Sherman's Food Adventures: Kim Bo Ting & U-Grill

Kim Bo Ting & U-Grill

We were doing some shopping at Metrotown today and needed to grab lunch. For some inexplicable reason, I dragged the family over to Sui Sha Ya. Yes, let the insults fly, I know this is a very, very bad decision. They have some of the worst "Japanese" food in town and their service ain't good either. I guess I was blinded by the fact that lunch would be only a little over $10.00 a person. When I inquired how much it would cost for my son, they also indicated that my daughter would have to pay as well. Uh... she's like 2 months shy of 2 years old. They're charging kids of that age too??? Well that was the last straw. You want me to eat crappy Japanese food, suffer indifferent service AND pay for a kid that can barely eat a small plain udon? Yes, when you go out of business, blame yourselves.

Undaunted, we merely headed up one level to the food fair. So many choices, it was hard to make a decision. Viv ended up with Korean Mixed Beef Udon from Kim Bo Ting (a Korean joint run by Chinese people...). Honestly, it was a good amount of food for the price. You can't even see the noodles in the picture since the massive amount of beef covers it all. We thought for $7.79, it was a pretty good value. Unfortunately, my choice of food came out to much more money. I went to one of my favourites - U-Grill. I'm not sure why it's name as such since "you" do not grill the food. You do, however, choose your own items. This is probably what they meant. The problem with choosing your own ingredients is that more often than not, you will end up picking too much. It's $2.15 per 100 grams. Included in that price is rice and choice of sauce(s).

It appears I picked too many items because my meal came to over $13.00! Not exactly cheap; but it was satisfying and relatively healthy. Mind you, you can have something quite similar with "controlled" costs at Koya Japanese. Despite the fact that I would've spent less at Sui Sha Ya for more food, I was thankful that I did not dine there. That would have been a bad decision which I'm sure some people would give me heck about.

The Good:
- They're both in a food fair, it's fast
- Relatively healthier eating despite the sodium
- It's freshly made

The Bad:
- With U-Grill, it can get pricey

Kim Bo Ting on Urbanspoon
U-Grill on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

KimHo said...

I have actually gone to Kim Bo Ting a couple of times and it is not that bad. The problem is that Lao Shan Dong is across the street! U-Grill, well, that is another story. As you mentioned, it is not grilled and darn bloody expensive. Oh, for all you can eat/buffet, did you consider Uncle Willy's? It is slightly more expensive than Sui Sha Ya and the food looks like as if they were using No Name products. However, they have a good rotisserie chicken and fried chicken (on days, it might be re-heated, on nights, it is still in the spitz).

Finally, depending when you went, there is also Kawawa Japanese Restaurant, an offshot of Aji Taro. Not that I endorse it but the option is there.

Sherman Chan said...

Yah, I liked the food that Viv got from Kim Bo Ting. Reasonably priced too. #$()#*)# U-Grill, I get sucked in everytime and pay for it! Uncle Willy's, I haven't been there in ages! It's a good place if you're hungry and not looking for food quality. But if I had to mention Sui Sha Ya, they food quality is not what I was looking for obviously. Thanks for the tip on Kawawa. Gonna try that!

Avis Lam said...

My last straw with Sui Sha Ya was when they served me all you can eat sashimi that was the size of my pinky! Kid you not. I wish I had my camera at the time so that I could take a picture of it to prove it!

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