MISS VANCOUVER PIGGY
Dae Bak Bon Ga has been around for ten years, a whole decade. The restaurant is huge and occupies the second floor of Robson Plaza, serving traditional Korean food, offering all you can eat barbecue, and providing karaoke rooms. Dae Bak's AYCE Korean barbecue is different than other restaurants too because they serve meat in unique marinades such as curry or matcha.
$45.00 is pricey in my opinion because a whole strip and a half of galbi is good enough for me and usually it costs $30.00 for an order at most Korean restaurants, which includes a couple of strips. Other than Dae Bak's all you can eat menu, their lunch specials catch my attention too. $13.00 for a plate of bossam? Yes please! The bossam looks really well seasoned, tender and fatty in the photo too.
During the lunch rush on a weekday, the restaurant was not very busy so there was only one server at the front. She was really friendly, but it was hard to find her because for some reason we were seated in a hidden corner. The seating arrangements at the restaurant are pretty private depending on where you sit because there are plenty of divider walls. But towards the middle end of the restaurant, it is all open space.
Whenever I pass Damso Modern Cuisine on either their Bute or Denman Street location, I always think "meh". But at the same time, I always look back because of their advertised $9.99 gamjatang. The gamjatang in the photo looks pretty good too, showing a large chunk of potato and plenty of perilla seeds. So I decided to make a visit with a friend on her lunch break and made sure to check out their menu online beforehand.
Damso on Denman Street is a three men operated restaurant, where there are two in the kitchen and one at the front. The man at the front was friendly and a professional. Since the tables are fairly small at Damso, we asked if the food can come out slower and not all once, and he brought over new plates when we moved onto the next dish. He was also patient when answering questions and it turns out the menu I found was from a couple of years ago, so the bossam along with the galbi steak I was looking forward to having were no longer available :(.
With no shortage of Korean restaurants in Downtown Vancouver, how do you decide which one to visit? By word of mouth? Choosing a restaurant based on the decor or menu? I have never heard much about Nor Boo and looking at the exterior, the restaurant does not scream out "must visit" to me. But at the same time, I thought perhaps Nor Boo might be an underrated homestyle restaurant. My friend and I were craving for some soup for lunch too!
The interior is outdated and there is not much to look at, except for a television tuned to a Korean channel. There are booth seating arrangements along one side of the wall and plenty of large tables throughout the restaurant. The seating arrangements are properly maximized and the interior is not too cramped as well.
Sometimes when people walk into an empty restaurant (especially during a period that should be busy) they may be skeptical. Why is the restaurant empty? Why are there no seated tables? Does the restaurant have a bad reputation? As for myself however, I never think much of an empty restaurant. In fact, I truly want to believe that empty restaurants are underrated which is why I like trying small family owned establishments or new restaurants. This includes Hwasarang, which was an empty restaurant on a weekday during the lunch rush hour.
Like many Korean owned Japanese restaurants, Hwasarang has a faux white cherry blossom tree in the centre of the restaurant. The restaurant also has well spaced out tables and the seating arrangements are not too cramped.
One restaurant I avoid in Burquitlam is Sushi Itshoni. I remember coming here a few years ago and the poor quality food along with the unfriendly staff, did not make a good experience. Moreover, I remember seeing the staff reusing the shredded daikon garnishes which I find appalling. I even made sure to pour soy sauce over the daikon so at least the garnishes on my table would not be reused!
When we arrived, the atmosphere was a lot more welcoming compared to my first visit a few years back. The restaurant has a very simple interior and does not look cluttered. There are a few booth seats along with tables in the centre, and the seating arrangements are not cramped. Furthermore, the owners and staff are friendly.
There are plenty of Korean restaurants in Burquitlam, hence why the city is also known as "Korea Town". Some of the better restaurants in the area would be Toe Dam Korean for gamjatang and barbecue, Wang Ga Ma that specializes in soup, and Chom Chom Fusion which serves jokbal, albap and fried chicken. Cheers Chicken and Noodle would also be on the list for serving one of the best fried chicken, but unfortunately the restaurant recently closed.
Hanok is located in Burquitlam as well and in the same plaza along with Yan's Garden. I have always tried to avoid Hanok in Burquitlam because the restaurant does not offer barbecue and also because I was not impressed with the location in Richmond. As for the interior, the restaurant is not that big but the seating arrangements are comfortable. Our waitress was also friendly which is rare at a Korean restaurant!
Hanwoori is one of the two Korean restaurants in Burnaby (with Potter's Garden being the other) that offers table top barbecuing. There are tatami rooms along the left side of the restaurant and booth seating arrangements on the other.
When we walked in, we secretly hoped that our table would not be too small since the two of us tend to order a lot of food and fortunately, we were seated at a table for four! In addition, I noticed a push button on the table and already knew that service would not be an issue. 
What is Jang Mo Jib known for? One of the first popular Korean restaurants. What else? Being a chain restaurant with many locations. And? Having horrendous service! I have no idea why but having visited Jang Mo Jib in Richmond, Burnaby and Coquitlam numerous times, none of the staff (including the owners!) have ever been friendly! I really do not understand why. But, I have never tried the Jang Mo Jib in Downtown and with many recent mediocre gamjatangs, I really needed a good one. 
Walking in, we waited a good ten minutes without any acknowledgement including from the owner. At first, I did not really mind because I used the opportunity to take a panoramic photo without looking weird. But after a while it is like, hello? Is the restaurant making too much money?
After seating at a table that was not wiped off or sanitized, it was nice to see one of the waitresses cleaning up another table; next to our gamjatang which sat there for a while. The restaurant has plenty of booth seating arrangements as well as tables in the centre, and I believe there are even a few tables at the back. As we were ordering, we asked if it was possible to grab a booth seat because the amount of food we ordered would not fit a two person table. However, since the restaurant's policy is four people to a booth, we had to cancel three dishes. So… the restaurant choses to lose $60.00 when every booth seat was available?
Anyways, about our table which was neither sanitized nor cleaned and had bits of food; it was fine because I used tea along with napkins to wipe the surface and clean the dirty cutlery. But, when more dirty tableware arrived? Alright, I already used tea to clean the chopsticks, plates and spoons, but now this? This is just too much. Maybe I would not have been so mad if we did not wait ten minutes just to wave someone down for new tongs and a spoon. Do I need to mention that there were four waitresses on the floor, we sat right by the owner, and only the middle of the restaurant was occupied?
After spending two hours stuck in traffic coming from White Rock because only one lane was open on HWY 99, we finally made it to Gang Nam in Richmond. When Gang Nam first opened, I laughed it off and assumed the restaurant chose their name based on the popular music video at the time "Gangnam Style", rather than after the city in Korea. However, after seeing a few photos on Instagram and Eating with Kirby's blog post, I had to make the visit. The quality and value looked definitely there.
Before turning the corner to get to Gang Nam, we could already smell the barbecue from outside. The barbecue aroma was very strong (which is not bad) and we secretly hoped to be seated by the open front door. After waiting literally only five minutes, a friendly waitress seated us and apologized for the wait. Wow, she did not even need to apologize and so far Gang Nam has the friendliest service out of many Korean restaurants.
The main reason that lured me in to visit Gang Nam is because I assumed their grill was similar to Go Gung's, which is known as a "five star barbecue" in some parts of Asia (at five star restaurants to be exact). However, the grill is not the same and is a lot simpler. We went for the priciest combo (Combo C $59.99) which consists of pork belly, beef rib eye, marinated beef short rib, prime rib eye rib, pajeon or japche, and a choice of bibimbop.
Go Gung was recommended by a family friend in Vancouver, and for her to rave about the galbi beef ribs at a Korean restaurant in Coquitlam? It must be a must visit. Go Gung is located in the Westwood Plateau neighbourhood which is past Coquitlam Centre, at the Westwood Plateau Village. When we arrived, we thought holy shit, this is the Korean restaurant to dine at.
Walking in, the interior shocked me. Go Gung is the nicest looking Korean restaurant that I have ever been to! There is a gorgeous water wheel fountain at the waiting area and the restaurant has window wrapped walls. Furthermore, there is a nice stonewall divider which separates two dining areas, and the restaurant has private rooms. In addition, although not pictured, there are cute little Korean figurines on the stonewall.
Go Gung means "the old palace" in Korean and it is our intention to make you feel like royalty during your time with us. Whether you are an experienced diner or new to Korean food, our knowledgeable staff witll help you discover the tantalizing flavours and aroma that will please your senses. From the moment you arrive, you will be treated to a memorable culinary experience including an extensive menu, specialty bar, spacious seating and an amazing view. And you are invited to participate! Every table has its own gas barbecue and ventilation fans [so] you can prepare our specialty meats to your liking in a smoke free environment. Experiment with a vast selection of condiments and satisfy every appetite with entrees, soups and salad from the main menu. Korean food is all about flavour! Our reasonably priced dishes are made to order using the freshest ingredients.
BF has been interested in trying out Cho Sun BBQ for months. Months. As for myself, I heard through Instagram that the food is average at best and typical me, hesitant towards wasting money on mediocre food (hey! Korean food is pricey…), never wanted to visit. However, since I was responsible for four below average to mediocre restaurants in a row, I caved and we finally came here for dinner (which actually ended our streak of bad luck restaurants!).
Cho Sun is a Korean barbecue restaurant located on Kingsway Street in Vancouver, and offers Japanese food as well. In addition, the restaurant is open late until 2:00am. As for the seating arrangements, there are divider walls everywhere and unlike some Korean restaurants, there is no push bell service! I never thought much of push buttons before, asides from worrying about annoying the staff… but, Cho Sun desperately needs one. The restaurant was only half full but because of the layout, it is impossible to get a waiting staffs' attention unless they happened to be walking by.
Kyo Korean BBQ & Sushi House is located at the former location of Shabusen, which was also a Korean and Japanese all you can eat joint. A friend of mine has been wanting to try Kyo for quite some time, which is shocking since she never has any interest in AYCE joints. As for myself, I am a fan (of good ones) because they provide the opportunity to try a bit of everything on the menu. Plus, if the food tastes good, you get to order more. Although in general, I never think AYCE is ever worth it because I tend to eat and order less than when having a la carte. Not sure why... 
The interior of Kyo is actually really nice. The restaurant has window wrapped walls, plenty of seats, and can accommodate larger parties in a few sectioned off areas as well as rooms. Furthermore, the seating arrangements are comfortable and the restaurant has a large open space. In addition, there is an electric fireplace by the waiting area.
Hmm late night eats in Burquitlam? A couple of pubs, Boston Pizza, Church's Chicken, Joey's, Wings, Pho 99 and a few Korean restaurants. Who am I kidding? I deliberately made the trip to get some fried chicken from Cheers Chicken & Noodle! From what I remember, the restaurant serves the juiciest and tastiest fried chicken that I ever had in quite a long time! Walking in, the restaurant was fairy quiet and there were a few people drinking and chatting. 
On the evening I had dinner at Sushi & (which I recommend for those in the area!), I took a look at Chom Chom's menu posted outside and was sold. I knew I had to make a visit to try the fried chicken. The restaurant is located in the same plaza as Sushi &, Insadong and Pho 99. Meaning, parking is somewhat annoying since the plaza gets full during prime meal times.
Seok Gi Si Dae is a small family owned Korean restaurant, the owners work at the back of the house and the son oversees the front. The restaurant is located in Burquitlam next to KFC, in the same plaza as Bella Pizza.
Potter's Garden is located on Kingsway Street in Burnaby, and is close to another Korean restaurant, Jang Mo Jib. Walking in on a Thursday evening, the restaurant was a quarter full and we were seated at a small coffee size table. Doing the usual if I think the table is a bit too small for our order, asked if we could move to a larger table. But, the waiter looked at us like it was a silly request and said no. After being rejected and looking around, I found it odd that a few tables of two with only an order of one hot pot, had a larger table than us!
After we finished ordering, the waiter constantly suggested for us to pass on table top barbecue, in hopes of saving some table space which I found even more odd. Regardless, table top barbecue or not, the amount of food we ordered would not fit at any coffee sized table. So, fortunately after insisting numerous times that we wanted to cook our own meats, he finally moved us to a regular sized table! As for the restaurant, it stayed a quarter full for the rest of the evening.
Potter's Garden has two sides, one for larger parties and the other for groups of less than four. The restaurant is fairly spacious, has comfortable seating arrangements, and a very strong aroma of BBQ meat along with hot pot. As for the service, there was only one waiter on the floor and despite his slow service, he tried to be somewhat as efficient as he could (after a few tables complained to him).
Around a week ago when visiting Dasarang, my first choice was actually Cheers Chicken & Noodle (as well as Church's Chicken). So, being in Burquitlam for another late night dinner, I decided to finally give the restaurant a try.
Oh this is embarrassing... to quote my previous post, "I should have gotten AYCE. The food does not taste good, but good enough if you are hungry." When I am not sure what to eat, I always choose AYCE (regardless of Western or Japanese cuisine) because it is a lot easier than driving around in circles and looking for a restaurant. Furthermore, I find AYCE restaurants easier to choose because you know what to expect and can order many items on the menu. And having tried a la carte on my previous visit, I concluded that Kyung Bok Palace is a restaurant intended for only AYCE.
The restaurant is spacious and has booth seating arrangements as well as a couple private rooms. The interior actually somewhat resembles Insadong. As for the AYCE, the price difference between the regular and deluxe menu is $2.00 and for an extra couple of dollars, sushi rolls are included.
