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| - Once upon a time, a friend of mine went to a Korean restaurant (not named Cho Sun Ok) and tried to order cold noodles. I had no idea what she was talking about, nor had any frame of reference for what cold Korean noodles in a dish would be. After a visit to Cho Sun Ok, I totally get it.
Our dinner consisted of the following:
- Mool Naengmyun (slush) with Mandoo (fried pork dumplings)
- Mool Naengmyun (spicy) with Galbi
- Kimchi Jjim
The difference between the slush and spicy is that the slush has more cold slushy broth than the spicy version. Apart from the broth, they're basically the same dish that's topped with their homemade red pepper sauce, sesame oil, pickled daikon, cucumber, bosc pear and a hard-boiled egg. And it is the absolute perfect dish to order on a hot and humid summer day. The icy beef broth is refreshing, and works so well with the red pepper sauce.
I would highly highly recommend cutting the noodles several times. The chewy arrowroot noodles are extremely difficult to bite. I learned my lesson after I started choking when half the noodles were already down my throat with the other half still hanging out of my mouth.
The mandoo and galbi sides that came with our noodles were cooked to perfection and surprisingly large. I was expecting them to go cheap on sides, but a side order combo of mandoo and galbi, yielded eight dumplings, and three giant marinated beef rib strips. My friend and I were so stuffed from that noodle/side order, that we ended up needing to have the kimchi jjim packed up to go.
Recommendations:
- Cut those noodles several times. Choking on food isn't fun.
- If you plan to go during peak hours, make reservations. The line-up to get a table can last up to 30-45 mins.
- If you don't make reservations, make sure to walk right up to the cashier and request a seating ticket number. If you don't have one, your wait will be much much longer.
Overall, Cho Sun Ok, is definitely a gem among the countless number of Korean restaurants that decorate the surrounding Willowdale area.
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