Wonjo Bbq & Noodle Restaurant

This definitely leans towards a 3.5, but i’ll get to that.
The place (stated multiple times) is authentic and has a certain aesthetic that places in Vancouver won’t capture. We were greeted at the door by a lady and seated quickly and with tea ready. A bunch of my friends ordered the Bibimbap, the Ddukbaegi Bulgogi, and 3 of us ordered the Beef Shabu Shabu (orders of 2+ as previously stated by others). There was definitely a language barrier with the waitress but that just adds to the authenticity of the place.
I didn’t try the other dishes aside from the banchan and Shabu Shabu, so i’ll base my critique off those.
The kimchi wasn’t overly fermented and had a nice kick of spice with it (perfect for me). The potatoes were well seasoned however my friend did mention that some of them felt a little undercooked/​frozen possibly??? The seaweed had a good taste to it but i’m usually not one for kelps. The bean sprout dish was likely my favorite of the 4; it had a nice sesame flavor to it and just enough saltiness with it.
The shabu shabu came out with a gigantic arrangement of vegetables, a plate of kalguksu, and a platter of beef. From sheer observation, I would say the beef ends up being less than 8oz all together (AND it was for 3 people). I would assume their expectation was for you to get full on vegetables and have the *small* pieces of meat as a side (i’m used to AYCE hot pot, so getting my money’s worth is usually a priority). The noodles however were very bouncy and had a very nice texture. They even warn you to add them last so you don’t get either overcooked noodles or a floured-​soup. There was an option to order extras of everything but the price already came up to ~13 dollars after tax.
Overall the food was above-​mediocre and the soup ended up being kind of «boring» and only had a major taste of boiled vegetables instead of the rich, meaty broth you’d usually end up with. I won’t get them on this since this might be based off my personal taste. I might come back here some day and try their bibimbap or ssamgyeopsal or even their kalguksu hot pots, but probably not for their shabu shabu.

Authentic korean place. The side dishes that you usually get do bit come with the shabu shabu except for Kim chi which is house made and delicious. A must try at least once. I have been three times now and will continue to frequent this place!

We went there as 4 adults and 2 kids. Ordered BBQ combo B and a seafood cake. The BBQ is really good! We got a big bowl of all kinds of meat and about TEN side dishes. and we can also choose 4 bowls of rice or cold noodle. I would highly recommend the cold noodle if you don’t mind a little bit spicy. the seafood cake is ok though… nothing surprising.
Overall, it’s a solid 4 stars for me. Every one is full and satisfied after the meal.

It is a very authentic Korean restaurant. A Korean waitress who served our table could speak English to customers. One could not. The service was alright. Waitresses were efficient and checked when we could order. They would bring tea and kimchi to our table quickly. The kimchi was quite fresh and delicious.
We ordered a beef shabu with seafood broth. It came with a lot of vegetables and some noodles Minimum two people had to order the shabu. It could not be just one person. The price had gone up from $ 9.99 two years ago to $ 12.95 currently.
The beef was ok. I did not really like the sauces though. I would rather have soy sauce and satay sauce that Chinese hot pot restaurants offered. Overall the food fed up my stomach but I did not 100% enjoy it although I could cook the beef, vegetables and noodles myself. The flavour of the seafood broth and food was quite light. I personally thought that it was good for people who went on diet.
Customers ordered the BBQ food next to us. The BBQ food looked more delicious. We should just try that next time.

It’s a pretty solid 3.5 stars for me. We got the shabu shabu for two. For the price, it’s quite good both in quality and quantity. Worked out to about $ 30 for two including tax and tip.
They make the kalguksu noodles in house. If you know what you’re doing, it’s probably better to cook the noodles yourself in shabu shabu than to order the kalguksu noodle bowl because you can control the cooking time and cooked texture of the noodles.
The bbq also looked pretty good. Looking forward to trying that out next time. Lots of parking in the rear.

Mediocre at best. the only reason I’m giving them 1 star is because I haven’t tried the noodles. the portions were terrible and wouldn’t fill a 2 year old let alone 2 full grown adult males.
Portions sucked, service sucked and the quality of the meat should be punishable by federal law.
DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU ARE HUNGRY OR LIKE FOOD IN GENERAL! GO TO INSADONG INSTEAD YOU WILL LEAVE FULL AND WITH LEFTOVERS!!!
Unless you have an extra 50 bucks that you were going to throw into the firey pits if hell anyways I would advise you to go ANYWHERE else but here.
The only good thing about this place was the button placed awkwardly high on the wall that magically calls the waitress to the table NEXT to you.
On the upside the parking lot sucked too.
Thanks for nothing.

After a daytrip canoeing, hiking and playing in the water at Wigeon Falls (~30 minutes away) Unilocal helped navigate me to satisfy my Korean food craving.
Based on Marc D’s recommendation, we ordered their knife-​cut hot pot noodles, known as Kalguksu. We choose the beef bone broth, which was a subtle white broth with hints of beef bone taste. The noodles definitely held up in the boiling hot pot, as Marc D said they would, but I think we left them a little longer than we should have; however, they still have a good chew and medium density to them. I wish there was meat in that noodle dish, but it was all noodles and veggies with the tease of beef broth.
We ordered their Cold Buckwheat Noodles. This is one of my favourite dishes in the summer because it is cold, light and refreshing to have, especially good to balance it with the usually rich and heavy Korean BBQ. These buckwheat noodles were transparent and had endless chewy goodness to them. The noodles don’t have much flavour but that’s where the broth lends its hand in a gentle sweetness and refreshing taste that is complimented well with the crisp cucumber, radish, and hard boiled egg. I especially enjoy dissolving some of the yolk into the noodles and broth, adding that rich creamy taste. If you enjoy horseradish, add the provided mustard sauce and vinegar into your dish too! My boyfriend said it adds a pleasant kick to the noodles.
Another winner was the Bulgogi. Maximum sweet beef flavour with a good helping of tender beef and vegetables. The sweet potato noodles at the bottom were some of the best I had too, I wish there were more in the bowl. A bowl of rice is included and with all that food, plus side dishes of mini potatoes, pickled radish, marinated seaweed and kimchi, I was plenty full. Each dish was about $ 8 – 10.
Service was very friendly and helpful. The service button at the table is always a plus. The restaurant tables are separately by wooden separators, which gave enough privacy. Overall, if you’re in the area, this is a nice place to satisfy your Korean cravings.

So this is the best Korean BBQ I’ve had outside of Korea.
There were 5 of us that squeezed into a tiny booth in this place and we got two orders of the BBQ for three.
The meat platter essentially contain a little bit of every meat on the menu so there is plenty of variety. The chicken and the beef ribs seemed to be the stand-​outs in the crowd. With the meat you got a couple orders of rice and a cold noodle soup with beef broth. The cold soup was a nice compliment to all the bbq, it was very light and refreshing.
There were sooooo many sides that came with this I don’t think I can remember them all. We had lettuce, garlic, jalapenos, green onions in a chili sauce, kimchi, and various pickled veg. No one left the table hungry.
I love this place, and I will be back.

Me, my brother and a friend got dinner here late one evening, there were not really any other people in the place since it was about 9 pm. I really like the drawings on the wall, and the food was good and pretty fast. I got the bibimbap and it was great.

Wonjo is the bomb.
I’m pretty sure any Korean who has been living here for a while knows this place.
My family and I have been coming here since I was a little girl!
It’s a little hard to get to but just hop on the 97 b-​line from lougheed station and you’ll be here in like less than 10 minutes.
I always get the shabu shabu or the kalgooksu… but usually the shabu shabu because noodles come with it :)
I also always get the dumplings, not the fried ones but the boiled ones. Veryyy goood.
I honestly think the prices here are pretty good. Hotpot and shabu shabu tends to be pretty expensive anywhere else but here its like $ 13ish a person? And the noodles are honestly so good.
This place isn’t anything fancy, the interior isn’t modern. It’s decorated to look like the «olden days». Every time we go in my dad gets thrown back to his high school days. But it’s a cozy, warm atmosphere and it’s perfect to go with family or friends.

I went to wonjo and tried the bbq combo for 2 and seafood noodle soup for 4 people on a Sunday night. The bbq combo turned out to be a great deal and the meat was fresh. The customers can choose to have the cold noodles after the bbq or rice with hot soup during bbq.
The seafood noodle soup came out with overcooked noodles so I was not impressed and I dont recommend it to non-​koreans as non-​koreans might find the flavour to be rather bland.
Despite the good quality of the bbq meat we got, the place needs serious improvement in their service.
The DIY style korean bbq requires the grill to be changed every now and then to prevent you from cooking meat on bunrt grill top, but i had to ask for the new grill 3 – 4 times to get it replaced. They only had 2 waitresses manning around 20 tables. Everything took forever to come out and everything had to be asked 3 – 4 times to be recieved.
Pro — great bbq combo deal (good price and good qualuty), nice option of opting for noodles instead of rice
Con — worst and slowest service ever

Along North road, there’s a little mall that I’ve never stopped into. It’s a humble little mall with a wooden façade, which at one time held a Young Drivers school and an ESL school. It always looked kind of sketchy because even back in 2005, such a building was already becoming a rarity in Coquitlam.
Fast forward to 2013. And I was hankering for Korean food. Summoning my brother, we drove down to a place that was reviewed quite favorably by other Unilocalers and made way.
The mall had actually not been something I’d noticed for the past few months — little wonder considering the front parking lot (the one facing the mall) is now a construction site (I’m not sure if the new Skytrain line is supposed to encroach on the land in front of the buildings on the sides, but okay). Even at 2PM on a Friday, Wonjo still had a few customers.
What struck me from first entering was the decoration of the place. It was beautiful — not a modern feel, not with a lot of artwork, but everything about it screamed ancient Korea. A simple mural adorned the wall and the wallpaper seemed to have been traditional Korean lettering (don’t ask me what it said) put up along all the walls. It had a feeling almost of shoji and screens, but instead with parchment.
The staff was very nice and polite, and nothing seemed rushed at all. Me being ravenous, we decided on a marinated beef soup with noodles and a seafood pancake. A lot of food to share between two.
The beef was wonderfully flavorful and because of the marination, tender. They basically left the beef in the middle of a soup pot assembled with mushrooms, soybeans, and other vegetables, and give you wheat noodles on the side. They also turn up the flame that they usually save for barbecue and then you have a steaming hotpot of beef, vegetables, and after a while, noodles. The vegetables absorbed the nice hearty flavor of the beef as well as some of the flavor of the marinade as a result, and so they also turned out lovely. The noodles, with some of the leftover broth (which was very light — almost a beef-​flavored consommé with some sweet marinade taste), made for the perfect final repast.
The seafood pancake was also very nice. Served on a hot frypan directly, it was piping hot when it got to us, and so we could enjoy the soft batter with the seafood inside. Unlike other pancakes, it thus never got cool or even warm, and so the seafood did not harden very much, nor did it get fishy as an aroma. Well done!
The side dishes were also quite unique and tasty. Aside from the standard kimchee and sweetened potatoes, there was also a seaweed salad with a strong vinegar taste and lightly boiled broccoli with Korean chili sauce. All of the dishes were distinct, flavorful and added some accent to the main dishes.
The total came out to about $ 40 for two people, which is a lot for Korean food but if I wasn’t completely ravenous, it could have fed three or maybe even four, so it was pretty reasonable. Why this place only gets 4 instead of 5 stars was because the element holding the pot was not very stable — in fact, the pot was somewhat precariously perched even with the liquid to anchor it down. Even leaving the ladle in the pot at the wrong angle could cause it to tilt, and so it was a feeling of a bit of danger. If they fixed that, this place would get 5 from me.
Lovely lunch! I like this place very much. And now I won’t be so leery of old wooden buildings…

I echo the review before mine, «unsung hero» is right.
The meal was great, the service was good. What more could you ask for?
The mandoo was fantastic. The BBQ for two easily fed my family of 4 with addition of the dumplings and the haemul pajeon.
You also get a good variety of banchan.
Two could easily eat here for under 20 $ if you share a kalgusku.
Great value + cleanliness + awesome food = return visits!

An unsung hero of Korean food in Vancouver for sure. The noodle and broth quality are truly fantastic. The complimentary mini-​bibimbap appetizer of barley-​rice, sesame oil roasted seaweed, lightly pickled cucumber and kimchi was an absolute delight and pleasant surprise.
The experience transported me, if, while I was eating someone called and asked me to meet them at the North-​end of Insadong (a popular destination in Seoul) in 20 minutes, I probably would have felt like I could be right there.
Service was friendly. Other menu items, Kimchi Samgyupsal (spicy-​pickled bukchoi and pork bbq) in particular, looked wonderfully appetizing. Washrooms were clean, parking was available and price was totally reasonable (two adults and a 3 year-​old ate for $ 18.88). And while I agree there could have been a couple more slices of beef in the soup, but just a couple, this was some of the best Korean food I have had in Canada (another top-​ranker is Namhansansong in North Van). If this restaurant were in Seoul I would be happy to go back.
For Korean-​food novices a couple of pointers: the soup comes in a common hot-​pot placed in the middle of the table, and while I didn’t ask, please do not be surprised if either the hot-​pot or the samgyupsal have a minimum of a two-​person order. This is very common for Korean BBQ and Hot-​Pot restaurants.
Finally, i overheard they serve Makkoli. If you want the full experience and you have a designated driver have some of this with your meal for sure!

Korean restaurant specializing in kalguksu (knife cut noodles in hotpot). Their broth is superb, and the noodles hold up well to the regular heat from the gas stove built into your table. Their kimchi is flavourful, and doesn’t taste overly commercial like in some restaurants. They also give you a side of barley rice with a bottle of chilli paste. Overall a delicious meal and extremely reasonable at about $ 9 per person. My only «beef» with them is that they could provide a little more beef in the kalguksu!