UmJi

I’ve been eating here for a long time, because I work a few doors down. They don’t take a long time, which gives me more time to enjoy my lunch. The quality of the food is great, and I would definitely recommend this place.

Let me start off first by saying service is great! Servers are attentive and polite. They also offer free refills of banchan.
Ordered the yummy, pork bone soup and soon tofu, although the yummy was not what I had expected (expected pork chop), it was not bad, only complaint was it is rather a messy dish. The others tasted authentic but nothing that wowed me. Prices for dinner are reasonable (about $ 10+ per person). Ample seating and clean kept environment. Definitely give this place a try if in the area and craving Korean; especially since there are not much Korean restaurants in close proximity.

We had the pork bone soup and pan fried dumplings, and it was delicious but the pork bone soup was super spicy. If you like spicy food, then this is the best place to go to. The portions were amazing. The environment was quiet, and service was amazing.

This is a pretty standard Korean restaurant with all the menu items you’d expect. The quality is pretty good. They even have a self serve water/​tea machine which makes this place really really Korean lol. In Korea, it’s common to get water/​tea yourself.
I have absolutely no complaints about this place and would definitely come again. Prices are ok. Not so cheap that you would question the quality. Not too expensive either.

Definitely one of the better places. Good service. Authentic food at fair prices. Good place to eat if you don’t want to go to ktown

Really good prices and the dishes are great ! The place is also really welcoming :)
Def my go to korean place without going downtown: D

Shared the hot pot with a friend. I think it was the H5 or H4 one with chicken.
It was quite spicy even with mild. Service was great. The waitress kept giving us more side dishes and was very hospitable.

Korean pork bone soup, bimbimbap, steamed and pan-​fried dumplings, jajamenyeon, they cover all the bases here! I also really enjoy the free side dish starter. It keeps things interesting. I like that they are able to accommodate larger groups since it’s not as busy as Korean town.
A big group of us came after badminton at night and the service for the group was great. They are attentive and helped us understand the menu. The noise level is average, and they have this weird Korean TV show on the entire time. I’d definitely go back. Can’t go wrong with Korean pork bone soup!

Visited this place 3 times.
I had Tofu Soup on the first visit. I was very hungry on that day and the soup tasted super good.
On my second visit, I order Tofu soup again, but the taste was totally different. It does not taste like regular Korean restaurant. They used lots of black pepper.
Today is my third visit, cuz I want to give it one more try. They still used lots of black pepper in all soups we ordered. And they put green pepper this time in the tofu soup.
The taste is really far below my expectation. Their service is good but I don’t think I will be back to this.

Service: ¹⁄₅
When i arrived, the place was about half full. I wasnt greeted until about 5 mins of standing at the door. They finally cleared the table for us. We waited about another 5 minutes and i had to ask the young server for the menu and tea. He came back with the menu, but no tea. I had to ask THREE times before i got my tea… But he didnt give us any cups. -, —
He took our order: pork bone soup, kalbi, lamb skewers, chicken udon
He messed up our pork bone soup order and gave me something else instead.
We were done our meal but the lamb skewers havent arrived still so we asked for it. He came back a bit later telling us that its sold out…
Food: ³⁄₅
Tastes ok. Pork bone soup was good. But the kalbi’s hot plate was not hot at all… the onions layered between the hot plate and kalbi did not get cooked at all. Chicken udon was alright. Lamb skewers… well we didnt get to eat it.
Will i come back again? No.

Came here for dinner one random night after getting my lashes done next door. The service is decent here and the waitress was very sweet. I ordered the soondubu jigae with beef and it came within a reasonable amount of time.
There wasn’t really anything too special with this dish. But the chef did forget to add the beef inside the soup and I realized after I took a few bites! She took it away and added the beef and recooked it. I was a little sad that she made my egg fully cooked and that there was what, only 10 tiny strips of beef added. But after this, she gave me more side dishes even though I didn’t ask.
I guess I would come back again only if convenient for me and if I’m craving!

2 for service.
When i walked in, the restaurant seemed authentic. However my taste buds told me otherwise. I ordered the basic pork bone soup and kalibitang, but both dishes were disappointing, sub par at best. The pork bone soup was really spicy but a weird kind of spicy that did not taste like the usual korean pork bone soup spice that ive had in the past. The kalibitang meat was small and tough and the soup was bland.
They had the sweet flavored potatoes as a side dish which hot me excited but it actually tasted like potatoes and water.

Yes, I know that there’s another listing for this restaurant under the name Thumbs Up 2. That being said, I have decided to post here because the sign on the restaurant, as well as their takeout menu, says UmJi in English, and that’s how I believe people will be looking for this place.
Had:
Banchan (6 kinds) — kimchi, soy sauce potatoes, fish cake slices, beans in sweet sauce, cucumber kimchi, and something akin to vinegar coleslaw, but mild. We had a party of 7. They gave us two sets of banchan. When I go to a Korean restaurant, if they give me more than 5 banchan, I’m impressed. I’m even more impressed when they offer to refill our banchan without us asking (they did).
Haemul pajeon ($ 13.95) — good portion for price. Seafood was tender, but slightly sparse. Crispy. I’d order this again.
Samgyetang ($ 17.95) — this was my first time having samgyetang, and although the chicken soup was tasty and the chicken was tender, there was no ginseng taste. AT ALL. For that price, I would not order this again. Came with a bowl of rice.
Gamjatang Jeongol ($ 21.95) — pork bone soup, but family style. Big pot and served on a burner. At least seven or eight pork bones (not huge bones, but I’m not complaining about the portion of pork in there for $ 21.95), kimchi, white mushroom slices, rice cake slices, large chunks of potato, and a package’s portion of dry ramen on top! The ramen made my day, although I would have very much liked a cheese option. I didn’t know it came with ramen, so I was pretty impressed. The pork bone soup was unusually peppery (like white pepper), but it was still very tasty. Spicier than most gamjatangs I’ve had. Came with 2 bowls of rice.
Dak doritang ($ 27.95) — I was expecting this slightly less soupy, but that’s probably because I thought I was ordering one thing, but I got another (I got what I ordered. I was trying to order dakgalbi). Anyways, this was tasty. I really enjoyed the soup, even though it was spicier than the gamjatang. Chicken wing pieces, if anyone’s interested in what kind of chicken went in here. For that price, I expected more chicken. Came with 2 bowls of rice.
Lamb skewers ($ 4.99 for 4) — We ordered two orders. The amount of meat on skewers wasn’t astounding, but for that price, there was a decent amount of meat. Lamb was nice and lamb-​y. Served seasoned with cumin and chili powder. Lamb was tender. This is probably my first or second favorite lamb skewer in Toronto now.
Not too sure what the total damage for the meal was (cost-​wise), but there was soooo much food. Way too much food for 7 people. The gamjatang jeongol and the samgyetang came first, and by the time we had almost finished those, we were already almost full. We barely got to the dak doritang. We left with three big takeout containers of dak doritang and gamjatang jeongol, and a big box of rice. As my brother just put it (he went today and loved it), just the gamjatang jeongol was enough to give two people three boxes of leftovers (not including potatoes and rice).
Totally coming back!

Been here several times now because it’s near my gf’s place. Always good service with good food. It’s empty whenever we come here, but I think it’s only due to bad location.

We used to come to this place when it was a Japanese/​Korean restaurant. We were craving some Korean and were in the area so decided to check this place out.
So glad we did, we finally have a go to Korean spot. Lots of seating, and baby friendly. We usually order the grilled short ribs… So tender and juicy. Came on a sizzling plate with mouthwatering onions that were super sweet. A bit on the pricey side, but it is a good portion.
The chef had even come out to ask every table how the food was (this was on a busy night).
Will definitely be returning!

Came here for lunch with some coworkers and the food is average. Nothing special. Side dishes are mediocre too.
I had the soft tofu soup which wasn’t bad. Lunch specials are available for those who work around the area and want to grab a hearty Korean stew with fermented vegetables.
Parking is a bit tight in this plaza so beware l if you have poor depth perception.
Clean restaurant since its new.

Thumbs Up is a Korean restaurants in a small plaza on Pharmacy and Sheppard. The place itself might look small from the outside but it’s rather large inside and seating won’t be an issue. They serve all Korean dishes with minor influence from others.
I ordered up the fried chicken thinking it was going to be like the Korean fried chicken you can get at places like Galleria and Home for Hot Taste. I was a bit disappointed to see that it was just their fried chicken coated in this sweet sauce. The dish was still rather crisp though and the chicken chunks were large, meaty, and just lightly sauced.
The side dishes are incredible and they refill them so quickly at your request. My gf got the spicy tofu soup and it was really good. I’m not big into stews or soups that arent meat based, but this tofu soup had so much flavor that I wish I had ordered that instead!
I feel as though I could have ordered something else and would have loved it, but such is life. I usually do a good bit of research before going to places, but my eyes always light up when I see fried chicken, especially at a Korean place. I really liked the little bit of my girlfriend’s food that I tried, and service was quick and friendly.

I’ve been trying to find a good Korean resto that had decent prices in Scarborough and I think I found it.
The service was super quick and friendly. The two servers seem to know English pretty well. I came by myself, got seated right away (ample seating) and was asked if I wanted water or tea. It’s refreshing to not have to ask for water like most other Asian restos. I absolutely appreciated that they would come by each table and ask if customers wanted a refill of the side dishes. Most Korean restos are stingy with their sides and come back to my table to see how things are going, but not this place.
I ordered yummy (F1) which is pretty much Kamjatang without soup. And it was really yummy and abundant. Mind you, I’m a small girl, but it was way too much for me. Because I hadn’t eaten the whole day, by the time I finished I was too full to move.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would return with friends. The barbecue menu looks good, will try next time. 2 Thumbs up, thumbs up 2!

What use to be Han River is now Thumbs Up Korean Restaurant. I like the new renovations open concept design.
Side dishes include: kimchii, cucumber, seaweed, bean sprouts, soy beans and a Korean coleslaw. The side dishes were pretty decent and refills are a okay.
Pork bone soup $ 6.95 — large portions of meat but some of the meat was not even pork bone but just a huge chunk of pork. The meat which was actual pork bone was really soft and just melted in your mouth. Soup had nice flavours and not overly salty.
Dukbocki $ 7.95 — large portion and rice cakes were really soft and fresh. The sauce was a perfect balance of sweet and spicy for me. The sauce was also not overly watered down like some I have had previously.
I have had pork bone soup and dukbocki by myself in the past and finished them both no problem but this time I could not finish it. Luckily the dukbocki tasted just as good when heated up at home.
Service was excellent and the male waiter spoke Korean and really good English.

3.5 star
Thumbs Up’s 2^nd location opens in Scarborough.
Thumbs Up 2 serves a good selection of authentic Korean food. Nothing too fancy but the selection is solid.
Lunch Special Weekday till 2 pm from $ 6.95 have quite a selection and is $ 1.50 or so less than the regular menu.
This location used to be Han River which they did a complete renovation to make it more spacious and open.
Galbitang ($ 11.95) is good portion with 6 piece of beef short ribs. The ribs were off the bone tender and big meaty pieces too! 6 different banchan and the nice lady even offered me 2 dumplings to try since they having some for lunch.
I am happy that Thumbs Up decided to open up in Scarborough as the Nak Won and Owl of Minreva locations in the area are not really good and worth visiting.
Parking in this lot can be a pain as the parking space are at an angle and really narrow and most drivers seems to have problem park in the middle of the spot…