Most people have heard about Sura’s famous $15/$20 set lunch menu, but this unassuming Korean restaurant tucked away on Cardero Street has a similar deal going on for their lunches as well.
After stalking their Instagram photos, I dragged M here on a Saturday afternoon to check this restaurant out.
It was surprisingly busy when we arrived at around 1:30 pm, but we didn’t have to wait too long for a table to clear up.
What we ate: Mushroom Salad
This was surprisingly delicious! Not Korean in anyway, but the dressing was nice and the salad was fresh. I liked the addition of the mushrooms, they added a really nice flavour to an otherwise standard salad.
What we ate: Tuna Tataki
Pretty standard. I think this used to be an Oyster course but with the warnings going around for Oysters, I think they switched it to Tuna, which is fine by me because I love Tuna!
What we ate: Bibimbap Ball
This was hands down the best course. This came out piping hot and the crispy exterior reminded me of the crust you get in a traditional bibimbap. I loved this! This is how fusion food should be done.
What we ate: Japchae
For me this was the worst dish of the set. Maybe we waited too long to eat this, but the noodles were all congealed and overall the only flavour was sesame oil and black pepper. You can see from the photo, but there wasn’t a whole lot of ingredients going on in this.
What we ate: Korean Taco (Beef, Lettuce, onion, crepe)
This was okay, it was on the blander side. I prefer the Taco from Damso because the shell is chewier. I was reviewing the menu after this and I think the reason why the taco was softer was because it was supposed to be a crepe as opposed to a taco wrapper?
This definitely needs some more hot sauce for more flavour!
What we ate: Dduk Galbi and 24 hours Miso marinated pork belly
Barely a bite, so I can’t really comment too much on the flavour. They both tasted pretty similar because of the onion and jalapeno topping which was the dominant flavours.
What we ate: Beef Soy Bean Paste Soup
Pretty standard doenjjang jjigae. I liked that this wasn’t too salty, but it’s pretty hard to mess up this dish.
What we ate: Mackerel and Kimchi
Yes, kimchi counts as a course. But I will say it was some pretty delicious kimchi! The mackerel was standard, nothing spectacular.
What we ate: Matcha Creme
This was so delicious! There was a very strong matcha flavour and the texture was super creamy. The only downside was that this was so small!
Overall I really enjoyed my experience here! I would say it’s hard to compare to Sura because the food here leans more fusion whereas Sura’s offerings are more traditional. Personally, for $15 I would probably got to Sura Richmond.
The service was on the slower side, but the servers are really earnest and refilled the tea pretty frequently. The restaurant itself is gorgeous with lots of wood paneling and open space.
The standouts for me in this meal was the Bibimbap ball and the Matcha dessert. I will probably come by again to check out their other offerings, but probably not for their set lunch.