Sherman's Food Adventures: Hansik Korean Restaurant

Hansik Korean Restaurant

Having returned late Monday night from Ft. Lauderdale after a 3 week vacation, the best course of action was to do nothing the day after right?  Nope. Boss Woman asked if I wanted to come out to the championship game of our softball league.  Um.  I was in no shape or form (unless round counted) to do any physical activity, let alone an important game.  But with the promise of eats afterwards, I couldn't say no...  

Ironically, we ended up at the exact same location as last year's after championship game eats.  However, out with Columbus and in with a Korean restaurant named Hansik.  And no, there was still a lack of A/C. We started with the complimentary Banchan that included stewed potatoes, kimchi and turnip.  Nothing really all that special about them and in particular, the kimchi was a bit weak.  Our first dish was the Bibimbap ($8.99) which sported a good amount of toppings.  Nothing was amiss except the addition of iceberg lettuce created a weird texture.  Luckily this time, Boss Woman was aware that taking the egg was a no-no (she took it last time we were at Jang Mo Jib, to our horror).

Moving along, we had the Japchae ($13.95) where the noodles had a nice chewy texture.  The dish was not greasy, but was overly sweet though.  There was no absence of ingredients including the vibrant crunch from the broccoli and wood ear mushrooms.  The portion size was pretty typical for this dish.  I still cannot understand the price point for this dish in general at most Korean restaurants...  Being somewhat similar albeit with more meat and watery, the Bulgogi ($14.95) was tender and really moist.  It was also quite sweet much like the japchae.  As mentioned, it was a bit watery, yet the noodles were not mushy.

Not particularly the best dish to share amongst a table of 7, we had the Sundubu ($8.99) with seafood.  The soup came out boiling hot with plenty of ingredients including the silkiness of a raw egg.  Although there was mild spice, the broth was on the thinner side.  We didn't notice much depth.  We really liked the tofu though as it was soft and silky.  Somehow Bam Bam was able to split this 7 ways...  Amazing.  Completing the "usual things one would order at a Korean restaurant" was the Pajeon (seafood pancake $12.95).  We thought this was executed quite well and looked really good.  It was crunchy, yet not too dense inside.  There was a good mix of green onion and seafood.

Up next, we had the Jeyukbokkeum (spicy pork $14.95) which was pretty good in my opinion.  There was a decent amount of meat on the cast iron plate that exhibited some spice and again, plenty of caramelized sweetness.  The pork itself was tender while still retaining a natural meatiness.  Strangely labeled as "Korean BBQ" on the menu, the Kalbee (short ribs $17.95) showed definite signs of being BBQ'd.  Underneath the charred and caramelized exterior, the meat was a bit chewy.  On the other hand, it wasn't difficult to eat either.  Surprise surprise, the dominant flavour was sugar.

Onto another meat dish, we had the Chicken Gangjung (sweet & spicy chicken $14.95).  I'm a huge fan of this and I found they did a good job with it.  The chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy inside.  The spice level was good where it balanced out the sweetness.  Then out of nowhere, we were treated to a dish on the house being the Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake).  Was it my camera?  Anyways, the flavour profile started off sweet then finished with a good level of spice.  The rice cake itself was still a bit hard in the centre. Overall, we found the food to be decent for such a small little non-descript joint. Prices were a bit higher then we would've expected though.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Lack of A/C when it's warm
- Not as cheap as one would think

Hansik Korean Restaurant on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

LotusRapper said...

"Lack of A/C when it's warm" ?!?

It's late October fer cryin' out loud, I love our lil' global warming :-)

I might check this place out. Did Yu Kee go out of business or is this place just a few doors down ?

Sherman Chan said...

@LR LOL, this post was late August... This was the former location of Columbus near Wally's. I think Yu Kee is still there.

Search this Site