Sura Korean Royal Cuisine

If you can believe it, I have not been back to the Downtown location of Sura since 2013!  For whatever reason, I have totally forgotten about the Sura Lunch Set Menu.  Back in 2013, it was only $20.00 for 12 small dishes along with 3 different banchan.  If you can imagine, that was a fantastic value, especially since it was tasty (and located in Downtown).  Fast forward to the present and they still have the lunch set, but it is $25.00 for the same amount of dishes and banchan.  So yes, it has gone up in price, but not by much (considering inflation).  Still a great deal in my books!  Jackie and I stopped by to try this out.

We were started off with the Daily Congee that seemed to have some minced beef in it.  Unlike the Chinese version, this was silkier and more cooked down.  It was thick, sweet and full of umami.  We had a selection of Banchan including a Mashed Potato Salad, Fried Fish Cake Strips and Kimchi.  We really enjoyed the potato salad as it was creamy and light with the natural flavour coming through with some sweetness.  The fried strips of fish cake were chewy in a good way while dressed in a sticky sweet glaze.  The kimchi was a touch on the tangier side with some spiciness.

Things started to arrive fast and furious, quickly filling up our table.  I decided to go for the Green Salad first as it seemed like the obvious choice amongst all the hot dishes.  It was nothing out-of-the-ordinary, but had fresh mesclun greens dressed in a tangy dressing.  Next, we had the Soy Bean Paste Soup that was somewhat bubbling in the cast iron bowl.  It was not bad with umaminess and some sweetness.  It was filled with various veggies.

A few smaller items arrived at the table and didn't look like a lot of food.  That is true, especially in comparison to the 2013 portions, but in reality, that was probably too much food.  Also, costs are high and I understand the need to give just enough food.  With that being said, I wished there was more of the Mung Bean Jelly because it was so good.  Slippery and soft textured, the jelly was lightly seasoned.  The Spicy Squid Salad was also fantastic with a good sweet spiciness with crunchy veggies.  However, it was pretty low on the squid content.

Onto some more robust dishes, we had the Herb Pork Belly aka Bossam.  This featured 4 slices of tender and fatty pork belly that had a nice aroma in itself.  But of course, it was even better after the addition of the spicy radish and wrapped in the pickled daikon.  Lots of crunch to contrast the soft belly.  The Kimchi Pancake was pretty tasty too with a certain sweet tangy spice.  It was fairly soft and airy with only the slightest of crispiness on the surface.

Some of the more filling plates included the Deep Fried Fish with sweet & sour sauce.  Sure it was basa, but it turned out flaky and moist with a crispy tempura batter encasing it.  The sauce was a nice balance of sweet & sour which went well with the fish.  As for the Sweet & Sour Pork, it was more sweet than sour, but still tasted good.  The pieces of pork were lean, hence being more on the drier side, yet they were still tender.  Some crunch was provided by the woodear, carrot and cucumber.

So the last 2 dishes were a bit bigger in the Japchae and the Spicy Sliced Pork.  Both were pretty solid with the japchae having a nice balance of sweet and savoury as well as some nuttiness.  The sliced pork was slightly spicy while completely seasoned.  The meat was soft and tender.  Naturally, this also went well with the rice.  In the end, we were stuffed and had a few pieces of food we couldn't finish.  Yes, the portions are smaller than in 2013, but there is ultimately enough food for 2 people.  For $25.00pp, it is a freaking steal, especially given its Downtown location on Robson.  Go check it out if you are in the area!

*All food and drink were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:
- Amazing value
- Food is also good
- Lots of variety

The Bad:
- Sure, the portion size has shrunk, but you still get enough food
- Your table might now be big enough