Beff Pan Steak and Roll House

Prime steak

Going to a steak house is not something we can do often with a toddler, come to think about it, we haven't gone to have a steak since she was born.  So, when a friend recommended Beff's, we knew we wanted to try it out.  It's not your traditional steak place, instead the steaks are grilled on a cast iron pan but still very enjoyable and for the price, excellent!

They serve you some side dishes (common in Korean run restaurants) which I always enjoy getting.

And we ordered the cheesy corn which came with quite a bit of melted cheese as an appetizer.

We ordered two types of steak the rib eye and the prime, both were under $20 and comes with some veggies, a side of fries and bread.  I must say, their 8 oz steak was actually fairly good quality and quite filling - the perfect size for me!  It was tender and juicy and slightly seasoned.  The one thing that you'll have to do is once it arrives, you need to check if it's cooked to your liking.  If you need it cooked more, you leave it on the pan as it's still very hot.  If it's perfect, you'll need to either start eating or place your meat on the bean sprouts to stop the cooking.  Mine did cook a little more even though it was served to my liking, the pan was still sizzling.

Beff also offers a few pasta dishes, sushi rolls, and some fusion dishes like Kimchi poutine but we didn't try any of those.  Square wooden stools are the only seating option (except at the bar) so I'm not sure what you would do with your coat in the winter, but it was well spaced out.  They do have a high chair though if you have a little one.

Service was also very polite and fast (but we did go on a slow night).  Definitely recommend!


Beff Pan Steak and Roll House
Unit 17-100 Steeles Ave. W.
Thornhill, ON L4J 7Y1
T: 905-597-7288
https://www.facebook.com/thebeff/

Red Bean Waffle House - Such a Sweet Little Treat!

Across the parking lot from North Restaurant, I noticed a sign with the word waffle and instantly wanted to take a closer look!  When it comes to dessert shops or cafes, I'm usually quite keen on spotting them out.  Anyway, we had just finished dinner and the notion of dessert came up.  So, we went to check it out and it was a Korean waffle place making the fish shaped waffle cakes.  I believe the Korean term is Bungeoppang.  Very similar to Taiyaki which is shaped like a fish as well but it seems like Taiyaki is thicker and uses regular pancake or waffle batter while traditional Bungeoppang uses a rice based batter. 

It's a small place offering the fish shaped cakes, korean style pancakes (never had before), Korean iced dessert, and also savory snacks like dumplings.  I definitely wanted to try a red bean fish waffle and was not disappointed!

The batter is crisp on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside, not too doughy and a nice amount of red bean filling was enclosed.  It tasted like glutionous rice flour was used in the batter to make the waffle part (which I'm a fan of), but I'm not sure if it is mixed with other flours. I tried looking up recipes and most recipes use regular wheat flour for the bungeoppang which I guess is because the Japanese Taiyaki version is more well known.  Here is a post that notes it traditionally uses rice flour but provides a recipe using cake flour.  If anyone is interested, the H-Mart Housewares Store in Toronto has stocked the fish shaped pan before.

Best eaten warm, they are very delicious with just the right amount of sweetness and chew.  You could definitely just finish one while only walking a few steps out the door!

The list of teas sounds like a good variety, interesting that they have toasted rice.

It may be slightly smaller than other red bean fish shaped cakes I've seen but their price is also very inexpensive. One is $1 and 6 for $5 is a pretty good deal!


There is very little seating but the shaved ice would be great on hot summer days!





They also advertised nutella filled waffle cakes but had already run out.  Nutella seems to be the craze these days.  Next time I guess.

Lee Namjang - Mixed feelings

We came here a while ago but I haven't posted because I wasn't really sure what to say.  But, one of the dishes we had stood out, so it deserves a mention here.  It's one of the few Korean restaurants at Yonge-Sheppard as most are closer to Yonge-Finch.

Lee Nam Jang
Address:  4846 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M2N 6B1
Phone:  416-512-1345

Food

First of all, the banchans were very good, a good sign.  You receive a good amount and selection but if you ask for a refill, they didn't refill all the dishes (disappointing).  Fish cakes were made spicy (yummy) and the potato salad although simple was also quite good.

a. soy bean sprouts b. marnated tofu c. fish cake d. kimchi napa and radish e. spicy cabbage strips f. potato salad

The menu is not too extensive but does weigh heavier on more pricier items.  For example, they serve braised oxtail and ginseng chicken soup (but we didn't try it).  We ordered the braised beef ribs which was very well made, lots of caramelization and flavour but portions were soooo small for the price!  At Song Cook's, you get double the amount for the same price!  But, they do make it differently, Song Cook's version is more stew-like, and different in taste too.  Here, you can see the thick dark sauce sticking to the meat.  Instead of daikon, thick rice cake sticks are added.  This was definitely a winner.

And now the reason for my tardiness in uploading this post - my soup with beef and rice noodles.  It was not particularly to my liking, but it wasn't bad.  Maybe I just don't know how to enjoy this dish and I'm used to the Taiwanese style heavy braised beef noodle soup; it just lacked flavour.  The beef slices were nothing special and the rice noodles were the same. It was the other end of the spectrum compared to the beef ribs.  The soup stock looks like it would be nourishing...maybe it's supposed to be light on taste but good for you...I should really look this up.

Service/Atmosphere

Service was okay but scattered as we didn't get any utensils until we asked (after our meal arrived).  Restaurant was actually bigger than it looks from the outside, decor was nothing special.


In general, this place is quite expensive for Korean food but their braised beef ribs dish would be one to splurge on!  And judging from their banchans, some of their other dishes may be worth a try even though my soup wasn't as good as I hoped.

Jung Soo Nae Korean Restaurant - Yummy Banchans

We're always on the look out for good mom & pop type restaurants and have always wanted to try Jung Soo Nae.  Based on the exterior, this looked like it could be a "home-y" type place.  The restaurant is located at the bottom of an apartment building just north of Yonge and Finch, if you weren't paying attention you'd surely miss it.  We finally tried it a few weekends ago.

Jung Soo Nae Restaurant
Address:  5754 Yonge St., North York, ON M2M 3T6
Phone:  416-222-4267

Exterior of restaurant 

Interior

About 10 tables of decent size, most people were locals as we were one of the only patrons that drove and parked (parking at the back spots 32-50).

First Impression:  Very home-y and quiet
Second Impression:  Good quality and ample banchans (side dishes) are served!

Food:

1. Fish cakes  2. Soy bean sprouts  3. Seasoned seaweed (made from dried seaweed sheets)  4. Potato shredded
5. Seaweed stalks  6. Kimchi napa cabbage  7.  Peanuts with mini dried anchovies 

Upclose view

They served us 7 different banchans and they were all fresh and well made.  The fish cakes had the most fish flavour of any that I've had without being too "fishy".  The seasoned seaweed is one that you don't often see so it was nice to have something different.

I usually get Gamjatang (pork bone soup) but it was a hot day so I opted for cold noodles called "Chik Naengmyeon".  The noodles were made from arrowroot flour and had a nice chewiness to it, not overly chewy that you have to pull and pull  with you teeth to break it, just light enough.  The beef broth was cold as it should be, with a vinegar tang to it, mildly spicy.  Since this was about the noodles and cold soup there is very little of anything else.  You can opt to have the noodles in a sauce instead of the broth.

Half an egg is hiding near the top

My partner had the Galbijjim (braised beef short ribs) which came with purple rice.  Tender beef but not fall off the bone unfortunately.  Taste was decent though.



Service:

Staff were polite and seems to be a Korean family run place, limited English.  But at least one staff member also speaks Mandarin surprisingly.

I usually rate a place based on how well their banchans are made and Jung Soo Nae does a good job.  Overall, the food was quite good, not the best Korean food, but because of the banchans I'm sure we'll be back to try other dishes!!

Bulgogee House: Bento Box Lunch

The Yonge-Finch area of Toronto is known as Koreatown north and there are some pretty good Korean restaurants to check out.  Going south on Yonge, there are less Korean restaurants but we recently decided to try Bulgogee House on Spring Garden one weekend and it was surprisingly pretty good.

Bulgogee House

41 Spring Garden Ave

North York, ON M2N 3G1

416-250-6094

First Impression:  Quiet place for weekend lunch (which suited us quite nicely)
Second Impression:  Good value for the lunch specials!

Not a whole lot to say about the place, they have all you can eat Korean BBQ which is what most people probably come here for at dinner time, but we were there for the lunch specials which are available everyday.  LA Galbi box was $10.95 and the Beef Bulgogi box was $7.95.  If you're in the area Mon - Wed, the LA Galbi box is on special for $8.95, a sweet deal!

Side dishes (banchan):  Four were served, the basics which included bean sprouts, seaweed, napa cabbage kimchi, fish cake.

Beef Bulgogi

 What I especially like about the box was they provided a whole square of tofu and they had fruit and a little Yakult drink as part of the bento box, cute!

LA Galbi

 A note about the decor, it's not the nicest looking place but has an old school feel to it, lots of wood panels.  Service was also polite.