This last weekend we took a guided tour of the West End in celebration of Lunar New Year. We were working with their BIA to spotlight individual Asian restaurants that are recommended great stops for authentic cuisine, to celebrate any occasion at. In this walking tour we would cover Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine; and even some traditional desserts and modern drinks.
We began our tour at Dae Bak Bon Ga, the second floor Korean BBQ restaurant on Robson Street. Their unique location offers a second storey view of the street and pedestrians below. And today we had the perfect sheen of sunlight to warm as we cooked slow.
The grills are built discretely into individual tables that seat four comfortably. Notable was the lack of ventilation to help disperse the excess smoke from the grilling process.
They have set menus curated to feed a group with a selection of raw meats, cooked rices and noodles, and a collection of accompanying sides. If looking for more food they also offer all you can eat options varying during lunch, dinner, and even happy hour. Worth mentioning is that the restaurant has a “per-person item order” policy, which means everyone has to commit to the type of menu. For instance, if one person wants to order a BBQ menu item, everyone else will have to in order to be served.
Today we enjoyed a light barbecue meal curated by the restaurant featuring beef ribs, pork belly and some traditional sides.
The Premium House Made Soy Sauce Marinated Extra Large Beef Rib is severed as a whole lengthly piece. Depending on who you ask you either use the kitchen shears made available table side to cut the meat down to size before you cook it, or after it is browned. If done correctly you have a tasty slab of charred meat. Tasty as is or after a dip in the individual salt and seasoning spices. Be warned there are only limited qualities of the ribs available for order, per day.
We also got a few slabs of Pork Belly that looked like thick bacon with fatty pale pink gristle. This you eat traditionally with a leaf of lettuce, raw garlic slices, jalapeño, and Gochujang sauce. The latter is a fermented red chili paste that is savoury, sweet, and spicy. All together this was a tasty lettuce wrap that you can only have so much of due to the pork’s fatty decadence.
To help cut into all the meat sweats we enjoyed a couple of cooked dishes. Their Japchae was the classic sweet soy potato noodles with julienned pieces of carrot, green onion, and white onions. Smooth and glassy strands with a mild flavour that piggy backed off of the savoury salty marinades.
The Squid & Shrimp Pancake was cut into individual crispy triangles. A delightful crunch with a fragrant green onion flavour to change the texture and taste.
There was also a spring salad and popular complimentary Korean sides the likes of sweet chilled potatoes, spicy cucumber, soy bean sprouts, and sweet fried tofu sheets.
As a whole this was a lovely way to get to know the restaurant and enough to have me considering a return visit in the future.
Dae Bak Bon Ga
1323 Robson St #201 Vancouver, BC V6E 1C6
(604) 683-9298
daebakbonga.com
Don’t go to this restaurant I spent $170 for two and it’s not worth it. They don’t give you by strip. They only give you by peice by peice not recommended