I'm Only Here for the Food!

Hanwoori
5740 Imperial Street
Burnaby, BC

Ah, gathering with former colleagues… That is always an interesting process. Everybody working in different places, different schedules, different likes/dislikes, etc. And, in a process similar to that of how we ended up in Posh a couple of months ago, I “chose” another restaurant not far from there, and considered to be among the best, if not the best, Korean restaurant in town: Hanwoori.

Unfortunately, out of the 8 who were supposed to be there, only 6 managed to make it, sort of… We had to reschedule it and, for the rescheduled day, only 4 of us managed to make it (including one down due to H1N1, yes this visit was a couple of weeks ago). Oh, well… Instead of trying to reschedule it a third time, we just went ahead. (sigh).

Fortunately, one who made it to this gathering is Korean – Translation: we left the ordering to him. Oddly, he was not sure what to order either! Now, it is not that he didn’t know about the menu; rather, what we would or would not like. In the end, we gave him a “surprise us!”-like answer. But, instead of taking responsibility (or blame), he ended up ordering a set. Aaaarrrr!

Yes, this means part of the set includes galbi. More on this later… ^_^

Fried chicken wings. These were nicely fried; though, it could have been more seasoned. I am not sure about you but, whenever I see crispy fried food, I wish there was wedge of lemon. Am I the only one? Yes, there was a wedge but it was not enough for all the pieces, hehehehe.

Japchae, aka, cellophane noodles stir fried with vegetables. This dish was a hit with everybody. No complains here! ^_^

And, of course, banchan or side dishes. Here we have kimchi, bean sprouts, seasoned sweet potato, radish and broccoli. And, indeed, we had these refilled at least once.

The metal pot to the left has rice and, to the left, a soup/broth. The rice itself was quite standard; however, the soup/broth, though light, it was packed with meat-y flavour.

And here is the “main” of the set, galbi, marinated beef and then grilled. We had different cuts: pork, chicken, beef and some mushroom. Since this is a cook yourself approach, pretty much you choose if you like them burned or lightly cooked (though, as per government “suggestion”, consumption of raw meats is not recommended…). Since I was seated far from the action, I could not take good pictures of it. However, that also meant I did not really have to do much and just enjoy the food! (Actually, sometimes it is cooking the fun part… Oh, well).

To close the meal, we were given these bowls with a sweet liquid. Not sure what it was but it was a different way to finish the meal (compared to, say, ice cream or pastry).

Overall, the food was good and, as usual, company made it better. However, I had the feeling it could have been better. The main “problem” was the griddle, or rather, because we were not seated in a table with a “pit” into it and, as a result, we were given a portable one. Why is that a problem? In the pictures above, notice there is some broth around the griddle. The problem is that it prevented the meat to char a bit more, which would have resulted in a bit more flavour. Otherwise…

Would I come back? Certainly! The food was good and, since it is likely you will not be going on your own, company will make it better.