Dae Bak Bon Ga

After running some errands in the neighbourhood, my boyfriend and I stopped by Dae Bak Bon Ga, a korean restaurant and karaoke place in Kitsilano, for a quick bite. When we first entered, we were weirded out by the fact that the restaurant was completely empty, even though it was almost 2 in the afternoon on a weekend. It stayed that way through out our meal, with only two other patrons coming in to order take out. Despite this, the service was friendly and prompt.

I decided to order a lunch combo consisting of Steamed pork + Soft Tofu Soup, which also came with a bowl of a rice. The steamed pork was actually pork belly and it was rather tasteless on its own. However, it did go well with the spicy vegetables and the singular piece of lettuce that it came with (I broke off pieces of the lettuce for each pork belly piece). The soft tofu soup was okay but I was dissatisfied that there was no egg in it.

My boyfriend had the Bulgogi Stew, which came with clear noodles in it. It may be hard to tell by the pictures but this dish is actually larger than the soft tofu soup. The beef was lean while the noodles were slightly chewy, just the way I like it. The soup itself was sweet but with a slightly off taste to it that I couldn't quite identify. The stew came with a bowl of rice as well.

Like any other Korean restaurant, our meal came with a couple side dishes, or banchan. They were all good except for the kimchi, which had a strange taste to it.

Overall, it was a passable meal at Dae Bak Bon Ga, but I won't be in a hurry to return and it is not a place I would go out of my way to recommend.