Pembina Highway buffet has plenty of Seoul

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/07/2011 (5540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’d planned it so carefully, I thought. First, I phoned and learned that Seoul Buffet also had an a la carte menu, so I intended to try both kinds of meal. When I came for the lunch buffet I was told again, yes, there was a la carte service at dinner. I was even given a take-out menu with a long list of dishes and prices. But lo, when I returned for that a la carte dinner, there was none.

What about that menu? Apparently it was, literally, for take-out only. And no amount of pleading could get us grilled pork ribs, bimbimbap, one of the shrimp entrées, or the Seoul Special of seafood, beef, veggies and dried sheet (did they mean sweet?) potato with mustard sauce. None of which appear on the buffets. Which is why I ended up with two buffets under my belt, so to speak.

The food is a mixture of Korean, Chinese and Japanese, $14.95 at lunch, $17.95 at dinner. Inevitably some buffet dishes will be better than others, but most were acceptable. There was the occasional problem of mislabelling (I was reasonably certain that a panful of noodles wasn’t teriyaki chicken) and, in some cases, no labelling at all.

The barbecue station, which is open at dinner only, was a little disappointing. I’d expected grilled-to-order meats, but all I found were two kinds of already-prepared slices of beef, one called steak, the other soy beef, but both fairly tender and flavourful. What really justified the station’s existence though were the wonderful Korean pancakes, dotted with bits of octopus and veggies — the best thing on the entire spread.

There are sushi (no nigiri, all rolls), some Japanese, a few Korean, like the one with a little chunk of bulgogi beef. The selection seemed wider at dinner than at lunch, but they were fairly good at both meals — be careful with the overwhelmingly salty soy sauce though. Two standouts among the salads were a beautifully dressed seaweed salad and another of chewy jellyfish. There were soups, too — miso, of course, broccoli, corn and also crab soup — at lunch anyway — with not a bad flavour but a far too gluey texture.

I was surprised to find kimchi at lunch only, and disappointed to find it harshly hot but without much flavour. But tasty, deep-fried meat dumplings turned up at dinner, and at both lunch and dinner there were oodles of noodles: thin chow mein noodles, thick chewy ones with strips of pork, and, best of all, translucent japchai glass noodles with slivered vegetables. I can’t be sure in which noodle dish I found the shrimp — just one, but a good one (possibly if I’d fished around longer I might have found more, but it was getting embarrassing).

A pity the lovely yam tempura were only on at lunch. There were mussels at dinner but they were tasteless, dry and flannelly. At either meal you can have your fried chicken plain or honeyed — both thickly breaded, but nice and crunchy (think superior KFC) — or in a mild garlic sauce. Also pretty good, if under-seasoned bulgogi beef. You can even have pale, limp fries, if you wish, or flavourless potato salad or cole slaw, but you’d do better sticking to the Asian offerings.

Desserts and beverages are included. At lunch there was a nice date square and an even nicer ball-shaped cookie full of nuts and dried fruits. At dinner, though, there were only two soft, bland cake squares, and Sweet Marie biscuits (although I happen to love those semi-sweet British bickies) but there were also fresh fruits, and a soft ice cream dispenser. You can have tea, coffee or soft drinks, but don’t miss the wonderful iced pomegranate punch.

Seoul Buffet is a spacious U-shaped place, at the back of one of those big U-shaped malls and easily missed (about a block south of Bishop Grandin). The spare, modern decor is pleasant, with a vaguely Korean look, well-spaced tables and a low noise level (I could live without the music though, mostly Celine Dion, or sound-alikes). The staff are attentive and, despite occasional problems of communication, friendly and helpful.

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Readers often write to recommend their favourite take-out Chinese foods, but in a city with so many Chinese restaurants it’s hard to decide which tip to follow. But Lucky Koi Express, which does take-out and delivery only, had too many recommendations to ignore, all fervent, all saying much the same thing — fresh, non-greasy food; generous portions; dependable pick-up and delivery times; a charming knowledgeable staff; and most dishes under $10.

Even by non-Chinese standards the menu is short, and there’s nothing exotic on it — just the familiar old standbys, some Cantonese, some Szechuan, the kind of food you may have cut your teeth on. Satisfying, well-prepared, Chinese comfort food, as good as my correspondents had claimed.

Shrimp can be an acid test, and these pass with flying colours — plump, juicy and plentiful, whether paired with lovely chunks of daikon and carrots (not the usual wee dice) and topped with almonds, or in a less aggressive-than-most black bean and garlic sauce — a little soupy due to the lack of cornstarch (not a bad thing in my book). They turned up as well in the fried rice, along with cubes of barbecued pork and other usual suspects, and in the curried Singapore noodles, both dishes well above average.

The chef has an admirably light hand with sugar — ginger beef was crisp and not in the least cloying, and the chicken with ginger and peanuts was tender and moist (a mere nip of heat in both, but you could probably ask for more). Pan-fried beef ho funn (flat rice noodles) was a tad stodgy and bland. The hot sour soup wasn’t bad, albeit under-seasoned (mercifully free of cornstarch thickening though). The spring rolls and dumplings (fried wontons, actually) are house-made, with so-so fillings, necessary only for those with a desperate need for crunch.

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca

Dining Out

Seoul Buffet

• 1855 Pembina Highway, 415-7739

Lucky Koi Express

• 1100 Portage Avenue, 943-9933

To see the location of this restaurant as well as others reviewed in the Winnipeg Free Press, please see the map below.