A goddess, an owl … and Korean good taste
RESTAURANT REVIEW
There’s nothing in Korean literature about the Roman goddess Minerva owning an owl, let alone a “famous” one.
The name of Hamilton’s newest Korean restaurant, rather, is borrowed from the writings of the German philosopher Hegel. You can Google its significance.
What is important is that they make really good traditional Korean dishes at The Famous Owl of Minerva, the Hamilton franchise of a small but growing chain with restaurants in downtown Toronto and Markham, Richmond Hill and Mississauga.
But this is no culinary assembly line. It’s family run, with mom and dad preparing food at the back of the house and the grown children handling the front.
The windowless building, which faces onto Main Street almost at the corner of Victoria Avenue, has gone through at least a couple of incarnations in the past few decades.
It all felt very f amiliar when I walked in — virtually nothing had changed from the days of Pappas’ Greek restaurant except that the stunning Mediterranean blue paint was now white.
And there are now several bigscreen TVs around the dining room playing those vivacious, perky and quite captivating Korean music videos that offer the likes of Yankee Doodle Dandy with a Kpop spin.
You don’t need to order a lot of dishes at Famous Owl. The por- tions are generous and loaded with flavour and just about all entrees come with a decent-size bowl of Korean-style steamed rice (gorgeous stuff, not as gummy as sushi rice and heartier than long-grain or basmati).
The dinner started with traditional and complimentary panjan, the Korean symbol of plenty and welcome. Four bowls, each with a different savoury appetizer, arrived.
First was seasoned raw cucumber (see later), another traditional hot chili-spiked nappa cabbage, a third fried and medium-spicy potato wedges, the last simmered cabbage chunks in chili.
Then a surprise. The server kindly brought over two other complimentary appetizers — a platter of boiled, salted edamame (soy beans in pods), and a sizzling pile of sautéed mushrooms with garlic and carrot.
All these nibbles were terrific, and primed the tastebuds for what was to come.
We chose a favourite and something unfamiliar as mains.
DolSot BiBimBap ($9.99): BiBimBap is sort of a national dish. It’s steamed and seasoned rice crowned with assorted vegetables and slivered cooked beef (in this case). There’s a lightly fried egg on top.
You add hot sauce to taste and mix it all together so the egg “paints” everything else, and enjoy. The version at Famous Owl is very good and very filling.
My only quibble is “dolsot” means “stone bowl,” which is supposed to be sizzling hot so the rice cooks to a delightful thin crisp crust where it touches. This bowl was merely warm, so no crust. Too bad. Crispy would have been perfect.
JeYuk Bokeum ($12.99): I had never tried this dish before. Slices of marinated pork are grilled on a very hot iron platter with green and red peppers, onion and bits of broccoli, then tossed with a thick red chili and garlic paste. It all arrives at the table sizzling.
I loved the balance of textures and fresh flavours. The pork was lean but not dry, the chili was spicy as promised but not too fiery. It made for a bold and most enjoyable dish.
There was one addition, a splurge if you will. That first bowl in the panjan held a “kimchi” I think is called oi sobaegi. We loved it so much and devoured it so quickly we ordered a separate medium dish of it ($7).
It’s made fresh as a customer arrives, and it’s a mild, vinegarspiked combination of cucumber chunks, onion, red peppers and just a little hot chili. Delicious and refreshing, and not at all intimidating.
Korean restaurants are becoming trendy in Hamilton. The Famous Owl of Minerva is already one of the better ones around.