Sura

Phone: (604) 687-7872

Address :  1518 Robson Street, Vancouver

Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00am to 11:00pm

Website: http://www.surakoreancuisine.com

Date of Visit: Feb. 21, 2013

Parking: Street Parking (meter)

Sura is one of many Korean restaurants down on Robson street and West End between Nicola and Denman. They specialize in traditional Korean court cuisine of the Joseon dynasty. Unlike the other Korean restaurants on the Robson which are more casual places to grab a drink, some meat, and side of rice, (think Korean barbeques, fusion cuisine, Karaoke bars, and the closest thing we have to Pojangmacha in Vancouver), Sura is noticeably classier to passerbys.

Appetizers
 

Bossam (small)
8/10

• Pork belly was a bit too salty and had small bits of soft bone between the layers of meat and fat. Moreover, some of the pieces of pork belly were not fully separated and stilled attached at the corner.
•  Assembly required.
• Pork belly was tender, the alternating layers and fat combined with the crunchiness of the cabbage and kimchi gave a really unique texture to the dish.
• Condiments were all nicely presented, cabbage and kimchi were cut to rectangular shapes.
• There was not enough cabbage, for every piece of cabbage, there were two slice of pork belly.
• A larger selection of condiments (such as chili peppers and some raw garlic) could have greatly enhanced the dish.

Bossam is steamed pork belly served with a side of condiments and lettuce or cabbage to hold everything together. The condiments served along with this dish included Ssamjang (a garlic chili paste), cabbage and radish kimchi (fermented vegetables and chili paste), sliced radish, and slice carrots.

Seafood Pajeon
8/10

• Edges were crispy, however, the centre was a bit oily and soggy.
• The texture wasn't as chewy as I preferred, fortunately, it wasn't cakey either.
• While there was a good amount of seafood embedded in the pancake, the filling was almost exclusively squid. A greater variety, such as some scallops, mussels, and shrimp would have greatly improved the dish.

Pan-fried wheat-flour pancake with green onions and chunks of seafood and a wasabi dipping sauce . I'm not too sure want went into the dipping sauce, soy-sauce and vinegar if I had to guess. The wasabi seemed a bit out of place for a place that serves traditional Korean cuisine, but it did enhance the flavor of the pajeon. Unfortunately, other than the wasabi, nothing separates this dish from those of other Korean restaurants. If the seafood toppings were of a greater variety, this would have been a very strong dish.

Mains
 

Galbi Tang
6/10

• The meat has evidently been stewed for a long time as it was very tender and easily ripped off of the bone. Unfortunately, it appears most of the flavor of the meat was boiled out
• I expected a lot more flavor from this dish from the ingredients that went into the dish. The broth was a bit bland and could have had a stronger savoury flavor.
• The sweet potato noodles did however, absorbed a lot of flavor from the short ribs.
• Served with a side of rice.

Samgye Tang
7.5/10

• The young chicken was very tender, the meat tore apart with little effort. This was surprising as I expected it to be rough and overcooked.
• The dish was a bit bland for my tastes, however, I believe it was meant to be as it is basically a glutinous rice porridge.
• There was a small piece of ginseng root giving the broth a hint of bitterness. Personally, I would have preferred the ginseng flavor to be stronger.
• Served with a side of rice.

Description to be updated

SERVICE

• Service was friendly and overall good. However, it did take a bit of effort to flag down a member of the waitstaff.
• Glasses were not automatically filled.
• We were offered a larger table when the all of our food began to arrive.
• The napkins were pretty rough and similar to paper towels.

ATMOSPHERE

• Pleasant, and well-decorated dining area.
• Seating wasn't noticeably comfortable.
• Loud acid/funk jazz and house background music was very out of place.
• One of the most organized and cleanest Korean restaurants I've been too.
• Bathrooms were tidy, safe for #2. Mouth wash is available. They also have a high efficiency hand dryer available.

 

VERDICT

Sura executed every dish I sampled pretty well. Combined with the above average service and clean atmosphere leaves little to be desired. The pricing of the menu items does reflect Sura's quality, however, there are many other Korean restaurants out there with very similar pricing with dissimilar quality. Note, Sura does offer a 50% discount to students between 9:00pm and 11:00pm, Mondays to Thursdays. If you're able to take advantage of this discount, Sura offers exceptional value. Most of the items on the menu are meant to be shared so I highly recommend dining here with a party of at least three. All the share dishes care were a pair of tongs and scissors for easier sharing. I will definitely return here and sample some different items.