주막오타와 한식당_치킨 -JUMAK KOREAN KITCHEN AND PUB — Restaurant in Ottawa

I honestly don’t even know where to start… but I guess from the beginning.

My friend and I decided to try Jumak for the first time. We wanted to keep things simple, so we ordered two bowls of seolleongtang, two Cokes, and a mandu to share.

When we first arrived, we asked for a table for two. The waiter told us to wait, which was fine, but then she called us from all the way across the room to come sit down. It felt a bit awkward, but we brushed it off.

We looked at the menu for a few minutes, closed it, and waited for someone to take our order. That wait alone took quite a while — definitely longer than it should have. When our order was finally taken, the mandu came out first from one server, and then another person brought the rest of our food.

The only thing we actually enjoyed was the mandu — and even then, they gave us what felt like just two drops of soy sauce to go with it. The side dishes tasted old and stale. I’ve had these same dishes at other Korean restaurants many times before, and they were always fresh and flavorful. These tasted like they had been sitting out for days.

About 30 minutes in, after just a few bites of our soup, we realized we couldn’t keep eating. The food was that bad — bland, strange-tasting, and overall unpleasant. We both decided to just stop forcing ourselves and ask for the bill.

However my friend and I considered coming back to give it a second chance by trying a different dish.

When the male server brought the bill, we paid but decided not to leave a tip. That’s not something I normally do — I almost always tip — but given the lack of service, the poor food, and how disconnected everything felt, it didn’t seem deserved. We just wanted to quietly pay and leave.

But then, right after we paid, the same server came back and asked if something was wrong with the service. We were completely caught off guard. Not wanting to make a scene, we politely said no. But he didn’t stop there — he started pressing us, in front of everyone, asking why we didn’t tip. It was incredibly uncomfortable and felt more like an interrogation than a question.

I explained that our experience wasn’t special in any way — different people kept switching between taking our order, serving food, and handling the bill, so we didn’t even know who the tip would go to. I also mentioned that tipping isn’t mandatory, and that asking customers about it so directly is inappropriate. Instead of apologizing, he smirked and continued to argue, insisting that there must have been something wrong with the service.

By that point, both my friend and I were completely uncomfortable and just wanted to leave. The entire interaction felt unprofessional, condescending, and humiliating — especially being questioned about tipping in front of other diners.

There are so many other Korean restaurants out there that offer exceptional service, delicious food, and staff who actually make you feel welcome — and those places are truly tip-deserving. Sadly, Jumak was the complete opposite. This was an awful experience from start to finish. The food was bad, the service was confusing, and the ending left us feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable. I’ve never felt so unwelcome in a restaurant before. I’m assuming based on the other reviews this isn’t a first time occurrence and it’s very unfortunate. We definitely won’t...

I am a visitor from Vancouver and it was my first time visited the restaurant. Very disappointed of the dish Seoleong Tang (OX bone soup) I ordered this evening. The menu said the soup is made from OX bones, brisket and other cuts. I was pretty confused when I got the bowl as it was just HALF filled with soup, no OX bones but a few thin slices of briskets and small amount of vermicelli, no other beef cuts. The menu picture shows the soup was pretty packed with ingredients in a pretty full bowl of soup. I was wondering did they forget to put the OX bones in the soup as the bowl was just half filled and no other meat cuts in the soup. The manager then explained the soup was made from OX soup and other cuts BUT no bones or other meat cuts will be present but only briskets in the bowl. I was dissatisfied with her explanation as the quantity of soup or briskets slices were not in reasonable quantity and the menu picture was misleading also. The OX bone soup is one of my favourite must-order Korean dish as the soup I tried in a few different Korean restaurants in the past were very rich in flavour with generous amount of beef in the soup that made people feel satisfying after eating. However, this was very disappointed of the quality and quantity of the bone soup in this restaurant. The manager had poor customer service and not professional. I won't go there again and won't recommend friends to...

Drop by on a pretty peaceful afternoon. My friend has been wanting to try this place for some time so we made plans to visit after seeing it on Instagram.

Pros: Restaurant was clean, atmosphere and natural lighting was nice We were seated pretty quickly, and initial service was good. Korean fried chicken was crispy and flavors were good, but on bland side for the flavors we chose.

Cons: Honestly, I don't think this represents Korean food very well. Flavors were underwhelming and missing the impact Korean food is known for. No Spice and a bit bland. A bit stingy with no free banchan refills given they give so little in the first place for multiple people, I have never been to a Korean restaurant that has charged for this across US/Canada/Korea/Australia. Service dropped off after we were seated, they did not come by again to check in or offer refills for water. We had to try to get their attention with little success as we barely saw them. My group of 3 and this family of I believe 5 people were the only two groups of people in the restaurant, with most attention going to their table.

Overall, as a Korean, the flavors did not hit home for me and was a bit disappointing. I was feeling hopeful but will adjust my expectations for the next time I go. I hope next time...