It was another Wednesday night and a bunch of us have “Korean Night” where we eating through all the Korean Restaurants on North Road one week at a time. This makes my life easier going with Koreans because Fabo, BusanGirl and M do all the ordering for me. All I do is eat!
Wang Ga Ma is located right across from H Mart, the Korean grocery store on the East Side of North Road. ConsultingGirl got lost and ended up at the other Korean Grocery store – Han Nam. Before you venture out here, make sure you know where you are going.
On the inside there are large booths situated all over the restaurant. With the tall walls, you get a private feeling when you are eating. Sometimes this is an issue because the servers can’t see you.
You get utensils – chopsticks and spoons. What I love about Korean restaurants is how they have the paper covering on the spoons. It prevents contamination. You also get tea, but do be warned, the waitresses aren’t always the best at refilling your tea. You probably want to wave them down or ask for a pot instead.
The menu at Wang Ga Ma is quite simple – Noodles, Pancakes, soups, mains, Hot pots and a few special dishes. It is all on a letter sized piece of paper, so it’s quite simple. For me it was quite difficult because I really did not know what was good … or what they looked like, so the Koreans did all the deciding for me!
As you wait for your order,the usual complementary side dishes arrive – Kimchi, Kimchi Radish, and another version of kimchi with thinly sliced radishes. Lots of kimchi! If you are not keen on spicy things, try a little piece and then figure out for yourself if you can handle the heat. I usually find the larger radish Kimchi is not as hot.
You do get scissors to cut up the kimchi because as you can tell, it would be hard to eat the kimchi and radish whole.
Since we all craved Pork Belly (Bossom), we ordered their special dish – Steamed pork with kimchi ($15.95 Large size) This is another one of those put it together wraps. You are given steamed pork belly, lettuce, and thinly sliced radish kimchi.
You are also given this salty shrimp mixture to dip your pork belly to add more taste, as well as jalapeno and soybean paste.
You first take the letture leaf, then add the pork belly, and the other toppings! Voila! Fold it up and stick it in your mouth and munch!
I love being involved with my food! It’s exciting putting it all together and the devouring it! Even though it was exciting, the quality of the meat was not very good. It was below average as the meat was a bit tasteless. Also, for the price you are paying, it is not worth it. It would be way cheaper making it at home.
BusanGirl ordered the BibimBap ($8.95). This is rice, mixed vegetables, egg and beef served in a hot stone bowl. To eat this, you mix up all the ingredients together. If you like a spicy taste, you can ask for some hot sauce to add to this.
M and I ordered the Beef Rib Soup ($8.95). You get a super hot pot of rice (VERY HOT!) and the beef rib soup. Inside the soup are beef ribs, green onions, radish, egg and a bit of noodles. Fabo suggested this dish for people who are new to all the different types of soups. Apparently it’s Wang Ga Ma’s specialty.
The broth was very nicely flavoured, but when you begin eating the beef, it was rather bland and tough.
TaxMan, Fabo and ConsultingGirl ordered the beef broth soup with beef ($8.95).
You have to add your own amount of salt into the dish, which makes this super confusing. If you are new to the dish, you really don’t know if you have added too little or too much salt. TaxMan and ConsultingGirl were very disappointed by what they got and did not finish their meals.Fabo finished all of hers with no problem.
M, BusanGirl, TaxMan and Fabo all agreed this is the type of place people in Korea would go to eat after drinking. You would think this is more of a dinner type of restaurant, but thats how it is in Korea.
Overall, we were not impressed with the quality of their food and will probably not be returning. With so many other Korean restaurants around serving similar items, there is bound to be better.
Words of Wisdom:
- Tons of Parking
- Under $10
- Unlimited kimchi and kimchi radish
- Poor service
- Limited Menu
- Bibimbap is good to order
We Rate Wang Ga Ma: 
Address:
329 North Rd
Coquitlam, BC
3 Comments
You should have asked them for the Mustard sauce they give with the oxtail beef soup! THe shortrib soup- you don’t really need salt with it.
Next time, ask for the mustard ponzu sauce and dip your beef shortrib into it! it’s so good!
YOU HAVE to get the spicy beef broth. The best ever! Get the meat sauce (the sauce pineapple is speaking of) and dip your meat into it. so effin good!
I think it’s time for a visit in the near future. I will get you both to teach me the ways of Wang Ga Ma.