Shawn was craving Korean food tonight, so we went to Nak Won for dinner. We both got our usual, dolsot bibimbap. When you break that egg and the yolk spills out and you mix everything together — oh, man, it's so damn good, especially with hot sauce drizzled in there. And it's still steaming hot until the last bite... As much as I love the food, however, the service was mediocre at best; they're not particularly friendly there (not a smile in sight, which is apparently consistent with all of their restaurants), and tonight, I had to press the service button and raise my hand about three times just to get a waitress to our table (conclusion: their service button is completely redundant). It was, however, super-efficient after that (a pot of tea and assorted ban chan came out about a minute after we ordered, and then our food came out right after that). Ultimately, it's the food that will bring me back here, and at least it's bigger and looks cleaner than their other location.
On that note, does anyone have any dish recommendations at Korean restaurants? I don't go very often, but when I do, I only ever order two things: dolsot bibimbap or gamjatang (pork bone soup). Nothing wrong with them (I love them, I really do), but I'd love to try other dishes (preferably tried-and-true favourites).
I always enjoy Buta Kimchi (Pork and Kimchi Stir Fry. Eat it up with rice and it's SO good. Mum makes it better now, so I never order it anymore.
ReplyDeleteUgh this is making me hungry.. and I have some in the fridge! >:T Uh oh.
Mmm, sounds interesting, but anything without kimchi? Not the biggest fan of the stuff. I'll eat it occasionally, but it's never my first choice. :P
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you want anything from MAC? I figure if I'm gonna see you sometime next week, I should at the very least bring you a belated Christmas present of sorts, lol.
Hm..my dad likes the black bean/beef dish..but it's just okay in my opinion. We always order/make grilled mackerel! It's kind of fishy..but in a good way. Yums!
ReplyDeleteTry the kimchi pork! It doesn't taste like what raw kimchi would taste like. C'mon..pork belly!!!!
http://songcooks.com is amazing and pretty cheap. I totally recommend!
As for MAC... I could do with a Peachstock lippy if you've got one laying around! Whatever you don't want/use I'd be happy to make good use of! But seriously don't actually spend anything, lol. Maybe I'll bake you a batch of...surprise!!
Alright, I will try the kimchi pork and report back. :P
ReplyDeleteI might have an extra Peachstock lying around, but it might be used (I have two of them, but one of them is in limited edition packaging from 2009, so I got another one). Otherwise, maybe Honeylove?
I LOVE bibimbap too! Though I can only eat it when it's winter, actually I realise I only crave Korean food when it's cold.
ReplyDeleteBut I highly recommend dukbokki! Or otherwise known as spicy rice cake. I always order it EVERYTIME when I eat Korean!
Hey, Stacey! It's true, I crave Korean food more so when it's cold, especially pork bone soup! :) SO GOOD. And thanks for the recommendation -- I'll be sure to try it out next time I'm at a Korean restaurant!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Korean food! Have you tried their Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi stew)? It's super spicy, but oh so great for when I'm not feeling well. My other favourite soup-based dish is Dduk Mandoo Guk (Rice Cake Dumpling soup). Sounds weird, but is super yummy. It has chewy rice cake slices, glass noodles, and heavenly pork dumpling. The best one I've tried is at Nak Won on Yonge and Finch. I'm positive it tastes just as good at the one near you.
ReplyDeleteHey, Mary! :) I'm not huge on super spicy (or kimchi, for that matter, lol), but that Dduk Mandoo Guk sounds really good! You had me at PORK DUMPLING. Mmmmmm... We should definitely do Korean for dinner sometime! (We still need to do ramen as well...)
ReplyDeleteYay, Korean!
ReplyDeleteIf you like meat, go for bulgogi which is thin beef slices marinated in a soy sauce base which can be on the sweet side, depending on where you go. There's also tangsooyuk which is battered beef/pork bits deep fried and served covered with a sweet and sour sauce.
The rice cake dumpling soup is the traditional thing to eat at New Year's and always very comforting. If you don't care for the mushy rice cake part, you can just have mandoogook which is the soup with dumplings only.
Okay, I think you're set for a few more meals now!
Liz -- Thanks so much for the recommendations! Everything you listed sounds so damn good. I think I'm gonna start with the mandoogook and work my way up from there...
ReplyDeleteAnd of course I like meat, who do you think I am?! Bulgogi is so, so, so, so good, OH GOD I AM HUNGRY.