Dumpling Restaurant

Dumpling Restaurant (4385 Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough)
 Phone number(416) 293-8321

I only noticed this afterwards, but there is Korean writing on the sign. This was confusing because the staff spoke Mandarin to us and Northern Chinese dishes were on the menu. Renée noted that she also saw Korean offerings like pork bone soup, but I didn't notice that. 

Hot and sour soup with noodles.

I think we could've done without the noodles due to too much food ordered, but it was good. It wasn't extremely spicy, nor sour. 

Pot stickers

I think these are my favourite kind of dumplings, next to the soup-filled kind.

Green onion pancake. Not the best I've eaten, but passable.

Steamed dumplings

We got both the pork and lamb versions. The lamb dumplings were way juicier, with meat juice squirting out at the first bite.

Beef pancake roll

I don't know what it's actually called, but it's basically a thin green onion pancake rolled with slices of beef. 

Would I return? Sure. The food is pretty reasonably priced and decent. There is ample space inside the restaurant. Though the staff may be found on their cell phones, they will multitask and grab your empty teapot with their other hand. Service may be a bit indifferent, but this is by no means a fancy joint. 

Total damage: approximately $15 per person (3 people total) for everything in the pictures (plus an extra steamer of dumplings). 

Oh Geul Boh Geul

Oh Geul Boh Geul (5320 Yonge St, Willowdale)
416-733-3385

We were looking for a new tofu soup place as Buk Chang Dong Soon tofu place increased their prices and gave me and others stomach problems on different occasions.

So a storefront or two down from The Owl lies this place. You can choose to have a non spicy tofu soup if you want, which satisfied Renée. They start you off with lots of banchan, including this yummy savoury pancake thing. I approve. The soon dobu soup was acceptable as well. Lots of tofu in it.

Other things to note: at least one server can speak Mandarin in this Korean restaurant, orange slices come with the bill, the rice was a bit hard, they fill in the middle seating area before allowing people to sit at the curtained-off booths lined along the wall.

Would I return? Yeah, probably. It's unassuming enough, and provides many of the Korean staple dishes. Plus, I enjoy the banchan offerings.

Update with the banchan pics. The pancake is the best. I also enjoy the spicy potatoes.

Han Ba Tang

Han Ba Tang (4862 Yonge Street, Willowdale)
Phone number(416) 546-8218

The inside signs are much clearer than the outside ones.

Drink list! Includes a variety of infused soju cocktails. I enjoy their beer selection, too, which included Innis & Gunn and Samuel Adams. On tap, there was also Rickard's Red. A few of my favs.

 Two clean cuts. Not both for me.

It's a bit sweeter than I expected it to be, but still pretty tasty.

Kalbi tacos

Not bad. We liked that there was 'stuff' in the taco shells.

 Creamy rice cakes. 

Tasted like alfredo sauce on rice cakes. Sounds like something I'd concoct if I were out of pasta. Julie mentioned this being a different taste for her, thus making it her favourite dish of the night. 

Lobster tacos.

I like lobster! 

Pork belly and tofu.

Phoebe said it tasted really Asian. It was okay, but since I split one, I didn't get the tomato to see if that would've tasted weird.

 Scoop pizza.

Jenny said all she tasted was cheese. I actually didn't get that much cheese, so much as potato. It's a sweet potato base, but subtly sweet. I think this might've been my least favourite dish.

Spicy seafood soup.

It didn't taste like the usual Korean soup flavours that I was introduced to in Korea. It wasn't bad, just a lot more black pepper, and a lot less Korean red sauce taste.  

Crispy king prawns.

This was my favourite dish of the night. Shrimp was tasty, crispy sticks of sweet potato was awesomely salty. 

Would I return? I might. Now that I know which food items I prefer, I wouldn't mind trying their other stuff, and that drinks menu looked pretty interesting. Cocktails are $7 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Total damage: Approximately $15.50 per person (6 people), minus drinks, and minus the prawns which were on a different bill. 

The Fry

The Fry (6012 Yonge Street, Toronto)

(416) 546-0483

Spicy rice cake with seafood

It couldn't have been that spicy because Renée could eat it. I'd say it's more like mild. There was shrimp, there was mussel, there was cheese. I enjoyed it. We also got the small fried chicken, which was basically half a chicken, cut up, battered, and deep-fried. It came out with two small sauce cups: one with salt, black pepper, and sesame seeds, and another with a sweet, spicy, red sauce. The chicken seemed like it had just come out of the fryer as it burned my mouth when I shoved the first piece in. Texture-wise, the crispiness was perfect. I would've liked some seasoning in the batter, but the salt accompaniment was good enough for me. Renée and I both agreed that the little salt dish was necessary and helped complete the taste. 

Something to note: we asked the difference between their crispy chicken and fried chicken. Apparently, fried chicken has thicker batter. *shrug* Also, they only had Sapporo on tap.

Would I return? Yes. Their beer/soju and chicken combos are not listed on the website. And I wouldn't mind trying their other flavours of fried chicken. With ample beer. Banchan includes pickled radishes (YUM!), salad, corn, and coleslaw. I quite enjoy the Korean chicken and beer thing. It's a thing! Prices are... on the website.

Man Doo Hyang

Update: This place no longer exists. In its place is some other Korean restaurant. :'(

Man Doo Hyang (6068 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)

416-512-2007

It's been a while since I've visited Man Doo Hyang. There was one visit where the broth was lacking in flavour, and I stayed away for a while. On the return to Yuna Kim, I ordered a bowl of handmade noodles in soup and split a plate of deep-fried dumplings with Renée. The broth was flavourful, the noodles were of the correct density, and the fried dumplings were very large. Bonus: staff was super nice and polite. 

Would I return? Yes. 

Total damage: approximately $12.

Chingu

Chingu (280 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill)

905-763-0620

Hours:

Mon - Thurs 11:30 a.m - 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Fri - Sun 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Josie had Korean barbecue cravings, so I suggested Chingu, remembering that their all-you-can-eat business included pork bone soup. 

Korean appetizers

Yay to glass noodles and the fish cake thingies. 

I like their pork bone soup, but Jo noted that she remembered it having more peppercorns and stuff last time. I still liked it. 

I spared the pictures of the raw meat, but on the regular AYCE option we got, there was fish, pork belly, pork in red sauce, beef, short ribs, squid, and I can't remember what else. It comes with lettuce, and chopped up lettuce with spicy seasoning. You're meant to wrap meat in the lettuce and shove the seasoned lettuce in that as well. Lettuce in lettuce still seems kind of weird to me. 

The deluxe AYCE menu that we didn't get included things like tofu soup, handmade dumplings, salmon, and I can't remember what else.

There's also ice cream at the end.

There's still at 15% automatic gratuity charge, but it's well deserved. Staff nonchalantly eyed us as we cooked, making sure that if the grill got too crusted up with black stuff, they would change it. 

Would I return? Yes. Their marinated beef is pretty awesome and I appreciate that it comes with lettuce.  I also like that they're actually Korean. I'm a fan of the pork bone soup as well. Also, chingu means friend. :D

Total damage: approximately $25. (It's cheaper than that by a few bucks on weekdays.)

Kokoya

Kokoya Korean Restaurant (5515 Yonge Street, Willowdale, Ontario)
416-221-2002

Outside of this place, there's a sign that says "beer and chicken". I like both those things, so we decided to go for it.

The lady that greeted us was super friendly and very helpful. She briefly showed us the menus and invited us to ask her questions if we had any. Their Korean specials menu (what I call the menu from Korean restaurants with the alcohol and food combos) actually had English on it - bonus points! We were curious about what "half and half chicken" meant and she explained that it was half fried chicken and half spicy chicken.

Half and half chicken (combo with 5 bottles of Molson Canadian)

I liked their triangle plates and how they presented our giant chicken. The fried chicken was super crispy, and the spicy chicken was also super crispy and sweet. Both types of chicken were not dry at all, which I really appreciated. Nothing makes me more angry than dry chicken. The only thing that was that if you ate the red chicken first, the other kind tasted a bit bland since it wasn't as sauced up in flavour. The lady came back with some pickled white radishes and explained that the sourness of it went well with the sweet and spicy of the chicken. 

The complimentary sides included this mystery mashed ball. Usually in other Korean restaurants, it's mashed potato mixed with stuff, but this was sweeter and orange. 

The salad had a creamy type sweet onion dressing, which we enjoyed. Halfway through our meal, we were offered another dish of salad. I thought that was nice.

Would I return? Yes. (Super crispy + moist) chicken + beer = good. The lady that worked there was super friendly. We had fun watching and commenting on the Korean music performances on the TV. The Korean specials can substitute the 5 bottles of beer for soju or a pitcher of beer. The prices seem comparable to the other restaurants in the area. It's a bit dark and small inside, but we were a small group on a weekday that didn't have a problem with that. Washrooms are single stalls and clean. Parking seems non-existent unless there's two spots in the back, but there's free street parking on Yonge after 9 p.m. One last thing that should be mentioned is that I don't remember seeing many non-chicken items on the menu, and most stuff looks like it's meant to be shared. This place really is mostly for chicken and beer/soju.

Total damage: approximately $23 for my share of the chicken and beers.

Ka Chi (414 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

416-598-3222

Hours: 

10:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. daily

Squid and beef.

Pork bone soup.

The meat looks so pink!

Bulgogi bibimbap.

It looks real legit.

#18. Bulgogi rice cakes ($8.50).

The rice cakes do a good job at absorbing the bulgogi flavour, but it's also good to take other people's leftover rice and soak it in the sauce.

Would I return? I sure would. It's clean, and the food is pretty decent. I still have yet to try their pork bone soup where the pork is super pink. 

Ap ku jung

Ap ku jung (6309 Yonge Street, North York)
(416) 229-6248

It's been a loooong time since I've hit up my favourite Korean style chicken soup joint, and winter time always makes me long for the comfort and heat of the multiple course meal made out of the same chicken.

First, some appetizers, Korean style.

Next, the chicken is boiled in your face on the table with young ginseng root, green onions, and other stuff.

The chicken is taken out and served with red spicy sauce. I can't lie: sometimes, it's super dry. Other times, it manages to be decently moist. That always baffles me because it's boiled.

Thick, green noodles are thrown into the broth.

I think the noodles are my favourite part of this meal.

Then rice is added to the broth, and it becomes congee!

There is no waste of chicken flavour here. 

Would I return? Yes. It tastes like Asian comfort food, and I'm always really full afterwards.

Total damage: $39.54. I think that was for three or four people. 

12 o'lunch

12 o'lunch (177 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

416-913-0200

Normally, you go up to the front to order before you take a seat; however, we were a large group that made reservations and they were kind enough to accommodate us and take our orders from the table.

The decor has got the inside looking like outside thing going on.

I got the Buffalo Grilled ($8.41).

Chicken was spicy and very flavourful. It wasn't dried out, which is always a good thing. There was a small mound of jap chae. Looking over at someone else's bulgogi beef order, I felt slightly better about my serving of chicken. Rice could have been fluffier, but it was acceptable.

Would I return? I wouldn't mind. Nothing really blew me away, but nothing was terribly off. I'd say it's a good place for relatively quick Korean food outside of Koreatown. Portions are a little smaller than what I'm used to, but that might've been because it was lunch time. Lunch prices are about average. Service is accommodating. 

Oh Geul Boh Geul

Oh Geul Boh Geul (5320 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)

(416) 733-3385 ‎

Most people who are familiar with the area know of the Korean restaurant The Owl of Minerva. But Monique wanted to try this other Korean place that was two doors down.

Menu sampling

Potato pancake on the house. 

I like these. They're a bit chewy, and I tend to eat them with soy sauce.

There were 7 of us and we had just finished eating deep-fried mac and cheese (see future post), and we joked that we could've had the complimentary sides as dinner. They gave us two sets. 

Viv's soon tofu.

Towards the end of the meal, one side of our long table had barely dented their sides.

Our side pretty much cleared them. :)

I actually forgot to take pictures of the food I actually ordered (food blog fail!). I shared a type of soon tofu ($6.85) and dumplings ($9) with Bianca. The dumplings were quite crispy, but a little miniature and a bit overpriced. The soon tofu was okay, and had random chunks of seafood. I think I prefer the soup from Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu. 

Would I return? Sure. The food was okay, prices are affordable, the sides are plentiful, and it's a good back-up plan if the Owl is full. The staff is pretty nice for a restaurant in this area. Oh yeah, and their rice is purple. It's unfortunate that Liz ordered the Korean beef soup dish that tastes like water. I wouldn't call it a bad mark on the restaurant, as I've had that dish at Nak Won before. I think that's how it's supposed to taste - like water. The beef is always hard and tough too. I should find out what that is called in Korean and avoid it in the future.