New Koreans in Chinatown... a comparison....

New Koreans in Chinatown…..


I shall use this post to do a compare of the new Korean restaurants in Chinatown…. i.e., on Somerset between Preston and Bank….. I know about Joy.... but ….

There are only three…, I don’t consider Seoul House to be a new Korean in Chinatown as it is well established and the food is just plain poor… and the sushi….

SooRa, Bulgogi (BG) and a yet to be named place across the street from Bulgogi in the NW corner of the block with Chu Shing on it…. another spot that cannot keep restaurants going… as is BG’s, whereas SooRa is in the old Chuck Brown’s location….

You will see details on Bulgogi in another part of this blog.

Went to SooRa for lunch and the impression this time around was that it is a place that is trying to be ritzy with the prices to go along with it. In terms of value for money, Lunch was $20, vs. $15 for BG and $10 for Arum’s. For essentially the same components in terms of food….

I would say it was a little expensive… and the comments from waitress Erin (lunch everyday except Fridays… she is cute but married to a ToiShan guy for god sake!), were that comments from initial customers are that people in Ottawa like their food with more salt, msg and spice than normal… and the food in Korea is plainer in terms of soy/salt/msg, but more pungent. I just said… do you want to compete for the real connoisseurs or the general public!

Anyway, for $20 (tea was $3 more) you don’t even get a lot… but the Kalbi ribs, i.e., meat, was pretty impressive… as in tasty and very good quality cuts…(chef does his own),…. so much for Ottawans wanting more soy… and I eat a lot of salt. I will try another traditional meal of ‘rice with tea’ next…. sounded fascinating. Pork Bone Soup, shabu and table BBQs will just have to wait for a compare with BG….The soup and kimchi had more bonito flavoring in it than BG’s… some might like that more, as in the Jap palates. The green salad I have commented on before….they also had little binnies, or potato pancakes, but I think ‘Chicken Boy’ near Korean Gardens does this much better…. They don’t have sushi yet…no fridge in yet…. and they are planning some tradition kaisaki style Korean dinners… which I am looking forward to. This is besides the other stuff mentioned in an earlier related post.

All in all, so far, just a nice traditional, but expensive Korean place that might stray from the ‘right’ way, due to local tastes… ‘too much pastiche here’!!! They have only been open 1.5 months and already have a feel that they should adapt… like the Chinese restaurants…. They have cooks from Korean… my suggestion is to stick it out and stay away from the competition…. And take the less trodden path to authentic Korean food….


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Had the ‘pork belly’ table top cooking at Soo Ra and it was terrible… they also had a problem with their table top elements for cooking, as they are trying to get a liquor license and the gas feeds were not up to code, so they have all been disconnected for 4 – 6 weeks. So table top cooking consists of pans on top of tables with no exhaust… who would want to do this!!! The restaurant stinks!

The waitress without giving out this info said pork belly was smoky and would we like it cooked inside the kitchen, so we said yes and it came out absolutely miserable!. So hands down Bulgogi is better again because, as I said, the ingredients are better... and for table cooking you do it yourself anyways… so crowds…. move to Bulgogi… at least for the next 4-6 weeks….

Of course we also had the cold noodles, which is not available at BG and the pancakes were not much better and the spicy beef stew was so so….. So besides the Kalbi and the other stuff mentioned above… SR is having troubles….

Waiting for the new one on Somerset…. Bring on the competition…

Kwon’s Chicken House for best pancakes….