Choon Ha Choo Dong

Came here after cruise line landed in Vancouver, Canada. The food here is fairly decent. I had spicy tofu soup [was okay], half and half of spicy noodle and cold noodle soup [ cold noodle was good]. Friend had Korean BBQ Galbee. Service was so-​so, they seemed to be doing their own thing. It was late, so I guess its somewhat understandable or not.

My friend left this place with severe food poisoning while my partner and I were parched from the amount of MSG in the food. Sure it’s cheap, but what’s the point if you’re unwell after your meal? Avoid.

Choon Ha Choo Dong translate to the four seasons «Spring Summer Fall Winter» in chinese (from what I’ve been told).
Been to this locations a few times already and always had nothing but a great experience. Most recently had a party of 9 for all you can eat. I made reservations ahead of time, but when we showed up it looked pretty empty. It did eventually fill up. If you have a party of 8+ it’s 19.99 for all you can eat, so the price was right. They use a real korean bbq grill vs an open flame ala Kyo Sushi style, so the meat does cook evenly and less chance of burning. The all you can eat menu offers a variety of sashimi pretty standard with any other japanese restaurant, but it does offer some unique twists. They have a korean assorted sashimi plate which consists of artificial crab meat and squid along with the regular salmon and tuna. The menu also offers specialty rolls such as Golden california roll (deep fried).
Servers are all friendly, constantly checking up and changing our grills as they got crusted with juices from the meat. I really like they have a button on all the tables that will call a server for you.
Overall, highly recommended for the food and service as well as great price and free parking!

Friendly staff & above average Korean food. My one complaint is that the service can be slow even when there aren’t many people dining.

I recommend the spicy pork bbq, the lamb is a lil gamey, which some may like. No real need for the sushi portion, as it’s lackluster, but that should not be why you’re there! If getting some Japanese fusion, go with the teriyaki beef– tastes a lot like Philly Cheesesteak style, which I dug.
Great stuff! Up front, only grievance is that the sign read buffet $ 19, but got charged $ 24.95. Ask first! Otherwise, the servers was incredibly nice and attended to my customized desires.
Bottles of Korean beer only $ 4.50. Try it; ain’t bad!

Friendly owners and staff! Great booths for parties! Delicious spicy pork on the BBQ! Try the cheese pastry things!!! Better than shabusan! Wear your stretchy pants:)

Choon Ha Choo Dong thy name is inconsistency.
I’ve been back three times since my original review, and while some meals have been alright, my opinion has slowly been slipping. Today it just fell flat.
The service used to be attentive, friendly, and courteous. Today it was brusque and backwards. We ordered ddeok-​jaeyook-​bokum (ricecake and spicy pork stirfry) and the waitress asked us what number it was on the menu, because «the computer needs a number.» So we flipped through the menu again, and instead ordered «number 91.» I’m not sure why she couldn’t have found that herself, it just doesn’t give a good impression.
The food arrived sizzling on a hot pan (that’s a good sign), but the side dishes arrived five minutes after our food. There was also no rice with the jaeyook, which is odd; normally this wouldn’t bother me too much (Nor Boo also doesn’t give rice with jaeyook bokum) but today when the sneering waitress asked if we wanted rice (10 minutes after the food arrived) I felt a bit ripped off.
The food itself was just sad. The pork had clearly been frozen, thawed, and frozen again — or some combination. It was rubbery and flavourless, not to mention far too much fat. The spicy sauce lacked any flavour at all. While the side dishes were tasty enough, the kimchi was thrown in without any care for presentation or providing different parts of the cabbage leaf.
Basically, they seem to have got lazy. The new thing at CHCD is the all you can eat menu, which I refuse to try. The table behind us ordered it, and the waitress said «The kitchen is closing in 20 minutes, so please order fast, but please order responsibly, as you must pay for any left over food.» It’s fine if that’s the policy, but why say so with such snark?
Am I being grumpy? Yeah, maybe a bit. But my first few experiences here were so positive that it makes their slide even more frustrating. Clean up the menu and stop giving us one book and three different pages with specials and combos. Start smiling again. Put some care back in the food. If that happens, then I may be tempted to give it one more try. But as it stands, I’m done with CHCD. Back to Robson St for my Hansik cravings.

I tried this place upon my father’s recommendation. His customer buys her fresh fruits and veggies from him.
What I like most about this AYCE is the Korean section. I love the fact I can have as much Korean sweet and sour chicken as I so desire! They also have specialty rolls on the AYCE menu.
The services is very good. They frequently come by to change the grill tops. To top it off, they have the dinging button thingies to ring for a server’s attention.
This is probably my fav AYCE spot now :)

We came in and it was decently busy so we had decent expectations. We did the $ 25 AYCE menu just because we were feeling rather indecisive. Breakdown:
Korean bbq meats and veggies: Well marinated, veggies were fresh enough. We did second rounds of the beef and short ribs.
Cooked Korean: The japchae clumped together and was cold, the soon tofu had almost no flavour. Not impressed.
Japanese sushi: Sashimi and rolls were acceptable
Our dinner also didn’t end well, as they seemed to suddenly be in a hurry to shoo us out — it was as if they forgot we were there and then decided they wanted to close up and wanted to get us out as soon as possible. Our second round of BBQ meat got cooked for us, and they would continuously come back to ask if we were finished with dishes that still had food on it. On the plus side, they obviously didn’t care that we didn’t finish some of our orders!
We probably wouldn’t come back — the stuff that was good would have been just as good as a full on Korean BBQ place, and we wouldn’t have to deal with the inconsistent service.

Great place for large groups.
Easy to find parking? Yes.
Not too crowded? Yes
Great service? Yes
I’m so down.
I came here with a group of 20 people for a birthday party and not surprisingly, most restaurants have a difficult time handling large groups. See my review on «Ciao Bella». Either the food comes out too slowly or the service is very spotty.
However, Choon Ha Choo Dong was spot on. The servers were extremely attentive, friendly and they were able to accomodate all of our various requests.
For the uninitiated, every table comes equipped with a «door bell» button somewhere. Just push it and they’ll come to you right away. Major props to them, because our table kept bombarding the staff with various requests such as tea refills and banchan refills.
I would highly recommend doing the $ 24 all you can eat sushi /​bbq. We decided to order «a la carte» and we ended up saving a mere $ 2 per person. It wasn’t really worth the hassle.
Go for the all-​you-​can-​eat option.

We have lived next to this place for years and only discovered it once we looked up Korean Restaurants on Unilocal.
It’s on the 2^nd floor so you don’t really notice it as you’re walking/​driving along Broadway.
Worth checking out, the service is friendly and the food is tasty. I was impressed by their soups and the Japacheabab.

Took the friends out for an authentic night of Korean food.
We stuck around the neighbourhood and checked out Choon Ha Coo Dong.
The servers were pretty good, quick, and eager to sort out any re ups on the side dishies. Which were tasty. Almost everything was like being right back in Seoul, Busan, or Daegu.
On to the hating:
Unlike back in ROK the side dishes cost extra and Samjang was 30 cents. On a Galbi/​Bulgogi meal that just isn’t above board. Strike one.
Soju/​Maekju options are limited and don’t think you’re getting anything but chamisul and Cass (Little bottles). Ball one! Ball Two!
Who has Kimchi jiigae that tastes like tomato sauce?! Strike two.
Just like Kang Min Ho you can’t count this place out with two strikes on the board Choon Ha Choo Dong almost hit a home run but those strikes really took something out of the dinner.
Thankfully Lee Dae Ho is still on the bench ready in Coquitlam to bring home a grand slam next time.

Great for groups since they have several private rooms. Many times, you need a large group for Korean food to enjoy a variety. I especially like the preset menus for 2, 4, 6+ people that includes bbq, soup/​stew, japche, etc. I particularly like their Korean Rice Cake and Dumpling stew that comes in the group combos – flavorful and satisfying.
Service has always been great and there is plenty of parking in the back!

The challenge with making authentic korean cuisine in Canada is that most of the special ingredients have to be imported and tend to be much more expensive. It is difficult for a korean resto here to offer the same taste at a reasonable price. Choon Ha Choo Dong has come the closest that I’ve seen in reaching an acceptable compromise between authenticity of taste and affordability in price.
I got the lunch special for $ 10.99. It came with 5 side dishes (re-​fillable). Most korean restos here only offer 4 side dishes so having 5 was good. Also, the side dishes were well made and fresh. The kimchi squid is a rare find for a «free» side dish.
The sole female waitress was so pretty and cute, like yoon eun hye from Goong. I think seeing her was worth making the trip here.
The entrance to the resto is essentially a hole in the wall, next to the furniture store and a construction project. Fortunately, the dining area upstairs is quite nice, with genuine korean styling and designs. The instant coffee machine is a nice touch as it is essential appliance at virtually every korean family resto in korea.

This place is difficult to find and limited parking at the back of the store. Street parking would be your next best option.
The bbq here is great, and the service is very courteous and attentive. We were seated in one of those rooms with a buzzer. Lots of bbq options to select from. They also have sashimi too. I would stick with their yummy Korean bbq food though.
Definitely worth going and worth the time finding parking! Recommend!
Bring your GPS with you, otherwise you will miss the entrance just driving by.

This place is a little hard to find, but as other Unilocalers have said — it’s a gem.
We went on a Thursday and decided on the the «grill it yourself» option.
Ended up with marinated steak, scallops, and a seafood soup medley with funky green noodles. We couldn’t finish everything but the food was quite tasty.
The service was not fantastic, but apparently if you get one of the secluded rooms (with curtains etc) you get a buzzer of sorts and the staff seems to respond quickly to them.
I had to venture over the counter to ask for cutlery and plates, and as it turns out they ran out of knives, and get this — offered me scissors (awesome) instead and only brought one plate and one fork.
Worth a trip if you are craving the Korean bbq and some DIY action.

I have finally gotten my chance to check out this hidden gem!
I have read over all the previous reviews to see a common must have and the spicey seafood soup with dumplings popped out.
my friend and i decided upon the buckwheat soba noodles with vegetable-​large.
we were both still fairly new to korean cuisine so we asked our server if the thought that would be enough for the two of us. he replied that it was way more than enough.
the service we received was awesome. very polite, courteous and helpful.
the food we had was amazing! the spiciness of the soup was hot enough to leave beads of sweat on your face but not bad enough that you couldn’t continue to drink it. SO GOOOD!
the smell coming from the salad was intoxicating. and the portions of both were enourmous! our server was right, waaay more than enough!
i look forward to coming back here to order more of the delicious authentic korean fare they have to offer!!!

We got seated right after we walked-​in the restaurant. However, we waited over 8 – 10 mins for somebody to give us a water and take the order.
The foods and services were sucks!
We ordered steamed pork dumping, spicy pan fried squid rice, pork bone and potato soup.
Steamed pork dumping was fine, the skin just a bit dry. The pork bone potato soup was good and quite tasty.
However, the spicy pan-​fired squid rice was awful !! It soaked in spicy oil!
We didn’t have much of it.

As far as Korean food anywhere close to where i live this is as good as it gets. Sure it’s a little rough around the edges (this place has been a Korean restaurant under different owners for many many years), but as there isn’t an abundance of Korean restaurants close to me I REALLY appreciate that they have excellent food.
My wife and I have been here a number of times and each time we walk away happy with the meal we had. The menu has pretty much whatever you want (the full spectrum of Korean cuisine) and the prices are very reasonable. The clientele is almost entirely Korean, in fact the last time we were there, a tour bus of Koreans were just leaving the restaurant (this is how I KNOW this place is good).
The service at most Korean restaurants I always find a little lacking compared to western restaurants (and this place is no exception). My wife tells me it’s a cultural thing, that being said, if you sit at one of the tables in the restaurant with a service button and you press the button there will be someone at your table within seconds.
The banchan here is always very good, and the dishes they serve vary from visit to visit. My favourite dish here is the spicy seafood soup with dumplings.

I was really craving some delicious Korean food and when I read all the reviews on here I was super excited to go and try this place out. My excitement quickly diminished as the meal went on… Here are my thoughts:
1. Shady and difficult to find — from the outside, you can barely tell there is a restaurant. Its on the second floor of a somewhat shady looking building. We drove past it the first time and if I didn’t know where it was exactly, we probably would have missed it. Walking up the stairs to the restaurant, I was somewhat apprehensive of what we were about to enter, but once in the restaurant, we were met with a clean, and well lit environment. Most of the customers were Korean so that helped as well — if its good enough for the them, it must be pretty good.
2. Weird service — we ordered the Japchae, 2 dishes of BBQ (beef and beef short ribs) and a spicy pork rice dish. After we had ordered, the waiter came back and said that her boss felt it was TOO MUCH FOOD… There were 2 of us, yes its probably a tad too much, but we could always take it home right? We assured him that it would be fine and he went on his merry way. We felt this was a bit inappropriate for the waiter to come back to the table after the initial order was placed. I’ve had waiters question me right when I’ve ordered, mentioning that its too much food, but to come back was a bit weird. I don’t see how it matters to the restaurant how much we order — doesn’t it mean more money for them? A note about the menu — if you wanted a bbq combo, they’re really expensive so go with a large group, but if you just want noodles /​rice its pretty reasonable.
3. Japchae — it was so small! We sort of felt like they were giving us smaller portions on purpose, especially after that comment from the waiter. The ratio of noodles to vegetables was also off with a lot more veggies. This wouldn’t really be too much of a problem, except the majority of the veggies were still raw. Ever ate a raw onion before? Not the most pleasant experience as my friend assured me. The veggies made the whole dish cold too.
4. BBQ meat — usually its the raw meat that comes first, but this didn’t arrive until we had polished off the japchae (it was like they were testing us or something). The BBQ beef was actually really tasty. The beef ribs were meh.
5. Spicy pork — this was pretty decent too. The right amount of spiciness — not too overpowering, but enough to give you that tingle.
6. Banchan or side dishes — they did not come with the japchae. Usually they’re the first things that come to the table. We didn’t get them until we asked for them. There were five of them: kimchi, bean sprouts, tofu, sweet potatoes and some leafy green veggie that I couldn’t identify (possibly seaweed?). The bean sprouts were spicy, which was very different from other restaurants I’ve been to and the sweet potatoes, normally my fav banchan, were pretty bland and undercooked. The tofu was also spicy, but sweet as well — a weird combo.
7. Service — throughout the whole meal the service was poor. It was difficult to get the attention of a waiter. At one point during the meal, everyone in our section of the restaurant needed their attention, but no one was paying attention. They forgot our tea, but as we were leaving soon we just let that one go. I just wasn’t very impressed with management or their ability to serve their customers.
Primarily because of service, I will not be returning to this place. The BBQ beef and the spicy pork rice dish were pretty good, but they do not out weigh the negatives. They’re expensive and I much rather take the drive out to Burnaby or Coquitlam for better prices, better service and better food.