Lee House Korean BBQ (Closed)
November 26, 2014
Finally a Korean BBQ restaurant that Edmontonians don’t have to drive all the way south for! Conveniently located in Chinatown right across from Lucky 97 Supermarket, Lee House restaurant is the newest Korean addition in town. It’s their second restaurant, with the first being near Whyte Ave. Their new location is thankfully more roomier and spacious than the original! Along with offering traditional Korean dishes on the menu, they also offer a Korean BBQ option. The BBQ option is to be ordered off the menu and it’s charged by plate (not all you can eat, sadly). You have the option of either having the kitchen cook it for you or you can cook it yourself on the table grills! Of course we partially chose the latter since we wanted a KBBQ experience.
The traditional Korean side dishes were included in our meal
For our BBQ plates, we ordered the Bugogi ($13.95) and the LA Kal Bi ($24.95). Our Bugogi was pre-cooked in the kitchen and came out on a sizzling plate filled with tons of vegetables. The Bugogi was marinated in a sweet soy garlic sesame sauce and we kept eating seconds then thirds! Unfortunately, the Bugogi was finished quickly because of the ratio of vegetables to beef. I don’t mind vegetables that much, but if I order a BBQ dish then I would be more satisfied if there was more beef than vegetables.
The LA Kal Bi made up for the small portion of Bugogi though. 8 oz of AAA short rib marinated in a flavorful sauce consisting of a mixture of Asian pear, soy, honey, garlic, and sesame. We chose to cook it ourselves and after about 5 minutes of waiting, it was ready to be devoured! The 3 slices of LA Kal Bi came with onions and a huge piece of lettuce. It was a bit overpriced but nothing to complain about since it was delicious in the end.
Bugogi – after it had been eaten from because we were too hungry
Uncooked LA Kal Bi
Along with the BBQ plates, we ordered Dubboki. Rice cakes, fish cakes, cabbage, green onions, and a boiled egg were served in a sweet and spicy Korean chili sauce. The sauce wasn’t that spicy and didn’t overpower our senses. The small pieces of Korean rice cake were a bit bland though, even when they were covered in sauce.
Korean Fried Chicken is a must at any Korean restaurant! Here at Lee House, we opted for the half size serving for $17. The full size is $27 and there is also the option of Spicy Marinated Fried Chicken ($18 half/$28 full). The half size was very filling for the 3 of us since we had leftovers from it.. thank goodness we didn’t get the full size! The lightly deep-fried chicken was juicy and tender but lacked seasoning. Maybe if we had ordered the spicier version, it would’ve been more flavorful.
Lastly, we have the forgotten dish of Kam Poong Gi. The kitchen was quick and made it right after we informed them we were missing a dish! These chicken balls were deep fried in potato starch and then sauced in a sweet and sour vinegar glaze. The vinegar was very strong.. so strong that when I inhaled a chicken ball it literally hurt my nose. So no, I wouldn’t recommend smelling this dish lol. But I do recommend ordering it because it was definitely enjoyable.
Overall, Lee House is a good choice if you need a Korean BBQ restaurant that is convenient for you. I understand that since they recently opened a few weeks ago, they probably still have some kinks to work out. My friend wanted Sake, which is offered on their alcohol menu except there wasn’t an alcohol license yet. A bit overpriced in my opinion but I wish them the best!
Address: 9711 107 Avenue
