Oh Geul Boh Geul Korean Restaurant

North York is the home of many popular and authentic Korean restaurants that populate much of busy Yonge Street in north Toronto.  Although I had driven past many of them in the past, I admit it was a rarity for me to sit down and enjoy a nice relaxing meal in one of them.  Part of the problem was parking as looking for free parking along one of Toronto’s busiest streets could be quite the adventure.  If one didn't work in the area, more time would have been spent driving and looking for parking rather than sitting down and enjoying a  nice meal.  

However, the sun was shining and even though it was smack dab in the middle of lunch time, a friend and I ventured out to give OhGeui Boh Guel Korean Restaurant a try.  The restaurant has been there for quite some time and fortunately was one of very few restaurants along Yonge Street that had its own free parking lot in the back.  When we got there, we were equally fortunate to find the one and only parking spot that was left in their parking lot.  The restaurant has both a front and back door entrance.  Despite the fact that the restaurant was three-quarters full, we were able to get a nice booth seat right up at the front.  

Banchan Assortment Side dishes

Their menus contained special lunch, dinner and a la care menus that one could choose from.  There were quite a few of them to say the least and all of them appeared reasonably price. After having a good look at their menu for a few minutes, I decided to go with their DolSot BiBimBap ($7.95) which was basically vegetables, beef,  egg and rice that was baked in a very hot stone pot. 

Complimentary Green Onion Pancake

Prior to our main meal arriving, we were treated to a complimentary green onion pancake for starters.  The pancake was nicely fried and tasted pretty good however it was just a tad bit on the oily side.  The waitress also gave us 8 complimentary banchan assortment side dishes for us to munch on.  This included brocolli,  potatoes, sprouts, tofu and kimchi.  The funny part about it was that our main courses had already arrived by then and the banchan assortment sides came after we were already eating our main dishes.  Nonetheless, the sides were decent with the potato in some sort of spicy sauce as one of my favorites. 

DolSot BiBimBap

The DolSot BiBimBap was sizzling when it arrived at the table.  It smelled great and looked delicious.  It also came with a complimentary soup.  One could clearly see the egg, carrot slices, seaweed, bean sprouts, cucumbers, turnips and spinach in the pot.  The hot sauce came separately which was great as one could apply their own amount of spiciness to it.  After mixing the whole pot up, I had to admit it tasted pretty good.  All the ingredients complimented each other well.  The only problem I had was that it was just a tad bit dry overall.  The egg yolk wasn’t very creamy or liquidy and the heat of the hot stove pot really dried up the rice mixture rather quickly.    However having said that, the dish tasted amazing and with the addition of the complimentary side dishes and pancake, I felt I surely got a great deal for myr price.  Drinks were not included however hot tea was just perfect for this occasion.  It was a great preview for my trip to Korea in a couple months time.  Overall I give it a 4 out of 5.  

Oh Geui Boh Geul 

5320 Yonge St, 

Toronto, ON

416-733-3385