Daldongnae Korean BBQ - Byward Market — Restaurant in Ottawa

Food Review!!

Daldongnae 25 York St, Ottawa, ON

Food – 8/10 We were looking for a late-night spot (which is rare in Ottawa!) and found Daldongnae in ByWard Market. It was one of the few places still open past 10 PM, and it was packed. We ordered three sets of meat: two thin-sliced short plates and one pork belly. Everything was delicious. They may have fewer side dishes than their well-known competitor (the one that starts with a G and ends with an insect that collects honey), but the quality made up for it. The cucumber kimchi was fresh and flavorful, the japchae was well seasoned, and the kimchi jjigae really hit the spot. Their meat was really good quality too!

Location – 8/10 Right in the heart of ByWard and easy to find. The interior gives real Korean street vibes, and seeing so many Korean diners made it feel even more authentic.

Service – 7/10 Polite but not very attentive. I had to get up a couple of times to ask for extra orders. A bit more energy and smiles from the staff would make the experience better.

Value – 9/10 Portions were generous, prices were reasonable, and definitely cheaper than their main competitor.

Will definitely be back for another late-night...

Not a good experience. The service was friendly, but not enough to make the experience good. We ordered 3 different orders of steak, wagyu, and 2 Terra beers. The beers were the best part of the meal. The sides were bland, the meat was pretty bland as well, and our grill didn't work properly for 2/3 of our meal.

We had to ask the servers multiple times to check on the grill because it definitely was not hot. It took roughly 15 minutes to cook eggs that they give you when they start the grill, and it barely cooked the meat. We had to request moving tables, which we only got to do when our wagyu came at the end. What a difference that made in the remaining meat, actually being able to get some color on it.

That being said, I paid $170 dollars for this meal. I got given 2 random soft drinks as an apology. The meat was bland, the sauces and sides were pretty mediocre and bland, and it just wasn't a good experience. For that price, I would rather buy some really nice cuts of beef from my butcher, because I'd have to cook them myself anyways and I know my grill works. Definitely...

My review is very generous. I came in around 7pm on Saturday and there was long queue for a table. The guy working there said that there's a 30 mins wait for a table. In the end, we waited an hour... trust me I did keep track of time because I was starving. Then when we ordered our food, the waitress forgot to bring us the complimentary soup and she got the drink order wrong too. Later when we asked the waitress for a refill of the side dishes, she never brought them and we had to ask another waiter to bring it. We later ordered more meat but it never came and 30 mins later, I had to flag down another waiter to get it. The meat portion is very small. I'm pretty sure it's less than 185g as advertised, more like 120-130g. The meat did appear fresh though. The complimentary dishes were just ok, nothing special- you do get free refill on them. Service wasn't great until I complained about us not getting our last order. The total came out to over $100 after tax and tip. I'm not sure why we tipped. I wish we didn't tip. Overall, I will not...