Dae Bak Korean Restaurant

The ambiance was very dinghy and depressing when we came in — it was all greyish and brown and the lighting was dim. Utensils weren’t exactly clean. Service wasn’t that great, the chicken that we ordered was heavily breaded (too much panko and very little chicken) and the jajangmyun that we ordered was way too salty. Will not be coming back again.

This is our first time coming here. There wasn’t a lot of people here. We ordered the seafood hot pot and sweet and sour chicken. Overall the food was pretty average. The hotpot had some stuff in it. The chicken was pretty bland. I guess it’s ok. Not bad but nothing special.

My friend and I shared the dolsot bibimbap and the tofu stew. I like how they serve purple rice, as opposed to regular white rice. The dolsot bibimbap was my favourite of the two. The beef had the right amount of sweetness, when mixed with the vegetables and rice. I would definitely visit again to try out their other dishes :)
The service was ok, we didn’t get a kettle of tea until the very end, when we were pretty much done with our meal.

Dear Chris K,
I have re-​visited Dae Bak when you least expected.
Let’s see if you recall December 23, 2012 1:00 PM.
Remember us near the corner, 3 Adults + 1 Baby?
I remember clearly the accomodating service we had.
Requests we had to satisfy my Friends and their Baby.
All we required were met, so I agree service improved.
I was looking up at the LCD on the wall, it was Korean.
I came up to pay by VISA. I collected Aeroplan Points.
I saw the «LIKE» us on Facebook for 10% off discount!
Everyone enjoyed the Meal and Full for $ 50, Tips included.
Behind the counter, you and a Woman spoke to me briefly.
Let’s just say I’ll be BAK some DAE, when you least expect it.
Cheers,
WaYnE c

Been to Dae Bak Korean Restaurant a few times before. First time was before they renovated and last time was a few weeks ago.
Overall the quality of the food was excellent. We went on a weekend lunch when it wasn’t so busy, so the staff were very quick and served us right away.
We ordered a soondobu, jap chae, and this fried fish dish. The soondobu was very hot, lots of ingredients, fresh, and spicy. Comparable to many other Korean restaurants I have been too. The Jap Chae wasn’t overly oil and had lots of flavour. The fried fish, which I never remember the name is a staple of this place, I never tried it anywhere else (probably because I never see it on other restaurants menus), but if you love fish, this is something you should try. I’ve asked the owners there before about the dish and they told me it was a specialty dish and you usually can’t find it in other Korean restaurants. A fair warning though, this fish does have bones and is not a fillet but some of the bones can be chewed through.
The only thing about this place is the korean videos that seem to loop weeks on end. But then again, a lot of these family owned Korean restaurants share the same videos. I wonder if they are hooked up to 1 central server to Airplay these videos.
Either which way, I’m all about the service and food and this place is great when it comes down to it.

It was my first time at DaeBak last night and my overall impression of the evening was a solid great! I am a fan and would definitely return! As far as Korean food goes, they had all the standard offerings of pork bone soup, kalbi, etc. and the much-​anticipated and loved accompaniment of side dishes! the side dishes were good but of standard fair! the dishes that we tried (beef stir fry placed in lettuce wraps, deep fried sweet and spicy chicken, and chicken ribs and cabbage) were — for the most part — delicious and of heafy proportions!
i quite enjoyed what we ordered — the chicken ribs (which translated means dark meat) and cabbage! a mélange of cabbage, half cooked chicken morsels, sweet potato and onions (?) are served in a big flat pan over a portable gas burner — so it required a little bit of eater participation! they get the process going by turning on the burner and giving it a little stir, then they intermittently come back to stir it around and scrap the bottom of the pan where the sauce and meat/​veg caramelize. what you’re left with is a hot bowl of goodness that hits all the notes of sweet, spicy and savoury. we actually figured out what to order by covertly staring at (and eventually asking) the family beside us what they were eating. the aroma, the hot sizzling sounds and the overall appearance of what was going on at their table led us to overcome our chinese politeness to ask.
the other dish that resonated with me was the deep fried sweet and spicy chicken. our dining mates had it and at our next visit, *i* too will have it! it was delicious! maybe because i haven’t had korean chicken in a while or possibly because it was simultaneously crispy + saucy, spicy + sweet (a favored flavour combo of mine), and light + toothsome. i don’t know how this dish could possess so many opposing qualities but it did. i think it was battered in rice flour? or just something other than your regular cornstarch because it was a little «stickier» in texture — which i liked — so after your initial crunch down into the crispy exterior, your teeth meet a little resistance from the sticky-​ish batter that hugs the meat and then through the tender chicken. i’m biased to sweet + spicy, so the sauce got me at first bite. i have to say, my «can i try a piece?» turned into more like 5+ pieces … and to my shame, not of the small and dainty variety. oh and value wise, this dish was huge … enough for dinner + lunch the next day (for 2 people).
both dishes came with the colourful purple rice — BIG PLUS in my books!
the only mediocre dish was the beef stir fry — and not worth really writing about.
overall: 4* and a big kudos to the owner for being very helpful in explaining aspects of the menu to us

Dae Bak Korean Restaurant was on my Plan Z for tonight. Our Plan A restaurant closes on Wednesday, and we randomly picked Dae Bak.
Wednesday night and this place was packed. These people know something we don’t know?
Special menu selections seems interesting… but it was disappointing that nothing was available at all… My Unilocal Friend ended up reluctantly picked some items from non Special menu = normal menu.
Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Pancake $ 12.99)
— a huge pancake… I was kind of full just looking at that
— not much of a taste, luckily the chili pepper dipping sauce helped to give it some kick
Galbi Jjim (Braised Beef Short Ribs $ 11.99)
— The ribs was quite tender… but this is the first time I ever taste this dish so I have nothing to compare with
My eyes kind of lit up when our waitress start bringing us Soju and Beers… maybe my Unilocal Friend order those while I was daydreaming… No such luck!

This is a review for lunch: 3.5 Stars = a little better than A-​OK
I like the food here, even though it’s not perfect. On this visit, we ordered the stir fried calamari, the bibimbap, and the spanish mackerel lunch specials. The flavour was great on all the dishes, although the fish was a bit dry. The bibimbap was served in a hot stone crock, and the rice crust was perfect, not like some other places where the stone is not hot enough to make the crust. Served with our dishes were some Korean side dishes and pickles, which were pretty good and seemed fresh.
Service was a little on the slow side. There seemed to be only one woman working the whole place. At least there was a TV with some Korean pop stars concert while we waited.