Little Korea, Average Korean

The wealth of Korean restaurants in Winnipeg continues to impress me as another opens up in the heart of the city. Little Korea first came upon my radar during my standard perusal of new offerings on Urbanspoon/Zomato and has been on my mind ever since. Thus on a windy post-call day I made the quick trek for hearty stews at Little Korea.

Walking down Ellice Avenue gives one a sense of the grit and character of Winnipeg's history. An eclectic group of old brick buildings mashed in between new developments, there always seem to be a story to be told within those walls. This mishmash is also showcased in the variety of cuisines and restaurants available to perspective diners. And so Little Korea is the latest resident, displaying its attractive and modern signage to hungry customers. Its interiors are also similarly attractive with large marble (the plastic kind) tables, comfortable chairs and soft cushy seating. The restaurant is clearly a family run affair with a few generations sharing the duties of the restaurant.

The menu is a simple five pager consisting of the classic Korean favourites. Korean BBQ, noodles, rice and hot stone bowls take up the majority of their offering, but I have to applaud the chefs for keeping it simple and limiting its options to those that it can seemingly cook well. All too often I find that restaurants take the allure of having cavernous menu only to not be able to produce quality food.

My usual at any Korean restaurant, the Gamjatang here marries two large pieces of pork neck bone in a rich and hot broth. Served in a stone bowl, there was a lot to like here: the pork was wonderfully tender, and the potatoes soft and infused with the flavour of the soup. Ultimately tough I found the broth a little one-dimensional giving too much of the base Korean bean paste and missing some much needed heat and spice.

Always wanting to try more I also ordered an Osam (Squid and Pork) Bulgogi. Served piping hot in a stone plate, large pieces of pork and squid are mixed with a bevy of vegetables and enveloped with a sweet and salty bulgogi sauce. The star here was definitely the tender and rich pork that had a perfect hint of sweetness and saltiness from the sauce. Unfortunately the squid, although large in size, were tough and rubbery and made an unpleasant textural contrast to the pork.

A trio of Banchans are available at Little Korea: Marinated Bean Sprouts, Kimchi and Sweet Marinated Potato. Tasting as you would expect, they were nice additions to accompany the rich sauces found in the meal.

Little Korea needs to be commended for offering tasty, albeit ordinary, Korean cuisine at extremely reasonable prices. Ultimately the dishes all had a key ingredient or a major flavour lacking and therefore I can only recommend Little Korea for those in the area, as there are better Korean around.