Food is a marker of time--it holds our memories in ways nothing else can. I recently revisited this location after a long while, and the moment I took my first bite, it felt like stepping back into the past. Even after all these years, the flavors haven't changed. The signature GamJa Tang tastes exactly the way I remember it--comforting, rich, and familiar. I've tried the same dish elsewhere, but it never quite hits the same. What really stood out was the kimchi. The recipe is unchanged, and with it comes a rush of memories tied to that exact flavor. There may be many locations and plenty of places that serve similar dishes, but this one delivers that hearty, savory stew the way it always has--no surprises, no shortcuts. That consistency is what keeps people coming back. The process, the recipe, the taste--it's all stayed true. Food creates some of our strongest core memories, and this place has honored that by preserving the nostalgia we come back for every single time. read more

A good friend of mine is visiting from Vancouver and she's a foodie, although not a blogger, so our first stop on the way in from the airport had to be for a meal, nothing fancy, just good food. We ended up in the food court at First Markham Place and it was packed, with long lines at our preferred vendors. We ended up at Owl of Minerva, on the far end of the plaza. We ordered the KamJaTang (Pork Bone Soup) and Mul NaengMyun (Buckwheat Cold Noodles Soup). The meal included an assortment of side dishes, as usual, but they didn't have the bean sprouts, our favourite. The KamJaTang was as good as expected - hot, flavourful, and meaty. This is always a favourite. This was my first time having the Mul NaengMyun, and it was good but I prefer hot soups. read more

We absolutely love this amazing little Korean restaurant. The soups are flavorful and medium spicy is really spicy. The way things should be. You get so much food and sides, you will not leave hungry. The quality is delicious. What bothers me.... $24 a small bottle of Soju. What??? Seriously we couldn't believe how expensive the drinks were. After eating here twice, I now know why people over cups of water. Save the money and spend it on the delicious food. read more

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Definitely one of those tried and true establishments. You can't go wrong with ordering the pork bone soup at Owl and in particular the staff at this location are super friendly. Perfect food for a cold winter night. For families - they have high chairs for babies! Highly recommend the pork bone soup hot pot for two. Comes with lots of vegetables (red peppers, onions, potatoes) as well as dumplings and rice cakes. I only wish it came with rice but sadly you'll need to add $3 for a bowl! Not a big selection of side dishes but I do like their kimchi which I find just the right amount of spicy and sour. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Pork bone soup hot pot for two - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

This is my first time trying this location at FMP. My partner and I usually go to the Mississauga location, and we both absolutely love Minervas. I don't know if they changed the menu, but we felt like the menu at this location was smaller and missing a few of our usual orders. We ended up getting the Gung Jung tteok bokki to share (comes with veggies and beef), I got the Dukbaegi bulgogi, and he got ramen. My dish took a while to come out, my partner had already finished his ramen dish when mine finally came out. I wish they could have time our dishes a bit better. Otherwise, I enjoyed my dish, though I swear the portions are smaller now! The price also went up by a lot. Talk about shrinkflation! In addition, our tteokbokki that is supposed to come with beef probably had 3 small pieces of beef in there. That is not worth the hefty 18 dollar price tag. I absolutely do not recommend it. It was also quite bland, just tastes like unseasoned rice cakes. The staff was nice though. I don't know if I'll be coming back to this location given the increased price tag and smaller portions. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Barely had any beef - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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The food was delicious, but the seafood pancake wasn't crispy. The staff were very nice. The ambiance was nice. read more

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Got takeout after the weekly grocery run at freshway nearby. Had the pork bone soup which I've most definitely had before at Owl (albeit at one of their other locations). It is very average overall. Pork bone soup is probably the dish that Owl of Minerva is most famous for and it doesn't disappoint, but it also doesn't impress that much either. Portion wise it's pretty standard for takeout, and they included a portion of radish and kimchi as almost all Korean places do. For the taste of the soup it was alright, no complaints and there was plenty of pieces of pork bone along with the cabbage in the soup. Haven't tried any other dishes yet from Owl but if I were to crave something other than pork bone soup, I'd probably look elsewhere for a more holistic menu as Owl is pretty much just known for a solid soup. Average overall experience. 3/5 read more

Owl of Minerva has a special place in my heart! My partner and I come here often. Perfect on a cold winters day when you're looking for a warm soupy meal. The soups are well portioned and come super hot, served with rice, side dishes and tea. We've ordered the pork bone soup, soft tofu soup as well as the dumplings before and you can't go wrong. They don't skimp out on meat for the pork bone soup. The staff here are all very friendly and it's a warm, family style atmosphere. Try it out, especially as the weather gets cooler these days! read more

Probably the worst time that I've ever had my bulgugi soup. The base was tasteless, I asked for no onions or peppers I end up getting peppers. The beef in it did not look appetizing. It was supposed to come with the dumpling and there wasn't any. The glass noodles in the soup was literally a couple of strands. I use to get 3X the amount of glass noodles!!! They are giving less and less side dishes now. Yes you can refill but it'd still be nice to have variety... The short ribs on the other hand was great. The meat just fell right off the bones. I feel like some of the short ribs can have less fat or could of been cooked a little longer. Will I go back I don't know maybe to a different location read more

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I used to come often to The Owl for Korean food when there were limited options available. This place will also have a place for me to grab a quick bite, or late night eats. Location of this restaurant is within the First Markham Place plaza. Plenty of parking available (although it's a very busy plaza). Interior decor is very similar to the one at Yonge/Finch area - bright signs, red tables with a TV playing k-pop music. Service was good - a young gentleman was serving my table. He was friendly and was also wiling to provide refills on the banchan appetizers. Menu items hasn't changed over the years, but the price has definitely increased. A few years back, a pork bone soup was around $7.99-$9.99. Now it's almost a minimum $12.99. Price aside - quality wise, I think it's been somewhat consistent. I had a soon tofu soup with dumplings. The dumplings were great - soft and packed with filling. The soup was comforting and easy on the palette. But I do feel there's a heavy MSG taste to it. I was extremely thirsty after the meal. With increased competition and options around the neighbourhood, I hope to see Owl would improve on its menu items in the future - perhaps offering new dishes / specials. I went on a weeknight and it was very quiet - the staff even sat outside to chit-chat. Hopefully the business continues to run as it does bring back a lot of memories! read more

Came here for takeout since it was right at FMP and it was on the way. I got a pork bone soup, seafood pancake and the spicy squid (Ojingo Bokeum). Pork bone soup: Passable, nothing special but it was ok Spicy squid: This dish was 19$ before tax tip... and the amount they gave us could fit into a Korean side dish takeout bowl. Portions aside, the dish itself tasted HORRIBLE, I could've just mixed some gochujang from T&T with squid and it would taste a lot better than this tasteless oily dish. The squid was the worst squid I've ever had in my life...it was hard and rough and I would instantly pick frozen squid over this trash any day. The veggies.... some were huge and some were tiny I think their chef needs to learn how to chop stuff. Seafood pancake: Just look at the picture.... It was really just egg and flour with a few specs of mini shrimps and veg. Definitely NOT worth the 17$ before tax tip for that amount of ingredients. Not to mention the pancake itself was powdery, it's like the texture of the frozen pancakes you get from a cheap grocery store, there were also eggshells in the pancake it's almost like everything that can go wrong with this dish all happened The servers were nice but I'm very sorry this kind of quality of food that I would pay a maximum of 5$ of if I'm desperate is just not doing it. If you want some better Korean food maybe try Sung Won , and if you're willing to go to Scarborough go to Ho Ban read more

The Owl of Minerva - Seafood pancake with no seafood - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

[LOCATION] - 5/5 This place is located on Hwy 7 and Rodick Rd. Plenty of parking spots, but the lot does fill up quickly during lunch & dinner time. [SERVICE] - 3/5 Service was average. Our server took our order & the food arrived without any complaints. [DÉCOR] - 3/5 Average. Dining area was a decent size and not that busy when we visited on a Saturday night at around 8:00PM. More customers trickled in at 9:00PM and more people started to fill the seats. [QUALITY] - 3/5 Quality was average. Just a good spot for Korean food in the Markham area. [ORDER] - 3/5 Soon Du Bu (Seafood Tofu Soup) - $11.99: For the spiciness level, I chose mild spice and it was the perfect amount of spice. Tofu was perfectly soft, but there wasn't that much seafood. I only got 1 shrimp, 1 mussel, and a few small pieces of clams. [OVERALL] - 3/5 Nothing special about this place. Just a convenient location for good Korean food in Markham. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Seafood Soon Du Bu - $11.99 - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

"Extra Spicy"...... Why I always get that look when I request that? And my Extra Spicy always comes out tasting so lame.... The Owl of Minerva is not exception. On a rainy, cold and windy afternoon, eating a Hot and Spicy Pork Bone Soup ($7.99) seems to be natural...so I decided to have one of those. As a single diner, I was stuffed at the only single table at the corner... right next to the counter with like folded chairs right beside me... yes I felt cramped.... yes I felt ignored.... but I kind of expected that.... How's my Pork Bone Soup? Thick and garlicky and full of spice. I don't find the pork bone too meaty. I wish I have purple rice to go with it.... Banchan here were not the greatest..... I would have asked them not to bring me any aside from the kimchi. I ate and I left without even having any eye contact or verbal communication with anyone.... the only time the waitress spoke to me was that they only take Visa or Debit when I tried paying with my Mastercard........... read more

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I don't know if I can write much about Owl. I've been coming to most of their locations for over a decade now. I usually only go for the soju and pork bone soup. If it's a cold fall day out, get the pork bone soup. If it's 33 degrees outside, get the pork bone soup. It's absolutely delicious. This location is pretty big compared to the one I usually go to. I don't even live in the area and I drove out to get some. It's nice and clean, and everyone is so polite. The parking lot is huge (this one is in a plaza and it's pretty busy) so don't even worry about finding parking. If you've never tried anything from Owl of Minerva, man, you can't die yet. You have not lived. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

Your typical trustworthy affordable Owl!!!! Authentic Koren food, served by Koreans, run by Koreans. Dishes running for around $10 along with rice for the most part and at least three side dishes (refillable; usually Kim chi, seaweed and Kim chi radish). Cold water or tea is free of charge. They serve $5 Hite, Canadian, Bud and Coors. They also have overpriced Makgoli, soju and the ginseng one for $18 .. yep.. but people still order it!! And of course the asian aloe drinks and pop. The food will never go wrong when it comes from Owl. Always good, fast and hot. The service is good, Koreans are well mannered and always carry a smile on their faces. If you don't like rice much (like me) you can swap it for rice cake or dumplings!!!! Amazing I know :) Clean place, affordable good food and good service .. why not! Oh but it gets hard to find a parking during lunch and dinner hours here at First Markham Place Plaza. Good luck snd enjoy! read more

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The restaurant is very small and some of the tables are closer enough to a point that you can join conversation with the table next to you. Service is great, the young female server is very kind and attentive. After delivering our food, she even come back and asked if our food was ok. Pork bone soup is served sizzling hot. The soup has rich strong flavor. Three huge pork bones inside the bowl. You can tell the pork was cooked long enough to give that soft texture, and the cartilage that connects the pork bones actually soften enough that you can easily break apart the big bone into smaller bone pieces. The spicy pork dish that serve on a hot plate have enough mix of vegetables. The pork slices are actually bigger than I expected, taste great, but it can be more tender. I do like the onions that are cooked just right that are sweet with a raw crunch to it. read more

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I absolutely love Korean food especially when it comes to the soup. I ordered spicy rice cakes and a spicy pork bone soup to go. it definitely hit the spot for me and it's super affordable. I love the portion of their food, for me personally I eat a lot so this was actually a very good portion. love it! read more

The Owl of Minerva - toppoki and spicy pork bone soup - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

The best place to go to at First Markham Place on Labour Day for a late lunch after 1pm. It was very much a warm summer day outside but cool inside. Spicy Pork Bone soup was the choice along with requisite sides of kimchi and rice. Aside from swiping away a fly it was an okay experience. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Spicy Pork Bone soup - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

Although it was a Monday night, there were a decent number of people dining in. I was so impressed with the taste of the Pork Bone Soup! I haven't had this in a while but I loved this one because the pork was so tender and fell easily off the bone, the broth was very delicious (I asked for mild spice), and it was just an overall very satisfying and delicious bowl! It was served with white rice. There was a huge single piece of potato inside the soup too. I didn't end up finishing the PBS and luckily had some Tupperware inside my car to pack it. For $9.99, it was such a great and cheap meal. I'm totally coming back for more PBS in the future here! I had forgotten how delicious it can be. read more

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Good food and quick service makes this a safe choice when craving Korean food. I like the seafood soon tofu with purple rice, and the portions are generous. The restaurant itself is quite bare bones in terms of decor, so it's not the best place to chat over a long dinner, but great for a quick bite! read more

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I think I would give them a 3.5. If I could describe my experience, it's a stable. Nothing wow or disappointing from this restaurant, just an average good hearty meal. I personally like the taste of the Owl on Yonge Street more. However, Markham location was alright. Service was fast with refillable side dishes (kimchi, seaweed, radish). The place was clean. read more

The best Pork bone soup in the area! Love the food here! Service is very fast and friendly. The bones have lots of meat on the bone, not like other places were they give you lots of bone and no meat. Definitely recommend this place! read more

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The quality really went down. It also became really pricey. The seafood pancake had 3 small squids and the rest was green onions and some veggies. Yes I am sure we got the seafood one and not a veggie one. Bimbimbap had tiny amount (like a flat teaspoon) of ground beef. I guess times have changed because back a few years ago they gave plenty of ground beef (at least a couple big rounded tablespoon fulls). I would not go back considering there are so many other better Korean restaurants now. read more

I am a fan of the food here. Its a really small place, but I think theres a perfect variety of items. The service is also excellent. Whenever I come here, they are happy and friendly :) One of my recent food cravings is Dukboki- I havent really looked around for other places that offer it, but this is where I go for it. Im seriously just happy to know a place that has it..Its good enough to satisfy my craving so Im happy. On my most recent visit (this review), we got dukboki, Spareribs, and a spicy chicken (cant remember the exact name!). Everything was incredible for me. The only issue I had that that the sparerib meat was a little inconsistent. Some pieces were tough while others were really tender. Im not a butcher or anything, but im not inclined to believe there is any reason for this other than the meat not being cooked enough. Feel free to somehow correct me if I am wrong! The spicy levels are tolerable here. Im not sure if they toned it down for me or anything, but it was definitely not death-level spicy like Ive had at other Korean restaurants. Maybe of you like it that way you should ask them to make it "really spicy". Just a thought. read more

The Owl of Minerva - The spread. Beloved dukboki in the middle - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

I had such high hopes ordering takeout for tonight & for the most they fulfilled my craving for PBS. I ordered 4 gamjatang and one toppoki and everything was cooked nicely. There were at least 3 large bones with lots of meat on them for each container and brimming with soup. The toppoki was chewy and tasty ... yummmmmmm. That is until my sister found a hair elastic in one of gamjatang?!????????????????????! Biggest turn-off of life. I can suffer through small portions, somewhat bland flavours, or even slightly dirty tables from the restaurant .. but finding shit in my food that's not supposed to be there? 0% chance of me being back to this location. (Picture of elastic will be posted) read more

The Owl of Minerva - Found this in my takeout pork bone soup. (Hair elastic) - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

I live in the area, not too far from First Markham Place and The Owl of Minerva is where I get my quick fix of Korean food. It's as good as it gets in the area for pork bone soup. I only get the pork bone soup from here, everything else on their menu is so-so. Pork bone soup comes in a good portion for $9.99 Sometimes I get rice cake with it or the clear noodles, which are all good. I like how you can choose the spiciness of their soup and it comes fairly quickly. You only get 3 side dishes (pickled seaweed, kimchi, pickled radish), which is a smaller selection than other Korean restaurants. 4/5 for the overall experience 5/5 for their pork bone soup read more

2.5 stars. It was truly a meh moment. Banchans were aneimic, lacked taste and felt like an afterthought. Tried the spicy rice noodles. .. ummm... kinda sweet with pepper flakes and a couple of fish cakes thrown in. Again appeared to be just an afterthought of, let's just throw this together without any consideration of seasoning or anything! I then thought how can you go wrong with PBS? It's their signature dish. .. geez. Truly a huge letdown. The bones had no flavor. .. soup was passable but truly how can they survive? ? The 2 food court stalls serve up a better dish and fire much cheaper and better sides. Thanks but I will go next door to get a bun if desperate. read more

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I love this place. I probably go here once every two weeks for lunch and get the pork bone soup. The service is great, the pork bone soup is AMAZING and it's cheap. The only thing that bothers me is the terrible Korean pop show that have on the TVs. Update: I just tried their cold wheat noodle soup. A little sweet and sour, came with slices of pork, half a hard boiled egg and pickled cucumber. The noodles were really slippery and soft (in a very very good way). Perfect for today's 42ºC heat!! read more

The Owl of Minerva - Their famous Pork Bone Soup. Please note, I got hungry and snatched two giant pieces of meat off this before taking the picture. - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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This place used to be my go-to place for Kam Ja Tang. Now that I have revisited, this will likely be my last visit. First off, their pork bone barely has any meat. Secondly, the price has gone up a lot. Thirdly, there's a lot of MSG in their soup base, making me thirsty the whole entire night. The reason for giving an extra star is because of their service. It's actually not bad. The servers are friendly and quick. Their ventilation also needs some serious improvement. I felt the need to wash my hair and clothes after my first step out their door. That strong smell of their food all over me, ugh, I just couldn't. Not a fan, sorry. read more

The Owl used to be my go to place for korean food with my friends throughout our years of high school. I recently went back and honestly I was pretty disappointed. The price has increased which makes sense since everything is getting more expensive in general BUT there was much less food even though there was a price increase. I would expect the amount of food to be the same if you are going to increase the price. Also there are less side dishes now, we only got some kimchi and three radish cubes. Service also got worse, the ladies there don't greet you and didn't seem like they wanted to work -- Just don't really make you feel welcome. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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This place is pretty good and the servers were very attentive and friendly. I had the bibimbap ($11.99) and my friend had the chicken bulgogi ($12.99). Decent sized portions for the price. The bibimbap was great but could have used a little bit more meat. Otherwise, no complaints! Menu has all the essential Korean dishes and is in no way overwhelming. I give it a three star as opposed for to a five just for aesthetic. I know it's not supposed to be a fancy restaurant, but it seems like it could be a little bit cleaner in the eating area. Would come back and try other dishes! read more

The Owl of Minerva - Bibimbap and the chicken bulgogi/steamed rice - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

This review is for the cold noodle only. In short, it failed because the flavour was not bold. The meat was dry and flavourless. Maybe it is my preference, but Korean potato noodle in a cold garlicky and sour broth is a beautiful lunch with a punch in summer. And this was not it. And did I just pay $11 for that? The environment was nice. The waiter was fast and friendly. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Decor wall - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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I was craving tteokbokki and decided to come here to satisfy my cravings. Tasted mediocre but the service was fast.

I love that they let you order rice cakes in their pork bone soup. :) it's simple and delicious and you can modify the spicy levels which is great! They are fast, and always smiling, making for a great atmosphere to sit and enjoy a meal with friends and family. The food is hardy and great, especially for winter! Parking is horrible but that's normal for this plaza. The rest of the menu is good too, but nothing special. So when I go, I'm really just craving the same order every time. I like the jap chae noodles with a lot of the chili sauce too! read more

I always fiend for Korean food and thought I would switch it up a bit. We usually go to Nakwon a few stores down for my Korean fix. Food is a bit on the pricey side in terms of typical Korean food pricing. We got the japchai, rice cakes, and chicken bulgogi. I always judge Korean restaurants based on their banchans and Owl drops the ball on this one. There's only 3 types of banchan. The standard kimchi, pickled radish, and seaweed salad. None are particularly good. The chicken bulgogi is delicious with the perfect amount of spice. It comes with a side of rice. For the price, I felt that there wasn't a lot of chicken. The japchai is good, but there isn't a lot of meat (beef) in it. Japchai is usually a banchan at Jordan restaurant and this dish wasn't exactly cheap. I didn't really like the rice cakes. I've had much better at other places. A little cheap on the seafood cakes and vegetables and it wasn't saucy enough. There wasn't enough sauce to coat the rice cakes and they were a little plain for my taste. Service was quick and very friendly. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

Owl is a very well known franchise but it's a mediocre Korean restaurant in terms of flavour. The menu prices are a bit high for the quality of their food. I ordered a bibimbap and it didn't have a lot of meat and the rice was cooked with too much water in it. I enjoy their side dishes but they don't provide a lot of variety either. read more

The Owl of Minerva - Beef Bibimbap - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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Atmosphere: small, good location, usually pretty decently cleaned, today I found a bug inside my tea though... Food: 1. spicy udon seafood noodles: perfectly spicy, seafood came from one of those groceries mixed seafood bags at the supermarket, a bit disappointed in that. Overall though, the sauce was delicious, which made up for everything else Price : 11.00 Overall: owls is known for being a bit pricer, but it's a staple place. So I'll definitely be back read more

The Owl of Minerva - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

My group of friends and I were looking for a place to eat near First Markham Place. My boyfriend and I are vegan so normally we tend to avoid Korean chain restaurants because of the lack of vegan options in the ones we've gone to in the past (before going vegan). However, my boyfriend decided it wouldn't hurt to ask an employee at The Owl of Minerva and she assured us that they DID have a few vegan options which is the reason we tried it out, in the first place. The first thing that felt off was that for some reason, the employees were not very happy that we wanted to wait 10 minutes for our other two friends to arrive before we ordered. We went in around 8:30pm and they said they closed at 11:00pm so I don't understand why they felt the need to rush us to order. The worst part of the whole experience was that the few vegan options the employee showed us from the menu when we first asked, suddenly could no longer be made vegan for whatever reason. In the beginning, she specifically said that we could substitute any beef with tofu but suddenly everyone was saying that we could not. What a disgusting scheme of luring us in! The only thing that we could order was the tofu vegetable soup which turned out to be small and watery. Other things that just sealed the deal of us never returning was that the employees never ended up giving our two friends tea or water, nor did they bother offering to refill any cups. They were also extremely pushy about us paying the bill, as if they thought we were just going to simply walk out of there without paying. We were not a rowdy group and we certainly did not look like those type of people. This whole restaurant and its staff was a complete mess and extremely unaccommodating to dietary restrictions. I have been to several other locations back before I went vegan and never have I had such unprofessional and disappointing service. read more

I was excited to try this place after reading the reviews and of course to support local businesses, however I cannot recommend Owl of Minerva on Hwy 7. I ordered 3 beef Bibimbops. I order this meal quite often, so I know each restaurant can have their own variation/taste/ingredients used. What I was most dissapointed about was that 1 order was missing the beef completely. The other two dishes had about a teaspoon of dry, tasteless, ground beef. I couldn't believe that they served these dishes with a couple pieces of ground beef. I didn't realize I was getting ground beef to begin with, but the menu DOES IN FACT say ground beef - that I overlooked. I understand that that there are cutback and price increases due to the global pandemic, but how are you going to serve beef bibimbop without the beef and without any sauce? Anyway, it is what it is and I will never return to this restaurant. I wish them the best of luck and hope they make some necessary changed if they would like to retain their clientele. read more

I would typically give a good review as the last few times I've gotten take out has been good. Except today after finishing my pork bone soup I found a bug in my soup. Unfortunately we ate all the food already luckily didn't drink the soup but it left me feeling sick. Sure bugs aren't bad for us per say but this is unhygienic and gross. read more

The Owl of Minerva - We typically reheat our take out in a pot for maximum heat. Upon stirring to see if any meat was left we found this. - Korean Near Me - Markham, Ontario

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