Chow Yun Fat? Nelly Furtado? Jackie Chan!?
This place may have been graced by some of the world's finest.However, if this is the best Korean BBQ that Toronto can offer, then I am going to have to stay away from it the next time I come.
Okay, okay... admittedly, I am reviewing through the lends of an LA boy, where the heart of Korean food is located outside of Seoul. I found Korean Village Restaurant's food as standard and nothing mind blowing.Our servers were standard for any Korean joint (aka you need to be assertive to get orders). Below are some of my pluses and minuses for my first KBBQ in Toronto:
Some positives:
- Spacious and good for large groups
- Kalbi was decently good!
- Accommodating for individuals who have never had KBBQ
Things that irked me:
- Portion sizes were small for what you pay for here
- Banchan was limited, and no free refills (which is bizarre)
- Pork belly had an extremely salty seasoning- I wish there was no seasoning at all!
- Sesame sauce was way too salty
- No rice paper anywhere to wrap your meat with
- Miso soup was terrible
Overall, I was not very impressed with KVR. It may stem from my background with KBBQ in LA, but some aspects listed above really made the experience pretty mediocre compared to what I've had before. My recommendation would be to avoid the KBBQ and go for other dishes- or relocate to a location with more Koreans dining inside. It's usually a good sign!