Food & Drink

Know of any good AYCE Korean/Japanese BBQ restaurants?

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Deal Addict
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Dec 3, 2010
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Know of any good AYCE Korean/Japanese BBQ restaurants?

Feel free to leave a review of any that you've visited and how they were like, regardless if they were good or bad.

I've been wanting to visit on

https://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best ... n_toronto/
There is a list of Korean restaurants in the link, so if you've been to them, I especially would love to hear your review or if you know of any that are outside of the ones listed.
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Feb 9, 2012
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Chako is the absolute best AYCE. You pay a lot, but you get great value for the money too.
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Jun 21, 2016
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chako is good, I just don't like how they heavily marinate all their meats. Makes the food too salty, especially after you use their dipping sauces. They have a large selection on weekend dinners though.

gyubee is where I go now, meat isn't marinated as heavily.
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toronto19850 wrote: gyubee is where I go now, meat isn't marinated as heavily.
+1. Went there yesterday for the first time and I really liked it. Good selection of meats IMO.
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Mar 22, 2012
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Gyubee easily. A little more expensive but for $3-4, it's easily worth it.

I also like Korean Grill House over Chako.

Chako I don't like the cut of the meat or the fact that it's sometimes still a little frozen.
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Dec 31, 2007
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+1 for Gyubee
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johanscott wrote: Gyubee easily. A little more expensive but for $3-4, it's easily worth it.

I also like Korean Grill House over Chako.

Chako I don't like the cut of the meat or the fact that it's sometimes still a little frozen.
I've noticed Korean Grill house is serving their meat thinner and thinner. It's getting tougher to cook the meat properly, as it is easier to accidentally pick up two thin pieces, thinking it is one thin piece.
Their salmon is still very good though.
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Dec 25, 2017
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Gyubee is the place, a bit pricier than expected. Chako or Korean Grill House is great for late night eats (up to 12 am).

If you don't mind other korean bbq alternatives (not ayce). I highly recommend Kookminhakgyo near Yonge/Steeles - very consistent with the meat cuts (a lot thicker than most places), customer service is very attentive, open until 1 am, the unlimited barchan (side dishes) are top-notch. The only downside is it gets busy dinner time (expect roughly a 20 min wait at most) so get there earlier or past the dinner crowd rush
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TheTheorist wrote: Gyubee is the place, a bit pricier than expected. Chako or Korean Grill House is great for late night eats (up to 12 am).

If you don't mind other korean bbq alternatives (not ayce). I highly recommend Kookminhakgyo near Yonge/Steeles - very consistent with the meat cuts (a lot thicker than most places), customer service is very attentive, open until 1 am, the unlimited barchan (side dishes) are top-notch. The only downside is it gets busy dinner time (expect roughly a 20 min wait at most) so get there earlier or past the dinner crowd rush
Looking at the pics inside of
Kookminhakgyo
I don't see any ventilation... It must get Smokey in there?
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gr8dlr wrote: Looking at the pics inside of
Kookminhakgyo
I don't see any ventilation... It must get Smokey in there?
It does get rather smokey but they do provide seats in which to store your jacket/belongings inside so it doesn't come out smelling like bbq smoke
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Jul 29, 2005
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Has anyone been to Gyu Kaku? I've been to the Chicago restaurant and it was very good. Wondering how Toronto's branch is.
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Aug 27, 2006
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playnicee1 wrote: Chako is the absolute best AYCE. You pay a lot, but you get great value for the money too.
No Astonished Face
Chako is absolute imitation of Korean BBQ.
They are Chinese operated, the gas grills are weak, ventilation system is ridiculous you'd walkout with lung cancer. (Richmond Hill location)
We asked about 5 times to change our grill last time we were there.

Seoul House in Mississauga
Sadly this is Korean operated but has no soul.
They make you grill on parchment sheet, and the place is a dump.

Korea Grill House
Chinese operated. It's been nearly 10 years since I've been there. . Similar to Chako but they don't have sushi.


I haven't tried any other AYCE korean places.
If you want to get close to real Korean BBQ, try Seoul House on steeles/Yonge.
You cook on real charcoal when you order ribs but expect to pay a lot.
Seoul House on Duffrin near Yorkdale used to have charcoal but I think they just switch to infrared.
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el'ation wrote: No Astonished Face
Chako is absolute imitation of Korean BBQ.
They are Chinese operated, the gas grills are weak, ventilation system is ridiculous you'd walkout with lung cancer. (Richmond Hill location)
We asked about 5 times to change our grill last time we were there.

Seoul House in Mississauga
Sadly this is Korean operated but has no soul.
They make you grill on parchment sheet, and the place is a dump.

Korea Grill House
Chinese operated. It's been nearly 10 years since I've been there. . Similar to Chako but they don't have sushi.


I haven't tried any other AYCE korean places.
If you want to get close to real Korean BBQ, try Seoul House on steeles/Yonge.
You cook on real charcoal when you order ribs but expect to pay a lot.
Seoul House on Duffrin near Yorkdale used to have charcoal but I think they just switch to infrared.
These all aren't very good.

Chako servers demand extra tip despite a 10percent charge already on the bill. And the sushi is horrible. Won't go there again.
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Jun 21, 2016
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el'ation wrote: No Astonished Face
Chako is absolute imitation of Korean BBQ.
They are Chinese operated, the gas grills are weak, ventilation system is ridiculous you'd walkout with lung cancer. (Richmond Hill location)
We asked about 5 times to change our grill last time we were there.

Seoul House in Mississauga
Sadly this is Korean operated but has no soul.
They make you grill on parchment sheet, and the place is a dump.

Korea Grill House
Chinese operated. It's been nearly 10 years since I've been there. . Similar to Chako but they don't have sushi.


I haven't tried any other AYCE korean places.
If you want to get close to real Korean BBQ, try Seoul House on steeles/Yonge.
You cook on real charcoal when you order ribs but expect to pay a lot.
Seoul House on Duffrin near Yorkdale used to have charcoal but I think they just switch to infrared.

At chako (at least in the Richmond hill location) you could adjust the grill with your hand turning a knob. It seemed to have a hotter grill than Korean grill house by far. The meat also seems higher quality than Korean grill house with a larger selection, especially on weekend dinners (seafood, sushi, more meats, etc.)

I'd suggest you try gyubee, my Korean friend who used to live at Yonge and finch has tried all the AYCE Korean bbq's in the GTA area and has still said gyubee is the best
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Sep 19, 2006
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Not sure if they still have it but gyubee has a time limit seating time.
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Mar 22, 2012
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playnicee1 wrote: I've noticed Korean Grill house is serving their meat thinner and thinner. It's getting tougher to cook the meat properly, as it is easier to accidentally pick up two thin pieces, thinking it is one thin piece.
Their salmon is still very good though.
I prefer it thinner. It's easier to cook. That is why I usually never get short rib then the bone is attached (luckily Gyubee is boneless) as it is hard to cook sometimes, especially at Chako where it is half frozen sometimes (probably due to unexpected volume earlier in the day).
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el'ation wrote: No Astonished Face
Chako is absolute imitation of Korean BBQ.
I don't care who is imitating what. If the food is good it is good.
Yes, it's Chinese sauce instead of a more pricey Korean sauce, but who cares? As long as the food tastes good.
The location I speak of is in Toronto, not the Richmond Hill location.

Careful with the sushi though. It's an evil trick to fill you up faster. They use a ton of rice to help fill you up quicker, perhaps even more rice than what can be found in various Japanese AYCE restaurants.
Rice is cheap.
I may not be saying much nice about the sushi, but the rest of the food is still very good.
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Dec 6, 2017
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toronto19850 wrote: chako is good, I just don't like how they heavily marinate all their meats. Makes the food too salty, especially after you use their dipping sauces. They have a large selection on weekend dinners though.

gyubee is where I go now, meat isn't marinated as heavily.
Gyubee is far superior to Chako. I second Gyubee
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Dec 14, 2010
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jonathanjean7245 wrote: Gyubee is far superior to Chako. I second Gyubee
Another vote for Gyubee here! In terms of ayce Gyubee blows its competition out of the water. The meat quality is a lot better and there is more variety. But the price does reflect this as it is one of the higher priced ayce bbq places.
Raggie wrote: Has anyone been to Gyu Kaku? I've been to the Chicago restaurant and it was very good. Wondering how Toronto's branch is.
I went twice closer to when they first opened. You could tell it was quality meat but I much prefer Korean bbq over Japanese bbq. I find the meat to be of a slightly better quality at a la carte Korean bbq restaurants in terms of the marbling. Jbbq does have different cuts of meat that you would not normally find at Kbbq places. I wouldn't mind going back but it's not a restaurant that's on the top of my list.

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