Go For Korean

Amuse bouche: Family operated Japanese-Korean restaurant featuring a clean and sleek décor as a background for some nicely prepared Korean dishes at once artful and tasty.
 

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Korean restaurants are few and far between in Waterloo Region, though they have grown in popularity elsewhere. More’s the pity.

Places do abound with Korean-Japanese dishes—and some of those dishes are good—and Japanese-style sashimi and sushi. Their names are legion, and some of those are decent as well. Toronto, as a point of comparison, has about a dozen or so Korean establishments of note.

Simple, clean lines.

The cuisine itself shares many qualities with Eastern cooking in general—what I like most is kimchi, the contrasting spicy-hot yet cool condiment of fermented pickled vegetables like cabbage, and the several banchan sides dishes that are served with meals and ingredients like doenjang and gochujang, fermented bean and chili pastes. In its origins, kimchi was made in large clay containers, sealed and then buried in the ground to ferment before being excavated for use. Earthy, to say the least.

Just a short jaunt off of Fischer-Hallman Drive in Kitchener, Tomoya Japanese Bistro & Bar is a relatively new addition to the area, as is the somewhat faux-village concentration of business found in and around Max Becker Drive, where it is located.

What I like immediately is that Tomoya is family-owned and operated. That can sometimes mean trouble, but you have to give family-run places a lot of credit for their hard work.

It appears there are four folks working hard to build Tomoya into a bona fide Korean and Japanese restaurant. The family is Korean and they’ve started off with some sleek, clean and minimalist lines in their dining room and a menu blended with Japanese and Korean dishes. Sushi—especially via all-you-can-eat—is ubiquitous in Waterloo Region.

I went to Tomoya primarily in search of Korean dishes. Scattered throughout the traditional California rolls, udon, gyoza and chirashi are a few traditional Korean dishes to which the family adds their interpretations.

Chicken yakitori.

Tomoya’s kalbi, Korean soy sauce-marinated beef short ribs ($13.95) were quite tender, mercifully sparing us from some of the grisly bits that all too often characterize the dish. There was also a pleasant balance of sweet and savoury to the generous portion.

Sweet and meaty, not grisly, kalbi.

Bulgogi ($13.95), again marinated beef, is nicely composed with a blend of soy, sesame oil, some garlic and pepper and a slight sweetness as well. The name refers to “fire-meat,” but that is a reference not to spice-heat but open-fire grilling. The flavours were there, but this version seemed pan-fried.

Classic Korean: bulgogi.

On the grilling end of things, Japanese chicken yakitori (two skewers for $5.95) is excellent though perhaps a bit overpriced for the amount received. Another Japanese standard, edamame ($3.50) are fresh and crisp, though not as heavily salted as others in the Region.

Koroke, a Japanese deep-fried mashed potato served with a dark drizzle of sweet mayo-based sauce is well-prepared but I could take it or leave it despite it being interesting and different.

Deep-fried mashed potatoes I can take or leave.

Korean japchae-like or dangmyeon crystal or cellophane noodles ($5.50) is another strong dish from Tomoya. A dark-brown dish is packed with a variety of veg ingredients and subtle sweet and sour flavours. The best quality possessed of the noodles, however, was their superlative texture and body. That itself made the dish.

Sweet, sour and good texture.

Bai-top shell noodles (at $19.95, is the most expensive single dish) is put out as a very attractive plate with four nests of lusciously cooked wheat noodles garnished with black sesame seeds and a deliciously seasoned centre “salad” studded with what are essentially whelks, the texture of which I would equate with marinated and grilled octopus. It was a solidly prepared and executed dish.

A different and challenging dish.

For those familiar with the divine Korean bibimbap mixed veg and barbecued beef rice dish, Tomoya puts together a pretty good hwe dup bap ($13.95), which is the sashimi version and includes a lightly peppery chogo chu jang sauce, some fresh sashimi, masago capelin roe and a rice that is similar to but is not exactly a sushi rice. Again, I loved it as the chef carefully snips nori on top as a garnish.

Korean cuisine deserves to be lifted from its relegation under-the-radar and under the purview of Japanese cooking in many restaurants that we might visit. That order should be inverted more often as Korean dining needs space on the menu so it can shine by itself. It still has some work to do as it grows up but if Tomoya is any indication, the time has probably come for the cuisine to get marquee billing as a headline act.

Reviews are based on anonymous and unannounced visits to the establishments. Restaurants do not pay for any portion of the reviewer’s meal. Listen to “The Food Show” Sundays at noon on 570 All News Radio. Andrew can be reached at apcoppolino@rogers.com.

It says Japanese but go for the Korean.

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Been there? Try these:

Tomu Sushi Japanese Restaurant
#4-347 Erb Street W, Waterloo
519-746-1566
A large menu of Japanese and Korean dishes in a simple and clean setting. Eager and pleasant service leaves the AYCE places far behind. The sushi’s not bad either.

Nagano Sushi Japanese and Korean Restaurant
#1-10 Pinebush Road, Cambridge
519-623-1187
A fairly typical blending of Japanese and Korean dishes with sushi, sashimi, donburi, and bento box meals at the centre of what the kitchen prepares. Some hit-and-miss selections among tradition makizushi and special roll dishes.

Korean BBQ Restaurant
Unit 204-265 King Street E, Kitchener
519-568-7111
Plain, unadorned décor and interior is the setting for a dynamic range of flavours, both sweet and savoury with roasted corn tea to boot. The dishes are relatively simple, inexpensive, and yet filling.