The Caring Place Community Kitchen celebrated the end of another great session by dining out. We would love to take a break from laboring in the kitchen.

Minnie was asked to bring us to a Korean Restaurant. Minnie, thank you for being our Korean culinary guide again. She brought us to Kyung Bok Palace which located at the Lansdowne Mall in Richmond. I love this bright red signage on the dark wall of the restaurant because it stands out very clearly although I cant read the Korean language.

Kyung Bok Palace also has patio seatings and it’s just great for their all you can eat BBQ which is only served in the summer evenings.

One good thing about Kyung Bok Palace is there is a sample of the dishes served in the restaurant displayed outside the restaurant. These displays are common in the Asian countries. This is a good way to advertise and bring customers in as many will not dare to try new food which they have no idea how the food looks like. The pricing displays along with the model dishes also helps as one can expect how much the food costs.

All Korean restaurants serve side dishes like these which include soy bean sprouts, braised potatoes, kimchee and other vegetables. You can ask for refill for these side dishes.

Minnie was incharged of ordering the food for us. Due to the presents of people who cant eat spicy food, Minnie mainly ordered food that is not spicy. The first dish is ‘Galbijjim Jung Sik’ which is braised beef ribs and rice with side dishes. The beef ribs are tender and the sauce is slightly on the heavy side, goes best with the steamed rice. This dish costs $15.95.

Next came the ‘Haemul Pajeon’ which is Seafood and Green Onion Korean style Pancake. The pancake came in a sizzling hot plate. Jean and Minoo called this Korean Pizza. This dish also costs $15.95.

Minnie also ordered two ‘Haemul Kalguksu’ which is Seafood with Handmade Noodle. The noodles are really nice and chewy. One bowl costs $7.95. The bowl is huge and good for 2 to 3 people.

We also had ‘Tangsuyuk’ which is Sweet and Sour Pork. The pork is deep fried to crispy and drenched with lots of sauce, should goes well with rice too. This dish costs $17.95.

Lastly, we had ‘Japchae’ which is Stir-fried Sweet Potato Noodles with Shredded Meats and Vegetables like Spinach, Onion, Carrot and Mushrooms. I wonder if the sweet potato noodle is more healthy than the regular wheat noodle. This dish cost $15.95.

Overall, the meal is good except the pricing is slightly on the high side. This meal costs $95 including tips. I would like to mention that some of the members did not turn up and Minnie had ordered enough food for 10 people. The five of us ended up eating all the food and no dinner for me, I’m not sure about the rest of them. Nevertheless, we had a great time checking out each other’s summer plan and wishing each other a great summer. We’ll meet again in September.

The members of the Gilmore Park Church community kitchen organised a field trip to a Korean Restaurant and a tour to a Korean Supermarket, led by Minnie and Lan. We went to Insadong, a Korean BBQ and Seafood Restaurant located at North Road, Coquitlam. We were told that dong means village in Korean language.

Upon entering the restaurant, there is a glass wall with display of some Korean dolls dressed in traditional Korean clothing; certainly brings out the Korean atmosphere into the restaurant.

Minnie and Lan, the Koreans among the group placed the order of the food. We ordered three dishes to share. We were served ‘rice tea’ and the rice came in metal tin with cover.

First came all the side dishes which come free with your order. The best is you can ask for free refill of the side dishes. The side dishes consist of kimchi, braised potatoes, bean sprouts, sliced daikon and spinach.

The first dish we ordered is Steamed Sliced Pork with Spicy Kimchi and Cabbage Wrap. This dish cost $19.99.

Minnie demonstrated to us how to eat this dish. First, place a slice of the cabbage on your plate. Dip a slice of the steamed pork in some chili sauce and place it on top of the cabbage. Then add some of the spicy kimchi on top of the pork. Lastly, add some fermented soy bean sauce on top and bundle up the cabbage and enjoy.

The second dish was Pan Fried Kimchi and Pork with Tofu. This dish cost $12.99. Again, Minnie showed us how to eat this dish. First take small piece of the tofu and place some of the kimchi and pork on the tofu and eat them together.

Lastly, we had the Pork Back-bone and Potatoes with Vegetables Hot Pot. We had two hotpots going as there are ten people in the group. This dish costs $34.99.

The soup is topped with some ground sesame. The hotpot dish has green onions, mushrooms and onions in it. The soup is relatively thick, perhaps due to the potatoes. It looks spicy but actually its not really spicy. I must say that this dish is a bit too pricey as it only has pork bones in it. There is no much meat in the bones.

The eight of us shared the bill as our appreciation to the drivers who brought us to this place. Each of us paid $12.50. We enjoyed the meal and had a great time learning about Korean cuisine.

After lunch, we went to HanAhReum Asian Mart to have a Korean groceries shopping experience. Click on the link below for photos from the HanAhReum Asian Mart.

continue reading "Insadong, Korean BBQ & Seafood Restaurant at North Road, Coquitlam"

For this weekend’s lunch, we decided to finally go to the Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot. We have been saying that we want to try it for a long time but never gotten down to it.

There are actually two Han Ju Tofu Hot Pot places. The original one was in Crystal Mall in Burnaby. They have opened in another location in Richmond the past few months. Lorna told us about this new location a few weeks back and so we decided to check that place out.

The Han Ju is located at 8328 Capstan Way in Richmond. They are opened seven days a week, 11am to 9pm. It’s a small restaurant, just slightly larger than the cramped one on Burnaby. There are perhaps about 12 tables in all. It is a very popular place and often you need to wait for a table — we had to wait about 5 minutes.

Although this place is made out to be a Korean style restaurant, I think they are Taiwanese owned judging from the fact that they speak Taiwanese brand of chinese.

Their signature dish is, of course, the Tofu Hot Pot. We ordered the Korean Style Kimchi Pot and asked that it be made spicy — you get an option on how spicy you want it. This dish is served with rice although the main staple is the green bean noodles in the soup. Other ingredients are Korean Kimchi, Mussels, Squid, Tofu, Sliced Pork and an egg. It’s quite a big serving, more than what I normally take for a meal. The dish is served in a metal hot pot — gotta be careful handling it because it’s very, very hot. This dish costs $5.95.

We decided to order a side dish and opted for the regular sized Spiced Tofu. This costs $3.95. It is not too bad but for us, it’s too much tofu because the rice dish we ordered also came with this.

We also order a dish called Braised Beef Briskets on Rice. The rice dishes are served in a flat pan-like bowl — very much like a dog food dish! This dish contains the beef briskets, spiced tofu, fried egg and two different vegetable. This is a non-spicy dish and costs $6.95.

The Korean Style BBQ with Rice dish looks very similar to the one above. The only difference is in the meat — this has pork instead. Costs the same too, $6.95.

This is interesting. I did some digging and found some interesting stuff about Korean table etiquettes from Wikipedia. We always assumed that Korean table etiquettes are pretty similar but there are quite a bit of differences.

The biggest difference was that Koreans do not eat rice out from the bowl with chopsticks. We did not realize this but I guess everyone in the Korean restaurant yesterday knew that we were chinese from the way we ate! Anyway, below is what we lifted out from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_cuisine). Read on:

Although there is no prescribed order for eating the many dishes served at a traditional Korean meal, many Koreans start with a small portion of soup before eating the other dishes in any order they wish.

Unlike other chopstick cultures, Koreans do not eat rice with chopsticks only but use sujeo a combination of a long shallow spoon and oval-shaped chopsticks. Koreans generally do not pick up their rice or soup bowls, but leave both on the table and eat from them with spoons. Side dishes are eaten with chopsticks.

Bad manners include blowing one’s nose at the table (considered the rudest of acts), picking up chopstick or spoon before the oldest person starts the meal, chewing with an open mouth, talking with food in one’s mouth, making audible eating noises, sticking chopsticks or spoon straight up in a dish, stabbing foods with chopsticks, mixing rice and soup, and picking up food with one’s hands (with certain exceptions). In informal situations, these rules are often broken.

Though diners do not need to finish all the shared food that was provided, it is customary to finish one’s individual portion of rice. Banchan dishes are intended to be finished at each meal, so are presented in small portions and replenished as they are emptied. It is acceptable to ask for refills on any of the side dishes.

Here is another good guide on Korean eating etiquette from the Korea Tourism: http://english.tour2korea.com/05food/ArtOfEating/setting_table02.asp?kosm=m5_5&konum=1

Someone else’s rice cake looks always bigger
~ Korean Proverb

Helen was telling Suanne about a good Korean restaurant that we absolutely must try. She told us that the restaurant is located behind the Sheraton on Alexandra Road and is called something like Mother-in-law Restaurant. She also told us something interesting about the Korean culture — when the husband visits the in-laws, the husband is normally treated very well … so well that the mother-in-law will prepare a feast for the son-in-law. Hence, the best feast is referred to as the mother-in-law special. (Any Korean able to verify this?)

It was really confusing for us locating this place. It is because the English name of this restaurant we went to is called the Jang Mo Jib Restaurant. We couldn’t read Korean but at least Suanne recognized the small chinese translation on the signboard.

Walking in, we were impressed because the decor was very nice with large wall-to-wall pictures of Korean lifestyles. Helen told us the price for each dish were on the average $7-$8 and looking at the settings in the restaurant, it sure looked more expensive. Reading the menu, most of the dishes were indeed as Helen said although there were some dishes that were over $20 per person. We stuck to the cheaper dishes and ordered three different dishes.

Sul Lung Thang (Soup)

The Sul Lung Tang is a soup of cow bones and meat, simmered for several hours in a jumbo Korean iron pot until the soup is milky-white. This dish is served with two smaller bowls of coarse salt and chopped green onions. The coarse salt is used to season the soup depending on how you like it. Without the salt, the soup is quite bland.

The soup also has some glass noodle and thinly sliced beef. Serving is large and more than enough for an adult. If you have never tried the Sul Lung Thang, you should. This is the restaurant’s signature dish. Price? $7.95.

Soon Doo Boo (Tofu Soup)

The Soon Doo Boo is a thick spicy stew made with soft tofu. There are several types of Sonn Doo Boo — we ordered the Assorted Seafood and Beef version which contain prawns, mussels and eggs. You can order this dish either extra spicy, mild or not spicy.

The dish is served with steam rice and five separate side dishes. This is what is typically referred to as a Banshang setting. That was a lot of food and the dishes almost filled the entire table. This dish is truly value for money ($8.95). We like Kimchi a lot and were glad to see a good dish of kimchi served — very crunchy and not too acidic. For the first time eating in a Korean restaurant, the kimchi were served with a pair of scissors (used to cut it in bite-sized pieces).

Kahl Gook Soo

The Kahl Gook Soo is boiled flat noodles, usually in a broth made of anchovies and sliced zucchini. We ordered the chicken soup version which costs $7.95.

The bowl is really huge. It’s a nice bowl of noodles in warm soup. It’s kind of hard drink the soup with the wooden spoon — which is shallow and the handle is extra long. Chinese is used to soup spoon which has a short handle and is deeper.

It was a good place for lunch — highly recommended! We’ll come back again to try the other dishes and will definitely order the Soon Doo Boo again.