It was a cold and wet night and we were craving some soup to warm up with. When wanting a rich and homey bone broth soup we look to Kang’s in Coquitlam. This we have tried a handful of times and on each occasion it was as good as it was when we first had it and remembered it to be each subsequent time. Although that would sadly end with this visit.
Not only was the dish not what we remembered it to be, but the restaurant was given a facelift as well. No longer just home style Korean cuisine, but now a Korean BBQ restaurant with grills built into each table and the proper exhaust system needed to grill yourself over head.
We missed the homey wooden tables replaced with metal ones to match the rest of the restaurant’s stainless steel landscape. This included the table settings and cutlery with metal tea pot and cups, metal bowls and spoons, and the traditional Korean metal
flat chopsticks.
They also now have electronic touch screen menus and a call button to hail the staff with. We ordered with the aid of photos, not seeing much that we were interested in outside of the soup we travelled 15 minutes for.
We ordered the Corn cheese served sizzling, but was quick to cool. The cheese never pulled, but remain congealed as a glob. The corn wasn’t much as an appetizer, but added a nice sweetness to everything else, as a side. I wish it had a sauciness to it instead of the runny, milky water it sat it. This was probably run off from the kernal’s evaporation from the heated plate. It had the faint flavour of mayonnaise and could have used some salt and pepper to taste.
We naturally ordered their house-made Beef rib soup with three large beef ribs, as planned. The main reason why we came here was for this, despite much of a menu changing, we told ourselves that if this was still good, we will still continue to return, so the whole visit hinged on this dish. And sadly, the soup did not deliver, it was so thin and clear, and did not have the milky richness we expected from a well boiled broth. We did like the texture of the clear glass noodles that sat at the bottom of the bowl.
Similarly, the actual beef rib wasn’t as expected as well. There was less meat on bone, and what little I could pull off was chewy and hard. I didn’t remember the sauce from last time, but noted that it had a nice wasabi-horseradish pungent-ness tonight. This had me gnawing on the bones clean.
The complimentary Korean sides were the same: kimchi, soy bean sprouts, and sweetened potato.
We both liked the Whole calamari the most out of everything we ordered. An actual whole squid deep fried and served as cap and tentacles. The order came with a pair of sharp kitchen shears to cut it down to size with, good thing too, because it was not soft enough to bite into and pull a piece off of.
An interactive plate, it was fun to cut down to size at the table, as you wanted a piece. However, the breading was quick to flake off and you were left dipping cooked chewy squid into the accompanying tangy garlic citrus sauce. Its high acidity helped to balance out the deep fry and I would have loved more of it to drown the squid in.
We also ordered the Stone bibimbap as a base rice dish. Assorted veggies, eggs, and beef on rice. Served in a still hot stone bowl, you mix and allow the rice to crisp up as you mix. You stir everything together, squeezing as much of their house made special sauce you wanted to add to it. It was tasty with the squeeze bottle sauce, but the dish as a whole lacked interested as a solo act.
We were originally going to order this meal for delivery, but decided that we wanted the best experience, so came down to eat in-person instead. However, our disappointment tonight was enough to have us giving a new Korean restaurant a chance, the next time we are craving beef bone soup.
Kang’s Kitchen
#240 – 329 North Rd, Coquitlam, BC V3K 3V8
(604) 492-3737
kangskitchen.ca
