After spending nearly six months in NDG, I can imagine there are a few people disappointed that I haven’t really written in any restaurant reviews since moving here. We have been eating out significantly less often and when we do go out, we tend to go to places we’ve been to before to avoid any surprises. In short, we’ve been seeking out comfort food at our usual dives, rather than trying anything new, and anything new that we have checked out hasn’t been in our neighborhood. There are quite a few Korean restaurants in this neighborhood and from what I’d read, Hwang Kum was the best, so I decided to pop in and see for myself.
I was expecting something bright and white with paintings on the walls, but when I walked in the door I was greeted with wood paneling and chair covers. The whole restaurant is no larger than my living room and I don’t think it’s unfair to say it’s reminiscent of a dive bar. The cook is clearly visible in an area that looks like it once housed a single bartender and rows of liquor and glasses, a bar separating people entering from accidentally walking into the kitchen. It is lunch, and several tables fill the room, but only several of those tables are filled.
I sit and observe for a moment while someone pays his bill. Those currently with food in front of them seem more than adequately fed and appreciative of their meals. Compliments are abound as the man pays his check and leaves. I’m given a menu and steaming cup of tea, anticipating that I’m in for a treat.
After browsing the whole menu, the lunch special seems like too much of a bargain to pass up. For $11.99, you get a choice of meat (bulgogi beef, chicken, pork cutlets and some sort of braised beef dish). I chose the bulgogi beef, the waiter walks ten paces back to the kitchen and soon the tiny Korean woman is throwing a skillet on the stove and I begin to hear sizzling as new aromas fill the air.
No sooner than I can finish my cup of tea, I’m given a pair of scissors and chopsticks, and a platter of dishes is brought out to me, arranged carefully and strategically on the table. My waiter returns to the kitchen again, fetching a large skillet filled to capacity with several more dishes, including the bulgogi beef I selected. It is clear that for $12 here you get great quantity, but is the quality up to snuff?
Of the cold dishes first brought out, my favorite was a sort of cucumber salad with a slightly sweet, slightly tangy blend of rice wine vinegar and thinly sliced cukes. The bean sprout salad was okay, but with so many other things to choose from, was quickly pushed aside, and what I think was pickled daikon, and a rather bland kimchi didn’t really deliver. The fifth accompaniment, a miso soup, was average.
Between the bulgogi and the kimchi, it became obvious I should’ve asked for the dishes to be “Korean spicy” if possible. There were no lettuce leaves or spicy fermented chili paste to eat the bulgogi with, so while the portion was generous, the meat tender and the seasoning adequate, the fermented chili paste and lettuce leaf rolls I was craving were missing. In hindsight though, this is a minor complaint, because when I return, I will hopefully be able to rectify this instead of getting the diluted Anglo-Caucasian bland.
Also on the skillet was a pleasant savory noodle dish that I ate entirely too much of, all things considered, a wedge of seafood pancake with a crispy, slightly oily exterior that I devoured entirely, about a cup of sticky rice and a lettuce salad with some sort of shallot vinaigrette. Yes, all of this food, for $12, delivered by a small and friendly staff in a pleasant enough environment. I just have to remember for next time not to hold back on the heat.
Hwang Kum 5908 Sherbrooke West
6 Comments
Ah memories, that was my first Korean experience Hwang Kum. I remember being unimpressed with the decor too but charmed by the service. Funny my dish was extremely spicy…a conch dish.
For a good $12 lunch, I’ll eat in an alley :)
How long ago did you go? I will have to try the conch dish. I wonder if they just sort of toned down the heat across the board, just for lunch, just for me, or some other combination of variables.
This is from my friend’s page:
First time eating at Hwang Kum today and most likely would be my last time. Not that the food was bad… actually, I quite like their seafood pancake but my entire experience there was unpleasant. When we sat down, the waitress (with eye glasses) came and took the order. Since this is our first time being there, we asked her what would she recommend. Her facial expression suggested that she didn’t want us to ask any question as if we were taking her time (even though there was only 1 table other than us to serve…). Anyway, we didn’t mind that kind of attitude because we see that in Chinatown sometime as well. We ordered 4 dishes ($14.99, $12.99, $18.99, and $14.99). The food came pretty fast and we started to eat. Once again, I have nothing against the food… it was just great! Everything seemed pretty good until I asked for the bill. She gave us an informal bill with hand writting on it. What I saw was:
………. $15
………. $13
………. $19
………. $15
Tax…….$8.12
Total….. $78.12
Something doesn’t look right? 15+13+19+15 = 62… x tax (1.12875) = $69.98. How come she is charging me $78.12? I asked the waitress to come and showed her the bill. She looked at the bill with a weird face and took it back to the counter. She calculated once again and gave us the bill. I checked the bill and this time, she wrote $70.12. Even though it was not the exact number but I was like “who cares” and went ahead to the counter to pay. I was going to pay but since I was curious, I asked her how she calculated the tax in order to get her number …. $70.12. She then told me, this is the taxes (as if I was stupid or something). I once again restated my question, how she got this number. She then took her calculator and punch down all the numbers… and at the end, multiply by 1.13112. I then asked her how she got this 1.13112 number? This is not our taxes in Quebec. She then asked her boss (which is the cook) and her boss replied back with something in Korean. The waitress then told me that the number is correct and that is how they do it for the last 10 years. My father then told the waitress this is not how she should be calculated. The taxes in Quebec is 5% + 7.5%. The waitress got annoyed and asked us how much taxes we want to put then? We told her it is supposed to be 1.12875. At this moment, her boss came and started to argue with us. She once again told us this is how they calculated for the past 10 years for all customers and no one ever complaint. After hearing this, I was mad and raised my tone. I asked her if no one ever complaint, it doesn’t mean they are right to calculate this way. She then told me “anyway! bye!” I got even more angry. What kind of attitude is this? I asked her what was her problem? I wasn’t even mind to pay the extra 14 cents. I was basically just curious and asked them in a polite way on how they calculate the taxes and that they don’t have to give us this attitude! She then said they got it and told us don’t need to repeat it multiple times (basically asking us to shut up). I told her (still the boss) that she doesn’t have to act it this aggressive… the world is small and nowadays word of mouth over the internet is very easy. She then once again look very aggressive and negative and said “have a nice day, bye!”. After hearing this, we just left.
If I knew this is what’s gonna happen, I would be doing the same thing as other youtubers… take a picture of the bill and record the entire conversation in video using the phone. This female cook (apparently the boss) was so aggressive and took our questions in a negative way. Now, I really feel like calling the government’s tax department and file a formal complaint. Have them send some people to inspect their invoices and see how they keep charging people 1.13112% taxes “for the past 10 years” (handwritting and not using the cashier). Who knows, they might be “eating” the taxes all this time! Anyway, rant over.
It’s interesting that you say this because my wife and I actually ate at Hwang Kum yesterday and there was a group complaining about the taxes right before we paid. It wasn’t clear to me how they were calculating the taxes incorrectly (it wasn’t even indicated on our bill) but there was obviously an issue, and evidently a reoccurring one!
Calculating the tax:
you multiply the total by 5% (GST)
61.96*.05= 3.10
add that to the original amount: 61.96+3.10=65.06
You multiply that total by the QST (8.5%)
65.06*.085)= 5.53
65.06+5.53=70.59$
using sophie’s QST (verified by http://www.revenu.gouv.qc.ca/en/entreprise/taxes/tvq_tps/default.aspx), the magic number to multiply should have been 1.13925, which is 1.05 (which is 100% + 5% GST) times 1.085 (100% + 8.5% QST).
so yeah, they were charging their own 10.67% pocket tax.
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