Jiro Dreams of Sushi is one of my favourite documentaries. After watching the film I had dreams of visiting Chef Jiro Ono’s 3 Michelin star restaurant but after learning how difficult it was to secure a reservation, I had little hope of them ever coming true. While planning our trip in 2016 to New York I read about Chef Nakazawa, one of Jiro’s apprentices, who moved to the US and became a head chef at his own restaurant in Manhattan. I made reservations immediately. This was likely as close as I’d get to Sukiyabashi Jiro.

Atmosphere: The entrance of Sushi Nakazawa opened to a waiting area with a handful of seats and a fully stocked bar. We arrived early for our reservation, so after checking in with the hostess, we ordered cocktails to sip on until our table was ready. Complimentary coat check was available. There were no seats available at the sushi bar while we were in New York, so I settled for the dining room, which was in a completely separate room with no visibility to the chefs. The dining room was dimly lit, quite the contrast from the bright sushi counter, and tables angled away from each other for added privacy.

Service: From the very first step into the restaurant to our last bite, service was exceptional. Before the meal began, our server walked us through a display of classic Japanese ingredients that would be used throughout the meal like yuzu, shiso leaf and pickled plum. Compared to other omakase experiences, sitting in the dining room paled in comparison to the sushi bar. Dinner still flowed at a comfortable pace but I missed watching each piece come together, especially when the price difference was minimal. Stephen found a piece of shrimp shell in his bite of tamago and we were offered a complimentary piece of wagyu beef nigiri as apology.

Food: The omakase at Sushi Nakazawa featured 20 pieces plus a hand roll. The quality of the fish was top notch, sweet, buttery with textures that ranged from melt in your mouth to firm and chewy. A trio of salmon nigiri was first, three different species that varied in fattiness and flavour. Next was a selection of white fish and scallop, each uniquely garnished. Snow crab, prawn and mackerel were next. The nigiri on this plate all had stronger natural taste and I liked the progression from sweet salmon to fishier fish. Following this was a variety of tuna cuts from lean to medium fatty. No o-toro but still delicious. Two pieces of uni were next, one from each coast of the US. Our meal ended with a negi-toro hand roll followed by a piece of conger eel and tamago.

At the end of the omakase meal, our server left us with the a la carte menu to order additional pieces if we so wished. I usually double up on pieces like uni and spot prawn or try a fish that wasn’t included, however I was surprised with just how many other fish were available. Double the selection of our meal. To me, ordering omakase infers that a variety of the day’s best selection of fish will be served. While the variety was there, seeing many more premium types of fish available a la carte was frustrating. I would’ve liked more transparency upfront with their menu or a tiered pricing model to include pieces like o-toro and Hokkaido Uni from the get-go. But, I guess that’s part of trusting the chef.

Overall, I feel like my expectations for Sushi Nakazawa may have been to high based on the hype and price tag (over $200 CAD/person after tax and gratuity). It was still a memorable meal, but not my favourite omakase experience.

We can all agree that aesthetic is an important part of meals. When a dish makes me drool just by looking at, that’s a plus. At least until the first bite. In today’s age of Instagram visual appeal has become an even more important part of marketing and how restaurants gain popularity. However, taste is still key and should be the primary focus. No matter how pretty a restaurant’s interior is, how many succulents they house or how many edible flowers they use to plate, if the food tastes only ok, I just don’t see longevity. Aburi Room had a lot of promise. High quality torched sushi at a mid-range price and their aesthetic was on point (especially the takeout option). After eating lunch there, I’m not super surprised they’re already re-branding.

Atmosphere: Located in the first floor of a condo in North York, I was excited to venture back to our old neighbourhood for lunch at Aburi Room. This was one of our first outings with Alivia and I scoured pictures online to make sure there was plenty of room to fit a stroller next to our table. We made a reservation for 11:30am, right when doors opened and were the first diners seated. Tables were nicely spaced out with a few for large groups and comfy armchairs. Decor was modern with lots of greenery, pendant lights with an exposed industrial ceiling. Lunch was relaxed and busy but not to capacity.

Service: Our server was friendly and patient. Being our first time out in awhile, we were busy catching up with friends and took some time to decide on our order. The pace of the meal was comfortable and when our Smoked Chirashi Tart arrived, she was happy to wait for Stephen to get his camera and pose for our shots. Our reservation was made with a baby and our table had been set up with a high chair, an added touch that I now truly appreciate.

Food: After my lengthy intro I have to start with, the meal was good. Not amazing, but pleasant. My biggest challenge with the Omakase at Aburi Room was that for the price, I’d much rather spend either a bit more for amazing quality and fewer pieces (lunch at JaBistro $28 for 7 pieces) or much less for quantity ($15 Chirashi from Ichiban on Spring Garden). The menu relied heavily on the trend of aburi style sushi and presentation to distinguish themselves, which almost worked. It’s a hard neighbourhood to compete in when there are multiple Japanese restaurants every block.

Stephen and I both ordered the Signature Omakase (10 pieces + 2 hand rolls) for ourselves and split a Smoked Chirashi Tart with our friends. First to arrive were three square bowls with edamame, a cabbage salad and two slices of sashimi on seaweed. The sashimi was a white fish, very fresh and sweet; a good start.

The 10 pieces of aburi sushi was served on a rectangular white plate. There were 6 pieces of torched nigiri and 4 pieces of pressed, then torched sushi. Each piece was paired with a unique garnish ranging from jalapeno to tobiko and a thin slice of okra. I really enjoyed the salmon and truffle shrimp sushi, which were sweet and flavourful. The yuzu peel garnish on the scallop was interesting, a tart and bitter contrast to the sweet seafood. I liked it but not everyone at the table agreed. With the pieces of pressed sushi the layer of mayonnaise was generous and caramelized to a delicious flavour after being torched. However, it did mask the flavour of the fish a bit and all the pieces aside from mackerel tasted the same.

I admit, I ordered the Smoked Salmon Chirashi for the visuals and it did not disappoint in that department. Served on a round plate under a glass dome filled with smoke, presentation was on point. As for actual flavour, there was a lot of sauce. The layered tart of rice, chopped salmon sashimi and avocado was smothered with spicy mayo and nikiri sauce. This was not a subtle dish and I couldn’t really taste much smokey flavour.

We had almost forgotten about the two hand rolls when they arrived, which were filling and completed the meal. A piece of tamago would have been a nice touch. Overall, lunch at Aburi Room was good and I am happy to have tried the omakase. I’m interested in seeing how the restaurant evolves as there is a lot of potential.

Byblos is one of the vegetarian friendly restaurants I’ve been wanting to try out for years now with my friend and her fiance. It’s taken us this long to actually go because securing a reservation at the restaurant has been impossible with less than a week’s notice, sometimes even two or three for a Friday night. I had much better luck aiming for a Thursday night, which was still fully booked by the night of.

Atmosphere: The unassuming facade led to an intimate and vibrant restaurant decorated with geometric tiles and a beautiful wall length bar. Lighting was dim, which helped make every table feel more private, and the round tables were paired with cozy large chairs. Most of the diners were dressed up a bit more than t-shirts and tables really filled up at 8pm. That night, no walk-ins were accepted.

Service: Our server was friendly and professional, starting with asking if it was our first time at the restaurant. Once we all nodded yes, she explained the menu in detail and pointed out the dishes that were strictly vegetarian. With the menu being tapas style, she also made a recommendation on how many we should order from each section of the menu and explained some of the more exotic ingredients. Dishes arrived quickly and were sent out coordinated in two courses. During our meal, my friend recognized another diner who was meeting someone for dinner. He came by our table to say hi and our server quickly pulled up an extra seat for him, without any prompting so we could chat while he waited.

Food: The dish sizes at Byblos were on the smaller side and we were recommended to order 3-4 plates per person to have a satisfying meals. I would also say that the plates were also on the pricier end of the scale as well for the portion size so I’d categorize the restaurant as more of a special occasion or date night vs everyday dinner.

For the 4 of us, we picked a few balance of dishes to share between the meat eaters and enough vegetarian dishes for my friend’s fiance. To start we ordered the Citrus Mixed Olive, Roasted Red Beets, Eggplant Kibbeh and Turkish Manti Dumplings (filled with smoky eggplant). The olives were good, a mix of varieties with some very large, meaty ones. I really enjoyed the beets, which were bursting with flavour and so sweet. I also loved the barbari bread that came with the dish, delicious dipped in the labneh with beet juice. Between the two eggplant dishes, I much preferred the Kibbeh that was flavourful and crunchy without being oily. The manti were good, the more filling dish, but I found the flavours all muddled together with each bite.

To share, we ordered two of the “larger” plates, the Tah Dig (basmati rice with braised lamb) and Middle Eastern Fried Chicken. I’d skip the fried chicken, it was ok but for the price, Stephen’s fried chicken is pretty tasty. A warning on the hot sauce though, it packed a lot of heat. If you’re going to try it, start with one single drop. I also found the Tah Dig to be disappointing. The dish was served upside down with the topping underneath a bed of crispy rice. While the lamb was tender and flavourful, there just wasn’t that much of it and once split 4 ways, I didn’t taste much of the other ingredients.

We rounded out our meal with a plate of Mejadra (lentils), a Chanterelle Mushroom Pide and side of Seared Cauliflower. Both the texture and flavour of the pide won me over, reminding me almost of a paratha, while the cauliflower sounded better on paper then executed. With duck fat, tahini and sesame, I thought the side would be a sure win, but the texture of the cauliflower didn’t quite fit the heaviness of the sauce. The lentil dish was a good filler, not memorable.

Overall, the dishes I liked at Byblos, I really liked while the rest were lacklustre. When you order over 10 dishes though, that’s not a super surprising outcome, but I had high expectations. If you have an appetite, be prepared for a hefty bill to leave full. If you’re stopping by for a snack and drinks, there are some true gems on the menu (beets, eggplant and pide), the service was amazing and the decor beautiful.

Trattoria Vecchia Roma was our first big miss in Rome. Despite thousands of 4 star reviews from multiple sources online and a queue outside before doors opened, I found our meal incredibly disappointing. There wasn’t any dish that I truly enjoyed and none redeemed the meal. Stephen and I walked out of the restaurant confused and wondering what went wrong.

Atmosphere: The restaurant was located in the basement of a building with traditional decor, wooden tables and some exposed stone details. There were lots of tables and large parties could be easily accommodated. The majority of diners were tourists and the menu was written in Italian and English.

Service: We had no issues with service, which was professional and quick. Drinks, including water, was 2-4 Euros per bottle, but clearly priced on the menu. There was also a bread charge, again clearly marked.

Food: Perhaps I just didn’t enjoy what we ordered, but out of 5 dishes, I didn’t enjoy any of them. They couldn’t have all been duds or translation misunderstandings. To start, we ordered an appetizer of fried vegetables, verdure fritte that was served on a plate with a piece of parchment. The assorted vegetables were all shapes and sizes, which turned out to be mostly mushrooms. All of the pieces were pretty oily without much flavour.

Looking at reviews online, pretty much all I saw were plates of Cacio e Pepe. Since we had that the night before, we wanted to try something new. The pasta dish we ended up choosing was the Spaghetti with Guanciale, Zucchini and Truffle. This was the best dish of the night but not even close to the best pasta of our trip. The spaghetti was a good texture, but I felt the plate was under seasoned again. Maybe we should’ve stuck to a classic. For our protein, Stephen and I decided to try the Lamb Skewers and signature Oxtail dish. Continuing the theme of the night, I felt both dishes were bland and the oxtail quite oily. Our last plate was an attempt at getting another serving of vegetables, grilled vegetables, which included eggplant, peppers and zucchini. A pretty underwhelming side and again, underseasoned. Maybe my taste buds weren’t working that night.

Overall, Trattoria Vecchia Roma was fine. The restaurant was cozy and the service excellent. I’m not sure the food warranted lining up for a table or any of the rave reviews.

My husband grew up in Markham, went to high school in Markham and went to university in Toronto with a big group of his high school friends. Many of these friends still live in Markham today and whenever there’s a gathering, it’s often uptown. This is even more true now that babies have been added to the guestlist. Last summer, one of our friends who had been working in Hong Kong was back in town visiting, which prompted a large group dinner. His only restaurant request was non-asian. WIth this criteria and the size of our group, we picked Tapagria for dinner based on their positive reviews and tapas style menu. Overall, although atmosphere and service were excellent, I found the food fairly disappointing.

Atmosphere: Our group was set up in the small private room of the restaurant, which was richly decorated, but did not have any natural light. The room had one long table, small chandeliers, a navy and gold brocade wallpaper and white wall moulding. We were separated from the rest of the restaurant and could move around, switch seats and chat without worrying about disturbing other diners. In terms of privacy and a luxe feel, the private room at Tapagria was perfect.

Service: For large groups, an automatic gratuity of 18% is included in the bill. A few servers took care of our group and were all friendly and professional. As people trickled into the room, everyone’s drink orders were taken and we separated our order into four groups. The restaurant was very accommodating for separate bills and keep trying of complicated orders. I did find that dishes arrived from the kitchen in batches, which led to people who ordered similar items eating first while others waited.

Food: The Hubs and I decided to order a few Tapas dishes just for the two of us, which in hindsight limited the number of dishes we could try. For the two of us, we ordered 5 dishes that totaled to $60/person and was not filling. A few of these dishes had more expensive ingredients but I wasn’t quite satisfied with quality or quantity for the price.

From the Pintxos section of the menu, we tried the Smoked Eggplant ($5), a spread served on two slices of baguette. I liked the flavour of the eggplant and the textures. Next to arrive was the seared Foie Gras ($22). For the price, the piece of foie gras was a good portion and excellently seared. At this point, I still had high hopes for dinner after the first two bites, but we hit a few speed bumps with our seafood dishes. Both the Scallop Ceviche ($16) and Octopus Leg ($15) were disappointing from portion size to flavour. The scallops were sliced paper thin and lightly seasoned with olive oil and spices. I couldn’t really taste the scallop, there was so little with each bite. As for the octopus, the texture was gummy and inconsistent. I’ve tried similar dishes at other Spanish restaurants in Toronto that were better executed.

Our last dish was the Roasted Bone Marrow ($18) and this was my favourite plate of the night. There was a good amount of marrow in each bone and served on a bed of crostini. I would’ve liked a little bowl of sea salt to season each bite myself.

While we skipped out on the Paella, which takes 45 minutes to prepare, there were orders at our table and I got to try a few bites. Of what I tasted, I found the seasoning heavy handed. Another dish my friends ordered that looked good was the Artisanal Meat Board. I do think I would’ve enjoyed dinner more if we had ordered different menu items, but from this experience alone, I wasn’t a fan.

One evening, The Hubs and I found ourselves in Markham looking for a casual place to grab dinner with friends. We narrowed down our choices to a few restaurants in Peachtree Plaza and decided to make a call once we were there. This led us to Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles, a small mom and pop shop, specializing in their namesake. Being a weekday evening, the restaurant was quiet with only a few tables occupied. A single server took care of all the tables, who was efficient and got the job done. There was a large TV playing a Chinese talk show, the soundtrack of the evening.

Between the four of us, we decided to share four types of noodles. The menu consisted of appetizers, stir fried noodles and soup based bowls. With each dish, there were option to customize the width of the noodle and hand pulled vs. shaved. We chose one stir fried option and 3 soupy ones. My favourite bowl was the Original Lanzhou beef with a clear, savoury broth garnished with cilantro. The Noodles had a good chew and the bowl was very satisfying. I found the lamb fried thin noodles ok, but not amazing. The dish did not have strong wok air.

The most disappointing bowl was the hot and sour soup, my choice, which was underseasoned. With a bright orange colour and good thickness, the soup had all the earmarks of being delicious, but fell short when it came to flavour. The noodles of this bowl were also thinner, and a touch overcooked to my liking. Our last bowl was a Red Braised Pork broth that was solid with large chunks of meat and a soy seasoned broth. Compared to the hot and sour soup, the noodles were much better and there was more depth of flavour (fat) in the broth.

Overall, not bad but not great. A safe bet to try would be the Original Lanzhou Beef Noodles.

Hibiki is a new-ish Japanese restaurant in Markham located along a non-descript stretch of Highway 7. With a bevy of positive reviews online and mouth-watering Instagram photos, I suggested the restaurant to a group of friends for dinner. Our group of 10 was set up in the private section of the restaurant, which ended up being a double edged sword.

Atmosphere: Although Hibiki counts Dominos as a neighbour, the restaurant was sleek and modern. A row of pendant lights hung over the sushi bar. Natural wood was featured throughout the dining area including columns shaped like trees and an intricate lighting fixture. On a Saturday night, the restaurant was full and busy with servers rushing around. Even in our enclosed space, we felt the hectic energy.

Service: Plainly, service was bad. Orders were mixed up, forgotten and tea refills were near impossible. Between the two of us, The Hubby and I ordered some sushi and a grilled salmon neck. Our sushi item arrived and we munched away, patiently waiting for our cooked dish. It never came. We couldn’t flag someone down until nearly the end of dinner to ask about the grilled salmon, and the the dish was magically ready right away. I can’t help but think the servers forgot to bring it to us. When she did arrive with the plate, our table was full and she just stood there, looking annoyed while we scrambled to clear a spot. At one point, one of the servers arrived with a bowl and asked us who had ordered “this”. When we asked what “this” was, she didn’t know.

Food: The Hubby and I ordered the Sashim, Sushi and Roll combo platter, a spicy tuna roll and grilled salmon collar. 6 thick slices of sashimi were included, two each of tuna, salmon and yellowtail. I liked that the selection of nigiri had a few different varieties of fish. All of the fish was good quality, fresh and sweet in flavour with a buttery texture. I also enjoyed the rolls that had a thin layer of rice and lots of filling. Dinner was tasting great. and then I found a fish bone, and we were still waiting for our grilled salmon collar. Honestly, I could have overlooked our service experience based on the food at Hibiki until this point. The grilled collar was fatty and flavourful with a charred, blistered skin.

Overall, while I enjoyed the quality of sushi at Hibiki and their daily specials looked promising, the abysmal service was such a turn off. My interest is still piqued by their lunch menu, but returning for dinner would be a hard sell.

Staying at the St. Regis Bali was my first time at a luxury hotel. Our villa was triple the size of my condo in Toronto and the private hot tub of our pool suite made me question if we ever needed to leave. To be honest, The Hubby and I didn’t really take advantage of the personal butler service, because we didn’t even know what to ask for, but we did find the concierge incredibly helpful and useful. Before heading out on our first day to visit Ubud, we sat with the concierge desk who helped us find and book a cooking class for the next day and suggested restaurants for dinner. We were looking for traditional Indonesian cuisine close to the resort. The concierge recommended Bumbu Bali, a popular, well rated restaurant with a shuttle service. I had come across the restaurant in my own research as well so we made a reservation.

My first day in Bali was spent exploring Ubud and meeting the local monkeys. The Hubby and I returned to our suite pretty exhausted, and sweaty, so sweaty. A quick shower and some downtime was perfect before we headed back out to dinner.

Bumbu Bali was an open air restaurant with several wooden tables set under the night sky and others under canopies. I loved being able to enjoy the fresh tropical air with my meal. While the setting was lovely and romantic with soft lighting and lots of greenery, service and food was underwhelming. Also guests at the table next to us were loud, cracking inappropriate massage jokes with the servers and distracting. In fact, we had time getting attention from servers, because they were busy managing that table.

Being our first night in Bali, we were still learning about Indonesian cuisine. Thus the safest bet for dinner seemed to be Bumbu Bali’s set dinner, 550,000 IDR ($55 CAD) for two people. The set included a soup, 10 traditional dishes and a platter of desserts. Based on the many platters being served to tables around us, other diners had the same idea.

Dinner included pork, chicken and seafood satay skewers, beef rendang, lamb stew, grilled fish, two vegetable dishes, shredded chicken with chili and tomato, tuna salad and nasi. I found the flavours muted or overpowered by heat. Dessert included a selection of Balinese cakes, black rice pudding, a glutinous rice flour dumpling and seasonal fruit. I have to admit, I was being spoiled by the St. Regis’s daily fruit plate and Bumbu Bali’s didn’t quite compare in sweetness or selection. Unfortunately, Of the 10 dishes, I only enjoyed about half of them and even then none were spectacular. I was also surprised at the level of spice, taste buds disintegrating spice. Watching the kitchen, none of the dishes were prepared to order, simpled ladled out of pre-prepared pots. This may be how dinner is served, I’m unsure. That night, the Hubby and I were mildly disappointed with dinner but after our experience the next day with Paon Cooking Class, we were super disappointed.

Kitchen M is a Hong Kong style cafe on the corner of Highway 7 and McCowan that opened at the end of 2014. While in the neighbourhood running errands, I was debating whether or not to skip lunch when we drove by Kitchen M. Figuring I could order something light while The Hubby ate a full meal, we pulled into the parking lot.

Atmosphere: Walls of the restaurant were covered with printed posters advertising menu specials. At 2pm, we didn’t have to wait for a table and Kitchen M was less hectic than other Hong Kong style cafes in the area. The location used to be a Japanese restaurant and the dining room was fairly large.

Service: Service was fine, not bad, not exceptional, but perfectly acceptable. We were shown to a table and handed menus. The Hubby decided on his usual lunch combo and I was enticed by a wall poster to order a full bowl of noodles. The house special noodle wasn’t on the menu and I had to point to the sign when ordering.

Food: Overall, I thought lunch at Kitchen M was fine, from all aspects. Again, not bad but also not amazing. We ordered two hot Hong Kong milk teas that were good. The tea had a strong flavour and was milky. Our entrees though were meh to disappointing.

With the Hainanese chicken, the rice had the right flavour but the kernels were soft and mushy. There was no side bowl of stock, so I assume the rice was served with the stock pre-mixed in, which could have caused the sogginess. The chicken itself was ok. My house noodle soup consisted of round rice noodles in fish broth, topped with various fish balls and tofu puffs. Positives of the dish, there was a generous amount of toppings and the noodles were cooked to a soft but chewy consistency. Negatives, the broth. First, I found the broth under seasoned and second, there was a strong, distinct fishy flavour. Even with spoonfuls of chili oil, the broth was overpowering. I am a big fan of fish flavour and fish broth (I eat the fish skin for myself and The Hubby) but this bowl had no depth of flavour, richness or seasoning, just straight up fish.

Prices at Kitchen M were also higher than cafes offering similar menus in the neighbourhood. Personally, next time I’m hungry, I might stop by for the milk tea, but I’d look elsewhere for lunch.

Sometimes, I get a craving for AYCE Korean BBQ. My appetite has shrunk over time, but the combination of a smoky grill and endless short ribs calls to me every few months. I usually regret the indulgence during the food coma after, when my waistline is uncomfortably snug. My body however has the memory of a goldfish and after some time, the craving hits again. This was how The Hubby and I ended up at Korean Grill House on Queen St, one Friday evening for our date night. Chubby buddies for life.

Atmosphere: Korean Grill House was my go to AYCE Korean BBQ in Toronto, the Queen St. location especially. The restaurant is usually full, and stays so late into the night thanks to their night owl deal (same pricing as lunch, $6 cheaper than dinner). Tables are equipped with built-in grills, shared between 2-4 people. The space was well ventilated, but I do always leave smelling like bbq. With the years of smoke and oil, the floors were a little sticky but overall the restaurant was clean.

Service: Unfortunately, this was an occasion where service impacted my experience negatively. When I visit an AYCE restaurant, I give great leniency for service because there are large complex orders. However I don’t appreciate restaurants who aren’t transparent with their menu. With our first order we were told about pork belly, an additional item that wasn’t on the menu but one the server manually wrote on our order sheets. For our second order, we tried to order pork belly and it never came. We thought maybe they just forgot and tried to order it again, still nothing. Rather than placing a fourth order, I asked a server about our previous requests. The server returned to tell us that the kitchen was all out of pork belly, at 6pm on a Friday, before their evening peak. The Hubby believed this, I was more skeptical. Once we saw the couple next to us receive two trays of pork belly and continued to see trays being served at other tables, we were confused. If the restaurant needed to limit orders on an item, I would much rather know ahead of time, than feel like I’m being deceived. This left a sour note to an otherwise acceptable meal service.

Food: At Korean Grill House, for dinner there were two AYCE options. The first included beef, pork, chicken, beef ribs, red sausage, ox liver, salmon, squid and fish fillet for $18.99 Fridays to Sundays and on holidays. To add lamb and shrimp was an additional $2. To add vegetables including lettuce, mushroom, onion, green pepper and pineapple was an additional $3. Everyone at a table in the same party had to order the same options. We chose the basic without shrimp, lamb or vegetables.

Of the basic items included I usually skip the fish fillet, which is hard to grill without falling apart and not flavourful. In comparison, the salmon offers a lot more taste and holds together better.

6 side dishes, beef broth and steamed rice are included and can be reordered. From the side dishes, I like to snack on the bean sprouts, kimchi and pickled radish while waiting for the meat to cook. That night, I enjoyed the quality of the beef ribs, salmon and squid. The ribs were lean and meaty. In the past, I have received poor cuts with all fat on later orders. The slices of beef were thick, marbled and tender. Both beef dishes were marinated ahead of time and didn’t need any dipping sauce after being cooked.

Overall, I found the quality of ingredients at Korean Grill House had improved. However, service was disappointing.