ottawa foodies

Had lunch here today as I was starved following some intense shopping at Tanger. Walked in and ordered Spicy chicken (K03) on recommendation of the waitress. Food was ready in about 5-7minutes, and as you can see the portion was very generous. The rice was fluffy and perfectly sticky. The chicken was delicious and not crazy spicy, but just enough so that it was perfect with the mix of other flavours. It’s a very small and simple place, although I believe most people order takeout. Either way, I was able to eat my meal peacefully with K-pop playing overhead. I would go again for sure.

I also recently tried the Jjajangmyeon (짜장면) -- black bean sauce with noodles. So incredibly tasty! Unlike Inkling I finished it all in one go. :D

Fresh Foodie's review of the fried chicken had me sold but unfortunately it wasn't available when I went to Hanahana for lunch. Not knowing anything about Korean food I just selected one of the specials and hoped for the best. It was a black bean dish on noodles (from their Facebook page, I think it's the Jajang) and it was excellent. You get a very good serving for just over $10, enough that I couldn't finish it for lunch and ended up having it over two days which makes for a very good deal. I will return, hopefully to try the fried chicken but it will be worthwhile just to get more familiar with Korean food in general.

I was so excited about this place that I returned today for a light lunch of japchae with vegetables ($7.95). The sweet potato glass noodles were served piping hot and perfectly cooked, with a nice amount of vegetable. This is a matter of personal taste, but I'd grind some black pepper over the dish to give it a stronger flavour.

I was given two small additional plates containing 3 maki rolls and a sample of tteokbokki. All were excellent.

Hanahana promises to be a gem in Kanata. They are still adding to their menu and tweaking recipes. I suggested that the food marked "spicy" could be spicier without scaring anyone away... Kanata diners are accustomed to spicy foods, right? :-)

They announced this dish on their www.facebook.com page last night, so I couldn't resist going for lunch today! Spicy and sweet Korean fried chicken: Dakgangjeong (닭강정). The internet tells me that the difference between dakgangjeong and yangnyeom is that the latter contains gochujang. Well, even if there was no gochujang this was a tasty dish... lots of garlic in the sauce and green onions on top!

This was a delicious pile of crispy boneless chunks of fried chicken tossed in a sweet and somewhat spicy sauce. It came with a portion of rice for $13+tax. While I was waiting, they brought me a nice little plate with three pieces of gimbap. Really nice touch!

So thrilled to have good Korean food near where I work!! The gamjatang (pork bone soup) for $9.95 was flavourful and chock full of tender neck meat on the bone. The broth was a little less spicy than I've had elsewhere, but that's probably to be expected in a suburban strip mall.

The lady who served me was very nice and gave me a complimentary sampler plate of assorted maki and gimbap. All very fresh and tasty.

This is primarily set up as a takeout place, but there are a few small bar-like tables for those who prefer to eat in. I went at 11:30 on a Monday and had the place pretty much to myself.

Excited to try more dishes here!

We ordered the 65-piece Large Roll Platter ($55) to supplement our Xmas Eve feasting. The assortment of maki and gimbap rolls are quite well formed, fresh tasting, and generously sized. Because this is Korean style sushi, the rolls are a tiny bit sweeter than what you'd get from a Japanese restaurant. This platter was well received and a joy to eat.

I put in my order one day ahead, as suggested by the owner.

My lunch today was the Spicy Pork Hana Box for $9.95 + tax. Lip smackingly delicious, healthy, and satisfying. Each component was tasty and fresh. Very hard to do better than this for lunch food!

These are a lunch item, available until 4pm.