Ottawa Foodies

Shared a couple hot-pot stews with the SO a couple nights ago -- a Kimchi Chigae and a Daenjang Chigae (soy-bean paste): bubbly-hot goodness, nicely portioned and delicious!

While the complimentary side plates lacked some originality, overall, we enjoyed their chigaes more than Soora's across the street (which, incidentally, has been a bit up/down for me since my first visit).

I think our bill came to $23 (before tax/tips). Excellent deal!

Our first thought as we stepped into Koreana on a Saturday night was that we were in Toronto. Nice atmosphere and friendly service. The table has a cool push-button thingy with which a server can be summoned. It worked well most of the time.

Wifey and I sat in a comfy booth and ordered a pig-out of:

* Shrimp and Veg Tempura appetizer (~$6)
* Traditional Korean noodle bowl ($9) -- the same one Duckfat talks about in her review
* Bulgogi Beef ($14)
* Thin-sliced Spicy BBQ Pork, menu item K17 (~$12) -- the same one Duckfat raved about

Duckfat covers the Traditional Korean Noodle dish well in her comment. The funny thing is that normally when you see "noodle" on an Asian menu it's because they left off the "s" in "noodles." Not so in this case! It's actually one super long noodle, and it comes with a pair of scissors with which to chop the noodle up. :-)

The Bulgogi Beef had a nice grilled flavour and was in great quantity, but be warned! The current menu is quite misleading in that if you order "BBQ at your table" for just one person, they bring it to you fully cooked and you don't BBQ anything at your table. At least two people have to order BBQ for them to actually set the equipment up. They only told us this after they brought us the dish and we expressed surprise! I talked to them as we left and they promised to change the menu to make this more clear. They were very gracious about it all but I really hope they do clarify the menu so others don't feel misled.

The other confusing thing is that there's a Bulgogi Beef dish (already cooked) for $12 and the "BBQ at your table" Bulgogi Beef for $14. If only one person orders the $14 dish, it is identical to the $12 dish, but in a more generous portion (we also clarified this with the staff).

The Spicy BBQ Pork dish was extremely tasty, as Duckfat mentioned. Balanced flavours of spicy chili, slightly sweet sauce, and smokey BBQ worked well with the mostly tender thin pieces of pork.

The Side Dishes were of generous variety (5 different ones) but in a somewhat skimpy portion size and of varying tastiness. The kimchi lacked depth of flavour (although some might prefer this, as Duckfat hints). And I must say we very much appreciated the tea with our meal, although we did have to press the magic button to summon a server so we could get our one and only refills.

One other note worth mentioning is that the ventilation system doesn't seem to keep up with the BBQ smoke production so various windows were opened. As the outdoor temp dropped below freezing, we were pretty darn cold sitting at our table! I'm not sure what will happen here on the really cold winter days.

Overall, I consider Koreana to be a promising restaurant, but one that is still working out some wrinkles.

We went to Koreana for lunch on Saturday, having seen tons of people there every time we passed it. It was busy--even the second floor, where we were seated, was about half full, and the first floor completely full--and the food ranged from good to unbelievably amazing. I had the cold noodles with beef, egg, and hot sauce; the noodles (a big portion) were more stuck together than they should be, but the toppings--tender, thin-sliced cold beef brisket, marinated daikon and carrot, julienned apples, and ultra-tasty chile sauce--were top quality. My husband ordered the spicy pork--not the BBQ at the table stuff, just the plate from the kitchen--and it was out of this world. They had clearly done it on a BBQ in the kitchen rather than fried it up in a pan, so the meat (again, of superb quality) was slightly charred and amazingly delicious. They also refrained from padding the dish out with vegetables (as they did in a similar dish at Soo-ra down the road, a real disappointment). The sides were fresh and tasty, the kimchee not super-fermented. We're definitely going back to try their BBQ and their chigae!

Stumbled upon this place last night. It is lovely -- both the atmosphere and food.

The ceilings are super high, everything is modern and fresh, the booths are very comfy. The service was great -- there was always someone there to top off the tea and water.

We ordered the BBQ meat platter (marinated beef, pork and shrimp). It came with rice and traditional Korean sides. The meat was quite tasty. We also got the Love Boat I -- about 24 pieces of sushi. The food was plentiful. The sushi was fine but I have had better. At the very least it was fresh.

Overall, the resto itself is very nice and can accommodate larger parties.

Finally open after what seemed a lengthy renovation.

We were there for lunch and it was VERY nice. Still very brand new but the food and presentation seemed as though they have experience in the food business. Plus there is a photo of Trudeau near the front door - good for chi I guess.

When we walked by there in the evening, it seemed as though all of the tables were busy.

Served piping hot and crispy, this tempura is all about texture and mouth-feel. The reasonably priced ($6) appetizer includes 3 long shrimp and 3 vegetables. It isn't very big on flavour, but it has a nice low grease factor!