猶記得小時候，韓風還未瘋癲亞洲及香港的時候，我對韓菜的認知就是自助韓燒。。。後來呢，就是石頭飯，因為很多food court都有一家賣石頭飯。。。然後在加拿大的一陣子發現那裡有很多韓國人經營餐廳，我才對韓菜有較多的認識。那時我最愛吃的是豬骨湯配飯。一份吃下去飽得可以！
I still remember before the domination of k-pop in every corner in Asia, the only thing I knew about Korean cuisine was those Korean BBQ buffet... Some time later, I knew about bibimbap since there's always a bibimbap stall in most food court... But then during my brief stay in Canada, I found out there were in fact tons of Korean restaurants there run by Koreans. That was the time I got to know more about Korean cuisine. My favourite there was the super filling Korean pork bone soup served with rice!
這次來醬缸前已知道5時半晚市開始，但很快便會滿座。若不想站在門外等位的話便要早來。我們可是6時10分到的，那時餐廳已經是半滿。店是很小的，亦非常有家庭式的感覺。我們很快便點了菜。
Before my first visit to Jang Dok I already knew it opened at 5:30 for dinner-time and it would become full really fast. If you want to avoid the queue, better show up really early. We arrived at 6:15 and it was already half-full. It's a really small restaurant, family-style. We made up our minds as to what to order quickly.
前菜 - 前菜有數款，是大路的款式，好吃。
Banchan - There were few small dishes of banchan and there were nice.
石頭飯 - 我愛吃飯，特別是熱氣的飯，即煲仔飯、炒飯或石頭飯。除貪它們熱騰騰的熱度外，當然還喜歡它們的飯焦。店員送上飯後會提醒我們下辣醬，愛下多少便下多少。當然最好不要太貪心，有辣味便夠。通常我都不會動那鍋飯，我會等大慨30秒至1分鐘，讓在底部的飯變焦才下辣醬，再把所有材料拌勻。石頭飯配料很多，熱烘烘的又有飯焦，拌好辣醬趁熱吃還可以不好吃嗎？特別一提是那珍珠米，煮得非常到位，很有咬口。
Bibimbap - I like rice, especially crispy ones, such as clay pot rice, fried rice or bibimbap. Not only I like them hot, I also enjoy the crispy and charred parts at the bottom of the pot. When the bibimbap was served, the waiter immediately reminded us to add the bibimbap sauce, as much as we desired. Before adding the sauce, I performed my standard bibimbap eating ritual, leaving the pot alone for about half to one minute for the bottom part to get charred first, then the sauce. I just added the amount of sauce enough to get a spicy taste since I didn't want the sauce to be too overpowering. The portion of the assorted vegetables was quite generous, with the crunchy rice and right amount of bibimbap covering the rice, there was nothing to complain about the bibimbap. In particular, the short-grain rice was really cooked to perfection, it was chewy and tasty.
海鮮煎餅 - 一看便知道是片香口的煎餅，煎得金黃有微焦。煎餅口感微脆，內裡則微軟及帶煙靱，包著不少材料。由於拌了不少蔥絲，吃起來非常香口有味道。供蘸著煎餅吃的特調醬油帶有一定的辣度，調味很好，不夠的話可要求多一碟。
Seafood Jeon - Just a quick look of the pancake I already knew it's pan-fried to perfection because of it's golden look and slightly charred bits. The jeon was crispy on the outside, quite chewy inside with softer filling. The batter was mixed with lots of green onion, giving it extra taste. The dipping sauce was quite spicy with the right seasoning. You can ask for more if not enough.
辣湯 - 我已忘了這是什麼湯，好像是豆腐湯。典型的韓式辣湯，有火紅的顏色及豐富的配料。雖然看上去紅色一片似是很辣，喝下去卻不是。當然，要顧及大眾的口味，而且太辣的話亦會掩蓋整個湯的味道。
Spicy Soup - Forgive me but I've already forgotten what this soup was, probably tofu. It's a typical Korean soup with bright red colour from the spicy sauce and here at Jang Dok also with a generous amount of ingredients. Although it looked red and intimidating, it didn't really taste that spicy at all. Of course, one could not expect it to be really spicy as the restaurant had to cater for all customers' preferences. In any event, soup that is too spicy may actually not be a good thing as it can overpower all other ingredients in the soup.
第一次之後我便很想再去，所以又很早的6時來這裡吃晚飯
After the first visit I already wanted to go again. Thus I returned at 6pm for another dinner.
前菜 - 都是那數款，應該不會如何轉款式的。
Banchan - They were more or less the same as the last time. I don't think they would make changes to the variety.
泡菜煎餅 - 這次決定吃別款前餅，當然就是泡菜口味的了。泡菜煎餅比上回吃的要薄，因此更脆。泡菜混在煎餅內。咬下去可以吃到一片片的泡菜。不蘸醬油其實已經很夠味道了，當然蘸了後會是更加的重口味。
Kimchi Jeon - We decided to try another jeon and what's better than the Kimchi Jeon? The pancake was thinner as compared to the seafood one last time, and thus it got even more crispy. The kimchi was well-incorporated into the batter and you could actually find pieces and pieces of kimchi inside the pancakes. I really like how the crispy texture and its contrast against the softer filling. The pancake itself was delicious without the dipping sauce.
海鮮芝士炒年糕 - 當晚的重頭戲當然是我先前並不知道的極度重口味海鮮芝士炒年糕。由於餐牌上寫的是"炒"，我以為用碟上小小的一碟年糕。殊不知，竟然是以淺鍋上的大堆頭年糕。
Cheese Tteokbokki with Seafood - The highlight of the night was definitely this over-the-top-ish rice cakes. Since on menu it's written 'fried', I naively thought it would be just a normal fried rice cake on a small plate. Guess what, the rice cakes were served on cast iron pan like this:
鮮紅的湯汁內盛著豐富的海鮮配料及年糕，還有一隻雞蛋。上面鋪滿了芝士，處於半溶的狀態。拿起年糕時小不免會掀起一絲絲的芝士絲。由於芝士下得足，未有溶掉的芝士大可一片的拿來吃。年糕口感很好，QQ的有彈性，當然了，年糕本身沒有味道，但與芝士和湯汁一起吃就是美味非常。年糕的數量很多，吃極都還有。底的湯微辣亦甜，惹味。也真是韓國人懂吃，竟然知道辣和芝士是如此的配。
Swimming in the red spicy soup were seafood and the rice cakes with an hard-boiled egg. Everything was so overwhelming. It was layered with cheese, which was half-melted. Since the whole thing was covered with melted cheese, when picked up by the chopsticks, we could see the cheese strands clung to the rice cakes. There was just too much cheese, the parts that not melted well can be picked up and eaten alone. The rice cakes themselves tasted plain but they were chewy and went really well with the cheese and the spicy soup base. The base tasted a bit spicy and sweet at the same time, tempting us just drink the soup alone. What could I say? Koreans really know how to mix and match different types of food group, like cheese and rice cake and spicy sauce!
I enjoyed both of my visits here and the prices were very reasonable. Apart from the need to arrive early to avoid waiting in line, I cannot find any other reason not to return for another early dinner. With the TV in the restaurant constantly playing Korean TV programs, it is really true that small restaurant can bring out family style best.
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