We have a new challenger in the Finch corridor! After having to stomach (no pun intended) the opening of one Asian noodle bar after another, we finally get something new - a Korean style dokbokki snack bar.
We attended Topoki's soft opening weekend November 4th (30% off!). We were greeted by very friendly and attentive servers and a brightly lit space. There are stairs that lead up to a couple tables on the second floor and that also houses the kitchen - the servers must get quite a workout over their shift going up and down!
Prices are very reasonable, I suggest coming in pairs or more in order to share dishes in true Korean style. We ordered the spicy red Topoki ($8), much to the servers' surprise. "Are you sure?" "Be careful!" It turned out to be Korean spicy. Spicy but not unmanageable.
We also got the vegetable fries / fried vegetables ($8), which is a mix of gimmari (glass noodles wrapped in deep fried seaweed), mandu (dumplings with glass noodles), and battered vegetables (onion and sweet potato seemed most common).
The reason why it's best to share plates is that by themselves, the plates are looking for something to complement themselves. The Topoki plates are mostly rice cake with a couple odeng (fish cakes) topped with green onion in a red spicy sauce. Good, but it really benefits from the fried-ness of the other snacks. And the snacks are really good when mixed with the red Topoki sauce!
We were pleased with the overall experience and will definitely come again. I know the area will benefit from its uniqueness and hopefully will encourage other businesses to branch out too!