Lee Nam Jang

THE WORST galbitang (rib soup) ever. Not deserving any points or stars. doesn’t have any flavor. they just dumped some pieces of meat including the part which isn’t galbi (rib) into plain water and boiled 10 min and served. soup has NO flavor whatsoever. clear noodles in soup makes the soup greasy and not even possible to describe sort of taste. meat is tough and half of them are not galbis (ribs). they dumped egg on the top of the soup which makes soup even worse than the worst. I feel sorry for those who believe that this is Korean food and pay for this. I feel like I donated 18 bucks to help out BAD restaurant. NOT RECOMMENDING AT ALL!!!

Typical Korean food joint that’s nice to have within walking distance. Service was quick and to the point, but in a nice way. I can count on it when the craving for Bi Bim Bap in a hot stone bowl hits or for the delicious side dishes and kimchi.

It cost me more than 40 dollars to have a seafood stew, ended up with more than half left. You can feel the crab was frozen before and not fresh any more. The appetizer potato salad was very yummy!

Food was average but the server kept speaking to me in Korean … And I don’t speak Korean???

This is my second time coming to this place. The restaurant is spacious. My friends and I ordered 3 dishes to share.
The food are pretty good, similar to other korean restaurant. There are lots soup and fry food. We had stone bowl, seafood pot and a soup.
The only down side is that the service is average. As one of my friend is Korean, the server never talk to us in English. Even if we initiate the conversation in english, the server replied in Korean.
In conclusion, this is place would definitely be an option if you are looking for casual meal.

Peoples, listen up. If you pass by and notice their banner advertising Seolleongtang or whatever-​beef-​boner soup, I am going to guess if you decide to enter the doors you’ll have a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance of getting it.
Another ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ where you may not be salting (seasoning) it to your preference. I am still mystified, why this variation of soup needs self-​service but if you season it enough the soup does a body good.
That’s not my purpose at Lee Nam Jang, Beef Soup is more of a side dish for me even if they said they won this or that. Famous or not, it’s the Kkori Jim that’s the main attraction. Steamed oxtail stew, right amount of spice, perfectly saucy, savoury and tender.
The single ginseng root, few rice cakes, a couple dates and gingko gives it better presentation and I try to feed those to my friends/​family so I can get more Tail, yummy. Sauce was good enough for others to finish their bowls of rice. Personally, I could of just drank it on its own.
PS. Look for the boss lady to order, she’s more accommodating and less pushy.

Came here by accident and had their beef ribs and octopus beef soup. It’s so good and environment feels very clean and dishes are clean.

This is my go-​to Korean restaurant for beef short ribs. I usually order the large size beef short rib hotpot. It comes with two rice and a big serving of short ribs that is enough for 2 – 3 people. The short ribs themselves and juicy and tender. In fact, they fall right off the bone. The soup base is sweet/​flavourful and goes well with rice. The reason I am taking a star off is due to its side dishes. Although side dishes are not the mains of a meal, I think good side dishes definitely affects the overall quality of the entire meal. The side dishes were cabbage kimchi, turnip kimchi, salted/​spicy bok choi, potato salad, and broccoli. The quality of side dishes here has definitely gone down in the last two yeara I have visited. The kimchi dishes were very bland and the other side dishes were mediocre at best. Despite that, I would still recommend this place for their beef short ribs… as long as you are not too picky about your side dishes.

I came here earlier tonight with my bf for dinner. We both had the yuekgaetang, which we thought was very flavourful and full of beef! I like that they serve six banchans and are all refillable. One thing I don’t like is that this restaurant is a bit pricier than most Korean restaurants. So if you want something cheap, go elsewhere.
Also after reading reviews here, we did not experience bad service such as being ignored or servers chasing us down for more tips. Not sure if it’s because my bf is Korean and he did all the talking.
Overall, I don’t think I will return to this place. like ever. Plenty of Korean restaurants in the area for less!

Bland and expensive.
Came here to have classic Korean dinner, appalled at how expensive the meat dishes were, ended up ordering soup. I ordered the beef rib soup and it tasted like water. My mom ordered the dwenjang chigae, and it tasted like slightly seasoned water.
The only star I’m giving for this is for the variety of side dishes and the refills of those side dishes.
Go to Owl instead.

Best Korean Restaurant in Toronto! I am from Cali and we have probably the worlds best Korean food but LMJ had delicious yook-​hwa (raw beef) and seollungtang. Both these items are not easy to make as raw beef requires the highest of beef qualities for raw consumption. Seolungtang requires 24 hours or more of making the beef broth. After speaking with the owners I confirmed that the soup base they use for their soups have NO additives or msg. They really take a ton of time making their soup and take pride in the homemade quality and service. It is a little bit on the pricier side but it is WELL WORTH IT! Spend the extra dollars and get the best Korean Food in Toronto.

Good traditional Korean restaurant came here with a few of my Korean friends one day and they suggested I try the cheese donkatsu (pork cutlet) comes with cheese. Awesome dish came back to have it again and the size is decent for 14.95. The restaurant is a bit on the pricier side compared to some of the other restaurants in the area ex LA kalbi is 29.95 for a plate usually my favorite but not for that price. Table cooking they have some good dishes including the premium version of kalbi at 34.95 but you need to order 2 items so expect at least 60 to 80 dollars.
Good place for moderately priced Korea food

A Korean friend suggested coming to this place for their BBQ so I eagerly said «yes». The three of us went there for dinner on slightly cool Wednesday evening. Lee Nam Jang is conveniently located just about half a block North from the intersection of Sheppard and Yonge. And looking up from below it wouldn’t be apparent that there does exist a patio on the roof top of this restaurant.
Having read some of the more concerning reviews for this place, I believe that some of the bad experiences results from miscommunication between the staff who are Korean (yes which means the dining experience is going to be truly Korean) and the patrons. I will admit that if my friend had not acted as a communication bridge between us and the servers, our dining experience might have been just as awkward as what some of the other reviewers had mentioned. For example: her and I both arrived first at the restaurant and we were told that a patio table she had reserved had not been recorded in their reservation data so she was able to persuade them to give us one of the tables that was meant for a large party that was coming at around 7pm that evening. The patio does allow you to get a good view of the streets so it was great that we could get that we could sit out there.
Once we were seated our server came over with the menus and we went over it while waiting for the last of our trio to arrive. Once we decided to order we picked the Jumulluk (sliced beef tenderloin with sesame dressing) and Pork Ribs. The menu is interesting that each dish is mentioned in Hangul, Chinese and English which I never noted in some of the other Korean places I’ve eaten at. I believe that from what I saw in person, each of the meat dishes is enough to feed about two people with moderate appetites.
Again thanks to our friend the server actually prepared the Pork Ribs separately at a nearby converted charcoal grill. The ribs were then cut into moderate sized pieces before being served at our table. What was a thrill for me was to able to finally follow the Korean custom of placing our grilled meats in the fashion that I’ve seen in Korean food documentaries which is to wrap up the meat with some other accompaniments in lettuce leaf and consuming it. I did the same thing for the Jumulluk which was grilled at our table since it was already sliced in the same way as the cooked Pork Ribs. Both types of meat tasted very good even when not eaten dipped in the sesame oil and salt dipping sauce and the ssamjang (a dipping concoction of bean paste and chili paste)
The other four items worth mentioning was the Kimchi, the Purple Rice, the accompanying tofu soup and the Korean Seafood pancake which was I regard. I’ve only had the prepackaged type of kimchi that is found in the grocery stores, but the one served at Lee Nam Jang was very fresh (I couldn’t tell how long it had been fermented), I could still taste the Nappa cabbage and the thicker parts of the leaves still had their crunchiness. The purple rice was a thrilling treat since that was the first time I’ve actually seen it for myself after seeing it as well in the food shows. It tasted no different from the white counterpart but it was just unique to consume it at this meal. The tofu based soup was also tasty and not as spicy as some of the soup based dishes that I’ve had. I would have preferred to be slightly thick since I become so used to seeing and trying out most of the jjigae dishes.
The Seafood Pancake was originally not part of our dinner itinerary, but my friend noticed me finishing off what was left of the kimchi and the lettuce leave, (I was enjoying my meal that much that so I just picked off what was left of the banchans) so she suggested that if I still felt hungry that we should order something else to close off the dinner. We had been talking about the pancakes and I decide since I was there, why not just go for it. We got one order of the Seafood Pancake which when brought to the table looked like big thin omelet on an equally thin pancake base. Our server cut it into six wedges and we started going for the final kill. The pancake was startchy in taste and I mentioned that I could taste something like potato starch in it, but it was still tasty enough and the flavor of the shrimp and green onions complimented the startchy taste. That pancake pretty much made me full for the rest of the evening.
The restaurant is certainly on the pricey side since the two meat plates that we order were in around $ 27 and $ 29 respectively. However, the positive experience that we had was worth what we paid. And judging from the number of Korean customers that flocked here before we made our exist, this is certainly the place to come on the odd occasion for a quality Korean meal.

Boyfriend just moved to this neighbour so we decided to look for a Korean place to eat. I’ve been craving for pork bone soup for sometime now and thought any Korean restaurant must serve pork bone soup so we just went in. So I looked at the menu. OH NO! No pork bone soup for me. Alright Korean mama recommended the beef bone soup so I went with it. Boyfriend ordered the sweet beef soup.
Boyfriend didn’t like any of the side dish and I just swallowed them all besides the kimchi lol
The soups came fast. Bit disappointed about the rice cause it’s not purple rice.
Had a sip of my soup. Flavourless. Added tons of salt to just add a bit of taste. Boyfriend had a sip of my soup said it’s more like Jewish kind of taste. His soup was average. Nothing to rave with. Well I was hungry so I still finished my whole soup. You would def think it was ridiculous if you saw the amount of salt I’ve added to my soup.
Service was fast. Korean mama was nice. I just didn’t like she urged us to pay while we deciding to go Dutch or not.
Food: ²⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Won’t come back since I had better Korean food with cheaper price in downtown near my hood.

Food was okay, but there are better Korean restaurants further up on Yonge street. The service however, was arguably the worst I’ve ever experienced. We asked for refills for side dishes and water many times and both servers kept ignoring us. The female server was at least apologetic about it in the end, but the male server was extremely rude and unprofessional. We were so upset about the service we decided to let our tips reflect our dissatisfactions (which was still close to 10%). The guy had the nerve to demand more tips and even said that he will remember our faces. Are you kidding me?!
Two servers might not be representative of the service of the entire restaurant, but it’s bad enough for me to decide to never come back again. I will advise my friends to do the same to avoid colossal disappointment.

The service at this place is horrendous. I’m typically not one to care much for good service (especially when I go to Asian restaurants, which excel at value versus service), but even I was appalled by how we were treated.
We were repeated ignored, and even given attitude when asked to be served. Furthermore, when we only tipped 10%, they chased us down and demanded more. We refused, saying that we received terrible service, and they threatened us by saying that they’ll remember our faces next time.
Just disgusting.

Came here for the raved oxtails dish. YUM. Probably one of the best Asian (not just Korean) resto’s for oxtail.
The oxtail comes in a hotpot and the meat is incredibly tender and flavourful. Not sure what kind of Korean seasoning magic went into this dish but the sauce was amazing — salty with a bit of sweetness. There were also a few pieces of rice cakes which were a little harder to chew but the sauce was enough to make the whole dish.
The large size is definitely enough for two people, as the oxtail comes with rice too. The side dishes are similar to those of Joon’s, with the sweet potato mash. Would come back again in the future to try some of the other large dishes to be shared :)

Once again some great recommendations from the reviewers here. Normally I would not throw down $ 25 on lunch for one person but since it was recommended by so many of you I had to try it. I was skimming through the menu and at the same time I had a picture on my phone of the steam oxtail. The waitress noticed the picture on my phone and asked if that’s what I wanted. «Yes, please».
Steam oxtail for $ 24.99. Went with the non-​spicy version since it was a really hot day and didn’t want to be sweating bullets. The sauce was very sweet and the oxtail was tender. In terms of portions of oxtail — lets just say I could barely finish it all when you factor in the side dishes and my sisters left over cold bibimbap.
While eating the oxtail the waitress asked my sister if she got a chance to try the oxtail. She did get to try some but out of the 8 or so pieces of oxtail she probably got like half a piece. It was that good that I didn’t want to share. I also love the chewy rice cakes which were soaking in the sweet sauce (5 stars).
Cold bibimbap for $ 10.99 I think. No complaints here but nothing worth noting either (3 stars).
Side dishes were in small portions (kimchii, sweet/​sour radish, mash potato, brocoli, glass noodle and I think the last one was shreds of fish cake or either some kind of tofu) — Not really impressed with the selection of side dishes and portions when comparing to other Korean restaurants.

I thought this place was like the 3 stars indicates, A-​OK.
It’s one of those weird Korean restos that DOESN’T have Pork Bone Soup — or even the beef version (Yukaejang) — on the menu. I looked through the menu quite a few times and neither of these dishes were on there! So I had to order the ol’ standby, Bibimbap.
BBB was alright. Like how could you possibly screw that up? And even though I added the kojuchang to the rice, I couldn’t really taste the spicy/​sweetness of the sauce.
Sides were decent. Kimchi was flavourful, not über salty like some places! When we asked for a refill, waitress just brought half of them to the table. Otherwise, service was friendly and efficient.

I know I deserve the best. And Lee Nam Jang serves one of the best version of Kkori Gomtang (Oxtail Soup) that is one of the item on the Korean Royal Court menu.
This is no ordinary soup (tang). It takes hours in preparation time and I just love the spicy version which is really rich and has such complex taste (spicy, salty and sweet at the same time).
Lee Nam Jang’s Kkori Jim ($ 24.99) is definitely not cheap. But that’s one of the thing I enjoy most every time I dine here. I just wish that there is more of everything.
Service here is friendly and the restaurant is clean.
So when am I going again?!