Following the Walk of the Dead parade in Dundas Grove Park (?), the Opaque Dancer and I found ourselves cold and hungry, the broken bread we pinched and the heat from the effigy bonfire not enough to keep us warm or drive away our hunger.
Heading back to the Annex, we decided on Korean, but were hearted thrice before we found a place. Our first attempt was refused due to past memories on the Dancer’s part ( a disastrous first date she worried would set a trend). Our second choice, the restaurant sharing the same building at the top of the twin curved steps, was cash only; the Dancer had no cash and I had only a twenty and scattered silver in many pockets, not enough for dinner, we guessed. Our third attempt looked far too sketchy, though it could have been closed. It was a toss up so we walked on, determined to eat in the next block.
Lo, our bastion stood on the corner across the street, a shining bastion brimming no with full tables and yellow walls. We crossed and hurried in from the cold.
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu Korean Restaurant was filled with the buzzing, bubbling, hissing clutter of so many stone bowls ravaged by hungry patrons. The menu was refreshingly simple: 9 items to choose from, each choice eager to please in their own ways. I was reminded of this wonderfully simple menu when I discovered that it was written out in full (in Korean and English) on the back of the restaurant’s business card. While I like variety, it felt so good to avoid the freedom trap. Both the Opaque Dancer and I chose our meal within thirty seconds, a feat staggering in its uncommon frequency.
Dishes of cold sides (spicy pickled vegetable, kimchi, spouts, and sticky beans) were brought for my stone pot bibimbab, while the Dancer’s dukbegi bulgogi was brought to the table in a steaming stone bowl, and portioned out in front of her. Sit to food on the table couldn’t have been more than five minutes, though we were both distracted by our dissection of the Halloween/clay and paper theatre parade, so it could have been longer.
My egg was mixed with the half-toasted rice, vegetables, and add-ons, and soon my bulgogi was a wonderful crimson-tinged mix of heat and chilli kick, just the thing to wrap up a frigid few hours of walking around cold streets and a park. Within a few bite, the content fullness began to sink in, but being who I am (if there’s food in front of me, I’m hardwired to eat it unconsciously), I made through the rest of my bowl over the next hour or so, as our conversation turned to the new Blade Runner and how each of us approach media (the Dancer analyzes while I deconstruct).
While I haven’t eaten nearly enough in Koreatown (Annex, between Christie and Bathurst stations), this was a great find. The 9-item menu alone will stick in my mind as a plus, and filling, poignant Korean fare is always a good meal to have at hand.
Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu Korean Restaurant
691 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON M6G 1L3