Gyodong Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

One of the Worst Dining Experiences I’ve Ever Had – Absolutely Disgusted

I don’t usually write reviews, but what happened today was so outrageous I feel obligated to warn others.

Let me break this down:

False advertising and deception. I ordered a noodle dish that clearly listed shrimp tempura. What I received was a spring roll. When I questioned the server, he casually told me “that’s the old menu from six months ago.” Excuse me?! Then why is it still being presented to customers? Why wasn’t I informed of the change before ordering? This is misleading and unacceptable.

Ridiculously slow service. Despite the restaurant being half-empty, it took 30+ minutes to get our food. What were they even doing back there? This is not a fine dining place where slow service is justified — it was just plain inefficiency.

No option to split the bill. Seriously? In 2025, in Canada, at a casual restaurant — and I can’t split the bill? That’s just lazy management and shows zero regard for customer convenience.

Because of all this, I made the completely fair decision not to tip. But wait — it gets worse.

Racist and disrespectful behavior from the staff. I accidentally left my car key at the table. I came back immediately and asked the same server who had cleared my table just minutes before. You know what he said? “Maybe a Black guy stole it.” Are you serious?! That is one of the most disgusting, racist remarks I’ve ever heard in Canada — and it came from a staff member at a business that’s supposed to serve the public. Absolutely shameful.

And then, instead of just giving me back my key — which he clearly had — he made me wait nearly 20 minutes, wasting my time while “playing around”, only to finally hand it over and say, “Next time you come here, you better tip, because this is a Korean restaurant in Canada.”

WHAT?! So now customers are being bullied and guilt-tripped into tipping, regardless of the quality of service? Last I checked, Canada has no law requiring people to tip, and frankly, with service and behavior like that, this place deserves nothing.

To the owner: If you’re reading this, your staff humiliated and disrespected a paying customer, gave terrible service, made racist comments, and thought it was okay to mess around when I was clearly in a rush. And now you’re wondering why I didn’t tip?

This place should be ashamed of the way it treats people. I will never return. I strongly urge others to avoid this restaurant unless you enjoy being lied to, ignored, insulted, and racially profiled.

Absolutely...

Male asian server around 9-9:30pm on May 2nd 2025, waits 22 minutes after ordering before telling us they cannot fulfill our order (bulgogi rice item) after ordering it.

He then tries to make it seem it’s our fault for ordering after last call even though we entered the restaurant and he let us sit down and order from the tablet BEFORE taking the tablet away from us after we ordered saying that it was last call. 22 minutes after we ordered, he comes back to us saying that they cannot make our order and tries to make it seem like it is our fault for coming after last call even though by his quotation, we ordered 22 minutes before the end of last call.

If the restaurant cannot make the items we ordered they should not have let us wait 22 minutes BEFORE informing us of this nor should they have delivered other foods (appetizers) to imply that all of our orders went through and are coming. The male server then tries to bribe us by saying the food we ordered other than the main meal bulgogi item (tiny dumplings and the most mid tasting jajangmyeon that I only took a tiny nibble of) would be on the house, but did so in a demeanour that made it seem like it was the customer’s fault and that he’s doing us a favour by letting us eat for “free” even though he let us sit down and order instead of turning us away from the start. If you cannot fulfill orders you should not let customers wait 22 minutes after ordering NOR should you make it seem like it is their fault. Upon hearing this news, we refused to eat the “free” mediocre looking jajangmyeon which was given to us shortly after hearing our main item could not be completed.

I am not sure if the server was born and raised in Canada, but even if so, he has a lot to learn about Canadian standards before trying to work a server job in Canada. His attitude was completely unacceptable and if this was any other Canadian establishment, he would be held to the same standard. I hope management does some customer service training because there are thousands of other born and raised Canadians looking for a job right now who would love to take his place and do a better job than him.

Overall, thanks to the customer service alone, I would not recommend this restaurant and would instead point potential customers to the tens of other wonderful Korean restaurants on Bloor/Christie like Damda, Jin Dal Lae,...

Don’t be fooled by the photos in other reviews — the food I received looked and tasted completely different.

My experience at Gyodong Banjeom was nothing short of disappointing. I came with high expectations, but what I got was unacceptable — both in quality and service.

The Jjajangmyeon noodles were so undercooked and chewy, it felt like trying to bite through rubber bands. The sauce didn’t soak into the noodles at all, making each bite dry and tasteless.

The Jeyuk Deopbap was aggressively sweet and salty, with too much corn syrup overpowering everything. The pork was so tough it felt like chewing on rubber.

The Jjamppong had zero flavor — no depth, no proper broth, nothing close to what Jjamppong should be.

The Tangsuyuk was fried in a batter so thick and greasy that I couldn’t even taste the meat inside.

To make matters worse, a customer beside me received a dish that was clearly messed up, but the staff didn’t show even a hint of apology. The service was indifferent at best, completely lacking basic hospitality.

This makes me question the consistency and honesty of this restaurant. Why are other customers getting photogenic, decent-looking dishes, while I received something that felt completely neglected? Is there a double standard happening here?

To the owner: I challenge you to secretly order your own food — without notifying the kitchen — and eat it like a regular customer. That’s the only way you’ll understand how far the quality has dropped.

I didn’t just waste my money. I wasted my time, my expectations, and my trust.

I won’t be returning. And if you value your money and dignity, I strongly suggest you reconsider before...