Ddoo Gau Bee – Burnaby, BC

Ddoo Gau Bee
203-4501 North Road
Burnaby, BC
(604) 422-0500

Slowly but surely, I’m making the rounds of the various Korean restaurants in this geographic area that borders Burnaby and Coquitlam.

Mexican Chicken Hof
Wang Ga Ma
Insadong
House of Tofu Soup

A few more to check out and I’ve done an initial look-see in some of them yet explored, but meanwhile here is one of my most recent visits…

Debating between Ddoo Gau Bee and another Korean restaurant in the same building complex, after looking inside both and finding this one busier, we elected to dine-in here.  Seated at a booth along one of the far walls, I noticed that there were several combinations and set meals available.  But we selected some choices from the extensive menu booklet instead.

As many who have eaten in Korean restaurants know, the banchan (side dishes) that accompany the meals can vary from place to place.  But the real key indicator is the cabbage kimchi.  Lots of hits and misses there.  These are supposed to be eaten together during the main meal, but when very hungry I often dig in before my order arrives.  My opinion of the set here was so-so average.

The Korean-style dumplings known as mandoo are some of my favourite pre-meal starters that I’m often apt to order.  Usually, I elect the pan fried or deep fried varieties, but in an attempt to venture slightly off the beaten path, an order of the steamed ones was made.  The pork filling was contrasted against some ginger, but as a combination seemed to be underseasoned and after a few, I was disappointed that there were so many left on the plate – most of them left uneaten.

The best of both worlds.  For the jjamjjamyon (which takes the first syllable from the stand alone dishes of each and combines them together here) is a double noodle dish that gives you both the spicy and savory.

This was well done here as both sides tasted as they should, and the noodles cooked well.  If you ever have difficulty in choosing either of these dishes, this option to get both is ideal.

Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to comment on another popular Korean dish that has yet to be profiled here on foodosophy.

Korean ginseng chicken soup or samgyetang,  is made by filling the cavity of a whole bird with rice, which is then cooked together in a flavourful broth that often includes ingredients such as garlic, ginger, jujube fruit (dried).  I believe its better known as a summer dish, the kind to help you sweat out the heat, but for me I prefer it in the fall and winter seasons when the chill is in the air.

The broth needed some added salt to pump up the taste, and it wasn’t the best Samgyetang I’ve ever had, but for my first in the Vancouver area, I can’t say it was a complete loss.   Actually what I got was a half-order and this was more than enough for me to eat as a main meal.  Coupled with the earlier mandoo, and some of the noodles, I walked out quite content quantity-wise.