Yuna L.
Google
I’ve been a regular for 8-9 years, back when this place was still a dakgogi restaurant before it became a pocha (I’ve brought many Korean and Canadian friends here). I’ve always ordered the same dish: Korean fried chicken with yangnyum (sweet & spicy 양념 - sweet) sauce.
I visited again today (this was my second visit since the change) and ordered the same dish from Server A. After the first bite I realized it was soy sauce chicken - it had no gochujang flavour at all. Another server (Server B) walked by, so I asked her what dish it was, and she confirmed it was soy sauce (just based on the visual). I told her we had ordered yangnyum, and she said she would check with the kitchen.
Shortly after Server A returned and insisted that this was what I ordered and that it was yangnyum. I explained that I’ve been coming here for years, that the flavour was completely different, and that there was zero gochujang taste. She then left.
Server B later came back and admitted that the kitchen had made a mistake. She said they would remake the correct dish and that we could keep the incorrect one since we had already taken a bite.
Within seconds, Server A returned with a side of yangnyum sauce requested, still insisted that it was the correct dish, and claimed the color was soy-based because it was a “sweet” flavour. She also took away the dish Server B told us to keep.
In Canada, when restaurants make a mistake, they usually remake the dish without taking the original away and often offer a discount. That didn’t happen here. There was no discount, and we had to wait another 15-20 minutes for the correct dish. It wasn’t a pleasant experience at all especially when two servers gave completely different explanations (I was okay with server B’s approach tho, black hair girl)
I’m Korean and I know exactly how yangnyum chicken is supposed to taste. I didn’t take photos, but I should have. The chicken wasn’t red at all, it was light brown, and the only flavour was soy sauce. Even if the wrong dish was somehow my fault, I’m sure the cook has changed as well. Even the radish was off: a bit sour (not the usual sour taste), no sweetness, and honestly questionable in freshness since it was a bit too soft. We usually ask for more radish or finish it completely, but this time we each had one or two bites and didn’t touch the rest.
When paying I said thank you, and I said bye in Korean when leaving, but I didn’t hear anything back. Maybe she didn’t hear me, I’m not sure but it would have been nicer to hear a bye when customers leave a restaurant.
We still left a 20% tip but I won’t be coming back for a while. I’ll be exploring other Korean fried chicken restaurants, and maybe I’ll give this place another try in a year or so.
