SongCook's

When I was pregnant, I had ridiculous cravings for kimchi. I suspect it was my brain's substitute for pickles, since I don't like pickles. It was a very fortunate craving since I spent a week and a half in South Korea where there was an abundance of kimchi everywhere. I felt the need to share this anecdote because while the massive craving has subsided, I still enjoy Korean food and decided to venture to SongCook's with my husband and baby.

Restaurant: SongCook's
Location: Thornhill
Meal: Dinner
Day: Saturday
Son's Age: 10 weeks

We arrived a little after 5 - again, early bird special time. Technically, this restaurant isn't actually in Toronto but I figure we were literally across the street so it still counts. We had initially called to make a reservation but they assured us that this would not be necessary.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There was more than enough space to get the stroller to the table without disrupting anyone. We parked the stroller next to the table and sat the car seat on the chair next to me.

The washroom also has a very nice change table so I could easily have changed his diaper if necessary.

They lose points because there isn't really a convenient place for me to put my diaper bag if I did need to change his diaper, but more importantly, if I were here alone, I would not be able to get my stroller in. The washroom itself has more than enough space, but getting to the washroom is another issue.

As you can see, there are a couple steps that I needed to go down, which isn't exactly stroller friendly. That being said, you can also see that they do have high chairs available if my baby was old enough to sit in one.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the most part, service was great. They had no issues accommodating us, and our server was very nice and checked in with us regularly, and service was prompt but not rushed. I took off one star because of the server who was refilling the tea. He seemed pleasant enough for the majority of the meal, but at one point my husband left to use the washroom and I had emptied my teacup. I tried to flag him down to no avail - he refilled cups at nearby table but it felt like he was intentionally avoiding eye contact with me. I wondered if I imagined it, but after we paid and were getting up to leave, our own server thanked both of us whereas this man very pointedly wished my husband a good evening without acknowledging me. Given how wonderful our own server was, I feel a little bad removing a star, but I don't appreciate the disparity in the treatment of my husband and me and it's important that this behaviour is called out.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As with all Korean restaurants, our dinner started with some complimentary banchan.

The selection is pretty standard, although I should mention that the kimchi comes in much larger pieces than elsewhere and they provide scissors for you to cut it yourself. What makes the food notable is their fresh handmade noodles. I ordered a combo of ja jang myun and cham pong.

Frankly I don't know how someone finishes this in one sitting; I ended up eating the cham pong and packing the ja jang myun for the next day's lunch. The noodles being freshly made makes such a difference and makes this restaurant an absolute go-to. My husband also ordered a ja jang myun combo but with sweet and sour chicken.

Korean sweet and sour chicken is not the same as Chinese sweet and sour chicken - the sauce is more sweet and less sour. My husband highly enjoyed this while I much preferred the cham pong. On that note, the menu offers a lot of variety, including pork bone soup as well as ssam bap, so it's a great place to go to if you want to try different Korean dishes.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
I had a generally good experience coming here with my baby. While it isn't perfect, I'm sure I'll come here again with my son.