So Hyang Korean Cuisine — Restaurant in Vancouver

I went to this establishment today with my friends family for a dinner. I've seen reviews of this place and it seemed to be very promising. When I walked in those front doors, I saw a very crammed hallway like environment which has me worried for a bit due to the limited eating space each person has, and I was correct. The staff was kind and helpful though the entire experience especially the boss. the place was warm and cozy which was a good beginning. The place was also very clean in most cases, and at the same time a very busy environment. However I am here mainly for the food.

The first dish I need to rate was the Bulgogi. This is a dish for beef lovers especially due to its very nice complex flavor that complements each other. The dish is also very saucy because the beef juices and the sauce was mixed together to something even better therefore making this dish the star compared to other dishes.

The second dish that came in a mere second was similar to the Bulgogi. It was the same dish but with glass noodles. The dish was almost equally as great, but adding the noodles downgraded the flavors of the dish. Not only that, but the noodles are not really absorbing any of the juices at all which was a bit depressing.

Lastly, the final dish that did shine compared to the others is the Topokki. We got the mild spice for it and it was pretty tasty and have no major complaints about it. The reason why its 3rd on my list is because it isn't anything special compared to the Bulgogi. It has fishcake, instant noodles, rice cake, and tiny sausages which tastes good but isn't too special.

The other dishes such as the pancakes and dumplings were OK. In my opinion the pancakes were either not special or were too doughy. The dumplings were crunchy and the filling was tasty, but like other dumplings, had nothing unique about it. The sides were alright but they were not special and didnt stand out. But the Dol Sat Bibim Bap was the worst out of the bunch. The rice wasn't cooked properly and mushy while the mushroom and carrots served no good purpose. It would've tasted better if the mushroom was removed entirely, and the carrot was pickled in some sort of way in order to enhance the flavoring of the dish. There was also not much beef and a lot of rice making the beef/veg to rice ratio uneven.

Overall the place is very nice and some dishes can be improved on. It is understandable that the area is small because the rent space is shared with a laundry mat that is right beside the restaurant. I would recommend this place due to the good taste of most of the food, friendly, cozy environment, and an affordable price for all the food in this establishment. I would definitely return with my relatives to eat some fine...

Traditional Korean Cuisine. My husband and I came by for an early dinner a couple of days ago after a failed attempt to make a dinner reservation during an evening rush. We ordered an appetizer plate of mandoo, deep fried Korean dumplings filled with chopped cabbage, green onions and a smidgen of ground pork. The dumplings looked so enticing and promising. They had an adequate amount of juiciness and crunch but the flavour was predominantly onions and cabbage. The pork flavour was entirely lost. We were disappointed. For our entrees we ordered the B1 a traditional bulgogi, a sliced beef marinated in soy, sugar and wine mixture, cooked with shredded carrots, onions and sliced dumpling dough? served on a teppan hotplate. Wow. What we got was a super sugary sweet flavour with a strong wine sauce. The beef was not bbq as we had hoped so it arrived almost boiled in its sauce and there was very little beef considering the cost. A quartet of tasty pickled veg and a bowl of rice accompanied this dish. Another disappointment. The second entree was a deep-fried battered chicken dish numbered D3 served with a supposedly hot, spicy and sour sauce. Luckily we ordered this dish as mildly spicy because we found through experience that each restaurant has their own spice levels. This dish arrived looking tempting. This was THE DISH we were looking forward to. The description in the menu sounded like the wonderful deep fried spicy chicken dish that we had in a Korean restaurant decades ago. What we received was nowhere near the mark. The batter was thick, gummy and very chewy. Some of the pieces had no chicken inside. It was pure batter! This dish was mildly spiced but again very sweet and got its sourness from the pickled peppers that it was finished with. We felt we needed something salty to counteract all that sweet we'd been eating. The decor is modern with crate style shelving and miniatures on display. The lighting was recessed into the ceiling. Big screen tv on one wall, narrow corridor leading to the restrooms. We were unlucky to be seated directly below the speakers so conversation was challenging. Small space overall with limited number of tables that fill up quickly. Service was excellent. Overall the food was 3/5 but I have to give kudos of 10/10 to the chef who called me on my cell after we left to tell me there was a huge over payment on my part with the interac machine. That was prompt and awesome customer service that I will not forget in a hurry Luckily I was still in the neighborhood so I returned and...

I made a mistake and ordered "Very Spicy" Topokki thinking the "mild" wasn't going to be spicy because most restaurants that serve this dish makes it either very sweet or very spicy like there's no in between. The spice was so strong that it overpowered every side dish and other dishes there. My mother took one bite of it and she cried the entire experience. I went in thinking I could champ through the spice and take more bites, but everything I ate aside from it enhanced the pain. It made it feel like the Toppoki was inedible. After the seventh bite. My lips went numb. I couldn't feel my cheeks or the tears running down, my nose kept running, both my hands were shaking and I felt lightheaded. We called it quits taking bites and it was just better to take it home and reduce the spice by adding it to other home dishes.

For 20+ dollars on Toppoki; the portion and pain from that wasn't worth the experience of that money. It was just too much spice. Spicy TacoBell gives you a better experience when you go to the bathroom and that says something.

My mother wanted a fish dish and the only dish there that they had was grilled mackerel. For 20+ dollars. You get a half side of mackerel less than a tray of fish and chips for 15+ dollars, but served with Rice and miso soup. There's no way that you serve a half side of a fish that's pretty small and too salty compared to other restaurants with a small bowl of rice and miso soup to price it almost as much as the Toppoki. With both dishes have a brain cell collision to decide "how big or how small" are the portions gonna be. Both of them were poor choices despite one of them being a popular choice.

The menu selection is also a bit too vague. My mother is 67 and she isn't versed with English or Korean. We're Vietnamese. The menu had no images so she couldn't find a dish she could pick. I would take my money back if it was offered or I regret coming here. The staff didn't even look like they wanted to be there either. I don't know if I caught them on a bad day or what, but as for spending 45+ dollars. I felt that money would've been a lot better spent on Lee Loy's BBQ market (which was next to the restaurant across the street) for 4 pounds of honey BBQ pork (because 2 pounds was easily 20+ dollars) to eat at...