.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Food - 9/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 8/10
We were recommended Koreana BBQ Restaurant by a few Korean friends and found it tucked away in an industrial strip mall just off Macleod Trail. We came away impressed by the skillful preparation of authentic Korean dishes and this might not sound like a big deal - the powerful hood fans that kept the air relatively free from the heavy scent of BBQ that clings to your clothes after a visit to a typical Korean BBQ restaurant. The restaurant interior is spacious, with private group dining "rooms" that can be separated from the main dining area with sliding wooden screens.
First off, Darrin ordered his favourite Korean beer- Hite, light and refreshing.
Soon after we ordered, the small Korean side dishes, banchan, arrived and are always a great way to whet the appetite before your meal with the combination of spicy, sour and salty dishes. Even though these dishes are served before the mains arrive, they are meant to be eaten throughout the meal as an accompaniment. I find the pickled dishes like daikon and bean sprouts to be a great refresher to hot, spicy dishes and the spicier banchan like kimchi balances heavier, starchy dishes like the seafood pancake we had.
The seafood pancake (hae mul pajeon) was served on a hot plate which kept it warm and crisp. We noticed the fresh mussels, shrimp, and squid was in a light batter that was not at all overly doughy in texture. Highly recommend this dish if you like Korean seafood pancake; this one will not dissapoint.
 |
| Rice for pancake |
We also ordered a short rib rice bowl (galbi jim) which contained shredded seaweed, carrots, cucumber, spinach, pickled bean sprouts, shitake and enoki mushrooms. You can top this delicious combination of ingredients with the sweet and spicy chilli/bean sauce that adds a just the right amount of spice to the rice.
Our last order was a beef bulgogi hotpot which is served raw, atop a portable burner. This allows you to control the cooking time of the ingredients in the hotpot which included soft tofu, green onion, sliced king eryngii enoki, and straw mushrooms, some sort of spinach like green, Napa cabbage and glass noodles. The broth was slightly sweet and flavourful, which added to the bulgogi marinade on the beef. This hotpot was a good hearty dish for the unseasonably chilly spring weather we've been experiencing in Calgary. We ordered this hotpot in medium, which could have easily served 4 people, which we somehow managed to finish.
Koreana is can be easily be missed due to its out-of-way location but a great place to go if you're looking for an authentic, quality, reasonably priced Korean food experience.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment