The Famous Owl of Minerva in Toronto

I went here late night multiple times and everything tasted so good, kimbap is the best and the soup is amazing

highly recommended

Edit: we called them, then they sent us the full food again, they said wrong delivery came before.

From all the owl i have been this is the only place i didn t feel welcome. Server was so rude. I was looking at the menu to get some of our order abd she said come on make up your mind. If you want to try owl avoid this location.

The taste is gradually deteriorating here.. The first and second main dishes (Jeyuk and soft tofu stew) I took the lid off as soon as it was delivered. Let alone the amount of pork that was significantly reduced compared to before, I thought someone had sent me the used tofu stew . I ate the last bowl of rice and said, came out. Why would plastic come out of the rice... I was so upset that I decided not to eat anything else again.

Gamjatang exploded. Thanks to you, I took a shower of gamjatang and all other foods. Half of the gamjatang soup is spilled.

The staff was really welcoming

Overpriced, little amount of meat for the value. Not recommended.

The one who ever made this EMO thank you you made my night before ill go to sleep i just went there while ago wearing cap and long sleeve guy heheh and see you there Ps thanks for the xtra coca cola

I shouldn t even be leaving a star rating because this particular place does not deserve any start rating. 1 star rating is generous enough compared to the uncleanliness of the restaurant. I am also shocked that they force the tip amount to you before giving you the debit machine. I should be allowed to decide if I want to tip or not. Never coming back to this place.

Great place to grab some soup before heading home for the nice. Open till 4 and service is amazing!

nothing special about this place, my friends and i were sitting at a table outside of their store looking at the menu before going in to order. an employee came in super hostile saying that the table is for customers only and basically shoo ed us away. the restaurant was empty too, so i don t understand how sitting at a table for 5 mins to check the menu is a problem? they don t know basic customer service here, take ur money somewhere else

I have a vegetable stone rice and the appetizer are very good!

Disgusting place, watched the cook use the same gloves he used to clean the dishes, change the garbage to cook my food... dont eat here unless you want to get sick SPADINA LOCATED IN DRAGON MALL UPPER FLOOR DONT EAT HERE

We order the pork bulgogi, that s always good but we buy from the bloor location. This one from Spadina had like half of the serving and tasted terrible. Would not recommend

Ive been a royal customer for 6 years, and I havent seen customer service this bad before. When we ordered the largest pork bone, we only got 2 bones. When we ordered before, it always came with 3.(says in the menu 3) We asked them, and they told us the reason was because the bone size was bigger. It was literally all bone. How can you say 3 in the menu and only give 2, we paid for it, so we should get it. When we were waiting, the staff were coughing without any gesture to wash their hands. A couple was stopped from leaving the restaurant because they didnt tip, although I think it is mandatory to leave a tip, but stopping the couple from leaving was a bit too much, in my opinion. They got humiliated and embarrassed in front of everyone in the restaurant. The atmosphere was very toxic. I really miss the old man who used to work at the owl. He made it feel like home. He was the real G.

Super well prepared food and the staff are super kind

I have been to this branch before and my stay has been good, staffs were welcoming and kind to the point that I invited my friend to try it out yesterday and to my disappointment one of your staffs were rude and unwelcoming! We were five who dined in and we decided to order 3 Regular Kamjatang sets and 2 extra rice. We have been ordering this way ever since and there was no problem about it, but your server yesterday said that it was not allowed and she will not cater our requests for refill. She only served us with 1 set of side dishes instead of 3 since we ordered 3 kamjatang sets. Another complain that really made me angry is when we were paying she automatically added $9.86 worth of tips without asking or informing me! We dined in yesterday January 1, 2023 at 6:15pm. The server was an aged woman wearing the staff uniform not the one wearing white longsleeves. Other staffs were nice and welcoming. But its really disappointing that we had to experience this especially on new year.

I ordered spicy cold noodle and baby pork hock. They are the worst dishes Ive ever tasted. Not only the tasted but also the portions were the horrible too. All I can found from the pork hock were the bones, not the actual meats. Dont ever order foods here..

Piping hot food. Service was good. Good amount of Banchan to choose provided. Clean facility.

The food itself was delicious! I recommend. The shop was very calm which I don t mind. The server was also really nice. However, they don t take foreign cards. Be prepared to struggle when paying. They only take debit mastercard.

it was okay. i felt the fried rice wasn t fresh in this location than the other ones i ve tried. it tasted sour

the worst dish I ve ever tasted. Never come back instant jajangmyeon noodles even better :)

I ordered sweet and sour pork, but the vegetables that were supposed to go into the sauce came raw (vegetables separately from the sauce). When I asked the reason over the phone, they said they sent it to me raw to make it fresh, but I personally dont understand. Don t you think the mushrooms should at least be cooked once? No matter how much I search on the Internet, I cant find any restaurant that serves fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms still need to be cooked...

Food was very average but forced you to tip 15%-25% not even with the option of custom amount. Well you tip after tax so in reality you re tipping 18%-30%

Found this place on a whim last night when looking for a late night eat. The waiter was so nice and the food was bomb!

Great service especially late at night, definitely will come back!

Ive been to many Owl restaurants and Ive always ordered the pork bone soup. This is my first visit to this location and I was expecting a similar food experience. But oh my....this is the best pork bone soup Ive had. So much flavour, and the variety of side dishes they had. 7 altogether with items that I have not seen in awhile, such as the caramelized potatoes and the japchae. And instead of just the plain white rice, it was the purple rice. Also, our server was super nice and attentive. Making sure we are always topped up on the side dishes. I will be visiting this location whenever I can.

As an avid lover of Pork bone soup, a regular of the owl restaurant chain, I must say this was my 1st dinning experience at this location and WOW!! The GAMJATANG is simply amazing. I am coming back here and only here! The assortment of sides, the lovely waitress.. all in all, hands down the best pork bone soup ever and just a lovely dinning experience.

I found a piece of plastic chunk in the soup. I first thought it could be from the lid but you can see the container lid is not chipped out. The piece was sharp as well.

I went there to eat pork bone soup and the person was friendly, but the atmosphere, taste of the food, and hygiene of the side dishes were so soso. Moreover, it is shocking that only cash payment is possible. Its difficult to pay in cash since its a business trip, but I dont think Ill ever go back anyway.

Really good food! Unfortunately no grills at this location though. Make sure you bring cash because that is the easiest way to pay. The soups are very good.

Our saturday dinner well spent here at The Famous owl of Minerva here in Spadina. Its really an authentic Korean Restaurant ambiance and their food were all so good. I enjoyed their Bulgogi and TangSu Yuk (deep fried Pork) like the Korean Sweet and sour pork! A must try here in Spadina! Everything was superb as well as their service. Well definitely come back again for more K Food!

The food is just fantastic! Great to eat at after a long night out. The sweet and sour chicken and spicy sizzling chicken is just to die for! Low rating in atmosphere cus its one of those places where you ll go to eat only, not a place where you d go to feel fancy! Im for sure going back again!

This is the WORST place I ve ever been to. I would ve rate a zero star if I could. I came with my boyfriend, ordered one of those Korean hotpot and some other side dishes. Surprisingly, we found a dark black, dead spider flowing in the pot. We called for the waitress and asked for whatever that was. She immediately took the spider and claimed to check with the kitchen. She came out in 10 minutes and said the chef told her it was a part of the cabbage, it wasn t a spider. Like excuse me??? A dark black round body with legs is what?????? This is ridiculous! We decided to leave and she brought us the bill. No explanation, nothing! Upon we paid, the waitress literally said can you guys just leave? I ve never been to a place with such disgusting service and food. My boyfriend and I went there for a date, and this is definitely not what we expected. NEVER COMING BACK! DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL!!!!

Food amazing. Service has been generous enough. Thankyouu

Crazy about Gamjatang.

This always hits. Especially at 2 am on a Friday night. What a gem!

The pork bone soup is my favorite. The soup is rich and yummy, and it has tender meat. The spices and seasonings give it a tasty flavor. They also have good side dishes like kimchi. Its a cozy place to eat.

Food is very bad and not fresh

Open 24 hours and will hit the spot in the early hours of the day when you need something that warms the sole. They are not holding back on flavour. The garlic is strong here my friends, and as it should be. If youre looking for a place open late, and youre feeling Korean food, youll leave satisfied after a meal here. Does anyone know who the Owl of Minerva is? Bible reference?

Very little (almost non existent) meat in 2 meat stews that we ordered.

My favourite late night spot for a bowl of Gamjatang

Food is in good quality!

Really nice

Uber Eats experience. Half of my food was missing. They admitted fault, forgetting to give half of my order to the delivery guy. We had to order again and ask for a refund through Uber. Fine, people make mistakes. But listen. If you delay my food by a whole hour and a half, dont you think there should be some compensation? Complimentary dish or a discount or smt small to show apology? When you admitted over the phone that it was your fault.... even a small note that said sorry for the late food wouldve sufficed. Nah we just got cold late food. Little goes a long way, but they didnt even show a little. Food was just OK, nothing to write home about.

Disappointing. Kamjatang was cold. The flavour was ok. Barely anything but meat (should have potatoes and vegetables). Stone bowl bibimbap had good veggies, but they forgot the gochujang, which is the heart of the flavour. I didnt realize it at the time of ordering, but a stone bowl bbb isnt even possible for delivery as you have to cook it in the bowl, with the oil and egg yolk cooking with/into the ingredients. Just a way to charge more. Everything too expensive, btw. I read that theyre open all night. Late night downtown would be the only reason to eat from here. Better, cheaper options available in person, or by delivery. Never again for us.

Extremely overpriced and the woman working at cash station handled my food after handling money without washing hands

This should be a good place to eat at. But what would disappoint you is the employee, the server that we had was rude and did not have any clear instructions. They expect us to order more food when we re all not able to eat everything and just be on waste, this was our first time in this location and the server didn t even bother to ask if it was our first time here and expected that we know what their rules will be in this location, at least could ve informed us in the first place. i m not usually the type to complain but the server was unbelievably rude.

Owl always satisfies the Korean itch. Although kind of basic, they are consistent

Difference

An ok Korean restaurant.

Good food, good portions. A tad expensive, service could be better, and a bit of a dirty interior.

I just love the flavour of this restaurant and plus they have very excellent customer service oh how could I forget that they serve cold lemon water instead of normal water like most restaurants do

Very disappointed with the food!! We ordered deep fried chicken, kimchi fried rice and kimbop; non of them were good!! The interior was bad and the chair had a nail sticking out, which poked me when I sat. That can happen but the food is the only reason for us to be this disappointed!! We had high expectations after visiting the owl of Minerva in yonge street!! But this place is nothing like yonge street branch.

The food here is incredible, 5 stars, but this place, like the mall it is in, is in desperate need of a renovation. Also need real spoons not disposable plastic. The food was so good I ll return again for sure.

You need to give tip or else one of the staff will say to you Common Sense

A little bit expensive for the size of my bulgogi dish, but otherwise a great experience! Nice, homey restaurant with kind staff and delicious eats.

took 6 $20s for a $75 meal. Gave us $5 back and claimed we paid $80.

Terrible service, food is good. Would recommend another location instead.

Very kind people and super tasty food. So good price-quality!!

If you like gamjatang, this is the place to go! You get the main dish and a bowl of rice with 6 side dishes (sweet glass noodles, kimchi with radishes, fried potato slices, vege, bean sprouts, pickled cucumber).

What a lovely little establishment. Came here with a few friends for lunch and the food was phenomenal and service was great. Hidden little gem. Great prices and good options for almost any type of dietary restrictions! Would definitely recommend if you re in the area and want a quick bite of some authentic, tasty Korean food.

beef soup but no beef in it everything is not tasty and the fish was not fresh!

No card accepted

Customer service is awful particularly the old lady. She made it sound like tip of 15% is a requirement. And she was rude in talking and even smirked and turned her back on us. Very rude. Food is great tho but I think Finch branch is much better.

Food was good and the waitress was friendly! Atmosphere inside the mall was a little bit sad. Good quality food though for good price!

First time eating Korean food. Loved it

I have never seen a restaurant with such a poor quality. It is really embarrassing to Koreans. In my impression, the service of Korean restaurants has always been very enthusiastic and very good, but this restaurant gave me a new understanding of Korean restaurants! The staff in this restaurant are not polite at all, and they have no sense of responsibility! I think they are all asleep. I hope the boss can find some employees who are in charge, because the few employees who went to work last night will really make your restaurant go bankrupt!

A little expensive.

Food is good. Love the pork bone soup and spicy rice cakes. The staff could be a bit more attentive and friendlier though.

Delicious!

I wish I could give 0 star. Literally for my five years lived in Toronto, you have the worst ddukbokgi I have ever eaton. How could you make it so horrible and disgusting?

I ordered uber eats and it didnt give me an option to review. It was so good and such a pleasant surprise with the appetizers that they gave me, that I came to Google to give the driver a 20% tip and to come here to write this review. Owl has always been good, but just the gesture of the appies makes it worth my effort. Great food and cares about how customers feel. Thank you and F covid.... Save Toronto restaurants...

Horrible restaurant in terms of delivery. Advertising products they dont have. Tried once to order, and got my order cancelled for the reason that they dont have items displayed in the menu. Avoid at all costs!

I ordered delivery through SkipTheDishes. I got the tteokbokki + kimbap combo and fried dumplings. Tteokbokki is too runny and bland, I ve made it myself better lol. Kimbap is ok, I ve had better but they used the purple-y rice which is awesome. The dumplings are SO MEATY and didn t arrive soggy, still crisp!! Love it. Giving 3 stars cause packaging is immaculate lol. Fried dumplings arrived crispy, and tteokbokki is packed like bubble tea but in a bowl so no spillage whatsoever! They gave both cabbage kimchi and radish too which is a personal bonus to me. Will update once I try more of the main dishes cause I used to have their budaejjigae and other things back in Hamilton and they were pretty good! Update: jajjangmyeon pretty good

Great place for a bowl of pork bone soup or a kimchi stew. Their seafood pancake is also delicious.

Absolutely amazing taste with generous portion. I tried something other than their famous pork bone soup and they were really good. Beef cabage soup, bibimbop in a sizzling bowl, and the egg roll were all top notch.

It was nice that they provided a lot of side dishes, and although it wasnt cheap, the portions were generous. I recommend it. :)

All the side dishes taste good except for the noodle. The noodle in main course taste good with sauces. Number 1 and 21 taste good. The pork is super tender! Definitely worth a try. Prices are not too expensive.

Found it quite by chance had amazing service delicious food this was my first time having Korean food. Absolutely love the lady who looked after us she also gave me a little chocolate because when she gave us candies with the bill I was giving the candies to my friend so as we were leaving that adorable lady stopped me and gave me a little box with some chocolate in it she didnt want me to leave without having a little treat Absolutely love this place!!!

The food was a little subpar compared to other Owl locations and no tea was served, but the employees werent wearing masks almost the entire time we were dining, which is definitely a little concerning. If youre ordering takeout it shouldnt be an issue, but dining in was really underwhelming.

Really good food actually, everything is tasty and cute small restaurant

The restaurant seems really dirty. Because of that, i got to leery to eat a food there.

This is the best Owl of Minerva by far. Our go to place for late night dinner with a very reasonable price. The menu is great and the food tastes delicious. Bulgogi, L.A.Kalbi, DakChulPan and Kimbop are our favorite here. Make sure to look for Euna, her service is the best! She knows how to deal with customers; very friendly and accommodating. Shes the reason for the fifth star on this review, great job!

They have increased their prices but their portions have not changed. Increasing the price is fine but they could have at least make their portions appropriate for the price.

Funnily, even though this Owl is in Chinatown, its my favourite out of all the locations in Toronto.

Decent price. Poor food quality compared to other Korea options in the area. Would not come back for a second visit.

great food

Always good, super cozy !

Great value for great food!

I ordered Kimbap and the rice was soggy and there wasnt enough flavour. Kimbap is a classic Korean dish that is hard to mess up, very disappointed. I was also told that I could not split the bill even though I was paying cash. The restaurant was not even busy and they made it that much more difficult for me to pay. Just something as simple as making it difficult for the customer to pay will be detrimental in deciding to return to your business and deciding whether or not to tip you/how much.

Food was good. But the service really2 bad. The waitress asking for the tips, and we give her tips, but she not happy with it. And she give back the money with impolite ways

If I could put 0 star I would. I ordered a stir fried udon with vegetables and beef, there were 3 small pieces of beef. Rip off.

We paid 60$ for three meals for delivery: one seafood pancake, one white fish spicy stew with vegetables and one beef udon stir fry. The seafood pancake was soggy but still tasty. The side dishes didnt taste fresh: the cabbage kimchi was bitter and the radish kimchi wasnt that good neither. The fish stew consisted of a tiny fish cut in four pieces. They should have advised us how bony it would be. The stew was more of a soup with a few pieces of vegetables, 1.5 pieces of tofu and a small fish. The beef udon stir fry was a disappointment: it was very oily, there were 4 pieces of beef (we paid 3$ for protein and expected to have more...) We wouldnt have paid half of the cost for the mediocre meals. We wont order from this restaurant anymore. We regret it bitterly. The only thing we enjoyed fully was the steamed purple rice. What a joke. You can do better. Dont be famous for your cheapness.

Ordered some wings and fries tonight off of Uber. The wings were not tasty or well done at all and the fries tasted like Mccain frozen fries. So disappointed. Definitely not ordering from here again!

Ordered food, they messed up the order numbers, got 1 item instead of 3. Delivery person went back with the item asking what happened they told him the bag was marked incorrect so someone else has my food however was told nothing they can do. And to reorder...

Delicious menu selections. Economical prices. Friendly staff. Excellent customer service

I ordered through Uber Eats, almost thought I ordered pre-made instant noodle... :(

We order two orders of pork bone soup on Ubereats and it is like one of those frozen package food instead of fresh cooked. Both the flavor and the quality are very bad compared to fresh cooked meals. Im very dissapointed at it and I feel cheated by the restaurant. If I wanted to have the pork bone soup in a frozen package, I would just buy it in the supermarket. People order deliveries from restaurants because they expect fresh cooked, well-done food, and not this. Highly not recommend it if you are to order it for delivery.

I m not a big fan of spicy food but overall everything that I ve tried from the Spadina location has been delicious. The pork bone soup and spicy rice cake dish is delicious. The spicy pork meat and Korean bbq is always cooked well and very tasty. For the price and service you can t be mad! Service has always been quick, we ve ordered through Uber eats and when we could go into the restaurant before COVID we always had friendly service!

My husband and I have eaten here many times! The dishes I highly recommend are the pork bone soup, seafood pancakes, rice cakes, black bean noodles, and pretty much any meat on the menu! Even through COVID the delivery has been amazing, obviously certain foods like the seafood pancake aren t going to be crispy but that s obvious ( just reheat in a frying pan and it s delicious!) the pork bone soup comes with 2 giant pieces of pork and potato with rice and side dishes! Definitely a favourite as the weather gets cooler at night! Highly recommend for some delicious home cooked Korean food!

Ordered pork bone soup on Uber Eats. Charged me $10 for microwaved frozen food that cost $5 in the supermarket. Very disappointed. When ordering online, the delivery was quick-frozen soup from the supermarket, which was too perfunctory...

The Kimchi fried rice with egg was delicious. The soft tofu soup was pretty good although I would have preferred that there was more chicken in the soup as I ordered the chicken option. We waited a little longer than we expected to but we received complimentary drinks to compensate.

I order off of this location fairly regularly (2-4 times a month) and usually I do not have any issues with my orders up until today. I always get an item and request for there to be no mushrooms as I have an allergy. When my food arrived via UberEats and I had opened my bag, I was met with a rather snarky message on the box telling me to get better taste buds. I can not control the fact that I can get severely sick from eating an ingredient to one of their dishes. I am extremely unhappy and disappointed with this message that I have received and I hope that they see this review and learn to do better in the future. Never judge a book by its cover. Will not be ordering from here again and will be telling others to not as well.

Amazing food and staff, best Kalbi beef ever

Good place to eat

Much better than the normal Owl of Minerva, you probably dont know it cuz it isnt famous

Pork bone soup special.

Goof

Have recently started going to this location and the service is fast and the food is delicious. I love how they give so many side dishes even for just 1 guest! I always finish everything!! The service is fast and polite and will get your food within 10 mins of ordering. You can be in & out the door around 30-45mins depending on how fast you eat. They have lunch specials thats mostly $8.99 that includes hot stone bibimbap, Kimchi fried rice and tofu stew, to name a few. The classics like kamjatang (pork bone stew) and jjajangmyun (black bean noodles) are regular price. The only caveat is they dont take credit cards, and accept debit only $20+. So be prepared to bring cash. They also dont split the bill so I hope your friends have some decent math skills.

Pork bone soup

Korean food always good and mouthwatering, have prosperous business, mscc

I ve been here twice, the first time I had gone I was very pleased at the price and food. But the second time I went I found a hair in my food, I only had realized after finishing my dish half way through. Overall I enjoy the food but wouldn t be my go to Korean Restaurant

One of the best inexpensive Korean restaurant around.

very bad service

So disappointed and unpleasant experience. Weve been here many times, which extends the good experience of the brand since university. However, in the most recent visit, not a peak time, servers seemed unhappy and showed no welcome, they were impatient and unfriendly when asking hot water and taking order, the only communication was a cool reminder of no acceptance of split bills or credit card. We left at once, wont come again. One out of two stars for history.

This is truly a Hidden Gem in Toronto the pork bone soup is to die for

This place is always consistent. The food is good and big portions. Open late on the weekend and I live their pork bone soup.

Small location but the food is good and generally good value. Paid parking lots in the area and is sometimes busy. Service was generally good. Wasnt busy the few times Ive been. But I generally go to another place with more seating and space in general.

Great Korean for good value

Like visiting your Korean friends grandmother. Satisfying home cooking.

The service was incredibly fast. The glass noodles are just sooo good. Best one Ive had yet. I went with my little sister who kept going, I like moms food [better] because I guess everything was too fishy or spicy...which of course is totally my fault for thinking wed have the same taste buds. She mostly ate only the side dishes. The tteokbokki we ordered wasnt as good as what Im used. Probably because they replaced the cabbage with onions. Raw ones at that too. Very unpleasant taste. Stone pot bibimbap was okay. Kinda hard to mess that one up though. It was also quite hard getting the attention of the waitress while she stacked up takeout containers nearby.

Great spot for late night, cheap Korean food. Staff are friendly and service is quick.

Big bowls of delicious Korean food....well worth visiting again! There are many side dishes and they are delicious!

Very tasty food, good service, good hygiene, I recommend it! In addition to the price!

Although I saw many bad reviews about here, I still decided to get it a try! Gladly I did! The soup and the banchans are so delicious, and the potions and the service both can not be picky! Can t wait to go back !

M Rico

Delicious dish number 1 on the menu. I call it the Korean Pozole, I brought my lemon and my avocado hahaha

This place is convenient and open late nights with plenty of seating. And their side dishes have unlimited refills. I love their fish cake soup with rice, and their seafood pancake was delicious as well. Plus, their prices are cheap and affordable. Overall, Id recommend coming here late at night or for cheap eats.

One time we went on this branch and when i paid using debit i didnt gave any TIP and someone came to our table saying TIP is not included on the total payment so its like wow seriously..it depends if customer wants to give a TIP and not to be asked for...i better go to other branch or find other korean resto next time

Always enjoy their Hot Bowl Bibimbap.

Good food and service

Love their Seafood Soondubu

Delicious and varied Korean food!

My regular spot to relax and clear my mind while enjoying my favorite meal.

Never again. The new girls service is very bad.

Very very good hidden gem. Didnt think itd be that good initially, but very pleasantly surprised. Amazing pork bone soup!!

This is my go-to spot for Korean food. Food is consistently good and the customer service is great.

Great food and service!!

Its famous for a reason

The food was great! But the look and the service is nothing to write about! Would I come back, probably not, but I did enjoy the food.

Come here after CAMH, treatment, group, or therapy!

I ate gamjatang at North Yorks Vuong and it was so delicious that I thought it would be the same, so I visited the Chinatown branch, but the kimchi was so bad... and the side dishes were really... The most important thing was that as soon as I walked in, two servers just stared at me, so my friend and I said hello first^^ And there. The voices of the female servers and the ladies working there were so loud that it interfered with my eating... They talked so loudly about whether I was going to eat or not and even personal information that I could hear even if I didnt want to hear it... Its really the worst. I cant hear it anymore. Im going to split it.