Dookbaeki Korean Restaurant South — Restaurant in Edmonton

ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE. I brought my non-Asian friend to try Korean food for the very first time today around 6pm and I left completely embarrassed and we were dumbfounded by the mistreatment. I wished I would've brought him literally anywhere else...even if it meant to the food court. I wanted to speak to the manager about what happened, but JOKES ON ME because the RUDE server with the short bob and tattoo on her neck was THE MANAGER.

If you have been to this restaurant, you will know that they serve hot tea and cold water on the table with cups. Korean food is also very spicy especially for someone having it for the very first time. I had poured hot tea in both our cups and my friend politely asked the server for another cup so he can have some water. You see the cup in the picture I took, we had to fight with her in order to get it. This is what the server, which I found out later was the MANAGER told us in an extremely RUDE way:

"NO," "You can only have ONE cup" "You have to choose whether you want to drink tea OR water" "Look around other tables, can you SEE, everyone only has ONE cup"

At this point we were flabbergasted. I told her I have never been to a restaurant where I was only allowed ONE cup per person.

My friend said again that he really just wanted to drink some water. This server/manager is not much older than us, likely also in her 30s. She made it seem like our request to have a cup for water was so unreasonable. The way she was speaking to my friend was like as if he was a child and she was being extremely CONDESCENDING as if we were being disciplined for making such an unreasonable request. The server/manager said:

"I am only going to give you this extra cup this ONE TIME, not ever again"

She made an EXCEPTION and gave us an extra cup...she also had her entire palm on the rim of the cup when she slammed it on the table..

After being treated this way we have lost our appetite. My friend was wondering if he was being discriminated because he was non-Asian and Muslim.

He also asked me in the most innocent way, whether I had brought him to a NORTH KOREAN restaurant where certain things are rationed.....I was extremely embarrassed, but the manager should be ashamed of how she conducted herself.

I spoke to another server when I was paying and she asked me how was everything. I couldn't just brush it off so I told her everything. I asked her if there was a ONE CUP PER PERSON POLICY in this restaurant and she said no...so someone please tell me, why were we being mistreated??!? This was also when she told me the server was the manager, but she would not disclose her name. She said yea, she does have a strong personality and is like that way sometimes..if that is the case, I hate to break it to you, you are in the...

This is my favorite Korean restaurant in the city. Sure, there are the old dependables like Bul Go Gi House and the like who've been the old stalwarts and staples of Korean food in the city, but they've always catered to the western tastes.

But Dookbaeki is honest. They don't compromise or cater to any other palettes than the Korean one. This place offers traditional and authentic Korean food and taste.

Their 국밥, "soup meal", or "soup rice" if you want to get literal, is hearty and satisfying. Then they have the platters of blood sausage and pork innards if you're so inclined and adventurous to chow down with a few bottles of soju.

And their steamed handmade kimchi wontons bring a smile to your face as you scarf them down.

I don't care much for other Korean restaurants in the city. Most of them have compromised themselves to cater to the western or the Chinese palette since they're their biggest clientele and take short cuts and offer embarrassingly pathetic pale version of the authentic and traditional Korean dishes just because they prey or take advantage of the fact that the Canadians and the Chinese and other ethnic groups that comprise most of their clientele don't know any better what authentic and honest Korean food is supposed to taste like.

Those restaurants might, just might, offer tasty enough food to get by, but that doesn't mean that they're making good Korean food.

Sadly though, Edmonton still doesn't have big enough of a Korean community for restaurants to thrive or even survive by offering true Korean food. So, many Korean restaurants find themselves with much more non Korean customers who patronize them and are forced to cater to their palette.

But not Dookbaeki. I'm going to eat their food as often as my schedule and my wallet allows and I truly hope that they can keep true to their offerings without compromising or changing anything in their menu. Edmonton never had a Korean restaurant like this.

And holy! Do they offer terrific value for the money! Their tonkatsu, the breaded and deep fried pork chop, come with 2 huge pieces of cutlets. Other places, including the Japanese restaurants, only give you just one puny piece, two if they're generous, but still small pieces and I've always came out feeling ripped off and unsatisfied.

Not Dookbaeki.

There have been so many times I've come out of pho or sushi places feeling I was ripped off. But Dookbaeki has never let me down and I get to chown down on some true Korean food.

It's awesome.

Keep up the...

Horrible customer service! Will NEVER go again! I went to the restaurant in the evening for dinner with a party of 7 ( one baby, one child and five adults). On the waiting list there were only two pairs ahead of us so we didn’t expect much of a wait. They told us it would take a little over 30 mins of waiting which was understandable since it was busy and families with kids usually take longer to eat. As we waited outside letting the other two parties wait inside, more groups were coming and putting their names on the waiting list (groups to 4-7). Once we waited for 20 minutes the two parties ahead of us got their tables so we for sure thought it wouldn’t be much longer of a wait for us. 40 minutes pass and my kids were getting hungry, furthermore, I walked inside to check on our table and reminded them that we been waiting. I saw two empty tables (a table of four and two). I assumed they would combine the tables to accommodate our party of 7. However, they didn’t and let a family of 4 have the table and a couple. It is extremely upsetting especially that they barely waited and they could easily combine the table for us. They either were too lazy to combine the tables or just didn’t want to serve us even though we been waiting so patiently the past 40 minutes not even complaining. We wait for an extra 20 minutes with a family of six who has been waiting for about 20 minutes. I go back in the restaurant to remind them the SECOND time about our table and they didn’t even reassure me at all. They just kept telling me to wait. The family of six comes in also asking about their table and immediately they said they had a table for them! They didn’t even have reservations and my family was waiting now for longer than an hour! They didn’t value our business at all and were inconsiderate of how long we were waiting for especially with a hungry baby. They said if we wait an extra 30 minutes they would have a table for us but no way would I give them our business after waiting so long. We ended up leaving for another Korean restaurant that was willing to take...