Bow Bulgogi House — Restaurant in Calgary

A few months ago I ordered a pa jeon ( seafood pancake) to go for an aunt that was feeling sick.

When she ate it, she asked me in Korean " what is this? What is happening why is it falling apart like this? Why does it taste like dough? Where is the seafood? I thought perhaps it was under cooked so I tried refrying it for her and it seemed to help a little. Pa jeon is suppose to be crispy and full and loaded with onions ,scallion's , garlic and various seafood - calamari, shrimp, scallop, muscles, pollock. This day the pancakes were softer and soggier than normal but perhaps the water from th container chaneed the texture, take out is hard to critique because there are too many variables that put the good at a disadvantage. Ad a result I dislike critiquing take out.

However...

Today... i ordered a mul naeng myun special for take out. ( a cold buckwheat noodle dish that sits in an icy slurpee like broth accompanied by a hot mustard sauce that is equivocal to eating fries with kethcup - to die for on hot hot days) with 2 pieces of LA galbi ( beef short ribs)

For some strange reason they mixed the broth with the noodles when they oackaged them up and by the time I arrived to my parents place to feed them dinner the noodles had absorbed all of the broth . They did not even add the mustard sauce that comes standard with naeng myun. I understand if I had been ordering from a cafeteria or a total hole in the wall , but this was 24.00 /person and it was so gross. There was no broth. Just overly saturated noodles with no bite. Normally these noodles hold their integrity and dont overly saturate but not here. It was gross.

This was supposed to be a treat for my parents because they never eat out and i was so frustrated to have their meal wrecked because the cooks did not follow some basic protocol . And another thing...you would think if the noodles had absorbed all the liquid that their would be some flavor? Nothing.

I use to frequent this place at least 3 -4 times a week when it was run by the original owners. .. and the food was exceptional. A little too sweet for my palate but almost perfect for most western palates.

Unreal what has happened to the quality and the care.

I hate bad reviews. Maybe I'll try again and order in and try and give a better assessment of the restaurant.

But being in the food industry for as long as I was before motherhood, running a few kitchens... this is totally unacceptable.

One of my old chefs once told me how important it was as a chef - it was our duty to protect and maintain the integrity of the food and ingredients in the dishes you...

I was expecting a little bit more from the reviews being so high but I found that the food quality didn't match my expectations. The portions are small for the price point in my opinion, whereas for the same price at most restaurants you would have leftovers to take home. The food also took a long time to be served, we waited at least 50 minutes to receive our food.

I ordered the bulgogi set which comes with side dishes, lettuce and rice. Apparently the side dishes are non-refillable, when at most restaurants they are. The bulgogi I thought was very flaky and crumbly, not the right texture for bulgogi, although the flavour was good.

The bimbimbap portion was decent but they didn't have a variety of vegetables and didn't give that many which was disappointing. It also wasn't that flavourful, it mostly tasted like the sauce but the sauce was watered down as well.

The dumplings were good in my opinion. The flavour and sauce were great. I'm pretty sure the dumplings were hand made themselves too.

Otherwise, the service provided was very good. The servers were very friendly and...

My wife and I came here last night for dinner. We absolutely loved our experience there. It's a small homey restaurant and our server (forgot to get his name) was so friendly and provided such great service despite being the only server there on a busy night. He was literally always smiling, which we really appreciated! The side dishes were delicious. I particularly enjoyed the fried tofu side dish. I ordered the Short Ribs, which was so so good. The flavour and texture was one of the best I've had in Calgary. My wife ordered the spicy beef brisket soup which was also very good. We'd love to see Spicy Pork Bone soup on the menu (I know he mentioned they might be adding it to the menu in the future), so fingers crossed!

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience and will...