Mama's Diner

I'm sure we are all familiar with Korean food in the Lower Mainland.  We have enough of it to get a good sense of what to expect and what is considered good.  However, we don't see much in the way of Chinese-Korean cuisine.  By the name alone, it is pretty self-explanatory, but I would say it is more Korean than Chinese.  There are Chinese influences and interpretations of Korean dishes in my mind.  But then again, there are related dishes that have benefitted from influences both ways.  On that note, Jackie and I checked out Mama's Diner (yep, serves Chinese-Korean eats!) located near the Walmart on Garden City Road.

We began with the usual Banchan consisting of sprouts, kimchi, daikon and garlic scapes.  I loved the addition of the garlic scapes as you don't see it very often.  They were cooked through while being still crunchy.  Our first dish was the classic Tteok Sausage.  This was solidly-prepared with soft and chewy rice cakes that were crispy on the outside.  The sausages were seared enough that there was aromatics whereas the overall texture was still juicy and bouncy.

One of the best tasting dishes was the Sweet & Spicy Squid.  That sauce was so flavourful and appealing where it was completely balanced.  Also, it was bang on in viscosity and just enough of it to coat each piece of squid.  However, the starch batter was a bit gummy where each piece of squid stuck to each other.  So when we picked it up, the batter slid off.  Other than that, the squid was tender with a bite and of course the sauce was fantastic.

Another solid item was the Seafood Pancake.  This was the thinner type where the outside was uniformly crispy without being overly greasy.  As you can see, it was subjected to a proper sear where it was golden brown, but not burnt.  Hence, it was nutty and aromatic with good caramelization.  Inside, the pancake was soft and but not wet.  It had just enough green onion for impact and there was the right amount of seafood.

With our choice of soup, we went for the classic Gamjatang.  This was loaded with big pork neckbones that were meaty and cooked down perfectly.  The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender, but did not actually fall-off-the-bone without us manipulating them.  The soup itself was meaty with some spice and the unmistakable herbal background taste. Potatoes were also soft and delicate while not melting in texture.

We decided on 2 noodle dishes and sure it was a bit defaultish, yet at the same time, we really enjoy Spicy Cold Noodles as well as the Jajeunmyeon. Both were really large portions of noodles  Normally, you see a small clump of noodles, but in the pictures, it is obvious that they skimp.  Texturally, both noodles were chewy, I think the cold noodles could've used a few ice cubes though.  As for the jajeunmyeon, it was on point with enough sauce that had the right viscosity.  Flavourwise, it was impactful but in a mild way.  Nice sweet onion hits.

We ordered an equal amount of rice dishes as well including the Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap and the Kimchi Fried Rice.  There was so much beef in the rice bowl that it ensured every scoop would be 50% meat.  It was savoury and sweet while being tender due to the beef being sliced thin.  Only wish would be the dolset to be hotter so a rice crust could form.  As for the kimchi fried rice, it was tasty.  The rice was chewy and subjected to a good wok-fry.  There was good spice and overall seasoning while pieces of squid were appealingly chewy.

Now the most impressive-looking dish of the bunch, the Mama Hot Plate Special features a cast iron UFO with the featured dish in the middle (Stir-Fried Spicy Beef Intestines), rice and cheese.  On the outer ring we found corn cheese and fish cake.  Loved this dish as there was plenty of tender intestine that was not overly gamy.  Nice spice on it and when mixed with the rice and cheese, it was satisfying.  Overall, the food at Mama's Diner is solid and served in generous portions.  I found the Chinese influences to be quite minimal and hence, things seemed to be how they should be.  Would come back.

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

The Good:

- Apparent flavours

- Large portions

- Nothing seemed out-of-the-ordinary (which is a good thing)

The Bad:

- The dolset should've been hotter