Ssal Korean Cuisine

For the longest time, West Van was pretty limited when it came to Asian cuisine.  There was a smattering of places (including ones that have since closed), but you'd have to head into Downtown Vancouver to get your fix.  Slowly but surely, we've seen things change but one would never confuse West Van with Richmond.  However, I was in the area and ended up checking out a highly-rated Korean spot called Ssal.

We got a Cucumber Salad to start but naturally, we had some Banchan as well.  This included bean sprouts, kimchi and fish cake.  Nothing out-of-the ordinary here but the kimchi was quite good with a noted spice and tang.  As for the cucumbers, they were fresh and crunchy with the nuttiness of sesame and the tanginess from the dressing.  There was also some spice too.

Not trying to be defaultish, but we did get the Japchae as well.  This was a manageable portion that was prepared properly.  The noodles were chewy and slippery (not clumpy) yet at the same time, not too greasy.  It was loaded with ingredients such as beef, spinach, carrots, peppers, mushrooms and onions.  Texturally, things were what they were supposed to be and the seasoning was balanced not being overly sweet.

Then we got into the really good stuff with a small order of the Soy Garlic Chicken.  For a small order, this was plenty generous.  It consisted of 5 big chunks of leg meat that was fried until crispy.  Inside, the meat was juicy and gelatinous.  The soy garlic was impactful with a sweet saltiness and the aromatics of garlic.  The glaze could've been a touch thicker as it didn't adhere to the chicken as much as I would've liked.

Bubbling hot on arrival, the Doenjang Jjigae with seafood was fully-loaded.  We found a mix of shellfish, veggies and mushroom in a mildly-spicy broth.  There was some depth and background sweetness.  The seafood was cooked well, not being chewy or dry.  I really enjoyed the buttery soft tofu but the broth could use a bit more spice.  But they could be appealing to the typical customer.

In addition to the great dishes we had so far, the Beef Short Ribs was on point.  If you refer to the picture above, you can see that each piece was mostly meat without too much fat nor gristle.  Marinated just enough, the short ribs were tender, but still maintained a natural meatiness.  Due to the marinade, there was a savoury sweetness with the aromatics of sesame oil.

We had one more item in the Spicy Pork Dol-Sot-Bab.  This was pretty good with quite a bit of meat dressed in a spicy gochujang sauce.  When mixed with the rest of the components and allowing the rice to crisp up on the sides of the dolset, this was full of different textures.  However, I do prefer the original bibimbap more due to its simplicity.  Also, it could be a bit spicier. Overall, the food at Ssal was pretty good and well-portioned.  People are friendly there too.

The Good:

- Above average eats

- Well-portioned

- Nice people

The Bad:

- People are nice, but service can be a bit slow