DEC 2012
Friend and former staff member Monica was moving back to BC and a small group gathered to say goodbye. Not sure where to go, we tried the newly opened Kimchi Korea House just down the street.
Construction and renovation seemed to go forever on this place, and once it opened up I know I had been curious to try it out.
The colour theme of the place seemed to be black, white and red, which I thought really worked. It has a slight western and korean chic meet feel. The crowd is predominantly young people (early twenties), but then so were most of the people at our table.
Our server was Jane, who was friendly and willing to explain the different Korean dishes, since no one in the group was Korean.
Like Japanese restaurants, the simple salad with thousand island-like dressing was served. Fresh and light it was.
This wasn't really part of my meal I don't think, but these sides came out. I really enjoyed the sweet potato. I did not really enjoy the fish cake, or spinach, but that is more about my tastes than their preparation.
I didn't capture the people's meals around me - a lot of bulgogi and bibimbap was going around, and people at my end of the table seemed to enjoy their meals.
A few things had caught my eye to get for supper: Spicy sweet chicken or katsu, but once I saw wings, well we all know where that was headed.
On the side was some cool and funky garnish - standard parsley, but also carrot and I don't know what the purple threads are. Do you?
Kimchi's wings are not very big. They are small to medium in length, and they aren't particularly meaty either. That is the dissapointing part of the wing. The plus side of the wing itself was that the skin was crispy, and the deep fried skin really held up with the sticky sauce.
The flavour was sweet and spicy. Sugary from a honey flavour or maybe brown sugar, but there were hints of soy sauce, and just a little kick (little) from possible chili paste. The sesame seeds add more visual flair than flavour, but seem to be the standard with Korean wings.
FINAL SCORE:
They weren't big, but they were crispy. The sauce was slightly runny, but very gooey. There were several notes of flavour - sweet, spicy, savoury. Going back, I wouldn't hesitate to get these wings again. 6.5/10
As for Monica, good luck back in BC, you are missed already!
Kimchi Korea House
149 Dundas Street West, Toronto ON
facebook.com/kimchikoreahouse
Beets maybe? That garnish caught my eye before you mentioned it, couldn't tell in the first pictures if it was all carrot and part of it dark from frying or two things, until you showed the close up.
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