Ga Bin Korean Restaurant
633 Silver Star Blvd
Scarborough, Ontario
Cuisine(s): Korean
Date visited: March 2011
We had just finished a movie and it was kind of late (9:30). The places that are usually open late are asian places. We hadn't been along Silver Star Blvd for a while so we decided to hit up that area again. We narrowed it down to either Ga Bin or LemonGrass. Guess who won.
Food: 4.25/5
Since it was kind of late and we weren't absolutely starving, we ordered some soup dishes. Well first we asked for an order of steamed dumplings. This was before we were brought a set of mini appetizers that's so traditional of Korean cuisine. D'oh! I polished off the japchae instantly and we ate from most of the dishes (except for the seaweed .. I wasn't fond of it and neither was the bf). Our dumplings came .. on a plain white plate but placed eloquently. I ordered gamjatang and the bf ordered a hot and spicy soup. They came out on sizzling hot stone bowls some 10 minutes later (his looked like boiling lava .. seriously). I really enjoyed my soup. It was very flavourful and a tad spicy but there was soooo much meat I think I only ate less than half. The bf really enjoyed his soup but I found it too spicy. The portion size was good too.
Service: 3.75/5
Our waiter was nice but after we ordered he didn't come by to refill our tea (it came in tiny cups!!) except to give us our dumplings and soup.
Atmosphere: 3/5
Don't expect much decor from this place. It's pretty plain and white, with a dozen tables set up. There are 2 large tv's mounted on opposite sides of the wall. At least it was clean. OH the placemats had 'learn Korean' phrases on it. I thought that was kind of cool! There was Korean/Chinese/English translations (Korean does look a bit complicated).
Price/Value: 4.5/5
We were pretty full after our appetizer and 2 soups. Add on top the free mini appetizers they give you (about 6-7 dishes). Total damage was $22 for 2 people. Tips was $25. Pretty good for dinner.
Overall dining experience: 4/5
We were quite impressed with the soups we ordered. I remember coming here almost a year back and ordered bibimbap and bulgogi and it was good too. The server was quiet and polite and the food was decent. I didn't care too much about the decor and didn't get a chance to see the washroom. Food came promptly and the value was good. They had japchae (eeeee!!!!) so it looks like we will be coming back!!
