Nolbu

Came for my birthday lunch the other day, on the recommendation of a friend. Plenty of space at lunch, although parking was not fun. Our waitress was quick and efficient, and also very friendly. She spoke both English and Korean, so no problems there. The tables were clean and also fairly private. I liked that as well.
I had come with the intention of either getting their Asian Food Festival special (combo for 2 — side dishes, budae jeongol aka army stew, 2 rices for $ 24), or their lunch specials. We ended up ordering their lunch specials because we wanted to try something new. Yukhoe!
We ordered the soondae guk lunch special ($ 7.99), the bulgogi bento lunch special ($ 8.99), and the yukhoe ($ 17.99). This was served with three banchan: japchae (sweet potato noodles), kimchi, and sliced, seasoned fish cake. While I’m not impressed by the number of sides served, the quality of each was quite impressive. Much better than other places. Their fish cake tasted of fish, and not of starch like every other Korean restaurant I’ve had this dish at.
Soondae guk is Korean blood sausage and other assorted internals in a sort of slightly spicy stew. The broth was flavorful and the blood sausage and internals were delicious. This is exactly what I would want if I was feeling sick or sad or cold. It’s comfort food.
The bulgogi bento came with miso soup which I’m told was quite tasty, a green salad that looked fresh, 4 pieces of California roll which were also fresh, although there might have been a tad more rice than we like on our maki, 2 fried dumplings, bulgogi which was slightly better than other places, and rice.
Yukhoe is Korean style steak tartare. Instead of diced raw beef, it’s more like slivers of raw beef. It was marinated in sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and I’m not sure what else, but it was very fresh beef and it was very tasty. The tartare was topped with a raw egg yolk and was presented very nicely on julienned cucumbers and Korean pears,. The cucumbers were fresh and crisp and the Korean pears were crisp and incredibly sweet. It all went together very well and the yukhoe was very refreshing.
We told our waitress that it was my birthday and we were given a free basket of fried dumplings! I’ve never received dumplings for my birthday, but I’ll take it!
Oh. They have live octopus on their menu. Haven’t had that one yet, but I’ll get to it eventually.
All in all, a very satisfying meal. I’m glad I came. I’ll be back to try more of their food.

Three stars out of five: just passed
The food is actually good there and the environment as well, but what makes this restaurant weak is the service.

Good spot to satisfy a late night Korean craving! Hot bubbling gam ja tang hits the spot on a cold night. Seating was comfortable, service was a little lacking but courteous. Could do with more sides! All in all a good place if you’re looking for straightforward comfort food.

I have been here quite a few times and every time service was different. Some nights the service is quite good, then others just pure failure.
On my last visit, my waiter did not really understand English therefore made the ordering process kinda hard.
We ordered grilled mackerel, wakame salad and octupus/​beef hotpot. I proceeded to ask for noodle to eat with the hotpot but waiter said no he didn’t think they do that.
I asked if he could just ask, if not then I ll just have the rice. He came back later and said yes. Happy camper. As our orders came, including the noodle. everything was good until we waited and waited and waited for the hotpot which never came. Eventually, we flagged down our waiter and asked about our hotpot. He was like you want to order the hotpot. I was like we ordered already.
He went to ask for noodles and forgot to order the hotpot. So we had to wait another 20 minutes for our food. By that time we had lost our appetite and ended up packing it to go. They didn’t apologize or offered us anything for the mistake.
I was quite disappointed because I had raved about them to my partner and dragged him there. He was very unhappy. Hangry to be exact.

I’ve been here in the past and enjoyed their late night menu since they’re open until 4am… but since ordering spicy salmon rolls and tempura last night, my fiancé and I have felt extremely sick. We will not come back as getting food poisoning sucks (100% certain it’s from here) and I see that there are other reviews where people have also gotten sick from eating here.

Bought take away Spicy Salmon Rolls and Tempura Shrimp around midnight last night. Felt sick a few hours later. Definitely have food poisoning as of early this morning. Had to have been the takeout, because my fiancée and I are both sick. The only thing we shared all day was the takeout sushi. Will not chance eating here again.
UPDATE: Was contacted by Toronto Public Health — they are currently investigating.
UPDATE 2: This restaurant was given a Yellow rating (conditional pass) by TPH as of February 1, 2016 due to food handling and pest control measures concerns.

Went here for lunch (free parking) which is so hard to find on Yonge and Sheppard area. Ordered the lunch special dolsoy bibimbap and dokbukki. Both were good but nothing special. Portions were good and even though we only had 3 banchan (kimchi, japchae and fishcakes). They were tasty. Kimchi was especially good.

We came here after wandering for a little bit in the area. The place is a little bit hidden but they have a nice big sign to deal with that. I got the salmon teriyaki bento for lunch. At the start, they give you several complimentary side dishes, which were decent. Be forewarned, the kimchi is very spicy. The salmon teriyaki itself was tasty but a bit firm. They did give a few extras that I didn’t expect, like the california rolls and the the dumplings. Overall, everything tasted somewhere between okay and good. Nothing special, but it was a pretty filling meal for the price.

I do not know how this place got 3.5 stars. Well I just finished my dinner here and I can say if you are looking for sushi stay far away from this place. My bill came up to around 85 dollars after taxes and I can tell you its the worst sushi place I have ever eaten.
I ordered 5 oysters to start off my meal and it literally as small as a ginger slice. Then came my salmon sashimi which was warm. Finally the sushi, I’ll let the photos explain for itself. In the end if was not worth the money. 3.5 stars average is way to generous, I honestly can make better sushi myself, that this! The rice was ROCK SOLID. I havent tried their korean food, but if you want sushi or oysters stay FAR AWAY from this place.

The food is ok, nothing special. They serve Chinese, Korean and Japanese food. Service is alright. However, I don’t think I will ever come back here. Both me and my boyfriend didn’t feel well after eating their food. (We had 2 special rolls and sashimi platter). I guess the kitchen is not very clean. Don’t come here if you have a sensitive stomach.

The food was pretty standard fare. Nothing to write home about. The gyoza in my bento box was hard like a rock because the chef spent too much time frying it.
It’s the service that deserves some attention though. Waitresses in other restaurants will automatically pour tea into an empty cup. At Nolbu, you have to ask for this to be done. They also will leave empty soup bowls on your table without collecting it.
There was this really dumb cashier whom I dealt with at the front desk. I casually asked her the price of the hotpot to engage her in small talk. She said that it depends on which one I wanted. She opened the menu for me and each one of the hotpots on the menu were listed at $ 29.99. See what I mean by dumb?
Then she tried to slide my credit card through the machine to get me to sign the credit card slip when anyone who has dealt with credit cards transactions before would know that credit cards with a microchip embedded in it requires the customer to enter their PIN. Again. What a moron.
On top of that she seemed to be day dreaming when I was speaking to her because she asked me to repeat myself several times during our brief interaction. Maybe it was just a bad day for her but it is highly unlikely I will return for a second visit. As the old saying goes, «You never get a second chance to make a first impression.»

Open til 2 AM and suits your late night craving. This is my second time here and first time dining in. Very nice environment and has a good vibe. The service is friendly and the food is fresh. The wait time is a little bit long if you’re on the hungry side. Definitely would recommend it.

Eh. Average Korean and seafood restaurant.
Tried this place as a recommendation after we got rejected by Nome around the corner. It is a very spacious restaurant with a lot of lighting.
We ordered a dozen oysters, a dynamite roll, and BBQ pork. The oysters were a lot smaller than expected, but tasted nice and fresh nonetheless. For $ 2 a pop, I wasn’t sure if it was worth it to be honest. The oysters only come with Tabasco, cocktail sauce, and a few slivers of lemons.
The dynamite roll was a pleasant surprise. The tempura was cooked nicely and the rice was a good texture.
The BBQ Pork is expensive, but is a hefty amount. The sauce is sweet and spicy, but definitely needs to be spicier. It comes with a little lettuce on the side.
All in all, a pretty average seafood and Korean place.

Friend recommended us to try. Food wasnt WOW but the selection was good. We came on mothers day night and surprisingly there were very few tables.
However their food was great. Price was average. We ordered a wakame salad, takoyaki, fresh tofu, beef and seafood hotpot, Toronto roll, and steamed pork belly with vegetables.
Takoyaki, my all time favorite food, was a bit on the smaller side here. It was a bit too crunchy on the outside, and dark. However, it still tasted good. So I’ll let the color slide.
Toronto roll had a BIT too much cream cheese. I love cream cheese but my friends dont. Even I would admit there was a bit too much and it overpowered the rest of the sushi. I still liked it though :)
The hotpot was good. For a two person portion it had a lot of things! Beef was pre seasoned so even without the broth, the beef was tender and seasoned to taste. This was probably my favorite dish there.
Steamed pork belly with vegetables. This was a DIY wrap-​like item. They were very generous with the amounts of pork belly given. The vegetables and sauces that came with it were also very good.
Overall, portions were generous and I would definitely come back. We had a table of five and for JUST under 20 $ after tax and tips, we were all very full. Just need to know what to order maybe. Great place, great food. Service. I’ve heard they always have different servers.

I went to Nolbu as my friends who live in the area really like the food and go there quite frequently. I went for dinner and was definitely disappointed by the food quality. My group ordered a sushi boat, tempura, and a dynamite roll and everything was less than mediocre. The food was edible (did not get us sick) but I’ve had much better tasting rolls on portion sizes at much cheaper places. Unfortunately, the fish for the sushi was not that fresh (a bit less than ayce level), the rice on the sushi was breaking apart, and the tempura was just not great. On a side note, I went with an Italian and Jamaican friend (I’m Asian) and we were the only group with non-​Asians so I definitely expected more.
Service was typical for the area — they have buzzers at every table and someone definitely came once we buzzed.

Nolbu is this Korean bar/​restaurant that is located on the side of the building. It’s a bit hidden but you can come across it walking down Elmhurst. The place itself serves Korean food, but dabbles in some Japanese dishes and sushi.
It was oyster night, so we came in and had about a half dozen. As well, we ordered Japanese Beef Udon, and a Spicy Crab Roll. Even though this place is supposed to be a Korean restaurant, we did all Japanese menu items…
They did come with the complimentary Korean side dishes like seaweed, kimchi cucumber, bean sprouts, and potatoes. Those were pretty good. The Japanese udon was a good portion and there was a lot of meat. The sushi was OK. It tasted fine, but closer to AYCE quality than anything else. The oysters were great, and definitely should have had a lot more of those.
The place is pretty cool and they have a sushi bar as well as TVs in the event you want to catch a game. The menu is pretty eclectic, while the service was friendly and fast. The prices aren’t so bad, but I would say there are better Korean places just around the corner (literally). I’d come again for oyster night, where they have $ 1 oysters.

I ordered delivery from them for the first time and the sushi was very good. I also had oysters extremely fresh. I will defiantly order from them again

Nolbu has a pretty extensive menu, great deals (like cheap oysters on Thursdays) and a nice lunch special where they don’t downsize the sushi rolls. The customer service style is laid-​back and so just relax and enjoy. The sushi is always fresh and the appetizers are great. I like their miso soup here, too and great choices for sashimi. I order here like twice a week and always try new items. You will always see the regulars – this is a gem in the Yonge/​Sheppard neighbourhood!
Oh, and the prices are very fair especially considering the generous portions you get!
They are also very child-​friendly and catered to me quicker with a little baby. (They have high chairs as well!).

Just order roll lunch A to pick up, got a great salad and miso soup with 12 huge pieces of fresh california and salmon avo roll! SO FRESH and tasty all that for just 10 $ great deal!

Nolbu is the newest Korean & Japanese Restaurant that just opens at near Yonge and Sheppard.
The menu though a little predictable with the usual Sushi/​Rolls, KamJaTang, Soon Tofu, BiBim Bap and more. But I found the food here is well prepared with quality ingredients.
They have a Grand Opening Special till end of April if you want to go try some of the dishes alone or as a group for their hot pot!
Soon Tofu with Seafood ($ 6.99 Grand Opening Pricing) was excellent. The tofu was really silky but the seafood, especially the squid was cooked without being rubbery at all!
There are a few «free» parking spots in front of the restaurant but don’t count on getting one. There is a municipal parking lot right next door or if you come after 9 pm, street parking is free.
There is going to be Karaōke facilities in a month time or so… sounds like going to be a good night spot for some singing, soju and food!