KoReAn CoMfOrT FoOd - GaNaDaRa

Aaaahhhh, nothing eases a chilly, snowy February night like a nice big bowl of... tteokbokki poutine? Cheese ramyun? What?

Nestled away on the corner of Maisonneuve and St-Marc is a quaint little Korean restaurant that serves up an interesting variety of Korean 'street food', or what I consider Korean comfort food. Here, you can find the traditional Korean fare, like bulgogi or bibimbap, but you can also find some more creative and unique dishes, such as a tteokbokki poutine. Some other blogs have coined this place as authentic, and I really wouldn't know, since I've never been to Korea, but it's definitely unique, as far as Korean restaurants go.

Is Atti Gangnam Style?

As a matter of fact, yes. Just not in the literal sense.

In the wise words of the great and noble Psy, Gangnam Style is all about dressing classy and dancing cheesy. The decor at Atti is certainly classy, what with its modern yet zen feel, and the food is certainly cheesy. What, you say. How can Korean food be cheesy, you say. No, I don't mean that there is an abundance of dairy to be found in the cooking. Atti is cheesy, just like General Tao chicken is cheesy. As in it's typical Korean fare altered to suit Western palates. But heyyyyy (sexy lady!), is that such a bad thing?

Shabu Shabu, Korean BBQ, Karaoke and Virtual Golf????

Well, this is a bit confusing. The restaurant is called 'Shabu Shabu', which is essentially Japanese hot pot, but this restaurant is 100% Korean, from the proprietors to the food. But the culture clash is not what stands out the most about this restaurant; the weirdest/coolest selling point of the restaurant is their simulation golf and karaoke entertainment built into the restaurant. 

...Yep, you read that right.

So, while we know that you can stay sufficiently entertained throughout your meal, how does the food fare?

Seoul Chako, not solely for Korean BBQ.

FINALLY! A GENERIC, CHINESE-OWNED AYCE KOREAN BBQ PLACE JUST LIKE THE ONES IN TORONTO.

...Hey, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Seoul Chako just recently opened up on Ste-Catherine's street. After my last run-in with Korean BBQ of the AYCE sort, I was a bit scared of trying this place out. Still, armed with a student discount coupon, a small group of us charged blindly into the restaurant with very little ($10?) to lose.

All you can eat not-so-Korean BBQ. - Restaurant Tianxia

 All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ doesn't seem to be very popular in Montreal, so much so that most of the AYCE Korean BBQ places here are owned by Chinese people. Tianxia is a prime example of one of these establishments; to anyone with any remote knowledge of Chinese or Korean, the name Tianxia is very obviously Chinese. Still, it was cold out and my friend really wanted AYCE Korean BBQ, and with so few options for Korean food in the downtown area, we decided to hit up Tianxia.

Chez Hwang to the rescue!

 



Heeere goes my craving for Korean food again. Luckily, many of the better Korean restaurant seem to be located in Westmount, so when I found out that La Maison de Seoul was closed for lunch on that particular day (I'm not entirely sure if they're closing down permanently), all I had to do was take a ten-minute walk to Chez Hwang, and voila! Craving abated, crisis averted.

Chez Hwang is another non-descript restaurant located a bit in the middle of nowhere and that offers the typical variety of Korean dishes, as well as some atypical Korean dishes (pig feet), and some Japanese dishes as well.

La Maison Seoul, you've got soul.

La Maison Seoul is another gem of a restaurant hidden away in the Westmount area of Sherbrooke. It's owned and run by Korean people, and while it has a typically Caucasian clientele and a typical menu, the food still tastes authentic and goooood.