House of Tofu Soup

My friends love this place, so every time we just wanted an alternative to ramen or Japanese food. My friend and I would come for for a nice bowl of hot tofu soup to mix with rice. Currently with how expensive food are these days, Id say it's a nice treat under $20. As with most Korean food it's not meant to fill you up unless you do Korean BBQ which is around the $40 range now.

It's tasty, nice side dishes with kimchi, seaweed, not extremely expensive.

If you're driving just letting you know i'd you park anywhere else it's a ticket or a tow, park underground you get the risk of a break in, and if you want to park in front of the restaurant the spots are really small and limited so you'll have to do some parking gymnastics.

Overall quality and service is decent. But i wouldn't say it's the best either.

Ordered their dumpling sundubu. I think it was 8/10 for a sundubu. Rice tastes very good. Seafood pancake was 7/10. Side dishes were also ok. Parking can be difficult as the lot is small. You have to park at the basement, but to open it will need their help.

Korean food doesn't tend to be very vegetarian-friendly, let alone vegan-friendly. So, when I discovered this place had lots of both, I decided to try it out.

I met my friend here and we ordered the veggie version of the Mandeukee ($11.50 plus tax) to start, a carb-heavy dish with lots of Korean rice cakes and 4 deep fried dumplings, garnished with onions, carrot, and a rich gochujang sauce, Though we asked for it spicy, it was pretty mild. Quite tasty though. 3.5/5

For my main, I got the kimchi stew ($14.95 plus tax), which can be made vegetarian/vegan. The dish comes in a smallish metal bowl, with plenty of cabbage and soft tofu, plus some button mushrooms, onions, and a bit of green onion. It was reasonably flavourful, but just not all that interesting, centring on a very fermented, earthy character but without flavour depth. It comes with a side of rice, and some pretty forgettable side dishes (more kimchi, a sort of mashed potato, radish, and a very briny seaweed dish that was rather off-putting). Pleasant dish but I wouldn't order it again. 3/5

Service was super friendly and astute. Parking is a major challenge, as the lot out front is very limited, and there is no street parking in the area.

Overall, interesting spot that's worth trying if you're looking for vegetarian-friendly Korean.

After 30 min wait, we got our table for 4. I was surprised we have to wait that long on a Wednesday.

I came with my family and shared the following:

- mandeukee (4 fried dumplings with rice cakes)
- bibim noodle (cold)
- bibimbap
- seafood pancake
- Combo - soft tofu soup and pork bulgogi
- Tofu soup with seafood

The tofu soup was pretty good and comforting. The prawns were small but soup was tasty

I wished seafood pancake would have a bit more seafood in it.

The bibim noodle had a good sweet and sour flavor but wished the noodle was more al dente.

The pork bulgogi was my favorite, the meat was tender and tasty

The fried dumplings had a good flavor too

I ordered pork & kimchi tofu with a side of pancakes. My colleagues ordered mixed tofu. The pancake was delicious but quite expensive - $25! The tofu soup was $15.
Both were flavourful and I loved how it came with delicious crispy rice. The sides weren't too special and I didn't feel the need for it with all the flavour from the tofu.
Service was fast and friendly. They followed proper covid protocols. Would love to go back.

Dinner at House of Tofu near Lougheed Mall.
Love the fact that you able to choose the level of spiciness .. first time I am able to enjoy mandeukee without drinking a pitcher of water.

We ordered Beef Tofu Soup and seafood pancake
As well.

Good food but there is only 6 parking spots in front of restaurant..

Have been to a couple other Korean restaurants in the area and I really don't get the hype and why this place is so popular.

Their service is good, not gonna lie. Food comes fast and servers are responsive and fast as well. But I eat for the food.

Ordered seafood tofu soup, pork tofu soup, and the seafood pancake.

The seafood tofu soup was literally all tofu, with ~5 pieces of calm and ~5 shrimp. I don't like that "seafood" is really just two kinds when other Korean restaurants give you a large variety of seafood like octopus, mussels, etc. There was no vegetable like onions and zucchini that you usually see in the seafood tofu soup in other places. There was so much tofu that I won't be having tofu for the next couple months. The shrimp they used were small and tasted like the dry Chinese kind, it didn't taste fresh at all, and it made the soup taste weird.

The pork tofu soup was same thing. Thin slices of pork and it's 90% tofu.

The seafood pancake was mostly batter.... I might've see like 3 tiny pieces of octopus in it? I cannot justify paying $25 for batter.

Overall: Mid-way eating, I really regretted coming here instead of another Korean restaurant in the area. This was my least favorite Korean food experience and I won't be back.

P.S. Even their sides didn't taste good but the seaweed side was the best tasting thing of the meal.

Menu is misleading for anyone with dietary restrictions. Many of the vegetarian options contain fish. Rating is based solely on this. If not relevant to you, restaurant seems great otherwise.

After squash, we were ready for some late night fuel. We decided to check out one of the many Korean spots in the area; I'd asked a buddy for recommendations and decided to go with House of Tofu Soup. It's located beside Sulmida Dessert Cafe.

We dropped in on a Thursday evening (around 8:00pm). The place was packed! The inside is huge, which we weren't expecting from the outside. Service is friendly and they refill banchan if you ask. One of the waiters unexpectedly started a conversation with us when we were paying.

Menu is small with soup, entrees and shared dishes. There's only 17 items on the menu. Beauty.

- Banchan - they brought out kimchi, mashed potato, pickled radish and seaweed salad. Kimchi was fantastic. Same with the seaweed. We refilled both.
- Soup combination ($18.95) - you pick any soup (we opted for the seafood tofu soup), spice level (hot; don't worry it's not very spicy) and bulgoghi meat (chicken). They bring out a side of rice and a raw egg for you to crack into the soup. Broth was flavourful and tofu was silky smooth. The shrimp were small but bursting with sweetness. Chicken bulgoghi was standard.
- Dolsot bibimbap ($12.95) - shredded beef, mushroom, bean sprouts, carrot, cucumber and an egg. Rice crisped up in the stone bowl.

Good stuff at HOT. Will be back to try the rest of their small menu.

Parking aound this place can be a nightmare, but 1) it's worth it, and 2) with the extremely reduced seating during COVID restrictions, it's not that bad now. (Still not great, though.)

Takeout packaging has always been solid, because there's typically too much food to take down in one go on a normal day, so their take-out packaging for pick-up orders is top tier.

It is best for family-style group dining if you're going to be getting items outside of 'sets' but even the standard soup sets can be a good meal for one.

They are good about accounting for vegetarian options, as well.

If they have dessert, I can't speak to that, because I've never finished a meal here with any space left in my stomach.