Rae Mi Hyang

Been meaning to try this place out since they opened and only recently been able to try it out. The closest comparison to this place would be Won Jung Gak. The difference I found was the portions were a lot bigger for a little more in price.
I ordered 2 black bean noodle (Jjyajangmyun) for my wife and kids. This is usually about the right amount to order for the three of them, but we found that it was a lot more food than we expected. We ended up packing up both of them. I ordered the bibin jjampong and it was great! I was pleasantly surprised to find large pieces of crab in my dish. I liked the amount of heat I would typically look for in traditional Korean food.
If you like Won Jung Gak’s noodles, this place is definitely worth trying out as well.

Rae Mi Hyang is a new restaurant three tenants down from Mama Lee’s Kitchen, also a relatively new Korean (takeout) restaurant. I ended up eating a lovely meal with some fellow food bloggers and foodies! That day was a scorching hot day and the restaurant has no air conditioning (except for the washroom?!) but we all did our best with the meal I think. All cold items on the menu were unavailable that day (huh?!) so we ordered a few other dishes to compensate.
The jab chae was our first dish of the night between the seven of us. Jab chae or japchae is a sweet potato noodle Korean dish, stir fried with sesame oil and traditionally with vegetables. It’s one of my favorite Korean dishes to eat although some might not like the chewy, slippery texture. I thought it was beautifully done, well seasoned, and had a bit of spice in it, which was not stated in the menu. I’m sure if you don’t want it spicy they can adjust!
I don’t normally order rice dishes when I’m out so there’s not much for me to compare to other than it tasted well… like fried rice. Bonus that Rae Mi Hyang used real crab meat though and not imitation crab. XO sauce is also not a Korean-​specific cooking sauce, moreso featured in Chinese cooking.
The Kan Fung Gi, a deep-​fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce was precisely that. Sweet and sour sauce. And although there were chili peppers thrown into the mix and it was a tad spicy, it would not compare to the Korean fried chicken that I’ve come to know and love at Lee House or Coco Deep Fried Chicken. Still delicious nonetheless (and crispy!) but the seasoning was just not what I expected from a Korean restaurant.
Another Korean dish favorite of mine is Jajang Myun or jajangmyeon. It’s made up of chunjang, a salty black soybean paste with vegetables. At Won Jung Gak, you can actually get this as a half bowl and the other half as Jjam Bbong, a spicy seafood noodle soup. This particular version was close to Won Jung Gak’s, and not overly sweet. I’m always a fan of this dish when next to other Korean dishes because it takes away some of the heat really well!
And speaking about Jjam Bbong, no Korean restaurant trial is valid without it. Or so Joe would say. He unfortunately had a work meeting that night and was unable to come. Otherwise, he’d be all over this dish. It comes with a whole section of crab legs for God’s sake. That’s a pretty big win compared to all the other Korean restaurants I’ve tried. The bowl had a good amount of spice to it, comparable to what I’m use to. Delicious! Joe would have approved. Loads of seafood in it, mussels, shrimp, squid, and a mound of vegetables.
The dinner ended early, with most of us ¾ full I’m sure, as we headed out to Tutti Frutti afterwards for dessert. To be honest I think looking at the menu we expected more Korean dishes when really the restaurant could be categorized as Chinese-​Korean. Or Korean-​Chinese. Whichever. And it was hot in there! A couple of fans were placed in the room but warm air circulating around doesn’t seem to help much. Hopefully it’s only a temporary problem and they will have air conditioning installed for the rest of summer or next year. The food was good, I had no major complaints once it was obvious that I wasn’t in a traditional Korean restaurant. Would I go back? I almost never crave Chinese food, which is odd. And with my Korean kick lately, Mama Lee’s Kitchen is just a few steps away. But for those who want a little bit of both, or can’t handle a lot of Korean spices, Rae Mi Hyang would be a nice pick! Parking is available in front of the small strip mall and they do not take reservations, so plan accordingly!

After the opening of Mama Lee’s Kitchen in the south side I was surprised to hear that another Korean restaurant was opening up in the same strip mall. I’m not the biggest fan of Korean style Chinese food but figured it was worth checking out since it is so close to where I live.
A bunch of us decided to get together and check this restaurant out on a Thursday night. The restaurant doesn’t take reservations so arriving at 6pm allowed us to get seated at a large enough table for us all. That fateful night was one of the hottest in Edmonton so far for the summer and lucky for us the restaurant has no air conditioning. The combination of the outside temperature, number of people seated inside and the heat coming from the kitchen made it crazy hot in that small little restaurant.
In most Asian cuisines, dishes are served family style so you’re able to have a little bit of everything. We were disappointed to find out that none of the cold seasonal dishes were available, especially given how hot it was in the restaurant! But we decided to start with Jab Chae (#19, $ 20) which is one of my favourite Korean dishes. The dish is comprised of chewy sweet potato noodles stir fried with a variety of vegetables and pork. I really enjoyed the version at Rae Mi Hyang as there was plenty of fragrant sesame oil for flavouring which also prevented the noodles from sticking to one another. There was a generous portion of vegetables, everything was seasoned well, and it even had a kick of heat!
Next up was a crab meat fried rice with XO sauce (#46, $ 15) which came piping hot to the table. There was a good amount of real crab meat in the rice, some vegetables, and fried egg. A bit of heat came from the XO sauce, but otherwise I found the dish to be quite ordinary.
With a thin, deep fried coating and a smothering in sweet chili sauce, Korean fried chicken seems to be all the rage these da