YOOK: Korean Grill BBQ and Bistro

YOOK – Korean Grilled BBQ and Bistro (2408 Nanaimo Street, Vancouver, BC)

YOOK Restaurant opened its doors since Summer 2017 so it is still a fairly new restaurant in the neighbourhood of Nanaimo and Broadway. This hidden gem is tucked away in the corner of East 8th Avenue and Broadway. This little Korean restaurant caught my attention in June 2017 while it was still undergoing renovations. I was eager to try this place once it opened around August 2017.

The menu is quite exclusive and they don’t have a huge selection to choose from, compared to other Korean restaurants. Honestly, I prefer the smaller menu in comparison to the larger menu because you don’t know what to order when you are offered so many choices. With the smaller menu, it allows the restaurant specialize in a few different dishes without sacrificing its quality.

The cost of the food in general is pretty good. It’s not as expensive as other Korean restaurants in Vancouver. I must say, the items on the menu is made to “share” each order. The dishes are a generous portion and it works best shared amongst your group. The prices of the dishes range from $8 – 30.

Here are a few dishes that we selected from the menu:

 

Gamjatang Jeongol (Pork back-bone hotpot – a little spicy): Costs $28.95 and feeds approximately 3 people. This traditional style pork bone broth is my favourite go-to-dish at any Korean restaurant. Every Korean restaurant makes it definitely as the chef uses different seasonings and herbs to enrich the pork bone broth. I particularly enjoyed this one at YOOK as the broth is not overly spiced and has a small spicy kick at the end. I loved how their broth is very light and not heavily spiced with herbs so you are able to taste the richness of the pork meat as well. The meat is so tender that it falls off the bones as you are trying to pick it up from the pot.

Japchae (Korean style stir fry noodles): Costs $14.95 which is quite average for most Korean restaurants. The sauce was quite sweet so it would be tasty for people who have a sweeter tastebud. I found it to be on the sweet side so it wasn’t exactly my preference as I prefer it to be a tad less sweet.

LA Galbi (Beef short ribs): Costs 25.95 and it was pretty good. The meat was well marinated and extremely rich in flavour. It was perfectly cooked with a slight chewiness in the meat but definitely not overcooked.

Goon Mandu (handmade fried dumplings): Costs $8.95 and comes with approximately 10 deep fried dumplings. These traditional Korean-style dumplings are sooooo delicious! The dumpling consists of meat, veggies and noodles (vermicelli) strands. Most Korean restaurants don’t add in the vermicelli into the dumplings but YOOK restaurant has done it right! If you go to Korea, the dumplings would be very similar to the ones from YOOK. I could keep eating these as they are sooo good with their Korean style sauce on the side.

 

Overall, the food is really good and the menu is a lot lighter and less greasy compared to many of their competitors. I have been to this restaurant at least twice and I would definitely revisit this restaurant again! It has already passed its 3 month honeymoon stage and the quality of food is still great.  YOOK will definitely be on my g0-to list when I have cravings for Korean food.