Damso Modern Korean Cuisine

I was lured to try this place by talk of good Korean tacos, but Vanbrosia rated the tacos only an average 2/3, so we went with other stuff (but did try at least one taco).

This smallish restaurant *does* take reservations, but definitely please be on time because on the Friday night we were there, two really busy waitresses were scrambling to handle the constant stream of customers. If your party is just two persons, you may be able to squeeze in, but be prepared for a wait.

Of the items I got a proper taste of, only the one taco was really decent (and hopefully not a fluke). The rest were not badly done, but in between why-did-I-bother-to-order-this and mediocre. Anything that sounds spicy probably isn't very spicy. More like toned-down-for-North-Americans spicy.

DFC (Damso Fried Chicken drumsticks; $12.99)

Eight drumsticks, slathered with a bright red sauce that wasn't super-spicy, so don't worry too much.
For some reason, many drumsticks had broken bones, typically at the knee.
Bit of a waste of time to order this. Chicken is chicken here, with little to recommend here. No fun-deep-fried-crunch or anything.

Kimchi Beef Bulgogi Burger ($10.99, picked daikon, onion, yam fries with spicy mayo on the side)

My friend was dead certain that they used an inferior Wonderbread bun, which resulted in a soggy bottom half of bun and one that crumbled easily.
Rather very tender beef is the only thing to really recommend here.
Yam fries were nice and crispy and fresh, but glazed with a strange sauce which my Korean friend was certain was soy sauce plus some korean spice. In any case, it had a somewhat off-putting sickly sweetness. Definitely use the spicy mayo to drown that out if you don't like it.
As far as price for portion, $10.99 is actually pretty decent here as you get a goodly amount of beef plus yam fries. Elsewhere, a mediocre and boring beef patty burger might be $12.
They can cut it in half for you if you want to share, but this just smushes some of the filling out, making it a very fall-apart burger.

Korean Beef Taco ($1.99, hand-stretched tortilla, beef belly, chili sauce)

This was actually really good. Slight burnt-by-the-grill flavour really enhanced the tender beef.
Looks like they didn't over-toast the tortillas since Vanbrosia was there last, so no worry here of them breaking.
At $1.99, you are probably better off getting five of these rather than one Bulgogi Burger.

Yuja Snowman Sorbet ($5.99)

Fun and refreshing palate-cleansing way to end a meal. Price is not bad considering they have to compose it into a standing snowman for you.
As far as sorbets go, taste is intense but texture a bit too firm and ice-like.

In addition to being short-staffed, at full capacity they did not have enough menus to go around (!) and the kitchen couldn't really keep up. One person in our party of five got their Korean Miso Stew very early. No sign of rice till later, and then the other orders started to show up. But it was quite a long wait. And then there was the one person who didn't get her order till very late, and it looked like they forgot to light the flame under her not-at-all-spicy Spicy Pork Bulgogi. Plus they forgot my drink order, but at least didn't charge me for it.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en...

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin...

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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