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| - Since seeing pictures of SsangKye's food on Yelp, I have been itching for weeks to go to this place. And with a big group of friends in tow, I finally got a chance to try it.
The restaurant specializing in Korean braised chicken (jjimdak) is located on the north side of the plaza located one traffic light west of Steeles and Yonge. The restaurant has a cozy and quaint feel to it, with cute strings of lights adorning the windows and walls. The restaurant is pretty small, accommodating approximately 25 people. Although they don't take reservations on weekends, I called ahead to ensure they would be able to accommodate our party of 10 people. When we arrived they were just finishing up setting up our table. I like that they have hooks on the walls and around the windows for coats and bags.
We ordered the large sizes of each of the boneless white cheese black sauce (sweet soy) jjimdak and white cheese red sauce (gochujang) jjimdak. While waiting for our orders, we were served a few small salads to share as well as pickled radish and carrots. The salad included mixed greens, dried cranberries, balsamic dressing, and what seemed like a bit of Parmesan cheese. The pickled vegetables were a little too sugary in my opinion.
Our chicken orders came out about 10-15minutes later. The chicken (which also happens to be organic) was tender, and the braising of the dark meat maintained a nice flavour. There was a feeling of eating something familiar and comforting as the black sauce jjimdak reminded me of a bit of a sweet version of Filipino adobo (with cheese!). The red sauce was moderately spicy for my palate but the addition of cheese helped cool it down. Each of the chicken dishes included cheese rice cakes, dumplings, potatoes as well as flat glass noodles. Although the menu states each large serving of jjimdak can feed 4 people, we easily fed 9 hungry individuals who also shared 5 bowls of rice.
They also sell side orders of glass noodles, cheese stuffed rice cakes, and dumplings, as well as a honey garlic pizza. Soju is also available to wash down your jjimdak. My mouth is watering as i write this review, just thinking about what we ate. Service was on point, food was delicious, and atmosphere was cozy. For all of these reasons, I will definitely be back! 4.25 stars.
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