Dahn Korean

Restaurant: Dahn Korean Cuisine
Cuisine: Korean
Location: Thornhill
Address: 8159 Yonge St
Price Range: $ 15~25
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very Good 5: Excellent
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Extra information:
* Party rooms Avail
* BBQ
* Open for lunch and dinner
* Course menu avail
Dahn was one of the Korean restaurants that created buzz on Twitter within Koreans from Toronto. I’ve been meaning to try it for awhile, but since it is quite far from where I live– it took me this long. Everytime I take my parents (especially my dad) to a Korean restaurant I get super nervous because it’s so hard to impress them Especially my dad who travels back and forth between Korea and Canada, he knows good Korean food.
Regardless, I went to Dahn for lunch with my mom hoping the restaurant would live up to the hype. I was surprised by how big the restaurant was, it even had 2^nd floor with party room where you can easily accomodate 20 people. But then again, given the location I guess they can afford to since they are not downtown.
We were seated in one of the rooms on the side and it had sliding doors so you could get some privacy. However, I didn’t really understand why they would put us in a room when there were only 2 of us and there were tables outside… especially the lighting in all of the rooms weren’t so bright and it was closed off ceiling to floor, I felt a little claustrophobic in it.
Ordered: Sliced Roast Beef ⁴⁄₅
* Sliced chilled roast beef and vegetables served with special wasabi sauce for $ 19
* This is a cold dish that is eaten as an appetizer
* For an appetizer, the price is a little high but the portion is quite big as well
* Special wasabi sauce was made with lemon and plum extract
* Basically you take one piece of the meat and wrap all these vegetables in it and dip it in the sauce
* This dish was very light and refreshing
* I did notice the meat seemed quite stiff and had a paper bag like texture
* But overall I enjoyed it quite a bit
Ordered: Naeng Myun + Dduk Gal Bi Combo ³⁄₅
* Cold noodles and Dduk Gal Bi (Hamburg Steak) for $ 15.95
* It is summer time so all Korean restaurants seem to have Naeng Myun (cold noodle)
* Also, it’s a must after you have some Korean BBQ
* First of all, the portion of Naeng Myun was so big that it was almost ridiculous
* I normally prefer the spicy cold noodle, but in this case the regular one was much better
* The soup was very light and it had perfect balance between sweet-​sour flavor
* Noodle itself wasn’t that great (it’s not house-​made)
* Dduk Gal Bi was quite disappointing
* They were decent in terms of quality and texture
* But the sauce they had on top made it way too sweet
* Original Dduk Gal Bi made in Korea do not have any type of sauce on top
* It is marinated on its own to some point but not to over power the meat
* It was almost like food court chinese meats (Sweet & Sour pork anyone?)
Ordered: Bi Bim Naeng Myun ³⁄₅
* Spicy cold noodles served with pickled radish, cucumber and boiled egg with sweet & spicy sauce for $ 7.95
* This is a spicy version of the cold noodle
* Normally I prefer this over regular cold noodle but I didn’t really enjoy it here
* The sauce was way too sweet and it just didn’t have enough flavor with the noodle
* Best spicy cold noodle I had in Toronto was probably from Bulgogi Brothers
Going back to how we were seated in the room, they barely checked on us after bringing us the food. With the tightly closed sliding doors, it didn’t help us trying to get their attention either.
I am glad I tried Dahn after hearing all the hype, but it didn’t really spark fireworks for me. I do feel like maybe I need to try other items off the menu like their BBQ meats, but I am not in a hurry to go back. If you want BBQ or cold noodles, I suggest checking out Bulgogi Brothers

One of the only, if not the only korean set course dinner you can get in Toronto.
The food is fusion korean food. Once you order a set menu, everyone in the table have to get the same course. (This is the same as in Korea, since the food is meant to be shared and you don’t get served in individual dishes)
So overall my experience was really good. It is a higher end of Korean food
so don’t expect things to be cheap. This type of food is not meant to be.
The food was good, and even though the portion might look small, by the end of your meal you will be stuffed. The presentation of the food were also beautiful to look at. Which was another good thing about this place. The grilled meat was my favourite since the meat was so tender it just melted in my mouth. Service was also good. The only thing that I would say kind of disappointed me was dessert. Green tea just felt short in comparison to everything else.
I will definitely be going back to this restaurant!

Dahn’s chic and modern look was a sight for sore eyes. However, the menu and food were nothing special. The food is expensive and the selection lacks.
We were seated at a regular table (not a table cooking table) in the middle of the restaurant. Although the restaurant is nicely designed, I was not comfortable with the seating arrangements. The space is small and not very welcoming.
Our host greeted us, however, it was very unwelcoming (no eye contact). When we were seated, we did not receive the menus until a little while later. Not once were our teas refilled throughout the dinner and not once did a waitress come to ask if everything was okay. We ordered, food plopped onto the table, ate, paid the bill and out we went.
Upon opening the menu, there was not much of a selection. They served only a few entrees, only cold noodles and a selection of the typical appetizers (table cooking could only be done on the 5 or 6 table cooking tables they had and they didn’t even serve regular LA Kalbi on a skillet).
I ended up ordering Kalbi Tang ($ 15), which is very pricey compared to most other places. The meat was incredibly fatty and greasy and there were no noodles. I was not impressed with the food and could not finish it because of the amount of grease.
My group and I did not feel very welcomed compared to the non-​Korean guests.
In conclusion, we won’t be coming back to this establishment again.

Finally a decent Korean restaurant in Toronto! This is the kind of establishment I would expect in trendy Apgujeong-​dong, Seoul. I will admit that it’s a bit pricey and it took a long time for the food to come but the service was impeccable and the food was fantastic. I would highly recommend Dahn to anyone who takes their Korean cuisine seriously. If you are looking for a cheap, smokey, loud, bus station type of experience though this is definitely NOT it.

Dahn Korean serves one of the most expensive Korean lunch specials in the area but it is also the newest, cleanest, chicest of them all?
Services was excellent! My waitress was all smile and pretty too…
Korean Cold Noodle for $ 11 is their lunch specials… though it was quite tasty but I don’t think I can afford to come here too often…
Vegetarian choices are limited here. but it is really a Korean BBQ place and the last thing that people want to BBQ are veggies?

Dahn is designed to be more chic and modern, with cool tones balanced with wood and stone elements.
The first thing they advertise is Korean BBQ, but it is about as far away from your typical Korean Grill house clientele and scene as possible. It isn’t crowded, but the way they partition the space isn’t, in my opinion, very effective. They have about 3 enclosed BBQ booths, with sliding doors and I’m guessing an enclosed ventilation system to suck up the typical Korean BBQ smells, and two more by the window in the common dining area.
For me, the oddest thing is that the restaurant itself is two floors, with 2^nd floor is apparently the waiting area (which I consider to be a bit of a waste, but there you are.)
The menu is decent, however somewhat limited in what you can order. For starters, you won’t be able to order the typical sizzling plate Kalbi you can normally find at other Korean places, unless you do the table cooking; which means a minimum two person order.
They offer what can be considered a two price-​point omakase menu at $ 35 to $ 45 per person, however you can’t order it a la carte, as if one person gets it, everyone at the table would have to get it. Which made it a bit difficult to order, as the general rule seems to be minimum two orders for most menu items. … which isn’t very helpful and limits basically everything you can order from a 8 page menu into pretty much two pages (including «starter» dishes)
For this visit, my boyfriend and our mutual friend ordered the old-​style bulgogi, which apparently was ok, but they kept saying it was reminding them of sukiyaki too much. And I order their grilled meat and cold noodles dish… the grilled meat was pretty good, but I thought it was a bit meager in its offering, considering they were charging $ 23, so maybe it was the quality of the meat I was paying for. I thought my cold noodles was ok; great texture; chewy, but stopped short of gloopy.
The banchan they served with our food was pretty good. I give a thumbs up to their kimchi; sprouts; and their jelly dish.
Service was ok, concerned but felt a bit halfhearted from our server… I would have felt happier, if she offered us alternatives on the available menu… because we didn’t want to order two of the same thing…
overall impression: Ok, but with all the menu restrictions. I’m afraid Dahn just wasn’t to my taste.