La Maison Bulgogi — Restaurant in Montreal

Long review, but also long time coming.

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for 7 years. Even after I moved out of Montreal, whenever I’m in town I go here.

I’m Korean and went to Canada to study. I really missed my mom’s home cooking, and their soup was the only one I’ve had in Canada that tasted authentic and reminded me of home. Some of my favourites are soup (#8 on the menu, that I always order spicy) and their pork belly. Absolutely huge portions of delicious meat.

I also love their sides. The kimchi was amazing and reminded me of home too, but it was little less flavourful a couple of times. Mostly the food I had for the past seven years was wonderful. I took my friends there too and they all loved it.

And also, the owner is an amazingly kind person. When I lost my wallet as a broke college student, I came in to ask if I left it there (ate there for 3-5 times a week because I had no time to cook and they had huge portions with good price). I was crying, I had no food at home, it was Friday and a long weekend and I had no access to my bank to get groceries. Eric sent me home with a huge bowl of Korean fried rice. It tasted so good and kept me fed for the next 3 days. The kindest man I met, and his restaurant provided a taste of home for the years I spent in Montreal.

I can’t vouch for every single item on the menu, but I’ve been ordering #8 spicy since 2017. Loved their fried shrimp too. I’m genuinely sad that such a wonderful restaurant doesn’t have more hype. Give it a try and hopefully you’ll love it as much as I...

This is not a Korean restaurant, it is a Chinese restaurant with Korean words on the menu. Yes, the menu is all Korean foods, but they are far from acceptable and it will destroy your image for Korean food. The male's bathroom was broken, closing the door was impossible. The condition of the toilet is beyond dirty. The toilet is located next to the kitchen, so I happened to see how dirty the kitchen is in the inside. Cooked meat was all in a bucket on the floor. But I still tried the restaurant anyway. I ordered a bimbimbap, it wasn't in a stone pot, so the rice is cold. The rice is so wet, it is as if I am drinking liquid rice, it was disgusting. The rice is Chinese rice, it is nothing compare to rice that other Korean restaurants provide. I also ordered a can of coke. They gave me a straw, that is so dirty, I don't even know why they would think it is fine to give a customer a dirty straw (which should have been white) with black mark everywhere as if they took it out from the garbage. This isn't the worst part, while I am eating, ants were all over the table. I don't know what was going on, I just keep on killing and killing them. I left without finishing my food. Ants kill counts was above 20. I certainly would not recommend anyone to go there, unless you have a fetish for ants. If you want Korean food, this is not the place for you. If you want Chinese food, this also isn't the place for you. If you want Korean food, please do not go here. You may start hating Korean food, without actually tasting what real Korean food...

I came here because this place, while contentious, seemed promising: on the one hand I saw a deluge of negative reviews on Yelp and Google Reviews, but on the other hand I looked at the pictures of the food and the most recent rave reviews, and I was convinced to give this place a shot.

In terms of aesthetics, this place definitely does not deserve 4 stars. The floor looked grimy, I saw a huge pile of cardboard boxes full of kitchen apparati, the place looked generally disorganize, and the kitchen appeared to be quite small and understaffed. Still, I came here for the food, so I didn't immediately feel alarmed.

The service was swift and honestly, wasn't bad at all: the young Chinese guy greeted me, and immediately gave me water. After ordering what I thought was the cheapest entree--bulgogi fried ice--I was swiftly given 4 side dishes: kimchi, potatoes, soybean sprouts and spiced cucumbers. The kimchi was awful, but the the rest of the side dishes were decent.

Then came the fried rice. after 5-10 minutes of wait. Portions: huge. Definitely could feed me two meals (and I'm a pretty big eater). And the taste? Surprisingly good! It was a little spicy as I asked. The fried rice was very nicely fried; the right amount of salt and MSG. Honestly reminded me of the fried rice my mom used to cook (but note that she's Chinese lol).

Is this place authentically Korean? Absolutely not. Did I find the place worth the price? Honestly, yes. Service is quick, food is definitely palatable, and the portions are huge. Would I...