We intended to go to Kingparks for lunch on a Saturday after negotiated with our boys on where to eat despite that we know getting a parking space will be difficult.

We entered the parking lot where Banzai is located and Nanzaro noticed that Man Ri Sung had been replaced by a new Korean restaurant. So, we changed our plan to try out this new place.

Samsoonie Noodle & Rice has opened just a month when I checked with the server. The decor is rustic with wooden tables and chairs.

Ben ordered Dolsot Bibimbap which is Bibimbap served in hot stone bowl. Dolsot Bibimbap is $1 more than the regular Bibimbap; i.e $9.99. It is loaded with vegetables and some meat on top. (more…)

Ben and I went out for lunch alone on a Saturday as the boys wanted to stay home to catch one of their show on life feed.

We went to Woe Ga Jib which previous tenant was Jang Mo Jib. I remembered Jang Mo Jib means mother in law. I wonder what does woe ga jib mean?

The restaurant entrance is kind of at the back. The customer has to walk up a slope which leads to the entrance with Korean art painted on the wall. The entrance greeted us with a couple of face masks decor.

Woe Ga Jib is a big restaurant with a large sitting area.

We ordered from the lunch special. Ben had a Beef Hot Pot with Bulgogi for $13.95. The beef came in shredded form and there was some vermicelli at the bottom of the pot. (more…)

Emily, Lorna, Marian and I got together again after a few months not seeing each other.

We decided to try the new Sura Korean BBQ at Aberdeen Mall.

The setting is traditional Korean with cushion bench and metal cutleries.

We ordered the $15 set (minimum 2 orders) and a Ginseng Chicken Soup to share among 4 or us. However, the server insisted that we ordered another item since there were 4 or us. So, we added a Japchae. (more…)

Nanzaro and I had lunch at the fairly new Hanok Korean Restaurant on Alexandra Road.

Hanok Korean Restaurant took over the location of the Mongolian Grill.

Hanok is big. The seating area is divided into 2 sections with the reception and kitchen in the center.

We ordered from the lunch special which is at $8.99. You can click on the menu to have a larger view.

Three banchans for our lunch special; kimchee, sweetish potato and seaweed which is crunchy.

Under normal circumstances, I will get all the banchans as my boys do not like them. Surprisingly, Nanzaro likes the seaweed and he had it all to himself. (more…)

Updated: 20 Sep 2014: This restaurant is closed.

I was watching a recorded Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown show broadcasted on CNN channels earlier. It was an episode on Korea town in Los Angeles. That show made me yearning for Korean food.

So, Nanzaro and I went to Man Ri Sung in Richmond to have a Korean food fix. Arkensen did not come along because he was having a BBQ with his friends since it was a summer like spring day.

I had the lunch special Potato & Pork Rib Soup. There were soy bean sprouts in my soup beside potatoes. The soup was a little spicy.

The lunch specials are $7.95.

You can click on the menu to have a look at the lunch special options. (more…)

Updated 22 Sep 2014; This restaurant is closed.

Lorna and I met up for lunch on a Tuesday. It was supposed to be a kitchen day but the Richmond Community Kitchen at the Gilmore Park Church is filled with new comers with less experience. So, Minoo is repeating some old recipes which I had blogged before. So, Lorna and I went out for dining experience instead. We missed the community kitchen.

I happened to pass by the location where Nooch Snack & Grill used to be and noticed that a new Korean Bistro had opened in that location. A grand opening sign with 20% off was posted at the door. So, I suggested to Lorna to try out this place.

We found out from the server that Korean Bistro just opened on the 26th January, 2013.

This place looks pretty much the same with some paint job and table cloth. It looks nicer with the red wall and table cloth.

The menu is very simple; just hot pot and sizzling plate. You can click on the menu to have a larger view.

We ordered two items to share. The first item selected by Lorna was Korean Spicy Chicken Rice on Sizzling Plate. We asked for medium spicy but it was not spicy at all. This is $8.00 (more…)

Nanzaro wanted to go out for lunch on a Pro-D day. He does not mind any where or any cuisine as long as he gets to eat out.

So, I picked Haroo Restaurant for lunch. Haroo serves Korean home style cuisine. It is located in Alexandra Road, Richmond.

Parking here is notorious. We were there on a Friday afternoon and we were early, so, parking was not so bad.

We arrived at the restaurant five minutes before 12 noon. It was not open yet. So, we were their first customers of that day. The restaurant seats about 30.

There is a big pot of Korean style green tea infused with roasted rice on each table. Nanzaro does not like the tea.

Cutlery like metal spoons and chopsticks are stored neatly in a wooden box on the table.

There is also a small pot of chili powder on the table besides salt and pepper. (more…)

Updated 1st Oct 2014; This restaurant is closed.

Polly and I chanced upon this new Korean Restaurant Hong Mi on our usual meeting. We were looking for a place for lamb hotpot since the weather is cold now and we just drove out from Lido as we were told that they dont serve lamb hotpot during lunch hour. As we pulled out from the mall where Lido is and wanted to go to Aberdeen Mall, we saw that a new Korean restaurant has taken over Kim Ga Nae (also a Korean restaurant) used to be. So, we decided to check it out.

We were told by the server that Hong Mi has just opened for a month. We like that there are pictures of Korean dishes on the windows. It’s a good way to advertise.

The restaurant is big. It is divided into two sections. The area above is for regular diner whereas the far end behind the Christmas tree is another area for hot pot. We went for the regular Korean dishes. This area alone seats about 100.

We like the menu especially the first two where the appetizers are. It is loaded with photos which made ordering much easier. You can click on the menu to have a larger view.

We ordered mainly from the lunch special menu (the left most menu). The server told us that 3 items on the lunch special is on promotion now which is $4.99 per item. You can click on the lunch special menu to have a larger view. The items on promotion is L7, L10 and L14.

Something that is different here from other Korean restaurant is the chopsticks. Korean restaurant usually uses metal chopsticks which have very pointy ends. The above are more like Chinese  chopsticks.

Four banchans are served here; kimchee, beansprouts, seaweed in a sweet soy sauce and the last item is a jello like item served with soy sauce.

We found out later that the jello like banchan is made with some kind of yam. We saw the item in T&T supermarket after lunch when we went to get some groceries. Polly bought some for her kids to try.

We ordered an appetizer called Mini Bossam. It costs $9.95. It is steamed cabbage, pickled daikon and poached pork belly served with a bean sauce (ssamjang), raw garlic slices, jalapeno and a Korean fish sauce.

The way to eat the Bossam is to place a piece of the cabbage on your palm, top with a piece of the pork belly, a piece or two of the daikon, garlic and jalapeno (optional) and season with the sauces to taste. If the cabbage is big enough, you can wrap it up as a bundle or just place the whole stack of food into your mouth. The spiciness from garlic and jalapeno gives it a good kick.

We ordered all the 3 items on promotion from the lunch menu. It’s a table full of food. Polly pointed out that … (more…)