Westender Korean Restaurant

Very nice, very polite owner and staff. I always come here when I don’t feel like cooking my own meal. Very good food at a very affordable price. One of my favourite restaurant in Vancouver. so much love for their food and for the wife of the owner who has been so friendly to me.

*This is an outdated review* Anyways I’ve only been here once and felt like having pork belly BBQ. Menu comes in 2 options: AYCE pork belly or by 2 serving.
We ordered it for 2 people and the food came with Korean side dishes. Banchan (side dishes) came with bean sprouts, salad, kimchi and also came with lettuce, dipping sauce and green lettuce along with pork belly. We also ordered shredded green onion (Pachae) to eat with meat. There was 2 servers working busy with other tables while others eat AYCE pork belly.
They ended up serving other tables and forgot to bring 2 bowls of rice. Only ate pork, side dishes minus the rice. Food? It wasn’t good. It was overcooked, hard and drizzled with oil. Thought it comes with a grill to cook it yourself and it wasn’t. It’s best to grill at home instead and wasn’t worth the visit at all. Also forgot to mention the service was kinda slow.

Just went there tonight, it’s been awhile since our last visit, we’ve always love this korean bbq restaurant, but I guess I will never go back again… They changed the way running their business. Now you dont bbq your meat, instead the restaurant do it for you back in the kitchen and bring them out to your table. The pork belly tend to cool down very fast, it tastes really horrible when it’s not hot and very greasy too. I dont know what’s the reason for them to change the way to run the restaurant, but I am pretty sure they will loose customers really fast! While eating there tonight, there already customers walked out of this place when they noticed the change to it. I hope sooner or later it will back to normal, or I’ll never return again!

Date: Dec. 27^th, 2013
Time: 7PM
Setting: 5 people in total, half packed, low noise, great KPOP on two TVs
First of all, if you have been here before, but not recently, the water has changed.
I came here with a group of friends who had eaten here a while ago, and liked the food here. So we decided to give it a try. The first thing that stroke me is how small it is. Well, to me, I appreciate the environment, sometimes, more than the service. That satisfaction of eating in a place I enjoy is the key to a nice meal and a wonderful night. I am not saying the place looks like crap, but the style it is going for did not attract my attention. It looks like an 80′s bar in Cuba, definitely not the mainstream Korean restaurant look.
Since I came in late, and the waiter/​waitress didn’t approach me for water until she came to us to get the order for food-​10 minutes later, my first impression wasn’t that great. Comparing to Cactus Club or other modern Western restaurants, I can definitely see the difference. HOWEVER, I do understand that it is not some of restaurants’ forte to train their staff, either focusing on cost reduction, or focusing on the quality of food. So, I let it go.
When it was time to order, I realized how simple the menu is. Indeed this can be a good thing, but I want my gosh darn choices, please! Oh well, maybe the food will be fresher, as suggested by some of my friends. So I just ordered the BBQ pork belly (~$ 10) and rice (~$ 1.50). Apparently, it’s their signature dish, simply thin slices of pork belly grilled to well done.
I am definitely a beef/​chicken person, but I’m not a hater, so I went with it. Five of us all ordered the same thing, and plus rice. Soon, two plates of pork belly came. Two of our friends were praised to be «lucky», and how they should go gamble at River Rock to grab the real cash. The rest of us waited. After a while, no more came. Then we realized that another group who came in later than us started to receive their food. Something is not right.
Having asked the waitress, we realized that we were supposed to share the food. The owner even came to give us a lecture about how we should have shared it first, so it will not lose its tasteful crispiness, etc. Well, I do understand that the intention is great and I love the concept, however, they shouldn’t have assumed that we would «shared it just like MOST of others» just because we were all Asian looking (I totally guess that this is basically why-​this is what gave the owner the idea that we would behave like most of others). And since he used the word «most», then he should have realized that some of us don’t share food (On the side note, the culture of not sharing food bothers me a little since I was raised in a culture where food is to be shared, not divided into portions and served. I totally understand the benefit of doing so, and I still do it at home! And this is such a good idea of saving money and developing long lasting friendships, or romantic relationships-​in my opinion).
After food, we decided to get a pitcher of beer for $ 10 (after 8 PM special). We tried to tell the waitress to get us Canadian, but clearly they only serve Koreans. Okay, bad jokes aside, she didn’t understand what we were trying to get since her English wasn’t that good. Oh well, the owner got it for us though.
When we finally proceeded to pay, things got a bit crazier and comical. First, we were told that we wouldn’t be able to split the bill, because the owner/​cashier didn’t remember what we ordered (And my first thought was: so can we just leave now without paying since you probably don’t even remember us coming in here?) As a result, we were ‘forced’ to write down every single item we ordered. And when the owner realized that we forgot to write ‘rice’ down, instead of simply remembering the fact that we all got rice, he had to write the word down on every single Post-​it Note® containing our orders. Every single one of them. I am not sure if that is called attention to details, or … Anyway, it was cash only or debit, and their debit machine looks like it has been used as a prop in an 80′s movie. It’s like one of those calculators you bought when you were a kid, and destroyed for science. I should’ve taken a picture of it, but at that point, I just wanted to leave. Also, we have to tell them how much we want to tip them. Yeah, we have to tell them that. When my friend offered to leave $ 1.5 as tip, the owner said something along the line of, just tip $ 2 instead. I think he misinterpreted the definition of tip. He must had been thinking about the definition of auctioning.
To me, what completes a great dinner besides socializing with your friend over great food and drink is the other stuff that I care about: service and environment. For environment, I would give it a 7/​10, but for service, it’s merely ⁵⁄₁₀. The five is for not screwing up anything we ordered, but we ordered the same thing. Quality of food is 7/​10, and price is ⁷⁄₁₀.

the fucking owner is rude. fucking racist! if you are not korean you wont get good service. thumbs down for this mofo .they fuckin give discount coupons that they only fuckin grant to those korean customers

It was alright. It didn’t live up to my standards in terms of Korean BBQ. The pork belly wasn’t even marinated which was quite disappointing.
Very slow service. We had to ask a few times for our drinks that we ordered.

this place is cheap.
service is good!
They only serve pork.
I love Samgyeopsal, so that is perfect for me:)
I got coupon. So one free meal on next visit?

One star for the owner. Me and my wife walked in because we love a good korean bbq once in a while. We had seen this place being packed many times, so it must be good right?
We stepped into the restaurant, and the owner walks towards us, very unwelcoming and making stop signs with his both hands saying: «korean bbq only», and was about to walk us out again. I was like: «yeah, we know, that’s what we’re here for». I should’ve walked out, but I’m glad we didn’t, because the korean bbq itself was great! Perfect! Just what we wanted.
Service from the waitress was very good as well.
But, these are the reasons why this owner deserves the 1-​star rating:
1. Not welcoming (was it because we are non-​asian?)
2. The owner himself just stands at the bar all night, overlooking everything with his grumpy face.
3. Hello interior update? This place could be the décor for «That 70’s show», not in a good way to be clear.
5-​stars for the waitress and the food! We’ll probably be back, trying to ignore the owner.

I love Samgyeopsal. just can’t get enough of it
And this place provides the best in the city, no doubt
Samgyeopsal is bbq pork belly. famous with Koreans
It comes with a variety of side dishes, including a tasty bean soup. Speaking of the bean soup, it’s above average. not too salty
They have Molson Canadian on draft, but seriously. don’t do it! Order a bottle (or two, or three) of Cass. which is a Korean beer. much better!
Service is great, and the owner is friendly
You also get a coupon for a return visit
If you are new to Korean food, Samgyeopsal is a good start, and this place does it the right way

They only serve ONE menu item: pork belly! But it comes with 4 side dishes, a soup, and endless supply of lettuce leaves and sauces to wrap the pork in. Table grilling is a staple at Korean restaurants, and this place hits the spot. One star off for very unnecessarily loud kpop! It reminded me of Indian restaurants where they play it really loud to get you to eat and leave asap.

Firstly, health conscious people and dieticians should quickly pass this place and stop reading. Secondly, disregard the picture menu outside the restaurant depicting various Korean dishes. They don’t sell anything but one item: samgyusal which is basically pork belly fat (think thick fatty bacon) wrapped in lettuce leaf with some Korean side dishes and spices… sorta like a Korean-​style taco.
I first wondered the obvious… what restaurant would sell just one thing? Well the answer came soon when they brought out their samgyusal. DELISH! It was one of the best I’ve had. Judging by the bustling restaurant I guess others share the same sentiment. Now if you’ve never had this before I highly recommend trying it. Don’t be too scared of the thought of eating very fatty pork. It’s very tasty. Just don’t go eating this on a regular basis!
Tip: The proper way to eat this meal is that you put the BBQ pork belly in the lettuce leaf, fill it with the some of the side dishes and spices then put the whole thing in your mouth. If you can’t fit it into your mouth, you’ve filled your lettuce shell too much.

The good thing about Westender is that they only have one menu which helps a lot, you don’t need to decide what to eat and whenever you feel like to have some yummy Korean pork BBQ just go! The best Korean BBQ in town. One thing you should keep it on mind is that don’t bring your date to there. You can try to bring her/​him on the 3^rd year cuz ppl usually don’t care how each other eat with two bare hands and no manner at all. It’s fun to watch tho XD

They serve only one thing — BBQ pork belly «sam gyeop sal». There is no menu, so you don’t need to waste time to fuss over a menu to find the best thing available. What you need to do is tell your server how many portions you’d like and that’s it.
Each $ 10.95/portion comes with lettuce, green onion and lettuce vinaigrette (add into your lettuce wrap) and the usual sides (ban chans) — bean sprouts, kimchi, daikon, etc.
Pork belly slices neatly stacked on the plate and comes with a sesame salted oil for dipping. DIY grilling over a portable grill.
This restaurant has been around for eons and is bit of a hole in the wall. The picture in front of the restaurant is a bit misleading from what you see inside. Chug down a few beers and I bet you can’t even tell.

We chose this Korean BBQ restaurant because we could see lots of Koreans inside. Normally that is a good sign, but our experience was pretty mediocre. Food wasn’t anything special and one wasn’t allowed to touch the heater, so it took ages to grill anything. No need to go again.

Happy meal with friends, but the pork is too fat :(

Pork Belly BBQ — need I say more? Well — honestly, I don’t know if there’s anything else they sell here. Other than soju and beer, of course.
Rolled down with MK and AA, who are regulars, because there’s no other way I would have found this place. it’s popular with Koreans in-​the-​know and some Chinese students. The regulars presented their VIP card/​coupon which entitled us to 50% off the pork belly BBQ (samgyeopsal). No need to worry though, because they give you more for your next visit when you get the bill.
I don’t understand Korean, but I understood the hand gestures for «6». We got 6 portions and I was already digging this joint when the big platefuls of meat came out. And as with usual Korean cuisine, our table was quickly completely blanketed in appetizers and accompaniments. Lettuce wraps, rice, garlic, sliced green peppers, herb ‘salad’, kimchi, kimchi paste, bean sprouts and other sauces. You will have to be a bit aggressive in flagging down the server for re-​ups — but they came back quickly with more food.
I would have probably been happy just grilling up the pork belly and devouring it between snacking on the banchan. But it’s sangchu-​ssam style — so you are basically making BBQ pork belly lettuce tacos — then I understood why Korean BBQ translates so well as tacos. Hard to criticize with ingredients so fresh and you’re customizing your delicious grilled fatty pork belly with garnishes of your choosing. Korean music videos play on the overhead TVs, so you have dinner entertainment as well. Have no idea what’s going on, but entertaining as hell.
I don’t usually like going for Korean BBQ or hot pot — I feel that it defeats the purpose of eating out. «Cook my own food? How dare you?» But this was fun — just be prepared for your clothes to stink after. The scent of grilled meat on your clothes and garlic on your breath may impede your other grand schemes.
Total damage was only ~$ 20 per person for our crew of gluttons. We were all hungry and we couldn’t finish all the food. As a man that takes on eating like a food challenge, I was soundly defeated.

I can’t say that I’m surprised that I’m the first person to review this place. I was walking with a friend up and down Denman looking for a place to eat when we stumbled upon their big outdoor menu. We walked inside. After five minutes a server came by and informed us that the menu was out of date, and that they only had one item — pork belly bbq. As well, they only had four types of beer, all domestic.
Of course, due to language issues, this process of discovery took 10 minutes of explaining.
However, once we decided to stay, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.
This place is a treat.
If you’ve been to Seoul, you know how delicious the bbq lettuce tacos are (to the Korean reading this — sorry for butchering the name of the dish, but I have no idea what it’s actually called).
This place does that, spectacularly.
$ 10.95 gets you bbq pork belly, soup, kim chi, and the other usual appetizers.
While I wouldn’t go here every week, I’ll definitely be taking people back.