Kosoo Korean Restaurant recently opened a new location on Robson St, closer to Vancouver City Centre. Instead of focusing on Korean-French cooking, they have shifted to classic Korean food with “seoul.”

With many Korean restaurants on Robson St, what makes them different?

The idea to open this new location came from a trip to Seoul, South Korean where Chef De Cuisine Han Seung- Min realized the food in Seoul had no soul.

He didn’t know what he was biting into even though the dishes he grew up eating was presented in front of him. Hence, Chef Han passionately creating a no frills Korean focused menu that showcases Korean Fried Chicken and BBQ with elevated and well rounded soups, hot pots, noodles and rice.

Amazing Traditional Soups

Although the main menu items are KFC and BBQ, I was really drawn to their soups!

Wang Galbi (갈비탕): premium short rib soup (left)

The depth of beef flavour that came from just a single spoon of soup was out of this world. The colour of the soup was darker and richer than ones I have eaten in Vancouver. Also, the beef rib meat was fall-off-the-bone tender!

Seolleongtang (설렁탕): Ox bone soup (right)

This simple and milky looking dish takes hours to simmer on low heat and the flavours extracted from the ox bone was nothing I have ever tasted before. Paired with very tender beef brisket pieces and glass noodles, the portion was at par with versions I had in Seoul. Although the soup is usually served without seasoning, Kosoo’s version is already seasoned with chopped green onions, minced garlic, salt and pepper. I enjoyed the floating whole dates that provided sweetness to the soup.

Korean Fried Chicken – Boneless

Highly recommend: Honey Butter (left)

Boneless Fried Chicken, ugly mini potato, rice cake with honey butter sauce

This reminded me of the honey butter almonds from Tom’s Farm and I really loved the crispy and sticky homemade chips drenched with honey butter sauce. Also, the fried rice cakes were a great touch! They have an irresistible light crispiness and along with the chewiness of the deok…. so good !!

Snowflake Fried Chicken (right)

Parmesan rain showers with a flurry of twinkling yellow cheese with crispy chicken pieces. The cheese didn’t melt but it added a great balanced salt level to the chicken.

Bone In Fried Chicken

Yangneyom chicken (양념치킨) (left)

Drenched in a sweet and spicy chilli sauce, this classic yangneyom chicken was a great sharing dish amongst at least 3-4 people. This saucy fried chicken came with sweet corn and a crunchy small crabs

Golden Crispy (right)

This dish highlighted the classic Korean fried chicken with corn and crunchy small crabs. The bread was thicker that what I would have imagine.

KFC Thoughts

Overall, the Korean fried chicken had thicker breading and not as tender meat compared to fried chicken in Korea but that may be because they were still in soft opening mode. I am still a huge fan of Kyochon chicken from Korea but the flavour combinations by Kosoo are definitely the first of its kind in Vancouver.

Honey Butter $26

Snowflake $24

Yangnyeom $32

Golden Cripsy Fried Chicken $32

Hot Pot (Jeongol)

Bullak-Joengol (Bulgogi & Octopus)

The beef broth used to cook all the ingredients was very rich and the glass noodles and vegetables all soaked up that deliciousness. The amount of gochugaru was perfect to give a good heat to the soup! The octopus was super tender and it was my favourite part of the hot pot

Gopchang-Jeongol (Beef Intestine & Tripe)

For people who don’t like innards, I highly recommend you try again. Koreans are very good as making innards taste good. There was no funky smells and only rich tastes of Korean seasonings. Once again, the beef broth used to cook all the ingredients showed immense depth in flavour and the vegetables happily soaked it up!

Final Thoughts

I would go back for the honey butter fried chicken, soups and hot pots! The prices are steeper than your average homey Korean restaurant but you can see that they use quality ingredients and cooking techniques that require longer behind the scenes cooking time. I truly appreciate the generous amount of love Chef Han and his team has poured into this new restaurant and I wish them the best!

They currently have a $35 Fried Chicken + 1 Jug of Beer soft opening promotion! Go try while you can.

For more information: http://www.kosoorestaurant.ca/menu/

Location: 1128 Robson St Vancouver, BC V6E 1B2

Hours: Sun-Thurs 11:30 AM – 1:00AM, Fri-Sat: 11:30 AM – 2:00 AM