Seoul House Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

A typical Korean restaurant meal, nothing that particular stands out, nor anything that particular falls flat. Prices are definitely above-average to the average Korean restaurant with similar settings. However, depending on the type of time you are going at and the fullness of the restaurant, it does not appear they have the correct amount of staff (or could be an efficiency thing too) to handle dinner time meals. Upon arrival, staff were running all through the restaurant, nearly bumping into patrons and were in a hurry to notice we were waiting at the queue. When a host finally approached us to ask for the number of guests or reservations, they were then whisked away to take care of other matters. Finally, there was enough yelling back and forth between staff members to determine who would take us to our seats after the third person came by who found our reservation. This is not our first lunch or dinner at this establishment, but none have been more disappointing than this visit and likely be our last.

The first 10 minutes we were at the table, there were no menus and drinks provided. We could tell things were very frantic as a special event was being hosted in the VIP room. We had to flag someone down to ask for menus and drinks multiple times, with servers simply holding their 'wait one minute' finger up until someone finally came. Clearly, the VIP room and other guests took much more precedence. Although we recognize it was a busy night, a quick glance around the room would prove another reviewers point that "non-Koreans" will be subject to lesser service. After placing our orders, the banchan took a long time to arrive, making us think whether they forgot it. When we inquired about it, the server had a questioning look on their face, almost if they expected us not to know how meals were normally served (making me wonder if they wanted to skip out on it had we not inquired/known any better).

Throughout the night, we received very little service and the restaurant continued to be quite chaotic as they appeared to be understaffed to deal with an event and non-event clientele. While we understand an event of is of importance and to have dedicated staff for the event, a good establishment would still have the capacity to handle regular intake. Getting a refill of tea proved to be quite a feat as servers would not come by to check on us or heed our request for service. When we finally asked for the bill, we mentioned to the server that things were very slow tonight. He did not acknowledge our statement. When we paid, we provided a basic tip, customary for service, but obviously nothing generous due to the poor service. He hovered over us as we entered our PIN into the machine and as we got our receipt, he pointed at the bill and said "not enough". Since the bill was paid by card and not by cash, we were perplexed how we could come short. Then finally we made the connection that he meant the tip was not enough. We then reiterated we were not happy with the service tonight and that we hope for better service in the future. Because we were seated in a booth, he stood in front of the exit and continued to say "not enough, more". My sister-in-law, feeling threatened, finally had to rummage through her purse to find some change. It is my understanding that tip if not obligated and the tip is based on the service provided - in this case, minimal. I think this is the first restaurant I've ever been too where we have been blocked from exiting our seat until the tip that the server THOUGHT he deserved wasn't met. Had this not been a special night for us and to not sour the mood further, I would have definitely gave some more vocal feedback. Alas, after many lunches and dinners here, we believe this will...

Although my friend and I thought it was nice that we were seated quickly & even got a private booth… ultimately the service was terrible, simply terrible. Whenever we rang the service bell, nobody came so we had to wave someone down each time - we were basically forgotten about throughout our visit.

Their Korean food wasn’t the best, especially for such high prices. Their Banchan could’ve been better, it was on the basic side. They didn’t accommodate for simple requests such as adding ramen to their Spicy Rice Cakes (which tasted mediocre and wasn’t really spicy). My friend ordered their Kimchi Pancake as well, but they served it burnt on the bottom side! My friend also wanted Gimbap but it wasn’t available for some reason so she ordered their Bulgogi Gimbap instead (those at least tasted decent). However, referring back to their poor service, they had forgotten that my friend had ordered the Bulgogi Gimbap! By the time we noticed, we were already full and completed our meals… my friend mentioned to our server that if it hasn’t already been made, then just cancel it but they ended up bringing it out right after her mentioning to cancel. I had their Galbi Dinner, it was marinated well with nice grill marks served on a sizzling hot plate, but they didn’t even make the plate hot - just used it for plating so the meat wasn’t kept warm throughout the meal and unfortunately wasn’t served at a good hot temperature either.

At the end of our visit, an older lady brought our bills and expected tips! lol… the lady asked my friend three times for tips then had the audacity to ask me to pay for my friend’s tip! After I had paid for my meal with an undeserved tip, she rudely and aggressively tore the printed receipt from the terminal then whipped it downwards in the air like a kid throwing a tantrum and walked away with a grunt.

There’s plenty of free parking available when we went, floors were sticky and washrooms we averagely clean.

We are definitely certain that we will not be returning. You’re better off getting Korean food elsewhere with much...

Never really understood why we continue to come to this restaurant when their service is just terrible. The servers are rude, slow and unfair, as they play favoritism. I've boycotted this restaurant 3 times in the last 7 years (the longest boycott was 1.5 years, shortest 7 months) but always find myself giving them another chance. And then they'll be fine for a little while until the service is bad again. Its just too bad because their food is always top notch and I've been here over 30 times in the past 7 years. If you decide to go for a sit down, i highly recommend avoiding the lunch rush esp on Fridays. It will take north of 30mins before u can even place an order. Prices are a bit on the high side, but like i said, the quality of the food justifies the high prices. They have about 5 ladies working on the floor and they are always scrambling to rush between a half filled restaurant. If you're not in a rush then this restaurant is perfectly fine. However do be warned that if you aren't Korean, you will be unfortunately treated differently. Like a single Korean person sitting on their own, will always get 1) served first, 2) get about 10 side dishes and 3) exceptional service. But a table of 5 people will get 3 side dishes to share amongst everyone. You can always ask for more which they happily refill for you but if u ask for different side dishes that they didn't original serve u, they seem reluctant to give it to you.

Anyways, this time around we (group of 5) waited 15 mins to get seated when there was visibly more than 10 open/clean tables. During this waiting time, ppl were standing at the register to pay and no one was attending them. When we finally got seated, ppl were still waiting to pay at the register. Yikes! then we tried to order for 10mins to get ignored repeatedly by different servers. Even after the servers have acknowledged us and say they will come back, they never do, or just forget. So then we ended up getting up and leaving the restaurant. Looks like it's boycott time...