Ottoogi Korean Restaurant

Tried this place for the pancake. But the food was okay. Didn’t have the side dishes that I usually like. The pancake was good and the service was okay, they seemed a bit short handed, just mom and pop here.
For the side dishes there’s the usual kimchi and some turnips and some unrecognizable vegetable with spicy peppers.
There wasn’t a lot of non spicy option for me on the menu except for like bibimbap so I decided to try this clam noodle they had. There were lots of clams, that was good but the noodle tasted gooey and overcooked and the soup just tasted like clam juice with black pepper. Needless to say I didn’t finish the noodles. I don’t think I will come back simply because they didn’t have any items on the menu suitable for me.

This is my favourite korean restaurant in the GTA. I always order their tofu soup or the bibimbap.
What attracted me initially to this restaurant was their wide assortment of sides. They give a full sized pancake for the table. Previously, they also gave about 8 side dishes ranging from potato salad, kim chi, seaweed, etc. The most recent time I went, they only offered 3 side dishes. I was a little disappointed. The kim chi here is of a sweeter variety. I cannot handle a whole lot of spice, and this kim chi is perfect for my palette.
The prices are reasonable. A tofu soup was $ 8.99 including rice & an egg. The service can sometimes be slow because they usually only have one waitress at a time.

I can’t wait to be back again! Was here for dinner on the weekend. We had no problem finding parking at the back (phew). Plenty of seats available when we arrived though at first I thought they were understaffed with just one person working on the outside.
We got our food very quickly. But what I was most impressed with was the complimentary korean pancake. It looked like the size of a small 8 inch pizza & came with soy sauce for dipping. It was delicious. We also received 3 other appetizers though my friend (who’s been here before) noticed it was less than what they used to serve. Perhaps it’s cuz there were only two of us.
I will definitely be back again even though the price is slightly higher for my fav dish (spicy tofu seafood soup w/​side of rice $ 8.99). Love it !

I am a regular customer here because it’s close to my workplace. Their soon du bu (tofu soup) is amazing. The lady is so friendly and even knows my language (Japanese) so it’s so comfortable to be there. LA kalbi is bit pricy but it’s totally worth it. Seems like The owl of Minerva across the street stealing their customers but I think think here serve more authentic Korean food. Interior can be better though. It is so dark from outside and looks like it’s closed.

This restaurant has by far some of the cruelest and stuck up reviews I have ever read. So I hope that I can put a bit of perspective and context on this place.
First off, this is a family-​run business in the most traditional Korean sense. The food/​service will be slow because there really is a small amount of folks doing everything. So be warned that you may have to wait a bit for food. I will agree with other reviewers that side dishes + booze should be served immediately and this establishment fails in that area.
So many complaints about the side dishes. Why? I got all 4. But, like most traditional Korean restaurants, sides will be served based on supply. I’m not surprised that a small establishment like this tends to run out. Or (judging by the photos) change the types of side dishes depending of the time of the year. However, this is something I’ve run into at multiple Korean establishments in Toronto. As for the sides at this place? The kimchi was very good and the apparent cubed monstrosity that a previous reviewer mentioned (Kkakdugi) was also good. And yes, I did get sprouts.
We ordered makgeolli (homemade and very good!!), ddeokbokgi, one of the cold noodles and bibimbap. We also got ‘service’ and were given free pajeong with our makgeolli (delish!!). I found all the dishes to be very good, homemade, and authentic. They were delicious and fresh, and any complaints to be had would be mostly based on personal preference (ie. the deokkbokgi is actually deokRAbokkgi which I personally prefer anyways).
In summary, this place is authentic and homemade, so it comes with all the pitfalls of being like that. Don’t like bones in your fish? Then you may want to rethink this restaurant and any trip to Korea.

I’m not sure why this place was so empty when I arrived because I think this restaurant is very decent based on what we tried.
Pros
–Soft Tofu stew was excellent and had decent amounts of seafood
–Free onion pancake side dish
–Reasonably priced, and they seem to always have one really amazing special. Right now they have 2 pork bone soups for $ 10. Haven’t tried so I can’t speak for the quality.
–Side dishes were excellent but…
Cons
–Side dishes selection was very small.
–Menu selection isn’t that great. Though they have all the staples
–Rice cake (ddeok bok gi) was not very good. Sauce lacked taste
If I feel like eating pork bone soup, I’m definitely willing to come here for their special. Otherwise this is just another decent Korean place in the area.

Not so pleased with their service. it was slow and they didn’t check up on us if we needed anything. we only got two sides where usually there 3 or more and their kimchi didn’t taste good its like the they just poured the spices on it right before they serve it it wasn’t fermented. I don’t think I’ll né going back any time

My friend and I visited this place after I had read the reviews on Unilocal.4 star review average suggested that we should try this place out. Little did we know that this was a horribly overrated place.
Firstly, the food took /​so long/​to arrive. And it wasn’t like they gave us our side dishes to tide us over while we waited. We waited at least 10 – 15 dishes for our side dishes to arrive. And when they did arrive, there were only three side dishes: Radish, kimchi and some unknown radish that was gross and we barely touched. They didn’t even have bean sprouts! What kind of Korean restaurant doesn’t offer bean sprouts as a side dish?! They told us because their bean sprouts side dish alternates between the gross yellow radish as one of four possible side dish types. I couldn’t believe it. Side dishes are integral to the a good review for Korean restaurants, in my personal opinion! They’re the main charm of Korean restaurants! They did offer an onion pancake though, which was OK, nothing spectacular, but for a Korean restaurant to not offer the bean sprouts, that was just unacceptable.
Secondly, the service was poor. Besides the food taking incredibly long to arrive, there was only one waitress for the entire restaurant on a Friday evening. It was incredibly difficult to get her attention. And like one reviewer had mentioned, she didn’t speak English, which is understandable, as it is a Korean restaurant, but I would have appreciated a waitress on standby that could understand English. Oh, and when she did come to our table, she was to refill our tea cups. I didn’t understand why the tables didn’t have any individual teapots for each table. And if they didn’t, why was the tea she poured cold? I just felt like hot tea on a cold winter evening is a pretty basic requirement. Should my expectations been even lower and just expect water next time instead?
Thirdly, the dishes we chose were mediocre at best. The bulgolgi dish cost quite a bit for very little portion. And it tasted nothing out of ordinary to me. My spicy white fish stew was OK. It was a big portion, but they didn’t take the bones out of the stew, which sort of cheapens the experience. It felt like I could have made it at home — chop up some fish and throw it in a watery soup base — because the very least they could do was take out the bones of the entire fish before throwing the pieces into the stew, instead of having their customers slowly take out their fish bones piece by piece.
Anyway, I would never come back here again, and have already advised my friends to stay clear from this place.

Came here with a good friend who was craving Korean. Place was bustling with Koreans on a Thursday night — always a good sign. I had the Do Go Ni Tang (Cow’s knee soup) and my friend had the Gamja Tang. They brought us cabbage and radish kimchi, anchovies + peanuts, kongnam (bean sprouts) and a pajeon (pancake) for banchan! Sweet.
Both soups were quite good. The Do Go Ni Tang was a little bland, but rich, hearty and in a way it meshed with the bachans well. It’s kind of similar to the milky rich, marrowy broth of tonkotsu ramen. The cow’s knee was SUPER tender, some of the most tender cartilage/​tendon I’ve had!
Would definitely come here again when I’m craving some hearty Korean soup.

Went there again last night. Spouse had yuk-​gae-​jang, I had the maeun-​tang. So good. Lots of fish and a rich broth, not too salty. They had FRESH tofu as part of the panchan. They don’t give you a lot of panchan but what they have is top quality. Excellent baechu kimchi, with generous amounts of well-​seasoned gochuchang. Kkagdugi was spicy and delicious, tofu fresh (not from a package) and a buchu-​jon a nice touch as well (not too greasy). The food is good. Rice is of a very good quality. One of my (new) favourite Korean restaurants in North York. Only suggestion I would make to the owners: perhaps you could have paper serviettes available on the table (even though you can ask for more, I always feel awkward asking for more).

Delicious authentic Korean food. Love their Do Go Ni Tang. My boyfriend’s aunt recommended this place. Apparently they were somewhere up north before and moved down. It is very reasonably priced. Service is so so depends if you get the very nice ayuma that speaks korean and mandarin. The korean pancake is not always a complimentary dish they give. So don’t expect it all the time like I do. Note: the korean way to have the Do Go Ni Tang is to use the kag tu gi sauce and mix it. Its actually much better than salt and the spice that they give you.

I decided to come back on a Friday night to Ottoogi.
Not much has changed, but this time I received an additional banchan — a green onion pancake, which was amazing! It was freshly made, and still quite hot. Other than the pancake, I received kimchi, some kimchi cabbage, and an interesting squash.
The pork bone soup (6.99) broth was almost devoid of flavour with lots of pepper to try to make up for it. It was unfortunate because the pork bones were quite meaty, albeit the portion was a bit small.
I think what this restaurant really needs to work on is their customer service. While they are very nice people, their English needs improvement — even the young girl’s English wasn’t very good. Also, things such as bringing people more tea, learning to clear dishes when customers are finished, bringing the bill out without having to be asked.
I might come to try other dishes, but I would not order the pork bone soup again.
With a lot of competition in the area, I think if they could improve their service and perhaps have better banchan, ask if people want more side dishes, then they would be more successful.

Delicious food, reasonable prices, a lot of side dishes, but you have a large group expect to wait a bit longer than usual for your orders.

Ottoogi was not even busy at all. 4 tables? and I wait so long for my food.
as every minute passed by. I kept minus the rating … maybe even to a 1.5 star and swear never coming back again.
But my Mul Naeng Meun ($ 6.99) buckwheat cold noodle is so nicely prepared. While I am eating that, I feel the love and care that lady in the kitchen put in cooking my food.
If you have the patient. and if you want to have good Korean home cooking, I will definitely recommend coming to Ottoogi.
Price here is so reasonable starting at $ 6.99 and $ 1 cheaper during lunch time.
And of course, nothing beat sharing a Yeng Yong Tang (Goat Meat Spicy Hot Pot) with your friend when outside is freezing!