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Insadong Korean Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
22 reviews for Insadong Korean Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"Having lived in Korea this is one of my favorite "authentic..." In 3 reviews -
"Definitely check this place out if you like Korean bbq." In 7 reviews -
"The kimchi was great and we had plenty of refills." In 3 reviews
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22 reviews in English
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Review from Suan J.
Vancouver, BC
4/5/2012
Lauren N., and Larry L. Hit this place perfectly in their reviews.
This place is a Korean restaurant exactly as you would find one in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, or anywhere else in the ROK except that So-gogi ( Beef) doesn't cost an arm and a leg, there's Atlantic lobster in the fish tanks and the servers are perfectly bilingual.
Having just returned from some years in RIK this place will set you up for the quickest/shortest visit to the peninsula you could ever ask for. -
Review from Yvonne C.
4/30/2012
One of the most elegant Korean looking restaurant I have ever been to. I was wowed by the decor once I walked in and the beautiful art work shown in the front.
We were seated quickly and had a hard time deciding what to eat. We looked around at the other tables. We saw a lot of people either ordering the hotpot or the Korean bbq, so we decided to have the Korean bbq with marinated Beef Ribs, seafood pancake and the Bibimbap.
The korean bbq with marinated Beef Ribs was really good. My friend and I really enjoyed bbqing the meat over the grill and dipping the meat in all of the sauces it came with.
I was hoping the seafood pancake will be as nearly as good as Jang Mo Jib on robson, but it wasn't. Their pancake was deep fried all around and there was a generous amount of seafood in it. It was good, but not as good as Jang Mo Jib! There seafood pancake is delicious if I wasn't comparing it to Jang Mo Jib.
Their Bibimbap..... This was what came into my mind ?????, literally question marks. I don't know what to say about this dish. It looked impressive with all the different ingredients neatly placed on top of the rice, but it tasted so bland. Although, the spicy sauce helped make it taste a bit better it still wasn't as tasty as I thought it would be. Stick with the bbq and the hotpot; it seems to be their house specialties. -
Review from Megan S.
2/20/2012
It's embarrassing to admit, but until last night, my experience with Korean food was limited to packaged dried kimchi noodles. There's something a bit intimidating about it; something that seems to require a gentle initiation - especially the whole cook-your-own-food thing. Thankfully my cousin had already been gently initiated, so a group of 6 of us headed to Insadong last night and stuffed our faces under her guidance.
The food overall was really, really good. My favourite dishes were the jellyfish salad, the seafood pancake, the beef bulgogi and the beef ribs. The seafood was also a big hit - super insanely fresh mussels and prawns, so good.
The service, however...kind of sucked. The staff were friendly enough, and maybe they were just over-worked, but some of the basics weren't taken care of. We asked for a tea refill but never got one; we had to continually ask for more lettuce but we were only ever brought 4 pieces at a time for a table of 6 people; we had nowhere to put our rib bones so we had to pile them up in our empty soup bowls which took forever for them to clear away; they NEVER cleared away our empty beer bottles and pop cans (and most of us had at least two drinks) so our table quickly started to look like a crowded clusterf%& of no-longer needed items.
All things considered, this is really more of a 3.5 star place, but being a Korean food newbie I don't feel like I can judge too harshly. All I know is that I would definitely come back. For the amount of meat we got, and the quality of it, this place is actually a pretty good value.
Now, any tips for getting the smell of bulgogi out of my jacket? -
Review from Mike G.
Vancouver, BC
11/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Just as the food is brought to the table so be the service; RAW!
The food was good; but after all we cooked it; so what would you expect. The service however was abhorrent. Including being told they are out of cooked potato accoutrement; and then seeing it delivered to other tables. {More like; for you my friend we are out of that; we could however bring you more lettuce, but only if you can hold on and wait until all your meat has been finished}. I am still to this day waiting for my glass of water! -
Review from Sunshine M.
Coquitlam, BC
12/12/2011
This is the most conflicted I have been about writing a review on Yelp. The food I had here was amazing and so fulfilling as I love Korean food. The entire experience was one of the most exhausting and puzzling I have had in a restaurant-globally. However, I think it could be improved upon.
Our group did not notice the buzzers (mentioned in the other reviews) until the end of our meal. It is unfathomable to me that this was not mentioned to us. We languished at our table for 45 minutes before being asked to order. If we had not already ordered drinks, we would have left. It was almost an hour before our grills were lit and it was longer until we received food. (Hmmm, see Aaron S's tip about going with a group and 'the room by the kitchen' I am sensing a pattern...)
I would highly suggest having someone Korean or very accustomed to the cuisine accompany you. We were surprised at the cost of dinner, however we noticed many tables dining "family style" with platters of the same items we had ordered. I think it would be less expensive to order if you had a better idea of HOW to order. Do not expect assistance in ascertaining how things work from the staff.
That being said, the food is delicious and it is such a fun way to eat. Our friend's had a young child who loved cooking her own food and learning to use chopsticks. It was exciting to explain to our group the various banchan and try new beverages. -
Review from Dru C.
1/8/2011
This is considered to be one of the "high end" Korean dinner places that people go and eat. You will always see a lot of large families going to this place for a great time with their relatives. This place really reminds me of the whole Asian Culture that the large family of all relatives to come and sit and eat in a round table and share bread.
The service here is not as great as I thought it was though. The waiters/waitress are not as attentive as I thought. There is a button you can press to call for service. It is an interesting device, but the waitress/waiters will not arrive until 10 minutes later. Which is a little awkward that they would have a device put in there for a purpose...
The food is lovely though. I will give them 2 thumbs up for their food though. My friends and I enjoyed an amazing time eating the food and sharing the grub. We drank tons of SoJu (Korean Rice Wine) and still got home safely.
A great place to hang out with friends and family. I will go back to this place for sure. -
Review from Lisa T.
10/21/2011
it was a "miss" more than it was a "hit" for me this time.
the service was extremely slow, even when we rang the bell attached to our table (i think this was supposed to be a more efficient system since the restaurant is quite big - needless to say, it didn't help much in our case). we had to ask for waters on three separate occasions before receiving it. the waitress was nice, just very absent-minded.
we ordered the bbq combo for 4-5 people. we had six people there and pretty much finished everything, so the portions are a bit bigger than normal. in the end, it cost about $16 per person for the combo (tax and tips included), so the price isn't too bad when you compare it to all you can eat korean bbq for $30 per person.
i've been to this restaurant before and service was never as slow as it was last night. on a thursday night, to boot. i like the food, but b/c of the service, i'd think twice about coming back. i've been to korean restaurants where there was cheaper food, good food, and better service. -
Review from Kim L.
Vancouver, BC
3/21/2011
Growing up in Northern Jersey and then working in New York, Korean food is really good. This was the first restaurant my fiancee and I tried after I came here, and it was such a disappointment.
The service was slow, the small side dishes weren't memorable, and most importantly, the bbq combination platter we got was on the high end for what we got. The worse part of the experience was that the bbq grill kept burning, so we had to flag down our waiter every 10-15 minutes to change it. I would have given this place a 1 star, but since our waiter sincerely tried to make our experience better, I moved the rating to 2. -
Review from Judy H.
Vancouver, BC
12/6/2010
What disappointing trip to Coquitlam -- we were in search of better Korean food than Vancouver, but this was mediocre at best.
First crime: charging per bowl of rice. That's just wrong. Especially when we've ordered more than plenty of food for the party of 4, rice should absolutely be included.
Second crime: their BBQ gizmo involving a pool of water under the grill. This effectively STEAMS the beef, and produces a soft, chewy texture that just doesn't happen with a regular grill. It's to minimize the smoke? Get better ventilation fans! It's to avoid burning the meat too fast? Fix the burners so they're the right height & temperature. This is how "everybody" grills meat? No -- do I look like I'm 10? or even 20? This is no good.
Granted, the quality of the food was A-ok. But I wouldn't return, and I wouldn't recommend it. -
Review from Angela M.
6/16/2009
What an amazing place! If only they had something this great on the east coast...boo hoo.
There were 5 of us, we shared a 6-7 person barbecue dinner and it came out to about $20 a person; such a value. When you look at the recommendations for portion size, they are spot on. I had 3 big eaters and another female beside myself in our party and we were stuffed to the gills. I think the special for 4-5 people would have still been more than enough.
We started out with jellyfish salad; I have NEVER had this before or seen it and I lived in Korea for a couple years. It's got jellyfish, which is surprisingly mild and non-fishy, scallops, shrimp and I think some crab meat as well as some radish, cucumber and lettuce. The salad was huge and refreshing. Jellyfish is chewy - pretty interesting. The spring rolls that came out first were nice as well. Cool, clean taste.
The platter of meat was daunting. We had so much kalbi, bulkogi, mussels, shrimp, chicken, pork...what have you, we had it on that plate. The banchan was also nice. They had kamja (potatoes), how exciting! I don't get that too much in the east. The kimchi was great and we had plenty of refills. We also got soon dooboo jigae (soft tofu stew) yum!
The only minus was that once we got our meat and started cooking, we stopped getting as much attention as we needed because 1) our fire went out twice and we had to flag people down and 2) we were running out of drinks. Dang - I just noticed someone mention a little doorbell thing on the table. I totally missed that. I wish we had been told about that. Ok, so now the neglect kind of makes sense.
Man I wish there was a place like this where I live. I'd be eating here all the time. What a great variety of delicious food!Listed in: Blame Canada!
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Review from Lauren N.
11/11/2008
Insadong is one the best Korean restaurants in the lower mainland, even if it's all the way in Coquitlam (for those living west of Burnaby). It's a pretty large restaurant with ample seating, both tables and booths. My friends and I have gone here a couple times, and each visit proved to be excellent. This is the only Korean restaurant one of my friends will eat at when she visits Vancouver.
We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, given we came around the dinner rush hour around 7pm, but that's not bad for a busy place like this. The service is great, friendly and fast just the way I like it. I must admit, I went a little overboard with the little buzzer on our table, and our waiter must have been a bit annoyed, but if he was he didn't show it. And he even helped us take a few photos of our group. I think there was even a little flirting going on with him and one of my friends ...
The food is top quality, everything is fresh and just the way it should be. The kimchi had the right amount of spicy and sour kick to it, and they serve their rice in little metal bowls with lids to keep it piping hot throughout your meal. The Korean bbq was perfection -- fresh and tender, and entirely marinated so you could really taste the flavour of the sauce.
And as with any other Korean bbq restaurant, do not wear your good clothes here, unless you don't mind smelling like Korean bbq afterwards. Just wear something casual, and probably something that washes easily.
By the end of the night, we were absolutely stuffed. I mean, it felt like Thanksgiving all-you-can-eat! The bill wasn't cheap, but considering the quality meal and service you get here, it's a fair price. Definitely check this place out if you like Korean bbq. -
Review from Shoppa H.
Vancouver, BC
10/5/2011
I guess it's a hit and miss. Some things are great and some are not so great. The service is so slow. Waitress is never friendly. Sometimes we go there and the food isphenomenal and other times, it's just...meh.
I do love the jap jae though! -
Review from Larry L.
One of the best Korean restaurants I've been to in a long time.
Actually, my wife took me here a number of years ago and had mentioned this place was one of the best in Coquitlam. Coming back here tonight just confirmed the food was that good.
There were 5 of us dining out and our friend who is well versed in Korean food, placed the orders and we just came and ate!
I would recommend the steamed pork which you wrap with some steamed cabbage and a spicy topping that you can add for extra heat and flavour. There was the regular BBQ fare, nicely flavoured and everything was fresh. I really did enjoy the seafood salad. Nice fresh crispy greens, seaweed, scallops and smoked salmon. The seafood pancake was very good too!
All in all, it was about $20 something for each of us and very affordable. I'd definately come again.
a two thumbs up and a 5 star ARRRRRGGGGHHH! (pirate style) -
Review from Chloë E.
Vancouver, BC
11/11/2008
Why don't other restaurants have this neat-o little buzzer system they have here?
Say you need more kimchi or another round of soju, you just press the little doorbell button at the table and you summon your server--kind of like an airline hostess. Having never lived in Korea or tasted the joys of Korean BBQ before, this restaurant left me impressed.
On my visit, my Korean-food expert friends selected a range of meats for us to try. They arrived in a pile on a plate, and we proceeded to chop up the pork and ribeye with the provided scissors and arrange the cutlets with garlic and jalapeños on the BBQ, which sits in the center of the table.
As the meat roasted to a just-off-the-grill perfection, we wrapped the cooked pieces in lettuce with a selection of toppings, most notably kimchi. The taste was fantastically fresh and not the heavy meat-laden meal I associate with BBQ.
This spot also offers karaoke, tanks of seafood, and (to mix it up) Wi-Fi.
And to confess: I only ONCE pushed the button to see how fast our server would respond. He did pretty good, clocking in under 30 seconds. -
Review from Richard W.
9/29/2009
While staying at the Executive Suites Hotel it was nice to be able to walk downstairs and across the parking lot for dinner. This place was extremely crowded at dinner even at 7:30 - 8 pm. The service was very slow as a result but when the food came all was forgiven because the Korean food at Insadong is great. I'd give it 5 stars if it weren't for that.
If you have never been to a Korean restaurant, they bring you marinaded meats, vegetables, etc... and you cook your own food on the burner in the center of the table. It is an experience. If you have time to spare, I'd recommend going here. -
Review from Barry Y.
Coquitlam, BC
11/27/2010
I've been here many times now. The first time here was also one of our first times trying Korean cusine! In other words, we did not really know what to order as well as not knowing what to expect. A buddy suggested I order the meal for 4 because of its portion sizes......nope.
My favourite dish is the Korean tofu soup. Being from Chinese descent, in my opinion, the food here is really good including my tofu soup. We're definitely better at ordering and have a better idea of what to expect. Still learning and still loving it here. In the menu, it does state they will charge you for additional Korean appetizers but I've never been charged yet. Perhaps they've done this so you don't gorge on the free appetizers.
Hostesses are very attentive, alert and polite. They use a digital paging board for service. When you press the button at your table, your table number lights up indicating you require service. I've only seen this in Korean restaurants! GRAEAT concept.
Restaurant is very clean with a phenomenal atmosphere. There are private rooms available in the upper level. Undoubtly, you will not have any problems entertaining large groups here.
The only negative thing about the restaurant is the lack of parking at the plaza. There are quit a few restaurants nearby. Be prepared, parking is a challenge. The food is definitely worth the parking hassle!! -
Review from Odette C.
Vancouver, BC
4/14/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Korean food can get expensive. This one has a good set menu for groups. I feel a little disappointed though because quality has gone down a little. We ordered the pork backbone hot pot for $30.00 and this did not include rice?!!! Rice cost $2 for a small bowl.
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Review from Zafira N.
Burnaby, BC
1/20/2009
Having lived in Korea this is one of my favorite "authentic" Korean restaurants. We almost always, having been here atleast 20 times now, order the combo meals and if we have 2-5 people, order the combo for 2-3 (depending on how hungry we are, and then go up from there.
They're willing to do substitutions, so my friends who have allergies to beef or who dont eat shellfish or pork are always happily satisfied.
The flavor is really good and the atmosphere is great.
with that said, the last time I was there, they were so busy that the hostesses were trying to help cook, and it was super annoying. They did this to the Korean and non Korean guests, so... it wasn't a cultural differentiator, just uber annoying. -
Review from Yoony P.
9/24/2009
Went here for dinner last week. We ordered a set menu for five people which included a large seafood hot pot. All of the dishes that came with it lacked flavour. Im not sure why there was a line up for this place but most of the people were non Korean so maybe they don't know what it is really supposed to taste like. I would advise against going here.
Listed in: Korean Yummies
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Review from Janet Y.
Vancouver, BC
6/22/2010
Price of this place is very reasonable (people usually go here for Korean bbq). Food is good (especially the marinated bbq meat, I would skip the oily pancake though), but service is a hit and miss. Parking can be quite difficult during the weekends, since the parking lot is rather small. Good for big parties (lots of seats), and be prepared to wear bbq-proof clothes (your clothes will definitely smell like korean bbq after you walk out!)
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Review from Jenny K.
Burnaby, BC
5/12/2011 1 Check-in Here
yes, definitely i've had better but for what we have here in vancouver, this korean restaurant isn't so bad...the service somtimes can be slow and occasionally rude too but the foods are acceptable.
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Review from Billy L.
Port Coquitlam, BC
6/24/2010 1 Check-in Here
Ok, i use to be a big fan of Insadong, but my last experience may have been my final visit. First of all, the prices have increased with the portions decreasing in size. The service has all ways been awful. That's special button is always ringing off the hook with people requesting service. The food is still delicious but price increase and less food is a really disappointing.
