Chako Barbecue Izakaya
2190 McNicoll Ave.
Scarborough, ON M1V 0D3
Canada
A friend organized a Saturday night out for 9 of us at 8pm. I drove up to Chako's in Richmond hill eagerly anticipating the sights and smells of searing seasoned and sauced cuts of meat. I quickly realized after a quick call that I was at the wrong location. I wasn't even in the right city. Oops, my bad. I guess I should have asked which one we were meeting at. After recklessly speeding down the highway and cutting several people off, I finally got to the other Chako's.
Surprise #1 - They don't have tables that seat more then 6 people in the main room. Our group was seated at 2 separate tables (guys at the 6 seater table, girls at the other). The girls table was far enough where we couldn't converse with them.
Surprise #2 - Apparently, they have all you can eat after 10pm Monday - Thursday for $10.
The Review:
Korean barbecue is fairly simple for normal people - you know, the people who aren't falling down drunk or people who have never cooked anything in their entire lives. If you fall into the normal category, good - I can skip all the bullshit explaining the grill and raw meat ordering process. One of our grills was off, and we had to ask the waiter to light the second one for us. Waiter (I think his name was Steve), you really expect 5 guys to cook on only one grill? C'mon bud! The second grill didn't seem to work properly - the heat was never high enough to really get a good charred look to the meat.
Chako's Short Ribs
Meats:
After ordering way more food then we could actually cook, we threw on a full grill of short ribs. The short ribs were cut thick - thicker then I've seen at any other Korean barbecue joint. Fatty, and marinated to the max - they took a while to cook on the good grill. Well worth the wait, very meaty and loaded with flavor and enough sweetness to balance out the saltiness. The regular beef order was sliced thin for fast cooking, but I found it was too salty for my taste. The chicken had a good flavor from the marinade, but this was also too salty for my liking. More salt doesn't mean more flavor argh!
Seafood:
The salmon came in trays of 4. They were also thicker, bigger pieces then what I'm used to at other places. Cooked fairly quick, meaty and salmony. Good stuff. The shrimps cooked quick as well, but spending all that time peeling the shrimp and making sure you get rid of all the Little legs takes too long. I'd skip it. The calamari (squid) had a good flavor, but a few pieces weren't cleaned properly before they landed on our table. The tilapia, err.. white fish? Decent, took a little longer to cook.
They also had a decent selection of veggies to grill up. The girls happened to notice the shape of the peppers before they put it in their mouths. Grilled mushrooms and zucchini are always winners. I by no means have anything that even resembles a sweet tooth, but they had pineapple rings that when grilled, get even sweeter. Grilled pineapple is awesome.
Our grill was filthy by the time we finished. The black sludge from the fat and meat debris was caked on pretty thick. They didn't offer to change our grill at any time during our dinner - if you ask them I'm sure they're be quick to switch it. We were just too hungry to even ask. Ugh.. all that sludge can't be healthy. Note to self: ask to have grill changed next time.
The Verdict:
Chako Barbecue Izakaya gets a 6 out of 10. Overpriced at $22, they also automatically add the tip on to the bill. The defective grill and some overly-salty meats and unclean squid soured my experience a bit. Good, thick cuts of short ribs and plump pieces of salmon are good - I'd stick to just those next time, along with the veggies and grilled pineapple. If I went back to Chako's, it would only be for the $10 all you can eat after 10pm.
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