POCHA 1989 — Restaurant in Toronto

I saw this restaurant for the first time two weeks ago as I was walking up on the church street and thought I would give it a try since I am constantly on a lookout for a good Korean restaurant within walking distance from me. I ordered spicy braised chicken and rice ball and the order was prepared and ready for pickup much earlier than I had anticipated.

The food came in microwaveable plastic containers and my initial impression was that the serving size looked small, but I am pretty sure I could have split this into either two meals or share it with another person with a big appetite. The lack of common side dishes, such as kimchi and beansprouds, was disappointing but $15 per person for a Korean takeout is pretty reasonable. Plus, I was impressed with the spicy braised chicken. I could really taste the chicken broth and the dish had a good balance of sweetness from the vegetables and the savouriness from the chicken. I wish they had gone a bit more bold and added more gochujang (Korean fermented red pepper paste), but the flavour overall was pretty good. The rice that came as a side and the glass noodles served with the braised chicken dish were both cooked well too.

I was a little surprised by the fact that the rice ball did not actually come as rice balls, even though they did provide a plastic glove that could have been used to form them into rice balls. I just mixed the toppings around and ate it with a spoon; it was really delicious, packed with lots of indulgent flavors. The rice was a bit of a letdown, however; I'm not sure if it was undercooked or if it had been sitting out for too long, but there were some hardened bits that I did not enjoy eating.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the food from this place and am happy to have discovered a good Korean restaurant close to where I live. The price is reasonable and the quality and the authentic Korean flavors are there. I am looking forward to ordering from this place again in the...

This is the worst restaurant and worst service I have been to, I don’t think it’s a restaurant with good reputation and not worth going to. I went to POCHA 1989 with my friend tonight, was told we have to wait about an hour, left two phone number and name. My friend got a call, but hung up before connecting and called back immediately, they did not answer the phone, at the meantime, we headed to the restaurant. When we got there, one of the host told us, cuz we missed the call, so there is no seat and need put us back on the waiting list. My point is I left two phone number in case missed the phone call, but we only got one call, and there was a male waiter who treated us very rudely, I do not appreciate his bad attitude, he wasn’t work in a very professional manner and in a patronizing way, he didn’t help us to find a solution and yelling at me, he said we do have other customers, why we have to pick up your phone call, you don’t have seat right now and we won’t give you any table, he looked at me with mean eyes.

I think authenticity is the foundation of work with customers. You should treat customers like customers, not you are boss, it’s all customers’ fault, I have no idea that the service culture of POCHA 1989 was so arrogant, and waiters treat guests with his aggressiveness and self-righteousness, we will never go again.

This is the worst experience I have ever had, and it’s not...

POCHA 1989 is an okay spot. It was packed when we went, with people sitting both inside and out. True to the classic pocha style, the space is tight, with tables and chairs crammed together. The interior has that signature dim lighting with lots of small lights scattered around. Service was fast, but don’t expect anyone to check in on your table because it is just too busy.

We got the Budae Jjigae, Rose Tteokbokki, Rose Udon, and a side order of french fries.

The Budae Jjigae came on a stove top so you could heat it up if it started getting cold which was nice. The flavour was nice and simple but not spicy. Budae Jjigae 7/10.

The Spicy Rose Tteokbokki was alright as well. The tteokbokki sauce was very creamy and not spicy. The rice cakes were nicely cooked, mildly chewy, and the odeng was standard 5/10.

The Rose Udon tasted the exact same as the tteokbokki 5/10. Absolutely no difference in both dishes other than one had rice cake and the other had udon. Which kind of sucked but not sure what we would have expected if we got rose sauce for both.

The french fries were delicious, crispy, and lightly salted 10/10.

Its a nice spot for friends to drink and eat, but the drinks are overpriced to take advantage of the youngbloods that seek a trendy...