Sura Korean BBQ (Richmond)

Believe it or not, I've never visited the Richmond location of Sura before.  I've been to the Robson location for their amazing lunch set quite a long time ago.  To me, it is one of the best values in the city.  Too bad they do not currently offer it in Richmond.  When we had the hankering for Korean BBQ one night, it looked like as good of a time to actually hit up Sura in Aberdeen Centre.  Love how spacious it is compared to the Downtown Vancouver spot.

Of course before we got to the actual food we ordered, they served us a selection of Banchan.  This included 3 types of salad, fried yellow croaker, stewed potatoes, kimchi and marinated bean curd skin.  This was a solid selection that was a meal in itself.  As much as the meals at Sura aren't exactly cheap, they are actually good value considering the portion size, quality and included side dishes.  With that being said, the potatoes were a touch underdone.  Kimchi was very mild, but wasn't too sour.  Loved the fish, we heated it up on the grill.  Flesh was very moist.

Onto the Korean BBQ, we selected the Royal Marinated Galbi.  At first glance, one would be a little troubled at the $55.00 for one serving.  However, it was a substantial amount of tender short rib.  Furthermore, it was good quality as the meat was tender with only a bit of classic short rib chew.  It was well marinated where the flavour was there without being too salty nor sweet.  It cooked up nicely on the evenly heated grill.  It was well-ventilated as well.

Although we were already served bowls of rice, we ended up ordering the Dolset Bulgogi Bibimbap as well.  This sported a plethora of tender thin slices of beef that was surprisingly buttery.  It was marinated enough that it tasted good on its own, however, the addition of gochujang was still needed for overall impact.  The stone bowl was hot enough to form somewhat of a socarrat.  Rice was chewy and wasn't too wet.

For our soup, we chose the Spicy Beef Soup that had plenty of ingredients (despite not appearing to be).  It would've helped if I actually scooped up the ingredients for the picture, but I was too busy eating...  Anyways, the soup itself was flavourful and spicy.  There was a wealth of shredded beef which was tender.  There was also a good amount of sweet potato starch noodles and green onion.  This is one of the better versions I've had lately.

Lastly, we went for the Seafood Pancake, which was not only large in diameter, but super thick as well.  This was actually not a good thing as the middle of the pancake was rather doughy.  It was great that they loaded this thing with seafood, but it didn't end up to be crispy enough either.  On the other hand, the edges were still good.  Overall, we enjoyed the food at Sura and thought it was a good value.  Prices seem high, but you do get a lot for your money.  The short rib was a real highlight too.  

The Good:
- Good portions for the money
- Quality eats
- Spacious location

The Bad:
- Seafood pancake was a doughy