Excellent Dol-Sot Bibimbap, the mall where the restaurant is, is dying, and the restaurant is usually fairly empty. Food is very good.

This is a thanks to the ahjumma who served us at the Owl. She helped with our table cooking and went above and beyond to refill our bowls. This is nothing trendy, but a classic bowl of kamja tang (pork bone soup) to warm your soul on a cold night. Very few places open late in Chinatown, especially on weekday. Really tasty and just hit the spot. One of my fav places to get a bowl of reliable PBS. This is located one floor up of Dragon City Mall, which would be closed if you visit past 9pm. For late night visits, go through the entry door, take the side stairs to get up one floor to reach inside the mall to this shop. There are individual portions, but I find better value if you can share a large stew pot as it comes with yummy glass noodles and dumplings too. We got extra glass noodles in ours. We went into the late evening and it wasn't busy, only one other table occupied. read more

See all

The Owl is one of those places that I initially had no expectation, but it kind of blew me away. First, it's inside of a "mall" and is located on the second floor of said "mall". It's in the corner and easily missed. The inside is small and nothing to be desired. I kept telling myself, "I hope this is worth it". It was warm inside and I remember this vividly because they provided you with small glasses of water, but not really enough to keep you cool. So then we order. I ordered an appetizer of gyoza and the stir fry beef. Before the meals come out they bring you four small dishes. One was kimchi, I know for sure. The other was some type of vegetable, one I have no idea and the finale was some type of potato with a sweeter sauce. Delicious. I could have had that for my meal. The other ones were ok, not necessarily bad, but just not my taste. The gyoza were amazing. The breading was the perfect mix of crunchy and chewy and the pork was piping hot, right out of the fryer. The stir fry beef was amazing. The marinade had a hint of teriyaki, giving it a sweeter taste to it. It comes served on very, very hot plate and sizzles and pops right in front of you. If you eat too quickly you're sure to burn your mouth. The onions that come with it are sautéed to perfection as well. And it's under $10 CAD. Definitely one of the best meals I've had in Toronto and at such an unexpected place! I had no idea I was in for such a treat. You definitely don't come here for the atmosphere, but it doesn't matter because the food makes up for it. read more

See all

The best thing about this place is the hours it's open. It's probably the best place to eat after a late night out when you and a bunch of your friends are hungry. The food here is not the best compared to other Owl's I've been to. I went with my usual bulgogi and though the price is great, it is pretty bland and doesn't really satisfy you... rather it just fills you up. Though service is quick and friendly, it isn't a place I would be regularly eating at. read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Been to other owl locations in the past and it was never my fave Korean food place, but wanted to give it another go. I order the soft tofu soup and overall it was good but it was a bit bland for my taste. Just a note, they only take debit or cash and do not split bills, so if you're planning on going with friends and wanting to pay for your own food, be prepared to bring cash or have one person pay for it all first. Service was quick and nice tho! read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Came for some dinner. I didn't even know this place was in dragon city. Overall appearance is old and outdated, but they've got several large samsung TV's along the walls playing k-pop. Service was pretty good. Waitress comes by from time to time checking up on you. The kimchi came out in a big blob that they used scissors to cut up, which is interesting. There wasn't much flavor though so maybe they had run out and this was a newer batch that didn't have time to flavor up. Ordered the pork bone soup. Came out really fast, less than 5 minutes. The broth had a nice flavor. Came with two pieces of pork bone and a large potato. Friend's bones were much easier to work with compared to mine so it's luck of the draw there. It's a pretty gloomy looking place but the pork bone soup is good. read more

I've come here numerous times when I crave Korean, and it's familiar to me since I'm use to going to the Bloor and North York location. Won't be coming back ever again! They didn't honour my stamp cards. My wife got kimchi fried rice and I got pork bone soup, and I was hoping to get my PBS free since I've accumulated more than enough stamps. The server said no and that she couldn't do it. #1 They wouldn't accept my cards. #2 They changed it from 10-12 stamps to get 1 free dish(PBS). #3 They gave me 1 stamp for $20 I spent when it use to be for every $10 you would get 1 stamp. Should have made a scene and just say why the F do I need these cards than? I've already spent over $200+ at this particular location and you won't give me a dish that probably cost you $2 for you to make and less than 1% that I've spent at your establishment. Shame on you!! I hope you go out of business you and you won't see a penny from me ever. read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Summary: Cheap lunch special, decent Korean food Recommend: if you are in Chinatown and you want to have cheap Korean food I went to this place a couple of times for lunch. It got a good lunch special. For $9, I can get a dish like pork bone soup or seafood tofu soup. Both dishes are very tasty. The owner is pretty generous with side dishes as well. They also got brown rice option. The option is really big that is hard for me to finish. I think dining in would have better value than take out. The takeout does not include all the side dishes. read more

The Owl - Bibimbap - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

popular chain, some open 24 hrs, but check if you need local cash only, no unlimited banchan. gamjatang nice but small size. mul naengmyeon (more buckwheat type noodle), jajangmyeon, kalbi, lots of variety, all done well read more

The Owl is housed in a dingy little space, almost hidden amongst the competing restaurants, in the heart of Korea Town. There were few people there when we arrived, but everyone's food looked and smelled very good, and they all seemed to be enjoying their meals. We all ended up ordering a version of "spicy" on a sizzling plate: I had spicy dumplings, and my two companions ordered spicy chicken. The spicy chicken was nicely prepared, with the requisite spiciness, and the spicy dumplings were a new thing which I had never tried. It was all tasty, although I admit that I found that the sauce was a bit sweet and somehow heavy or cloying. I prefer a lighter version of spicy chicken, such as I order at Chaban. The staff deserves 5+ stars for being super friendly, welcoming and attentive (without being overbearing). Also, the price is reasonable. I did take a star off, however, because they only accept cash, and also the ambience is, as I mentioned above, a bit dark and dank. If you want to pay cash for some reasonably priced, tasty Korean food, served by outstanding waitstaff, in a grotto-like atmosphere (if you are in a sort of grunge or goth mood, it would work), then the Owl might just be your place! They serve various beers, as well, and a Korean vodka type beverage. It's conveniently located near PAT grocery if you need to stock up on some Korean staples. read more

After happy hour Karaoke, this was a nice place to come eat and not have to brave the cold winds outside the mall. They've expanded the last time I've been here, and the open space is nice. We were greeted by the owner and he was very friendly. They don't just serve Pork Bone Soup here. There's also BimBimbap and Bulgoli, Japchae with rice ($8.99), Ramuen, Handmade Noodles, and Korean BBQ. Lots of fixings also comes with your meal. Today I had a hearty Pork Bone Soup which was so filling and yummy. read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Super stingy.........super little sauce for the big seafood pancake...... barely any meat in the kamjatang... wth...... read more

The Owl - Portion is so much smaller than the one on bloor and christie..... not worth it - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

See all

Typical Korean food in Chinatown. There is a large selection on their menu - noodles, appetizers, soups, stews, rice, etc. The prices are definitely very reasonable/cheap. I got a bowl of soup with rice cake, wontons, and beef slices for $9.99. Food was seasoned well - not too salty. If you aren't a fan of spicy food, do be forewarned that around 80% of the menu is spicy! Good range of "appetizer" dishes with cucumber, radishes, bean sprouts, kimchi and more. Service was good overall, and the environment was nice, apart from the fact that the TV's were always playing live music concerts of Korean artists, so there wasn't much to see there. Our table of 4 went for dinner on a Thursday night, and at any given point in the night, there were at most 5 tables there, so it should be relatively easy to find a spot there weeknights. They do only take cash and debit for transactions over $20. read more

The Owl - Rice cake, wontons, and beef slices in soup for $9.99 - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Me and my boyfriend usually go to the Waterloo branch and I definitely prefer this location over the one in Waterloo. There is a wider selection of food, the food is tastier and they serve brown rice (which is healthier!). Our server was great. She was friendly and asked if we wanted more side dishes (not a lot of Korean restaurants do that). The price is rather normal for the food served. I would come back here again. I recommend the tofu kimchi (stir-fried with pork and kimchi). It is one my favorite dishes at Owl's. read more

The Owl - Tofu jigae, tofu kimchi and gamjatang - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

The Pork Bone Soup is as good as everyone says it is. Large pieces of pork bone and potato were submerged in a spicy broth served with a bowl of rice. Don't forget to suck the marrow-y bits out of the bone! The other dishes we had weren't as good. The Cold Spicy Noodles were forgettable, and the Cold Noodles in Ginseng and Soy Soup sounded great, but didn't taste like ginseng or soy-- more like noodles in watery skim milk. Service was friendly. The banchan is complimentary and refilled upon request, but they no longer serve the yogurt drink for dessert-- although, the free wi-fi inside Dragon City Mall makes up for that! read more

See all

Ordered the bulgogj bibimbap because I was craving it so bad, but this did not satisfy the craving at all. There was nothing remarkable, nothing flavourful or even tasty, it was quite bland, and came with next to nothing bulgogj. Thankfully the waitress was nice enough to offer extra bulgogi. read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Torontos cold weather in the winter season always got me craving something hot! Can to this Korean place because it was suggested by family to try the "pork bone soup". I ordered 2 dishes the pork bone soup and the seafood tofu soup. The pork bone soup was not bad the meat just came off the bone and you can tell that it has been slow cooking for more than a day, it was seasoned well and spice level was just right. The seafood tofu soup looked spicy but the bite did not do justice as it wasn't as spicy as it looked. The atmosphere needs a little work because the tables and furniture and chairs looked outdated. I would def come back for the soup though! read more

See all

Pork bone soup! Okay, so I didn't have pork bone soup here since I'm trying to cut down on unhealthy food (but it's sooo delicious), but I did have it at another Owl location. Some of my co-workers ordered it and can attest to its deliciousness. The waitresses are super busy and will run to get items, but at the expense of ignoring you when you ask to order or when you ask to get the bill. This is the only reason why it gets 3 instead of 4 stars. The food is great. I ordered the dolsot bibimbap (labeled hot stone bowl, $7 lunch special) and it met my expectations. I was supposed to get a pop with the lunch special, according to the menu, but didn't. We ordered one bibimbap to go and it came with a pop (and the usual appetizers, like kimchi). For those who paid attention, yes I think tea and beef on rice is healthier than pork bone soup :) Update: I came back for the pork bone soup and was sufficiently unimpressed. There just wasn't a lot of meat, which is really the only reason to get it. read more

I just love this place, worth a visit when you are in Toronto. The food are authentic and warm you up. read more

The Owl - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I'm a big fan of this restaurant chain but I think by far, this is the worst location. I'm not from Toronto so I am not used to the deceptions of China Town... I swear every restaurant there says they are open a certain time but close an hour early ???? Wtf ??? This is what happened to my and my sisters. We went to a concert and we're pretty hungry after so we decided to go for Korean food. Seeing as we always get good service in other locations we decided to try this location out. We got there at 11 (the place supposedly closes at midnight) and they were already cleaning up and closing down the store. We asked if they were still open and one of the older ladies there begrudgingly said they are still open and can serve us but they have to close up shop within 30-40 minutes. So we ordered and ate. I ordered a coke and the same miserable old lady said diet? And I'm like no? Did you hear me say diet??? To top that off, the food were clearly leftovers and we're not freshly made. When we asked for a to go container one of my sisters were still eating but irregardless they took away the plates and side items when she was clearly not finished yet. We didn't tip very much because of the ludicrous service. We gave $1 tip and they were all snarky about not having any tips. Next time you wanna have a great tip, maybe try working on your service. Never going back to this location again. If you guys wanna try owl, try the location in mississauga... That is the best one hands down. read more

This is the 2nd Owl Of Minerva I have visited. So I am a bit biased as I liked the food on the one location up on Korea Town. So although I found this location far more restaurant-like, I have to say I found the food at the other Minerva to be a bit better. Either way, as most people now know, you do not come to places like Owl of Minerva for the decour, otherwise you will be very much disappointed. Now why the low rating? Well, the quality of the pork was by far the worst I have had and I have had a lot. The biggest issue was the pork was undercooked. Not that it was raw, but the meat has/should come off the bone in properly prepared PBS. However on both soups that got ordered we had to literally had to struggle to get to our meat. Which means the soup was rushed and toss to customers way before it was done. That is just badly made pork bone soup. Period. Specially for a place that specifically prides itself in its PBS? There is no going around it. Badly played. I was really disappointed. Now, having said that I might be back again if other restaurants are busy or it is raining or there is a flood and I need to get to high ground and enjoy a pork bone soup after I have climbed my way up. Sadly, I won't be coming back to this place in the nearby future. . read more

The Owl - Seriously? WTF? - Korean Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Not all the chain restaurants serve the same menu. This restaurant located in CHINA TOWN, has the worst food than other locations. The side dishes tasted somewhat old, and everything was DAMN salty!! I wondered why there are no customers at lunch time. The amount of food is so small that its almost half size of food served in other location. Also, in the hot weather, it has no air conditioning, when the North York location has cool temperature. Im never going back. read more

This is where my love for pork bone soup started. I'm glad that there is one that opened up in Chinatown. This place has a broader menu, as compared to the one in K-town. The pork bone soup here is really to die for. There is plenty of meat on the bone and potatoes in the spicy broth. Also tried the spicy chicken on a hot plate. Flavourful and delicious. Oh, who can forget the side dishes. They're happy to re-fill for you if you want more. You bet I'll be back to this restaurant. This place is great place to experience Korean comfort food. read more

It seems my udpate from the day after I went has been deleted!!!!! I got food poisoning all nite long and the following day after I went there!!! I wrote that almost right away to edit my first impression (once I felt better....) Forget about the food in this place being good!!! It may taste good but can be harmful! I never went back there and never will!! ever never, even if you pay me! If my update is deleted again, I will simply remove this review from my account!!! read more

I went here last night around 1am (slim pickings if you're craving Korean food after 11pm). I did NOT want to come here because I haven't had great food at the other locations (Shouldn't the Koreatown location have the best??? I went to the one on bloor late at night as well) but alas, my friends and I needed some spicy Korean food in our bellies. My friend and I ordered the chapjae and kimchi jeon. DELICIOUS! I was even more surprised by the banchan: pickled cucumbers, kimchi, radish kimchi, seaweed salad, bean sprouts, fried potatoes. Everything was amazing. The kimchi pancake was nice and crispy and the only thing I would say about it is that it didn't come with a dipping sauce!! I was a bit shocked but can live without it. The chapjae was really, really well done. Probably one of the best I've had actually. I asked for the veggie one but it did have small pieces of meat inside, it wasn't a bit issue with me especially since I was sharing with a meat eater -I just picked them out. Serious high five to the cooks! The service was GREAT. Our server was a lady who was very bubbly, always had a smile on her face. The manager (I'm assuming, older guy), brought us some of our food and asked how everything was, if we enjoyed the food..etc I've never been checked up on at a Kfood place. Bathroom was nicely decorated and CLEAN. I always check out the bathroom because I feel like that says a lot about the cleanliness of a place. Don't let the outside/ the fact that it's in the Dragon City Mall fool you. It's a great place! read more

'Tis the season to celebrate, fellow Yelpers, for delicious gamjatang has come waaayyy downtown, right in the heart of Chinatown. That's right, the famous Owl of Minerva has found a new place to perch, and it feels oh so good. Located in the corner of the second floor of Dragon City, it's nestled away from too much of the hustle and bustle of Spadina. Opened in mid-December (of 2009), there are less than 10 tables in this place, so get here before word gets out. In chatting with the friendly staff here, apparently they are affiliated with the more "genuine" Owl uptown, but not the one on Bloor Street. Strange. Not strange, however, is the quick and courteous service and bang-on pork bone soup. Bibambap comes in a piping hot stone pot with flavourful rice that was still burning my mouth in the last few bites. Atmosphere is small and simple, and in our first couple of visits happened to be playing the Mariah Carey holiday album on loop. What is also great is the open kitchen so you can see exactly where (and from whom) your food comes from. Homecooking-away-from-home at it's best. Welcome downtown, dear Owl. read more

This place recently renovated so it's much larger now and also has a washroom so you don't have to go to the mall ones.. (i'm highly scared of bacteria in washrooms downtown..) This is my go-to place for korean food down town. The pork bone soup is fairly big with lots of meat for only 6.99. and i LOVE the cucumber side dish! and kimchi.. so yummy. I've also had the bugolgi here and it was decent. Staff are friendly and make sure you are having a good experience. Also, at the end of the meal, they give you those little Asian yogurt drinks. Next time i go, i want to try their barbecue things! It's new on their menu and the tables have a grill embedded in them. I believe it will be more authentic than Korean Grill House. read more

one of my favourite restaurants from the owl chain. they are like 100 times better than the richmond hill location. their food is flavourful, the waitresses are quite nice and they have more variety in their banchans (side dishes which is a hell yer) i usually like to order some kind of soup (pork bone soup is rly good). i tried their spicy cold noodle and it was alright. i usually like to order samgyupsal (pork belly) but they won't allow you to grill it anymore if you just ordered one plate which i feel is pretty dumb. you would have to order at least two plates to grill it yourself -_- ($17.99 each) but yeah, rly good Korean food y'all should give it a try read more

See all

I swear this place was 24h... Anyway, I had the classic pork bone soup, but I was really disappointed in the meal. There was literally nothing else in the soup except three chunks of pork bone and one small potato. Where are the vegetables? They call the rice brown, but it looked mostly like white rice with a small handful of something multigrain to make it change colour. Lastly, it was super expensive. After tax and tip for one meal was $12. Okay, not absolutely expensive, but relatively expensive for Korean food. For a Korean soup dish, $7-8 is the average price. And at other restaurants, those soup dishes include vegetables. read more

I think this is the first of the Owl of Minerva chain of restaurants there are, but please correct me if I am mistaken. I also think the lady who is the face of Owl of Minerva works here too but I have not asked fearing that it was impolite. Excellent Korean food and extremely pleasant service. It may be a little hard to spot from the street but trust me, in its little Nook of the Chinese mall on Dundas and Spadina, you can't get better Korean food. However, spice levels are not that high and has a very soothing effect on the palette - I recommend the pork bone soup and Kim Chi fried rice for the winters and their spare ribs and cold noodles for the summer. Alternative if you're looking for spicy, spicy, spicy - read my review on Ka Chi. read more

After months of kinda-sorta fearing this place and its enormous smiling-lady sign, we gave it a whirl. Gotta say, although merely "a-ok" and not a smash hit, we were pleasantly surprised and will likely return. As others have noted the decor is shabby diner, with the added cache of two rather large flat screen tvs -- glory of glories, they were playing some kind of K-Pop music and dance competition that was non-stop candied entertainment. I'd kinda forgotten just how hilariously awesome that stuff is! Anyway, as for the food -- cheap ramen noodles gussied up with fresh vegetables makes for a nice snack or light meal, the banchan was good but not great (and bottomless), and my soon tofu would have been 5 star had it not been entirely too salty. Ease off on the soy, and they'd be competing for top-tier marks! The menu is pretty extensive, with helpful pictures for the uninitiated pasted on the walls of the restaurant itself. I tried asking about a dish I wasn't familiar with and unfortunately didn't understand the explanation. C'est la vie. I'll give it a try if I'm feeling more adventurous next time. Finally, just as a note for diners everywhere: when you're eating Korean and the nice server asks you if you want more banchan / appetizers, that typically means "complimentary" and they're happy for you to partake. It also means you're an absolute douche bag if you leave a crappy tip. So reciprocate the generosity, yeah? read more

- hidden on the 2nd floor of the dragon city mall, the owl is a gem - not a great looking place (read: pretty dingy-esque), but i dont care. - service is good. food is good. (only had he PBS, which is why only 3 stars at the moment) p.s. they give out yakult (that probiotic yogourt drink) with the bill! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult read more

We were a group of 6 people so we decided to go try out many of their dishes. We ordered soybean cold noodle (Kongguksu), spicy tofu stew (Haemul Soondubu jjigae), kimchi fried rice and a BBQ order of marinated samgyeopsal and L.A beef ribs. The side dishes was all right. I never tasted Kongguksu so I don't really know what I was to expect in term of the taste, the texture, etc. Personally, I did not like it. It was bland and the texture of the noodle felt like it was overcooked. I expected it to come as a cold dish, but it was instead kind of warm-ish. The Soondubu jjigae was ok. I tasted better. The Kimchi fried rice was REALLY good in my opinion. As for the BBQ order, it was a HUGE disappointment. I went to a lot of korean BBQ and never have they served the meat cooked unless the restaurant gave it as an option. This place was the first that I experienced that served us half cooked L.A ribs and already cooked pork. (And we did not order it cooked for sure) I mean.. what's the point of opening our BBQ table if it was to cook the meat for a few minutes? As for the service itself...it was ok. We were given the side dishes and plates at the same time the food came which is not a big deal. Our waiter looked pretty confused and stressed so I think he might be new. Bottom line, I will never return to this place. read more

Cheap food, great value, great nutrition "Loved your tip, give us more!" OK Yelp. What the tip said. The prices are very low and the food is very nutritious and plentiful. Oh, and the staff were very attentive and efficient. read more

This place really should be called Owl of Micki as I would so love to have this owl all to myself. First off - wow pork bone soup! Could you be any better? Me thinks not. This soup is so full of spice, flavour, oh and pork! I am a huge fan of Korean flavours as they are so different for many western palates. Owl really does it right - the kimchi and other sides you get complimentary with your meals tasted just like when my Korean friends cook for me at home. I can't wait to return for their bibimbop and cold noodle bowls - I can practically hear that Owl hooting at me now saying come for a midnight snack because you know I'm open late! Good service, good Korean pop TV, spectacular food! read more

Finally got around to trying this place and was disappointed. The pork bone soup was too salty (they make it a lot better in their North York location), their spicy rice cake dish was way too sweet, and the egg omlette-like roll was unimpressive (they used Spam in the omlette that dominated the dish). Service was very attentive and top notch but the food was not to my liking. There were a lot of people there when I went so they must be doing something right but the food just did not suit my pallet. read more

My favourite Owl location in the GTA. Brown rice served with the dishes, excellent sides, friendly service, and dish options available all hours that other locations would only serve at lunch. read more

I will fight anyone who says the food here isn't good. The owners and workers are super nice and the food always comes super fast, fresh, and hot. My only qualm is that they only accept debit if your bill exceeds $20 so be sure to carry cash because you could eat a mountain here and it still would not come up to $20. read more

I was definitely pleasantly surprised as my expectations were very low. I've been to several Owl of Minerva now, and relatively speaking this one was really good. The only downside to this place is that it's slightly more expensive than the ones uptown (or so I've heard). We got two pork bone soup and one chap jae. The pork bone soup was incredibly flavourful (my friend said less spicy than the one at north york) and the jap chae was good, but a bit heavy on the soy sauce taste. Their ban chan was very tasty and they offered to refill it for you when they see that it's empty. Service is awesome. My favourite part is the yogurt drink they give at as dessert! I do warn you though, the soap in their bathroom is so grossly watered down that when you press the pump it splashes all over your shirt... read more

Great late night eats spot in Korea town. Nothing like a pork bone soup to wash down the alcohol with. I've also eaten here during regular meal times and it's just as satisfying. read more