tiny shrimp (inch-size and smaller), with their heads and shells on, long antennae, and feet. I had no idea what to do. Was I supposed to eat the creatures whole? Or was I supposed to peel these tiny things? I really didn't enjoy this dish. There were a whole lot of these creatures, and I was reminded at how bug-like shrimp are.

The experience was a disappointment to me, especially compared to what Shane got--his side of soup was the same size as my main dish (not that I would want a huge bowl of that soup, mind you), but it's the principle, you know?

In the end, I'm happy to have tried this restaurant. We might come back again, but heck, I would never order the same dish again...

Midam Rice Cake House

After our meal at Bool Chul Pan, Ana and Kay wanted to take us to a Korean dessert place that they had recently discovered. It's located in the same plaza on North Road, but on the lower level, tucked in an obscure corner. To be honest, we wouldn't really know that this place was there if we weren't led to it. Incidentally, you can find some reviews from other bloggers here and here.

As we entered the restaurant, I was surprised at how spacious and large the restaurant was; the place was bright with florescent light and had high ceilings and a number of dark wooden tables and chairs. Off to the side, there is a glass enclosed display of miniatures and various rice cakes that people could order before hand for a special occasion.

As we sat, we were given an extensive dessert menu. Even though we just had a large meal, we still decided on a dessert each. They all ranged from $6-9 dollars, and are HUGE.

Kay got a persimmon slush, and this tasted exactly like the fruit. It was light and refreshing.

I had the green tea ice cream and rice cake. This came with a side of sweet beans and a drizzling of strawberry sauce. I enjoyed this--the ice cream went well with the rice cake. However, I would say that because the rice cake was this huge slab at the bottom, the dessert was a little heavy and hard to get into.

Shane ordered the coffee and red bean slush. This arrived in a huge pile in a really big bowl. Quite impressive. First there is the huge pile of shaved ice and coffee, then the sweet red bean, then the ice cream. Around this mountain were small pieces of plain rice cake. I'd never seen anything like it. Taste-wise, this was interesting. The rice cake pieces were soft and chewy, the coffee-soaked ice crunchy, bitter and cold, the red bean sweet and yielding, and the ice cream cold, sweet and creamy. It was an unusual and exciting experience.

Ana had a similar dessert, the red bean slush. It was pretty similar to the one above, except that her rice cakes were coated with a peanut powder, which gave the rice cake a subtly sweet, nutty flavour. Of all the desserts, I liked this one the best.

We were also given complementary little rice cakes with a sweet filling. We all thought that was a nice touch.

I can honestly say that this was one of the most unusual desserts I've ever tried. It was fun and really eye-opening. We would definitely come back for more of the chewy, tender, rice cakes!

Bool Chul Pan Korean Hot Grill

On our morning walks, we often pass by the complex on North Road, which houses a big Korean supermarket and a generous handful of Korean restaurants. The supermarket has always been our destination for seasoned nori, delicious kimbap, and Korean/Japanese goods. A few months ago, we noticed this new Korean restaurant with a large yellow sign, but we always passed it by (out of respect for the dear departed Thai Son location, maybe).

A couple of months ago, I ran across this first review from Chow Times and another rave review from 604 Foodtography, and I have been curious ever since.

Two weeks ago we went with a couple of friends, Ana and Kay. It's always a little daunting to go to a new place, but thankfully, our friends are Korean and knew what they were doing, so we left everything up to them.

We arrived at around 6pm on a weekday, so there weren’t too many customers yet. The restaurant itself is large and dimly lit, simply decorated, and filled with solid wooden tables and chairs.

Incidentally, our friends had been to the restaurant before and weren't impressed. One of the reasons was the really poor banchan. There was the usual stewed potato, blanched and seasoned sprouts, kimchi, pickled turnips and pickled veggies. The dishes were not too tasty, I'll admit.

We decided to share the combination dinner ($39.99) which came with tofu soup, seafood pancake, and a panfried item. There was a choice of which kind of item we wanted, and we decided on the squid and pork belly.

First arrived the tofu soup. It was pretty good--the broth had a nice spicy saltiness and the tofu was soft and delicate. We all liked this, except for Kay who detected that the tofu might have been slightly off. The rest of us were oblivious to this, however.

The seafood pancake, though quite large, was a big disappointment. The pancake was flat, soggy, and barely cooked in the middle. The taste was very bland, and wasn't even helped by the accompanying sauce.

Next came the main item, which arrived on a burner in a huge rectangular metal pan, which was loaded with cabbage, onion, squid, pork, and spicy chili sauce. The server started frying up the food in front of us, which was really interesting. However, after about a minute of this, she left us to our own devices. We asked our friends about this type of restaurant and they said it was pretty common in Korea, except that it's more of a dish that you have when you're out drinking.

This was good, though none of us loved it. Basically, it's not really a dish that you can screw up. The pork didn't have much taste, and the cabbage included the core. Hmmm. The great thing was there was a lot of food. It really boggles the eye to see this huge amount of food at your table, you know?

We knew there was supposed to be fried rice after we ate most of the stuff, but we had to wait a real long time. This was weird because we were about the only people eating at the restaurant at the time. Anyway, we called them, and the rice was fried in the same metal pan, and it soaked up most of the left over sauce. The rice just tasted okay.

We had another long wait for our bill. At the end of the meal, we all were very full, but none of us had that happy feeling that accompanies a really good meal. But at least the company was good!

Insadong

Insadong is one of our favorite places to go for Korean food. Out of the numerous Korean restaurants around the Lougheed area, it is probably the most popular, acclaimed, and well known (it is the winner of 'Best Korean Restaurant' in the weekly paper). We always come here for Korean BBQ. Prices are a little high, but the portions are usually enormous.

It is located in a little strip mall on the corner of North Road and Lougheed Highway, and although the sign is clearly lit in neon, the entrance is modest and off to the side. Inside, the seating consists of many wooden booths, ensuring a bit of privacy. It is a very large restaurant, with a few private rooms as well.

It was dinner time on a Saturday holiday weekend, so the place was packed. There was a line up when we arrived and we had to wait for about 15 minutes.

Shane and I took my two cousins from out of town there and it was quite an experience, because neither of them had been before, and S had never tried Korean BBQ.

Instead of the usual tea in Chinese or Japanese restaurants, we get served barley tea here. It has a light, nutty taste. In many Korean restaurants there is the the 'call bell', to call your server. I like this system--you get left alone when you want to be and get help when you want help.

We also get served some side dishes (Banchan): stewed potatoes, cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, sprouts, and julienne of pickled turnip.

We decided to share an assorted tempura appetizer ($13.99). This was good--light and crunchy.

We also choose to share the 2-3 person BBQ combo ($59.99), which comes with so many items.

This is the beef salad - slices of blanched beef with tomatoes, pineapple, lettuce, sprouts, broccoli with a delicious tangy dressing.

The vegetable roll: turnip and other vegetables wrapped in turnip. This is not one of my favorites. It tasted bland, but was refreshing.

Seafood pancake. Insadong's version is thick and a little oily, but delicious. It was filled with octopus and other seafood.

The seafood soup arrived in a big bowl, and we spooned it out for everyone to share. There was clam, a prawn, and other seafood. The tofu and broth had a very delicate flavour.

Now on to the meat! The server brought out a ginormous platter of raw meat and seafood (it barely fit on to the table, actually), and put the grill right in the middle of the table. There was short rib, marinated beef rib, chicken bulgogi, spicy pork bulgogi, and beef bulgogi, along with shrimp, mussels, and oysters.

Cooking at the table is always pretty fun, though the smell of the meat transfers to your clothes. There was a lot of food, and all of us were pretty stuffed.

Insadong is a great experience especially for Korean cuisine newbies. It's fun, delicious, and interactive. What more can you ask for?

Kimbab Jeonkuk

Around where we live there are numerous Korean stores, markets, and restaurants. There are a few on every corner, it’s really hard to decide which ones to visit. One of our favorites is Kimbab Jeonkuk, which can be hard to find because the restaurant actually doesn’t have an English sign, just Korean. It’s located in a mini-mall on North Road, behind the Santorini Greek Restaurant on the corner of North Road and Lougheed. This place specializes in Korean rolls (maki-like with usually cooked assorted filling and flavoured with sesame oil), and cold noodles. The restaurant itself is quite small and utilitarian, with simple tables and chairs for about 30 people. Everytime we’ve been there, it’s full of Koreans, so it’s probably pretty authentic.

We’ve eaten there numerous times before, after recommendation from our friend Ana, and one of my favorite things they have is that instead of giving each table a kettle of tea, they give a kettle of beef broth. I love this—the broth is savory and warm and delicious. However, this time we went we didn’t get the broth, I suppose because it was kind of hot out. We ordered what we usually get, cold noodles and a kimbab. They have 3 kinds of cold noodle: plain, spicy and I think a seafood one (?). This time our choice was the spicy cold noodle, with kimchi kimbab. Note about the menu—most of the menu is in both Korean and English, but for some reason the cold noodle part is only in Korean. The servers are pretty nice, though sometimes the English is limited, but you can ask them if you have questions about the menu.

The kimchi kimbab arrived first. We’ve ordered this before, but the kimchi is a little different this time—it was a lot sweeter. I’m not such a fan of sweet and savory, so I didn’t like this too much. We were also given a small plate of yellow turnip pickles as a side dish, but again, I didn’t eat this because it was too sweet for me.

The spicy cold noodles consisted of chewy clear noodles, some cold beef broth, Korean chili paste, slices of pork, boiled egg, cucumbers, sesame oil, and thin slices of pickled turnip. Once you stir it up the dish becomes an impressive red. It has great flavor and is very aromatic, and gives a nice heat to the tongue.

We like this restaurant—it has simple food and décor, but you can tell that a lot of love went into the dishes.