Gyubee
is located at 7100 Woodbine, north of Steeles at Idema Road in
Markham, a municipality bordering Toronto's central to eastern area
on the north. Gyubee is located in an office building with only a
small sign over the door, and so is not easy to find, but was very
full and there was a wait of 25 minutes or more as they will not take
reservations for less than six diners. I recommend to get there right
at noon to avoid the wait. Gyubee's Markham location has a more
Japanese interior than the downtown one, with wood-frame lattice
around the tables. We waited in the storage area with well over a
hundred boxes of disposable chopsticks, which I found to be a sad
waste, thus I continue to bring my own. Tea is $1, pop $3, both AYCD.
Umami
bean sprouts were awesome. Kimchi was excellent, spicy, no odor.
Cabbage salad was awesome and wonderful and unique among all the
AYCEs we have been to. Miso soup was perfect, super-savory. Cold tofu
has awesome sauce and was wonderful. And kudos to the consistency:
every one of these items, plus all the grilled meats to follow, were
indistinguishable from the ones at the downtown Toronto Gyubee.
However, there was one item that was not: the bibimbap was not as
good as the downtown Toronto location. Both Mishy and I noticed and
commented on it immediately. It was still OK and edible of course.
On
to the grilled items, beef was superb as was well-marinated. We both
loved the grilled chicken. House marinated Kalbi short ribs were
excellent. White mushrooms were excellent when grilled. Sausages
were excellent even when burnt (which I did…)
To
expand on that, Mishy was not pleased that many of the items that we
cooked ended up burnt, but I can't blame anyone else as we were doing
the cooking. The grills at this location seem to run a little hotter
than the ones downtown; I know they are different as the ones
downtown have a back-and-forth slider temperature control; whereas
these have a rotating dial. So if you are getting "burnt
offerings" ask your server ASAP to turn down the heat.
For
dessert honeydew and coconut melona bars are the only options
available with one permitted per diner. Weekday lunch was $20.99,
with an included 12% service charge. Other than the charred remains,
we had a very enjoyable lunch at Gyubee and as every item was
similarly good to the downtown Toronto location with the one bibimbap
exception, our rating will reflect this.
Rating:
8.5/10
