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| - Banchan
- Chodang's star is always the deep fried tofu. Quickly dipped in the oil, the outer layer is crispy and tasty, while the inside still has a great texture. Made fresh for every customer, the sweet sauce enhances the dish and it never comes out soggy.
Deep fried tofu topped with sweet teriyaki sauce, green onions & sesame seeds
- Fresh, chilled, firm tofu & soy sauce - wonderful texture & flavour
Chodang's deep fried and firm tofu are always great at showcasing how delicious their freshly made tofu is. If you like it, they sell it separately and sometimes soy milk too. I've taken home a jug of it in the past - no preservatives, silky smooth, and delicious. You need to drink it fast since they only use natural ingredients!
Mushroom SoonTofu is consistently my favourite, it is hearty with several different types of mushrooms and silken (soon) tofu. The mushrooms soak up all of that wonderful flavour.
You can choose mild, medium, or maximum spice. As a huge fan of the heat, I always ask for the max. Just crack your egg right in the bowl and enjoy it poached!
I've tried almost all of their bowls. My least favourite is their kimchi bowl, and my second favourite is the traditional Chodang SoonDubu bowl. While I enjoyed their seafood and mixed (which is beef & seafood) versions, call me picky but the lazy foodie in me doesn't like plucking the head off of the prawns, even though that's how it's supposed to be served. The seafood is quite good though, with mussels, squid, and prawns. Yum. Worth a try.
I have yet to try their dumpling bowl, their dumplings are quite tasty so I don't see how you could go wrong there.
Their soy bigi bowl is also tasty but the trek to Etobicoke is always for the soondubu. It's basically a bowl of ground soybeans, nice and thick. Great option for those who don't want to have the silken tofu soup, but like the taste of soy. I have had better biji-jang though.
Every bowl (kimchi in this case) comes with a stone pot filled with rice. The nice, purple-ish colour is from the wild rice. The bottom layer of rice is quite crunchy from the hot stone bowl so water (or in some other restaurants, tea) is poured into the bowl after most of the rice has been scooped out. At the end of your meal, you can just scrape up the loosened rice at the bottom and enjoy it, and drink some of the water too. Or drink it with your meal. Personally, I like mixing my soup with my rice and eating it together - then finishing off with the ricey-water but to each their own.
All of their products are freshly made with wonderful texture & flavour, and they use all natural ingredients - on a daily basis! Their silken tofu, firm tofu, and soy milk are all worth taking home if you like soy products. The owners are so sweet and happy, I love the service. The soup base is flavourful, and the side dishes are always tasty. Great for dinner now, even better in the winter when you want a soup to escape from the cold.
Kachi
I found Kachi's soondubu soup on the oily and watery side. The broth was lacking a deep, rich, flavour and their tofu wasn't as tasty. They're known for their pork bone soup anyways (which I don't think is that great either, to be honest).
I've been to Buk Chang Dong several times for SoonTofu as well. It's a solid bowl, and far more convenient for me since I live downtown. They have good side dishes and I've tried just about every soontofu on their menu. I always order the combination bowl, the first item on the menu. Yum! It helps curb my cravings when I can't get down to Chodang.
Wonjo also makes a solid bowl. The quality of the broth and the amount of meat given are similar to Chodang, but I personally prefer Chodang's silken tofu. What can I say? The freshness and texture can't be beat and I love, love, love the owners. While not horrible, Wonjo's interior could use a little retouching when compared to Chodang. However, Wonjo's consistently receives rave reviews, so it may just boil down to personal preference (as it often does!). Wonjo is a good deal for a wider variety of soups at a decent price. I've tried their Korean beef stew (Gomtang) and Korean ginseng soup (Samgyetang), all tasty for less than $10.
As for Chodang, I will admit I've never ventured past the left side of the menu - I'm so addicted to the soup that the idea of ordering katsu, teriyaki, or tempura seems like a waste of a trip. I've tried their table cooked stew called "Chodang's Best" which, shamefully, I don't really remember (which to me means that I didn't like it more than the soontofu).
At $7.08 this meal is a great deal
Again, everyone has different tastes and look for different things when it comes to soontofu soup. There are so many ways to tweak it (just look up some recipes, and you'll see what I mean). Not everyone is obsessive as I am when it comes to hunting for the best bowl of things like soondubu soup
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