I hadn't heard about Sooda until this August, when I stumbled upon an ad by a foodie influencer on…read moresocial media who tried the restaurant during their 10th anniversary sale. A lot of items were 30% off which is a pretty good discount considering a lot of their mains are $20-$50. Apparently Sooda is really hyped on google reviews and according to some people online, people line up out the door during the dinner rush. I came here on a friday afternoon near opening time at 12 for lunch with friends. There were only a couple tables occupied at the time. My friends ordered a bulgogi platter. According to the menu, it comes with beef marinated in bulgogi sauce served on a hot plate with cheese, green onions, house made egg-rolls, corn, and rice. It's usually a whopping $49 but with the special 30% anniversary discount it was only around $35 so it was definitely worth it. Our food came in a pretty good time in about 12-15 minutes. The melted cheese was SO GOOD. I love cheese but melted mozzarella is delicious. It's divine. The beef was tasty. I like the bulgogi sauce. It was meant to be mixed with the rice and egg rolls. If you just eat them separately, it's gonna be mid because they have little flavor on their own. I like that they included some small side dishes (banchan) to refresh your taste buds, such as kimchi and pickled radish. It was well needed for such a greasy and salty dish. I really like the vibe and the staff here. They had a couple k-pop music videos playing on the TV and k-pop and pop music playing in the background. The customers at the time seemed to have a good time here. They had some 10th birthday balloons and decorations all over the dining area too. The place is pretty dark with just enough lights and the walls are black which makes the vibe kind of cool. There are some interesting looking giant murals as well Our server was in a happy mood and all smiles. She liked to joke a lot with customers which was great to see. She was happy to answer any questions we had about the menu since it was our first time there. She was the only server at the time so she looked pretty busy. She refilled our waters and asked if everything was good so we felt taken care of. She said thank you, hi and goodbye to everyone in our group as well. Shout out to Seoyoung for being a great server! Washrooms are fine. As far as I know there's only 1 private men's washroom for the entire restaurant but it was pretty clean. A bit cluttered with cleaning supplies but it was clean and spacious. 5 out of 5 stars based on this visit. The 30% off 10th anniversary discount made it really worth coming for the price I paid. I hope they have similar promotions like that in the future. More importantly, the food and staff are great so it's worth checking out.

We were a group of 5 and it was the first visit for 4 of us (including myself). Was happy to gone…read moreon a quieter evening as I can only imagine how busy this place normally is The fries came first and we loved the crunchy onion and melted that it was covered with! They didn't last long on the table with our group! The heaters weren't working properly on our table, so it took a few tries to get our cheese melted with the bulgogi. So they went ahead and pre-melted the cheese with the chicken before bringing it to the table. Not only was this mix tasty, it was fun scoop it across for our dish. I order a japchae to go, which was also delicious! (Unfortunately someone accidentally rested my to-go bag on a counter with grease before giving it to me, as I discovered later) The food was delicious and the staff were friendly. I would definitely come here again. (you can find me on Insta @aida.loves )

Came here again with my friends after I told them how good my first experience was. Luckily, I was…read moreable to get their limited set this day and it really did live up to the hype. I got their eel set, which was my second choice since the pork jaw was sold out. I love all the side dishes that they give you with the meal. You get to try a little bit of everything. The portion size is also huge. 10 out of 10 will come back again.

The last time I tried zoomak was three years ago for the exact same thing - the pork cheek lunch…read moreset. I'm happy to report that it is still just as good. The side dishes this time was beef tartare, kimchi cucumbers, kimchi, pickled cabbage, egg plant, tofu, kimchi jeon (pancake), deep fried rice cake, fried chicken, and deep fried tofu. There's many side dishes so even if there's one you don't like, there's plenty others you can choose from and I really like that variety! I was very surprised they had beef tartare as one of the side dishes! My favourites had to be the vinegar eggplant, deep fried rice cake (loved the chewy texture of this one!), and the fried chicken. Above all though, the pork cheek and seaweed clam soup were definitely the stars of the show. Overall I really recommend trying this meal out if you're ever in gastown! This is exclusively available at lunch and from what I know they do sell out so come out when they open to make sure it's still available!

They insisted on saying that our party of 8 had to pay a mandatory 18% tip, even though we all had…read more individual lunch sets and they took one tables order first and then came back to take the second table 5 mins later. Waitress kept arguing with us saying it's common amongst the restaurant industry to have mandatory tipping for large parties If we are all grilling meat and sharing the food then I get it but this wasn't the case After much discussion with "manager" he let us tip what we want

For our last night in Vancouver we decided to go to the Asian section of town because the Hop on…read morehop off bus mentioned that they had wonderful food. We were in the mood for something new and Korean sounded just right so we happened into Ta'bom and SO GLAD we did! Our waitress was MJ (also called Mindi) and , well, she was everybody's server and I must say she was AWESOME and made the whole experience very special and delicious! She recommended the combo which was a hot plate of chicken, pork, potatoes, rice cakes, cabbage, with corn, cheese and eggs and sides of seaweed, kimchi, sprouts, and sweet potato and white rice-it was very filling and perfect.

Food 5/5 Service 10/5…read moreAmbiance 4/5 Sooooo I came back and again LOVED it! The service was hands down friggin awesome...we did 3 rounds of the side dishes and the waitress was so generous and carefree about it. The food was simply out of this world so fresh and top notch quality! Hands down one of the best restaurants in Vancouver!!!!

Apparently it's the best in Vancouver according to my friends…read more The quality of beef is defin up there. However the La kalbi was mostly fat and not really the high quality piece you hope for. I recommend getting the meat that are not marinated. Pricy place, 4 of us had to pay over 200, however, they do provide unlimited side dishes. Service is not bad, standard

This is the OG Japanese BBQ in metro van and a classic. They have a decent assortment of meats and…read moregood sauces.

This restaurant offers tabletop cooking, which is a fun experience for diners. The menu is…read moreextensive, offering individual protein items to grills. There are combinations, too---all explained in colorful, simple menus. There's also a grilling guide for suggested times to grill different items. The server is knowledgeable and explains it all, just in case you are confused. The meat cuts we ordered were good---tender and marinated. Love the sauces. There are a lot of appetizers. Service was prompt and friendly. The place is huge with many different rooms. Despite the cooking at each table, the room felt cool. Noise is at acceptable levels, despite a festive atmosphere.

One of the hardest Korean restaurants in Vancouver to get a reservation at!…read more Reservations open at 10 a.m. on the 1st of every month, and if you're not quick enough, good luck! Within just one hour, the tables were completely booked. Definitely one of those restaurants where you need to set an alarm and be ready to book! We finally made it in, and the prime short rib was definitely the highlight of the meal. The meat was incredibly tender and juicy, with a rich, beefy flavour and just the right amount of marbling. Every bite was satisfying, especially when grilled to that perfect caramelized edge. But then comes the big question... $175 for the prime short rib -- is it worth it? Honestly, "worth it" is pretty subjective. If you're looking for a special Korean BBQ experience and don't mind paying a premium for quality beef, it may be something worth trying at least once. But at $175, expectations are naturally pretty high! For me, the short rib was really good, but whether it's worth the price tag... I'll leave that up to you!

Only had the aged prime rib galbi to share and it did not disappoint. Enough for 2 if you're not…read moresuper hungry. The meat was very soft and tender. The sauce did not overpower the meat and the side dishes were fantastic palate cleansers. The service was attentive in this dark restaurant. Get a seat not facing the front door.

Good food troublesome area, duck was good, service good.fff jjj kkklllgggggggggggghhhhhgread more

Not going to lie - I didn't have high expectations for this place but OMG the crispy pork belly is…read moreWORTH the hype. I think that was the best I've actually ever had. And our server was so warm and welcoming, even though my friends & I were full, we still went in for the meats because our server was that great. "Just come in for some tea!" he said and the rest was history. Well worth every penny!

Amazing food, so fresh and delicious. A1 service, attentive…read morestaff, friendly and a joy to be around. Laid-back, relaxed atmosphere. Would highly recommend this place to anyone. Absolutely outstanding.

We were craving skewers so decided to come here for yakitori. We had a late dinner so were in time…read morefor the late night happy hour, which was 50% off temaki on the day we went. We got a few of those along with a bunch of skewers and some appetizers. Everything was really good but I think we could've skipped the gyoza as we liked the skewers a lot more. The servers were really friendly and explained the menu and ordering process to us really well. We sat by the bar and loved how we could see into the kitchen. The restaurant is really cozy and has a great atmosphere.