SongCook’s

You know that this SongCook’s is a legit Korean restaurant because there are tons of Koreans eating here. I was on the lookout for a Korean restaurant in the area, one other location was closed on a Monday, and I was fortunate enough to find this location thanks to the Unilocal app. The location was not that obvious because it’s located away from Steeles, close to Galleria.
SongCooks looks inconspicuous from the outside. It’s quite huge on the inside. I would not have guessed. The restaurant looks pretty fancy. I was here for lunch and there are a ton of $ 10 lunch specials. I ordered bibimbap in a stone bowl (dol sot bibimbap). You can also get a free soda by checking in with the Unilocal app.
Like all Korean restaurants, I was served with banchan to start. It included bean sprouts, some other thing I’ve never seen before, and a huge plate of kimchi. The cabbage was huge. I didn’t realize that’s what the scissors were for. The dol sot was really good. I really enjoyed all of the ingredients that were included. I’m not a fan of crispy rice, so I tend to stir the rice around before I eat to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the bowl.
Overall, a good dining experience. I wouldn’t mind coming back for dinner.

It’s a puzzle finding this restaurant but we found it! My first time to eat in this restaurant.
It was a long wait this weekend. We waited over 25 minutes. It was worth. We ordered the set menu for 4 people that includes sashimi salmon salad, bbq ribs, sweet and sour pork riblets, black bean noodles, clam soup plus an order of their popular seafood Korean pancake and 4 big bowls of rice. These for sure are authentic Korean food. So much selection but for anyone who’s not sure what to order, we find the set menu as a good choice. Highly recommended!

Authentic Korean Cuisine keeps me coming back to SongCook’s! The restaurant is located right by the Yonge and Steeles intersection in a quiet plaza (entrance is on Steeles but you can connect to the parking lot from Yonge by entering at Galleria).
The restaurant itself has an authentic floor seating area (where you remove your shoes) or regular table chair seating. I always opt for floor seating because it feels more authentic.
Service was excellent, with food being quick and the servers being timely and respectful.
There’s a pretty wide selection in the menu and having visited a few times, food overall is excellent and very reasonably priced. Worthy mentions include the Jajanmyun (Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce), Rice Cakes and the Spicy Tofu Soup. Lastly the barley /​bean rice is unique and worth a try if you’re ordering a Korean style soup.
Overall, I’d recommend this place and would come back for more.

Service was good!
Food was good too.
The plus side is that it’s right next to Galleria.
So get your Korean food then get your Asian groceries!!!
ウマシー度: ⁷⁄₁₀

Hands down one of the best Korean joints in the GTA with the most authentic Korean dishes and the warmest service I’ve experienced in a while. Their venue is split into two sections, one side with traditional seating on floor cushions eating off low tables, and the other side with regular seated tables. Song Cook’s is one of the few Korean restaurants in Toronto that provide the traditional seating, allowing customers to experience the full Korean style of dining. Aside from the superb atmosphere, the food is authentic, well-​portioned, and reasonably priced (with the exception of some dishes being a little pricey, but nothing outrageous).
We had the Nuroongji tang (), a rice crisp soup, and a Ganja jang (), a noodle dish with black bean sauce, to share amongst two people. The Nuroongji tang was so delicious and unique. The waiter put the Nuroongji (rice crisps) in the soup when he came to our table to ensure the rice stays crisp. The soup was rich and savoury with a hint of sweetness; I would highly, highly recommend this dish. I haven’t had a dish like this anywhere else in the GTA, so bonus points for being unique.
The Ganja jang was also good. The noodles were chewy and the sauce was very flavourful. I do think the Nuroongji tang outshone the ganja jang though; the black bean sauce of the noodles had great flavour, but it was slightly oily and contained too many onions (definitely not the dish for someone who doesn’t like onions). However, it was still really enjoyable and delicious.
There are so many options to choose from on their menu, with a good handful of dishes marked with a green leaf to signify that they can be made vegan. Our waiter was so sweet, always checking to make sure we were served well. He assured us that the side dishes were all vegan friendly before he brought them to the table and was very helpful when ordering our food. He asked us a few times throughout the meal how things tasted and if everything was going alright which was so nice! The waiter also made an effort to have a genuine conversation with us when we were paying our bill! I feel as if such great service is a rarity nowadays.
It’s also good to know that they have an app where you can collect points and redeem free food once you’ve reached 10 points with one visit being worth 1 point! The app also had coupons and updates for the restaurant.
There is so much more of the menu I want to explore and I can’t wait to go back! Can’t recommend this place enough! Y’all gotta go to Song Cook’s.

Been here a few times. Very consistent but nothing wow. Typical Korean restaurant with nice interior. You can choose from table seating or the traditional seating.

I’ve decided to check out Song Cook’s as I have read amazing reviews about it.
Depending where you park, Song Cook’s might be hard to find. It is in the same plaza as the Moores clothing store, but keep walking inside the plaza as it is behind the Moores.
Song Cook’s was really big and tons of seating. However, I was surprised when they did not have those call buttons as most big Korean restaurants do.
After ordering, our side dishes were given, along with extra utensils like small bowls, scissors and thongs. Our waitress who was really nice and sweet also gave an egg and the bottled sauce for our dish. To be frank, I had no idea half of what the dishes were. I just knew that the one next to the beansprouts has fishcakes and those were yum. The kimchi slices were big and huge (which I guess that’s what the scissors are for) and tasted great too.
At Song Cook’s, they had a lunch menu between 11AM to 3PM, I believe. We made it there around 1PM.
My friend, U, ordered from the lunch menu and got the JaJangBap — which was rice with minced meat, black sauce, vegetables and an egg.
She did not enjoy it as much as she thought the sauce would have been separated and not mixed in with the meat. She’s also not a fan of sauces in general. I tried the black sauce — it was tangy and slightly sweet. I found it good but I’m not sure if I couldhv consistently ate it for my entire meal as well.
I ordered my usual — Soondubu with kimchi and pork. They also had a seafood soondubu and a kimchi and tuna soondubu. I’ve never seen a tuna soondubu before, it was interesting.
Rice here has to be ordered separately from the meal, ranging from $ 3-​$ 4. They have several options for the type of rice, including white rice, brown rice, barley rice, stone pot rice (aka the purple rice and this option will take longer to make). I opted for the brown rice as I’m used to having rice with my soondubu. However, I barely finished half of my rice as I found the texture too hard for me, even with the soup.
We ordered the sashimi salad to share because I’ve been craving sushi slightly and pictures of it looked good so we impulsively ordered it. The bottled sauce went well with the salad. I wish they hadn’t given us the salad on a flat plate because it was hard to kind of mix the salad with the sauce. Perhaps a bowl next time wouldhv been better, but the presentation was good.
When we wanted the bill, it took us awhile because either there wasn’t any servers in our corner or they didn’t see our hands up.
Overall, I found Song Cook’s to be alright. Service was great, our waitress was very nice and friendly. The soondubu here is second to my ultimate favourite Buk Chang Dong Soondubu, but amongst of all the other Korean restaurants — their soondubu was definitely 2^nd of my list, it was amazing and it definitely hit the spot. It’s a downside for me that I had to pay for my rice separately as compared to Buk Chang Dong. They should really invest in those call buttons as I believe it’ll really help both customers and their servers in efficiency.
Nonetheless, I had a good time here (can’t say the same for my friend) but might not come back due to the location. This location is out of my way for me as Yonge/​Finch is a closer distance to get my Korean food fix.

Taste: If a restaurant has HweDupBap available, I always order it! It’s one of my favourite Korean dishes. The vegetables and fish were very fresh and tasted great when it was all mixed together with the savoury and spicy Gochujang. It had salmon and tilapia, but you can sub for just one or the other. It also came with a small bowl of soup, and rice. Complimentary side dishes including kim chi was also served.
Service: Great. Our orders came out in a timely manner, and all the servers were very nice.
Value: Good value. The HweDupBap was $ 13.99 and I feel like i got what I paid for… especially with the complimentary assorted side dishes.
Ambiance: The place is kind of hard to find as it is hidden behind a plaza. The restaurant has a very homey feel. Half of the space has traditional heated floor seating which is something different. The other half has standard table seating. I chose to sit on the floor and loved that traditional experience.

— Their service was great
— They have actual korean table seating where you have to cross your legs on the elevated wooden floor. It’s an interesting experience but if you’re not used to it, your legs get sore and numb after awhile. The floor is heated by the way.
— Maybe we didn’t order enough of other food. The Ginseng chicken soup was disappointing. Not enough ginseng and chicken taste. Very lightly flavoured. The pork bone soup was okay. I had better ones before. The side dishes were disappointing too. too little choices and they weren’t even good.

Thank God for Unilocal because there’s no way you can find this place without a map and even then it’s at the plaza.
So I found this place and when I got in I noticed almost all patrons are Korean which immediately put me at ease.
I ordered bibimbap and it was OK, not bad but not great either. I had bibimbap many times before and I wasn’t disappointed but this one didn’t shine really.
What shined for me was the side dishes, they were great and the service was great too.
One other thing was the special Unilocal check in, a free pop.
All in all I would definitely come back here to try the other dishes on the menu, they look authentic and looks like Korean people like them too…

I had to drive far to try this place, but man was it worth it. The servers did their best to help me find what I was looking for in taste.
I ended up getting the Pork bone soup with a side of white rice. It was very flavorful and hardy.
The restaurant was not kinda dim in lighting. and the bathrooms were clean.
They do not have dessert.

A lovely Korean restaurant with a variety of hearty, delicious traditional Korean foods! They have almost every traditional Korean dish you can think of!
Service and Environment:
This restaurant is pretty big with ample tables and seating areas. They also have a traditional seating area where you can sit comfortably on their heated floor! Furthermore, they also have small dining private dining rooms for special events and occasions. Service is amazing, the servers are very kind and are always making sure you feel welcomed, comfortable and at home. They are always around and will come to you immediately if you need something.
Food:
I’ve visited this place quite a few times and have some personal favourite menu items such as…
— Jajangmyeon — The traditional black bean paste noodles with pork and potatoes! Love how they add the potatoes in; although it may look like there is too much sauce, this dish is actually really light but flavourful at the same time!
— KalBiJjim — a must try if you’re a beef fan! It’s basically steamed beef ribs that is very tender with a delicious light sauce! Portions are pretty huge so I would share this dish!
— Seafood Tofu Soup and Pork Bone Soup
— Bulgoki Bokeum with wrapped vegetables!

Pretty good Korean restaurant for authentic Korean food. It is a little more expensive than others but in exchange, you do get the real deal. There’s an option to sit on the floor if you really like to be traditional. I ordered the sashimi salad and kalbi soup. It’s good to note that you have to pay extra for rice. They give you an option between barley and brown.
Service was great and food came relatively fast. You don’t get too many side dishes though. I think we only got kimchi and one other dish, which makes me abit sad. But, I would come again if I happen to pass by.

I came here with my friends earlier this evening for dinner. There wasn’t a lot people waiting but we waited maybe about 10 mins for our table. We were seated in the party room, the one with the karaōke stage lol. Our server is a middle-​aged ahjumma and she was so friendly and cheery! Is she always like that? Lol anyway, I ordered the Steven’s donkatsu (7.99) and the pieces are long and did not come with the typical donkatsu sauce. It came with a side of wasabi mayo which was still good. I also shared an order of jajangmyun + tangsooyuk combo (15.99) — yes I know I’m a piggy what?! My friends got pork bone soup, kimchi with pork stew, and jajangmyun and they all enjoyed it.
I also checked in for a free pop (even though I don’t drink pop that often, but being Asian… I wanted to redeem a free drink lol). When we got our bill, I realized our server (the super cheery ahjumma) gave us the wrong bill. We quickly let another server know and the cheery lady came back and apologized and gave us our correct bill.
Lastly, I find songcook has really good customer service! It’s quite rare to have good service in Asian restaurants such as this one. So props to the management team for training their staff well! It definitely made our dining experience a great one! Will be back!

I had heard of something called jjajangmyeon, but never had the chance to try it. Decided to look up a place to try and the first place that came up on Unilocal was Songcook.
A little further away from home for me, but somehow ended up in the area, so figured why not pop in and try it out. The entrance was in the corner so the large interior and cute decorations to reflect the Korean culture was to nice see!
I got the Jjajangmyeon combo with GuManDu, and was quite happy with the choice. The noodles were delicious and the sauce was heaven! Always knew what it was, but he experience was just so great! The ManDu were nicely done as well!
Definitely an awesome place with many options! The check-​in offer for a pop was also a solid plus! Worth taking a look and coming back.

What a great restaurant. If you are looking for a bit more nicer than small/​dark korean restaurant in town; you must go here. I’ve been here a couple of times before and this was the first time where we tried the traditional floor table set up. It was an overall enjoyable experience and it is highly recommended.
Food: 4/​5, just delicious. We all got different dishes but also got samgyupsal (korean table top BBQ) and ddeokbokgi (spicy rice cake with onions, fish cake, dumplings, ramen noodles etc). I myself got the happy set which consisted of spicy seafood noodle soup, jjajjangmyun (black bean noodles), kkanpunggi (spicy deep fried pork), and fried rice. Ok a lot of between the four of us and we all very much enjoyed it.
Service: 4/​5, excellent, the table top cooking was all done by our waitress which was a nice surprise as you usually have to cook and do everything on your own. She was also very friendly as well as the other workers here.
Ambience: 4/​5, great décor — a bit of mixed traditional seating on one side with wooden tables and cushion you can sit on the floor and regular tables on the other side. It’s very spacious and perfect for conversations.
Price: 4/​5, it was about $ 110 with tip and everything; that is one affordable meal for four people with a lot of dishes and we ordered a whole lot.

I don’t know too many Korean dishes or restaurants but Songcook’s was delicious.
To start, the staff were all extremely friendly and made the experience fun. Our server Diana was described as a ‘hoot’ and I completely agree. She was friendly, offered suggestions on the menu and really funny.
Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of my dish but it was a soup with pork, glass noodles and veggies. It was so good! It also mixed really well with the bowl of rice included.
Overall I really enjoyed this restaurant and would come back the next time I’m looking for Korean food.

We came here for the «CMYE: Unilocal’s International Supper Club: Korean». It was a great evening. The place serves fantastic traditional Korean fare in a very cozy atmosphere. It is one of the better Korean places I’ve been to.
We had many of the popular Korean dishes. Some of the highlights for me were the Kalbi short ribs, which were sinfully good. The Gamjatang pork bone soup was superb. It was very hearty and deep in flavour. It would probably make for a perfect winter stew. In the summer, you might want to keep the cold beer nearby. The pork belly was of course delicious. It came with lettuce for making a wrap. That is, if you even have the patience for making a wrap when there’s pork belly in front of you.
The restaurant is quite attractive. It is large and elegant. We sat on the floor in traditional fashion. It’s a fun way to eat. I would imagine it would be fun for families with kids, because — let’s face it — that’s how they eat at home.
The evening was ever more delightful thanks to Dale, who is the Owner/​Manager. He came over to our table and described the food in great detail. He’s young, energetic, and passionate about the family business. He’s passionate about his food, and passionate about his Korean+Canadian heritage. We had a lot of questions about Korean food, and he explained some of the origins and traditions (like the origin of the Korean Fried Chicken.) We learned that aside from this business, Dale is involved with the production of a play called «Kim’s Convenience». In the past, I recall seeing postings for it at the Young People’s Theatre. I haven’t personally seen it, but I recall the reviews were quite good.
To wash all the good food down, we got some Soju. We had the traditional Soju and also the wine Soju. We’ve learned that the wine Soju is a Toronto original. It’s the product of a melting pot city where the tradition Korean Soju meets the Niagara white wine and form a nice partnership. As Dale said it — that’s his identity, put in a bottle.
Thanks to all the dear fellow Unilocal diners for making this such an enjoyable evening. Thank you Kris for organizing (and contributing to) this fantastic International Supper Club event.

This is one of those Authentic restaurants for people who like getting culturally enriched. You can tell by the décor and the fact that we had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor.
Not sure what to order? Here are few plates that I can recommend:
1) Porkbone soup (D13) (Hint: WiFi): I strongly recommend it for groups. A huge bowl of soup with porkbones inside. Very delicious. Burner keeping it HOT.
2) Sweet & spicy chicken (L2): Large plate. Kinda like sweet & sour chicken from a chinese takeout. A crowd pleaser. You can’t go wrong with that one.
3) Kalbi (S2): Short ribs. Medium sized plate. You can’t go wrong with that one either. Really delicious.
4) Porkbelly BBQ (S10): My idea of a Korean BBQ. Cook me some BACON!
They got wine soju here! For some reason many Korean restaurant that I go to stopped serving it. Well these guys got it. If you have never had wine soju before then dude you’re missing out!
High price, but they worth it. Wonderful service. Great experience overall.

I’m going to be so bold as to say that In one night at SongCook’s, I learned more about Korean culture, food, wine and people than anyone who has likely every done a lengthy exchange program to the country. There I said it! Obviously, I’m only kidding, but man what an experience last night.
First off, be advised, it’s a little tricky to find this spot, so let’s mark it off as a hidden gem. If your GPS is going mental trying to find this place, it’s located either (depending if you’re coming from Yonge or Steeles), towards the back of the Galleria Supermarket (off of Yonge coming southbound) or directly behind Moores (if you’re entering off of Steeles).
Now that you’ve found the place, let’s talk seating, hands down, go for the traditional Korean seating, your feet might fall asleep and you may get dead leg from being crossed legged for so long, but it’s authentic, heated, and let’s be honest, way more fun than a chair — plus, if you slip into a food coma you’re only a few inches from the floor for a quick snooze!
Once seated, here is my take on the menu from a white-​guys perspective — if it’s your first visit, ask lots of question (and of course consult pictures on their Unilocal page and menu). I’d recommend asking your server what their most popular items are. We had a good idea going in so we decided to order 4 – 6 menu items that were easy to share, and for 5 people that was way more than enough.
Here is what we ordered:
D13 — KamjaTang JunGol — A large sized hot pot of pork bone soup which they bring a burner to the table to warm it up and keep it bubbling. that value for this was incredible, as there was about 4 – 5 pork bones and more than enough broth to go around for our group. This might be a two person dish if this is all you’re having, paired with several menu items it was was perfect for 5 people. My ONLY critique is I like my PBS SPICY and this was flavourful but set off no alarms. Just my preference, but still very good
L2 — KhanPoungGi — similar to a sweet and sour chicken, but so much better. The batter is so crispy! Despite being dredged in their delicious sauce, it maintains it’s crisp, fried chicken perfection throughout the entire meal. No wonder their famous for this dish. It’s certainly a must have!
N1 — JaJangMyun — These noodles have no end to then, thank goodness for the scissors because you need them to cut off your portion (so your dining companions can have a little bit too). The sauce is incredible and as explained by our new friend Dale (son of the owners) the ground beef is less of the main show, and more of a seasoning. So don’t be surprised if you’re not getting a ton of beef in this. This dish is all about the fresh house made noodles anyway, so enjoy!
R4 + R5 — White Rice and DolSotBap — It’s great to order 2 or more kinds of rice since that have so many variations, so it’s great to compare. The White rice is white rice, however the DSB, is the traditional Korean «purple rice» which is essentially the fusion of white and black rice which renders a more purple colour. It takes longer to cook as it’s prepared in a stone bowl, but don’t forget to eat your crispy bits at the end which they soak in water while you eat.
S2 — LA Kalbi — Traditional Korean short ribs, you get three long pieces and a pair of scissors to cut them up. This is easily one of the best Kalbi I’ve had, ever. Good fat to meat proportion, perfectly marinated and cooked, served sizzling hot.
S10 — Table Cooked SamKyupSal — This is an amazing dish to order for a group, it’s a little bit of a show since your server prepares everything table side for you, so for a group it’s totally worth while (and delicious). 4 – 6 huge pieces of pork belly are cooked ona freshly seasoned griddel alongside cooked various mushrooms and onions. This is great on it’s own but if you want to be authentically Korean, I’d recommend you pair this with…
S1 — Wrap Vegetables — Korean folk, as I’m told, love their veggies raw so they can wrap their meats in them and add sauces and filler. Kinda like lettuce wraps. You’re served a variety of greenery including, romaine, kale and a leaf that escapes my memory but was described as a hybrid cousin of basil and mint, perfect for wrapping meat and rice!
Needless to say we were STUFFED by the end of our meal but somehow managed to eat almost everything on the table. To wash this all down we had a couple bottled of soju (korean rice wine), but the real winner was the Ontario made Soju White-​wine combo that they serve here. It starts with a white wine taste on the palate but finishes with soju notes toward the end. Definitely an amazing Canadian innovation that pairs perfectly with a massive Korean meal!
Service and staff were on point and even helped make a messy bill situation go smoothly! I cannot wait to come back again
Eatcrest Out