I was almost ready to believe The Cure’s Robert Smith had somehow
looked into a crystal ball and forecast this rainy week in 2009 when he
wrote “Monday you can fall apart,” because the events of Tuesday broke
my heart. Tuesday was the sad day that two of my pals and I decided to
head down to the Good Food Emporium to give its Asian-influenced dinner
menu a try; Tuesday was the day I discovered that dinner at the Good
Food is only served Wednesday through Friday.
Instead of cueing the muted trumpets, raising a white flag and
heading to the nearest food court, we set our watches for a Jack
Bauer-like rendezvous in exactly 24 hours. By 6:30 Wednesday, we were
knee deep in kimchi.
The Good Food Emporium is by no means a velvet and gold orgy for the
senses, but what it lacks in fancy it makes up for in feast. The space
has a modest, arts-and-craftsy hash-house feel, with a worn and
comfortable, cared-for appeal. Our server is gracious and informative
in an honest and conversational way.
The new menu leans heavily toward Korean offerings. So we
concentrate on these, starting with the pa jeon ($7) and the lao rice
ball salad ($7). A scallion and kimchi pancake, the pa jeon has
delectably crispy edges and a lush centre. The flavour focuses on
creamy, mellow egg gently bumping heads with keen, bright scallions.
It’s served with a compellingly salty soya sauce that has been given a
spicy little spanking by some garlic, chili and sesame oil.
The lao rice ball salad plays off the pancake very nicely. It’s a
balance of crispy lettuce, cucumber and bean sprouts, sweet carrots and
lively sprigs of mint and cilantro topped with crunchy chopped peanuts,
addictively crumbly fried rice balls and a tasty lemongrass and curry
dressing that is perfectly sweet, salty, spicy and sour.
We order the kimchi jjigae ($12), daeji bulgogi ($12) and jajangmyun
($12) for our entrees. All of the dishes are served with a salad of
lettuce, peppers, broccoli and cucumber touched with a subtle, nutty
dressing. We are also given a side of kimchi.
A fragrant pile of fried pork and zucchini sprinkled with sesame
seeds, the daeji bulgogi is marinaded in a lip-tingling red chili sauce
that has an expressive murmur of sweetness and nuttiness that gives it
a dynamic snap. The titillating prickle of spice and sourness is tartly
refreshing against the spice of the bulgogi.
The pungent zing of the kimchi also works well with the thick,
robust jajangmyun, which lacks some acidity. A dark, sultry bowl so
full of carbs, the mere idea of jajangmyun would give Robert Atkins the
vapours. Potatoes, zucchini, tofu and onions are heaped over broad
wheat noodles, covered in a sea of gooey black bean paste. It’s almost
overbearingly hearty, but the salad and kimchi are nice pops of
freshness.
The kimchi jjiage, a piping-hot stew of pork, tofu and kimchi,
suffers from a bit of sameness, with not enough textural differences,
but the broth is a revelation. Warm and zesty, it’s at once razor-sharp
and smoothly encouraging.
The stews are made in advance without the meat or tofu, which are
cooked to order and added, leaving me to wonder how the flavour
profiles might change if the meat was left to simmer. But the food is
so good, and it’s so nice to have a restaurant that can easily make
vegan options, that I don’t spend much time what-iffing. As it turns
out, Robert Smith was partly right. It turns out that Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday, I’m in love.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.
Please quit being so wordy and get to the point. You are guilty of adjective overloading.
How’s this:
“It am good food. Yum.”
Jesus, lighten up, pal.
‘sniffy the bee’, I preferred your review. Straight to the point and logical. Well done.
kimchi jjigae- suffers from a bit of sameness with not enough textural differences. Ingredients are veggies, tofu and pork..etc How much textural difference do you need?
I guess i could throw a piece of wood in there to mix things up.
– Fur Chill –
The “Lao rice ball salad” isn’t Korean, because the name of the dish already tells you that it’s a Lao/Laotian dish known as “Lao rice ball salad”. It’s also known as “Laotian fried rice ball salad”.
yes, i agree. this is a restaurant review. we read it to find out about the restaurant, i.e. the food,prices,atmosphere etc. please no social commentary,no huge intro that i jus skip over anyway. too much intro to every fact, please cut to the chase. definetley leaves me feeling slightly aggravated after reading, however, also feels me leaving slightly more informed. the latter would be much better minus the waste of time and the slight annoyance at wordy, slight affected writing.