Jang Mo Jib Metrotown — Restaurant in Burnaby

tl;dr - I ordered kalbi jjim to-go. We picked it up, brought it home and found it 100% raw+uncooked. Portions were not correct. Too little soup stock. Restaurant refused to acknowledge mistake and, instead, told me that I had to request to have my food cooked. I gave them a whole day to get a manager to talk to me and refund my money but their only response was: "bring your food back and we'll return the money". Sorry, but . I'm not going to go out for another 40 minutes to return raw food, and come back home with no edible food again. This restaurant is operated by people are stubborn and lack any kind of critical thinking or customer service. In other words, very un-Korean.

The longer bout: I called this place at 845pm on a Monday night and ordered their galbi jjim for pick-up. I've eaten in before and it comes with the noodles + potatoes + meats + other stuff semi cooked. You leave it on their hot pan and it cooks more thoroughly in front of you.

We paid $41+tax for this meal, and brought it back to our place. We open the food to find every single ingredient raw. Did I just get a bag of 3x overpriced groceries? Not only were the proportions of soup stock and veggies completely off, but I could not even have the food since it was getting late.

The follow-up is what gets me: I call to ask for a refund or immediate compensation. They tell me I need to walk back and bring the food with me. Do they expect me to walk 20 minuets back and forth, give the food back and get a return and have NO food to eat? Is this a joke? I tell them I will write a review about this horrible service if I do not get some sort of answer or appropriate response (IMHO, I was just looking for a full refund, no questions asked, like most decent restaurants would do). They tell me they will call me back. They call me back and try to negotiate by saying they'll give me some dumplings the next time I eat there. I reject this and say that I'll gladly talk to their manager. I leave my phone number and ask them to call the next day. It is now a whole day later, and I have not received a phone call. I call them and ask if they have anything to tell me. Nope - "bring your food back and we'll refund you."

There you have it. Impeccable stubborn service and non-responsive managers who won't admit fault or do any compensation. When they told me that I needed to ask for my food cooked, I analogized it to a Chinese restaurant - to which the waiter said, "we're a korean restaurant". I told them I've ordered the same thing from korean restaurants too - AND IT COMES COOKED. You can't try to pull the, "you're ignorant about our food"-card when you're serving raw food at a restaurant and not giving...

I came to this Korean restaurant once, unfortunately. The taste was subpar so I never returned. However, I am making this post because of a recent incident at this restaurant. Today my friends and I went for lunch at the Chinese restaurant next to Jangmojib. Our female friend driving was unfamiliar with the area and she parked her car in the parking lot without seeing the sign that the spot was reserved for Jangmojib guests. After we sat down, the Chinese restaurant owner kindly reminded us to not park at the Jangmojib designated spaces. After the reminder, my friend quickly went out to move her car, which was parked for at most 5-7 min (surveillance cameras can provide the proof). She encountered a short Korean man in a phone call asking to tow her car away. My friend removed a warning paper on the rear dash and the Korean man started cursing at her in broken English and screaming in her face non-stop.

My friend didn’t say a single word in the entire incident - she quickly rushed inside her car and locked the doors because she was scared the Korean man would attack her. The Korean man continued his tirade inches from the car window even after my friend was inside. There was really a lack of basic human decency and loss of perspective when it was only 5-7 min parked. In fact, there were only 2 other cars parked in Jangmojib spots with many of their spaces still left empty.

My friend quickly drove away to avoid the man. She came back to the Chinese restaurant evidently very shaken and showed us the warning paper and described what happened outside. Everyone was shocked – this really isn’t acceptable behaviour and incredibly unprofessional for a business. An honest mistake was made, but efforts were made to immediately correct the parking error upon realizing. This level of verbal aggression was completely uncalled for – this establishment and Korean owner (?) really needs to take a look in the mirror and take lessons in anger management. I seriously cannot recommend coming here.

Reply to owner's comment:

I sincerely hope your surveillance cameras have audio recording so that you can review and reflect on how you treated my female friend. I hope you take ownership of that fact that yelling at people is truly not...

Jang Mo Jib is one of those stalwart establishments that seem to have been here since time immemorial, quietly doling out steaming bowls of comfort without seeking applause. It was, in fact, my very first experience of Korean cuisine in Vancouver, and it has remained unwavering in quality ever since. No dramatic ascents or tragic declines, just consistent, honest fare.

The staff are exceptionally attentive. One might even say relentlessly so. If being fussed over is your idea of a good time, you’re in for a treat. Every few moments someone will check in to see if you need anything, water, cutlery, emotional validation. They mean well, though at times it borders on theatrical.

The space is generous by local standards. Tables are spaced like civilised adults at a dinner party, and unlike much of Metrotown, parking is not a mythical concept here. You can actually leave your car without a blood sacrifice to the urban planning gods.

A fine place to bring the family, your hungover self, or anyone who appreciates solid Korean cooking in a place where you won’t be rushed or elbowed. Not revolutionary, but utterly...