Restaurants
Buk Chang Dong Soon ToFu (North York)
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu has two locations in Toronto including one near Bloor and Christie in Koreatown as well as this one in North York. The restaurant is an authentic Korean joint with a menu built around one dish.
They have nine items listed on their menu and six of these are just variations of sun dubu jjigae (or as they call it soon tofu). Typically I'm overwhelmed by the choices on standard menus but I never have any trouble here.
For those on a budget, it's worth noting that no food dish costs more than $8.85. Your wallet and your stomach will be equally happy with anything you choose.
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu's decor is simple and non-assuming. It will never have the ambience of a restaurant that woos potential significant others, but no one can deny that it is always clean, bright, and full of life.
Despite how busy it was on this visit, within 2-3 minutes of placing our orders, the complimentary side dishes were delivered to our table. Korean food isn't Korean food without Kimchi!
Another five minutes and my mild seafood soon tofu (#3 - $7.08) arrives piping hot and bubbling in a stone bowl with a side of purple hued steamed rice. This dish also comes with a raw egg which should be cracked into the soup right away to allow ample cooking time. (Salmonella = not so much fun). The tofu is silky soft and dissolves with each bite and the soup is rich and chock full of seafoody goodness.
Soon tofus come in choices of white, mild, medium, regular, and extra spicy. No pepto bismol required. Those with more sensitive stomachs can still experience this dish in all its glory without the heat as seen above in my white seafood soon tofu (#3 - $7.08).
The meal also comes with Noo roong ji which I had to do some digging on. It's a stone bowl with leftover rice which has been allowed to crisp and then bathed with water. The result is a kind of bland thin rice porridge. Appetizing huh? This one is definitely more of an acquired taste.
I personally like to ask them to leave out the water so I can scrape the crispy rice off the sides and sprinkle it into my soup or eat it like a rice chip.
The two other items on the menu - bibimbap and bulgogi (#9 - $8.85) - are less exciting since they can be found at most Korean restaurants. I feel like ordering one of those would be akin to going to a steakhouse for chicken, but that's just me.
Writing and photos by Min Yang
Discussion
11 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
The one on Bloor has been a staple of mine for almost 10 years.
DO 3-4 dishes and do them well!
You better eat FAST and get out!! Don't even swallow your food, just inhale!! Other wise you get dirty looks from the counter lady and the staff!!
I really enjoyed my recent visit to Tofu Village in South Korean Town ( FYI : South Korea - bloor and christie, North Korea: Finch and Yonge)
I did ask the owner about MSG and they don't use in their food, no problem communicating in English.
We ordered seafood soon tofu, veggie soon tofu, seafood/ tofu pancake, bibim nang myun( cold noodle with spicy sauce) kalbi and one more dish can't remember the name!! Darn!!
Everything was delish!! You can also choose the levels of spiciness.
Buk Chang Dong's bibimbap is easily one of the best in the city. So yeah, that's just you.
That's the way the Koreans do it! Can't savour it, it's too spicy!
Bloor street west one: ★★★★☆
I went to the one on Yonge / Finch on Feb 11, 2012 (Sat) about 6:10 pm:
◎ Why I choice Yonge / Finch one?
It’s convenient to my friend to go that area. And I tried the one on the Bloor Street West quite a few times, it’s really good, so I THOUGHT the Yonge / Finch one will be good too.
◎ Why I feel disappointed after meal?
1. Side dish KimChi’s color and the taste are not as fresh as the other place.
2. The lady from the counter really rude and bad attitude (waiters are fine): she tried to push us finished it as soon as possible by the dirty look and even approaching us and asked “are you guys finished?” while my friend still eating as she can see. My friend answered; “no!”. But we don’t have the mood to finish the meal anymore, so we just gave up the meal and left. We only spent about 40 minutes from we sit in to leave that restaurant. You really better eat FAST and get out, especially during the busy hours.
Probably the lady from the counter doesn’t care since she has long line up.
◎ Suggestion
1. Go to the Bloor street west one in the Korean town.
2. If you really have to go Yonge/Finch one and they also treat you like that. NO tips and post it on the web.