DooBoo: Korean comfort food in Burnaby

DooBoo is a casual Korean restaurant located in Burnaby. They serve classic Korean soups in hot stone bowls and they specialize in tofu (dooboo means “soft tofu”). They also offer Korean bbq options.

This review is based on their lunch service.

Interior

The interior is pretty simple. For a Korean restaurant with bbq, there are no grills on each table and also no furnaces on top of tables. This means if a lot of people are ordering korean bbq, the smell will linger inside the space.

Parking is quite limited – there are only several in front of the store (free).

Food

Fried dumplings ($7)

These dumplings are vegetarian and compared to Chinese dumplings or Japanese dumplings, I always find Korean dumplings yummy in a different way. These Korean-styled dumplings are longer and have a thicker batter than the steamed Chinese dumplings. A yummy snack!

Soft tofu soup ($12)

For a restaurant called “soft tofu” we certainly wanted to try some soft tofu soup! For this soup, you can choose your spicy level from mild to extra spicy (ours is mild). For toppings, you can choose 1 of the following:

• beef
• pork
• seafood
• mixed
• mushrooms
• pork with kimchi
• dumplings

All soups come with a stone pot of rice, egg and traditional side dishes.

The tofu is soft and they give you quite a lot of it. In terms of the taste, it is pretty up to standard to other Korean restaurants in Burnaby. It is hot, a little spicy and savoury. Usually, the meat in the soup is a little bland because it’s all thrown in (not cooked separately with spices beforehand). Some people like to mix the soup with the rice, but I always find myself too full if I do that.

Bibimbap ($12)

Bibimbap is a Korean rice dish. The term “bibim” means mixing various ingredients, while the “bap” noun refers to rice. Usually in bibimbap, there is a mixture of different veggies, some beef and an egg. You are supposed to top it off with some gochujang (red pepper paste).

To properly enjoy a bibimbap, you mix it all together with your spoon inside the hot stone pot. Then, you press the rice against the sides and bottom of the bowl to make it crispy.

The size of Dooboo’s bibimbap is a bit smaller than what I am used to. It does come with a small cup of miso soup, which I usually disregard because it’s usually just powder soup. Nevertheless, it is yummy and I especially like their mushrooms.

Final thoughts

My review is based on lunch expectations. Given a 1 hour lunch break, we were able to order, eat and leave within 45 minutes. The restaurant was relatively empty on the day we went so not sure if service will be slower on a busier day.

The food is up to standard for a Korean restaurant – the owners are Korean and the food is authentic. I only tried their soups and rice dishes, so I can’t comment on their korean bbq selection. In general, the food is very similar to the House of Tofu Soup in Lougheed area. Portion size and prices are reasonable so this is a nice casual dining spot.

I did get a stomachache as I was leaving the restaurant, but I don’t think my body works that fast so this stomachache may not be related to the food.

Sincerely, Loewe