eatwith.ROBINLEUNG.com

Location: 535 Clarke Road, Coquitlam, BC

Phone: (604) 931-5535 | Hours: N/A

When it comes to restaurants with interesting names, I think this one could well be on the list. This is a Korean restaurant on North Road in Coquitlam. It’s on the edge of all the Korean stores and restaurants but nonetheless it’s still Korean. The restaurant looks like an old house from the outside, it reminds me of ski lodges. However ski lodges are supposed to super warm on the inside, not this one! When we entered the restaurant, it was ice cold. As seems like they had no running heat, which I was not impressed on a cold night. In fact, my jacket was on the entire night.

The place has a few brunch and lunch specials, not so much for dinner.

We ordered almost immediately, but it took well over 30 minutes (I’m really generous here) before the appetizers came to our table. This was after I had to get up and find the waitress, as we were seated in a far corner. If Robert Irvine was here, this would definitely be a failing restaurant in terms of service and ambiance. The restaurant has a weird theme to it, with rand om decors and dead plants. There are lots of posters of their menu on the walls and even on tables.

The appetizers were alright, nothing special to note about. The top-left corner dish felt like it was some sort of a SPAM dish.

My girlfriend wanted to try their Kimbap, which is a Korean styled roll. It wasn’t bad, in fact, probably the only thing that was edible that evening. The Kimbap had about 10 rolls, which was a very good amount. There was a salad that came with the Kimbap, which would have probably tasted better without the dressing. The dressing was ketchup flavoured. I should have known it wasn’t very good after the peeking at the table next to us (that it was untouched).

We had a mild soft tofu hotpot, which I considered as a medium. As we were told by the waitress, it wouldn’t be hot at all. But of course, she lied. You can imagine how hot it is by seeing the redness and the jalapeno’s on top. I would normally get this switched, or at least them know. But by the time this came out, it was already close to an hour wait for our food. The tofu wasn’t the softest I’ve had. The soup base hot for a tofu hotpot and it was served with rice. Interesting thing is they served the raw egg on the side, which most restaurants have it in the soup already.

This was part of their BBQ special menu. We chose the beef bulgogi BBQ, which came with rice, miso soup, and korean lettuce wrap. The beef bulgogi was nothing like I imagined it to be, presentation was mediocre. Flavours were interesting because they used BBQ sauce instead of Korean sauce, I thought Korean’s were known for their sauces. Anyhow, the bottom was very watery. I’m not sure if they put too much water in or what, but it was way too watery to be served on an iron plate.

When I pictured miso soup, it was in a small bowl. But not this one. Interestingly enough, the miso soup also had a lot of tofu in it and jalapeno’s. As if all were derived from the same soup base, it was very salty and hot.

I have posted this picture on my social networks earlier, for those who follow my Facebook / Twitter. When the waitress brought this our table, my jaw dropped. I was stoned. My first impression was I’m not coming back to this restaurant ever again, and second they don’t know the difference between lettuce and romaine. This here is romaine hearts, and poorly cut vegetables. I was about to wrap up my meal after this was served. We didn’t even touch this dish, so I’m not sure how it would have tasted like. But to me, this was inedible at a restaurant.

Overall, I think with the prices that Good Friends serve, they really have to get real with what they serve to their customers. The food was almost a near hit or miss. The ambiance gave me a mix feeling when we entered the restaurant, it was “friendly” but I was also overwhelmed with the decors and “dead plants” in the restaurant. I didn’t like the wall dividers, it’s almost impossible for me to waive the waitress over. And the service was poor, the staff were friendly but, the time for food to come out is way too long. We were not looked after, I had to get up from my chair and walked around the restaurant to look for the waitress. They are definitely under staffed. I’m sorry, Good Friends, this was actually one of my least favourable dining experience ever! It’s time to step  up the game.