The Death of Chain Restaurants?
One good thing about multi-culturalism in Vancouver is food. Don’t feel like eating a burger? Well, you have Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Middle-Eastern, and so on. Some cuisines are less represented than others but the fact is that options exist.
But what if I want to have to go to a greasy spoon? To a certain extent, these seems to have been displaced by the now more predominant ethnic eateries. So, I am not sure if I should be surprised or I should be glad of such events. I bring this up because I was near Metrotown today and notice something missing… There used to be a Knight and Day nearby but it has been closed and replaced by a Korean restaurant. (According to Knight and Day’s website, the lease expired and was not renewed. I don’t buy this completely but, there is no point on arguing here). I have never been there but to a certain extent I wish I had – I remember they had a board saying all-you-can-eat ribs on Tuesdays. Oh, well..
Now, I am not saying there should be more; instead, there should be some level of balance. The fact ethnic restaurants seems to be overrunning greasy spoons or other “local” restaurants, well, it does not necessarily do any good. Cutthroat competition usually means we customers win; unfortunately I don’t see it that way here in Vancouver, specially when there are endless complains of Hospitality service.
As for the Korean restaurant itself, it is Jang Mo Jib and they were holding a trial opening today. I am sure they will do good, as I have had tried their food before. The question instead is… Do we need another one? If I am not mistaken, if we go a couple of blocks down, there are at least two other ones, including Han Woo Ri, one of the best known Korean in the area. Anyway, time will tell, time will tell…
