The Famous Owl of Minerva — Restaurant in Mississauga

I want to preface by saying this IS certifiably my all-time favourite restaurant. It really isn't even close. I've dined here more times than I can actually count. That being said, I apologise for the photos I have to accompany this review, they're admittedly screengrabs from my Instagram stories, and not really up to par (but better than nothing). That being said, I want to discuss some of my favourite dishes. Let's jump right in!

Pork bone soup (Gamjatang) - "PBS" : This is overall my favourite dish. It's a rich pork bone infused broth, with just the right amount of spice, slight sweetness, and topped with the unique taste of perilla seeds. In this heavenly bowl (along with the broth), you'll find whole pieces of unbelievably tender pork [mostly still attached to the bone], potatoes, cabbage, and green onions. There isn't personally anything I'd change about this dish.

Korean grilled beef (Bulgogi): This dish comes out fiery hot on a sizzling cast-iron dish and is served with a generous portion of rice in a separate bowl. The meat itself is juicy, thin slices of beef accompanied by tiny pieces of vegetables such as mushrooms, broccoli, sweet peppers, green peppers, and rice cakes. It's very savory, with a hint of sweetness. There's also a spicy variety available, which is equally as good, if not better.

Sweet & sour pork (Tangsuyuk): My friend and I had this because it came in a combo with 4 beers for a reasonable price and we were having a night out. That being said, I wasn't absolutely crazy about it. It pretty much describes itself taste-wise, sweet and sour, but predominantly clawingly sweet. It also comes with large chunks of vegetables such as peppers, broccoli, etc... which maintain their crispness. The meat itself is a bit soggy but still very tasty all in all.

Korean dumplings (Mandu): These tasty little morsels are an amazing appetizer or side dish. They're formed of thinly veiled dough and filled with an amazing mixture of juicy ground pork (beef is an option as well) and green onions. They're pan fried, so they have just the right amount of carmelization, and they're served with vinegar (rice wine, I believe) to balance the fattiness. In short, incredible.

LA Galbi (Korean BBQ short ribs): They're pretty self-explanatory in terms of what they are, served on a sizzling dish like the bulgogi, and marinated to perfection. Served with rice on the side, as one would expect with BBQ. I couldn't detect much sweetness to these, very savoury and smokey. So, smokey that if you order multiple, you'll be surrounded by a bit of a cloud of smoke. These have the right amount of chewiness to tenderness ratio, not fall of the bone, but that's a good thing in this case. Every bite releases more and more flavour. One of the pricier items, but assuredly worth every penny.

I've had quite a few other dishes from here including (but not limited to): spicy rice cakes (Tteokbokki), stir fried spicy marinated pork (JeYukBokeum), steamed pork (BoSsam), etc... They were all delicious, I mainly detailed above the dishes I've had multiple times on various occasions and felt I could really attest to.

Everything here is served with banchan (small complimentary side dishes), including: Spicy cucumbers (Oi Muchim), soybean sprouts (Kongnamool), and salted/fermented vegetables (Kimchi).

One thing to note is that while this place is open 24 hrs, they're almost always packed. They have a simple "ticketed" number system, where they'll ask you how many people you're with and give you a number. They'll eventually call your number and seat you. There's also a minimum for Interac purchases, $20 I believe, but don't quote me on that. I'd have to double check. Be sure to grab a couple guava candies on your way out, they're in a little basket by...

Hello,

I have been a customer for many years and eat with my family at the central parkway location. I have been going there ever since I had 1 baby, now I have 3. We have been going for many many years. We are a family of 5. My youngest child is 2. Last night at your restaurant oct 12, we ate again at the central parkway location. With my kids and husband. A usual for us, as we dine in regularly. We entered and was greeted by a young employee. She said "For 5". And I corrected her and said no, it is for 4. That he was sleeping and we will hold him. So we did sit and only took up 4 chairs. We asked if we could bring in my son's stroller and she said no because they need room for the cart. This is all the same young employee with light coloured hair by the way. My son did not eat when he woke up. This employee stood in front of us as our table was next to the cash. She mostly stood there and maybe dropped off one out of 4 dishes. My husband asked for less spice on his meal, and it comes back looking spicy. We can usually tell by the colour, which means she probably did not punch it in. She then comes to us nearly when we were finished eating and she asked if we could pay before 10pm because of shift change. Okay I said and did just that. My husband pays and was shocked she still charged us 15 percent. So to make things short, apparently she told him that 5 people or more is 15 percent tip automatically when she sat us down. And he agreed. Well without my knowledge thay he agreed. So he was surprised she still charged my son as a fifth person as she could see us eat and my son was sleeping and when he woke he did not eat nor take up a spot of a seat. So then my point is, I told her after calling her the next day, when did this come into effect? Paying 15 percent tip automatically if it is 5 or more people. She said I don't know. Only since she started working 10 months ago she knew about it. And we ate there not too long ago. And no one ever did that for 5 or more people. And asking us to pay before shift change very strange because no one ever asked us to do that before either. She said over the phone when I called today that I could have just told her to not charge my son as a fifth person. And I said, no one would do that thay people would just pay. Minimum for restaurants in canada to charge 15 percent for 6 or even 8 or more. End of the story I still paid what we were asked and we also paid before 10 as asked to. We felt hustled by this young employee. An older regular employer even followed me and apologized. Normally we pay at least 15 but did feel this visit was not up to par with the treatment. I asked if I could speak to a manager or boss onsite lastnight and they said no one is there. And today over the phone with this same employee she said no manager or boss is ever at this location. She said I could email on the website. Which I did, but it doesn't appear to send. I'm posting about this here. So there may be a chace the owner/boss will see.

P.s. Last time, when we were a group of 6. My husband added a tip. And when he saw the receipt, he noticed gratuity was already added without anyone informing him. He had to tell them he paid double the tip now because they did not notify him to begin with. And they had to give him back money. They said 6 or more people is automatic 15 percent. And they young employee lastnight said 5??? Communication is very poor. At least make a signage at the door and cash area. P.p.s the food is and...

I am still suffering from diarrhea after eating at this place. I've been to 5 other Owl locations, so I thought I would be expecting the same level of service. In fact, I was at the Owl in Waterloo twice last week. (They're amazing, by the way.) I'm just glad I am out of the Mississauga store.

We waited for a very long time for a seat, which was fine. We ordered very quickly after we sat. The three of us ordered a pancake, bibimbap, and pork bone soup. The pancake came first. It was lukewarm. The batter was not cooked in the middle and the whole thing was mushy. We didn't say anything because it was a full house and thought this was just an anomaly. The bibimpap came next. Something looked wrong. The stone bowl was not sizzling. Upon further inspection, the rice was lukewarm and the veggies were cold. Looked like the bowl never went into the oven in the first place. We asked the server to bring the bowl back into the oven for us. When the pork bone soup came, I expected the worse and it was mildly warm. After that, I just wanted to finish the food quickly and get the heck out of there.

As I was eating, we had nasty old dish juices spattered on my back as the attendants were cleaning up tables. The pork bone soup juices is still stained on the back of my shirt. The food carts were running so close to my arm, I was so scared I was going to be scalded by the boiling broth. I wondered to myself, why did none of our dishes come out hot.

My stomach started feeling not right in the middle of the meal. I went the washroom twice because i started not feeling well. I just wanted this ordeal to be over. When i went to pay, it was natural for me not to tip because my stomach was in pain and I was in a hurry to leave. To top this experience all off, when the woman at the register saw this, she gave me a look of absolute disgust. I wished I could've used the bathroom one more time, but she'd probably kick me out.

I might just have to call the city for a food inspector to check out this place. I've only had food poisoning once before. My stomach is still feeling ill as I'm typing this.

Good luck to those who wish to try...