It has been a year or two since my last visit to Nak Won. We had always went to the Markham location but it is a huge hassle to get to. I remember liking Nak Won, mainly for its large variety of side dishes. Plus they were refillable :) When I found out they had a location at Finch and Yonge, I was excited but I left a bit disappointed.
First of all, we went on a Saturday at around 7:30 and I expected there to be a line up. There was only one party in front of us and we quickly got a seat. I really like the décor of the restaurant, it had a homey, cozy feel to it with all the wooden furniture. There were rows of booths, which we liked because it felt more private.
I ordered #36 Dolsot Bibimbap because I read good reviews on it. Bimimbap is vegetables/meat on top of rice and you basically mix the ingredients together before eating. And the result is a yummy and balanced spoonful for your mouth. The presentation was very nice, everything was organized with the fried egg on top. I can't handle spicy so I opted to not to add in the spicy sauce. The Bibmibap tasted a bit bland and was not flavourful as I hoped it to be. I then tried to add the spicy sauce into a small spoonful and unfortunately it did not help. The spicy sauce is actually not that spicy and had an odd taste so I didn't add any more. It was still decent but bland. My friends ordered beef in a stone bowl, some fried fish and pork bone soup. They all seemed to like it. I tried the beef and it had a sweet taste to it which is I found quite pleasant.
I came to the restaurant fully expecting poor service and that is what I got. The servers did not smile, say 'you're welcome' or even acknowledged us when we said thank you.
I have to say that the side dishes were my favourite part of the meal. We loved the noodles, seaweed and sweet potatoes that we kept asking for more. I would come back just for the many yummy side dishes.