Jong Ga

With so many choices for Korean eats along North Road, it can get a little confusing for some.  Actually, the "some" includes myself.  That would probably explain my puny collection of Korean restaurants - from that area - on my blog.  Half of them, I can't even pronounce their names, let alone remember them!  Okay, avoid no more.  Time to tackle North Road starting now. And it always helps if there are eating companions, so I enlisted the help of Big D and Slick who are always good for a good amount of food.  We ended up going to Jong Ga which has one of the better ratings on Urbanspoon.

Of course we started with the Banchan consisting of spinach, kimchi, sprouts, daikon and black beans.  These were pretty good with nothing amiss although we really liked the black beans.  They had a firm texture while being nicely seasoned with soy and sesame oil. The kimchi was quite mild and could've been spicer though. Our first dish was a modest portion of Japchae.  Since it was only $13.00, we were not expecting a huge plate, yet it wasn't a whole lot either.  It was prepared well though with tender shaved beef while the veggies were not overcooked.  The noodles were on the softer side and a bit wet.  We found the flavours to be sweet (which Japchae is usually) and beefy.  

As per usual, we had to get the Dolset Bibimbap which was very good in our opinion.  The stone bowl was super hot where the rice formed a beautiful golden brown crust.  It was crispy and nutty.  We would've preferred that they served the gochujang on the side instead of putting it on top of the rice. Big D really likes the Beef Rib Soup at Jong Ga and insisted we order it.  Well, I could see why.  The soup was full of tender pieces of rib where the meat practically melted in our mouths.  The soup itself was a bit thin where the flavours were not that that strong.  However, it was far from being bland either.  

Lastly, we had the Seafood Pancake which arrived sizzling on a hot plate.  It was oily, as usual, yet not that oily.  The exterior was crispy while the inside was filled with a decent amount of seafood which included squid, shrimp, mussels and crab stick.  There was quite a lot of green onion as well.  Overall, we thought the food was executed quite well.  Of course not everything was perfect, but as I always say, nothing ever is.  We were really impressed with the rice crust on the dolset bibimbap since many places don't even come remotely close.  As usual, service was sparse, but not unfriendly.  Only issue was the parking.  There are not enough spots for the plaza and if you dare park somewhere else, you run the risk of being towed.

The Good:
- Solid food
- Reasonably-priced
- Friendly, if not sparse service

The Bad:
- Sparse, if not friendly service
- Lack of parking
- Portion sizes are on the smaller side