where jess ate

Who doesn’t love a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter day? One cold evening, Mike and I decided to drop by the Owl in North York to get some pork bone soup.

This no-frills restaurant is open 24 hours and has a few other locations – in Chinatown and the Bloor/Christie Koreatown. I can’t talk about the cleanliness of the other locations but this one didn’t strike me as very clean…

Anyway, shortly after ordering, they served us the typical banchan dishes – kimchi, cucumbers and spicy radishes. Nothing really to write home about.

Since we were here for some pork bone soup, we both ordered the KamJaTang ($6.99). The soup came piping hot and was still bubbling when it was placed in front of us. The broth was deep-red in colour (from the red pepper paste) and wasn’t too spicy (coming from someone who doesn’t have a high spice tolerance). I really enjoyed the flavour of the broth and the bowl of rice that it came with was the perfect side to soak up all the soupy goodness!

The soup came with several chunks of potato and a few large pieces of  pork bones. While there was plenty of meat on the bones, it takes quite a bit of effort using your chopsticks to pick at them. But it’s worth it!

Overall, I really enjoyed the Owl’s pork bone soup. It was very warm and comforting meal…just what I needed on a cold day.

The pork bone soup is actually more filling than you’d think. Mike, who has a large appetite, was actually quite full after finishing his soup and rice. I wish we had known this earlier, since we also ordered the Spicy Dduk Bok Gi ($9.99), thinking the soup wouldn’t be enough to fill us up.

I also should have known better. The Owl is known for having one of the best pork bone soups in the city but I’ve heard from many that their food is subpar. And now, after this experience, I can certainly relate. The dish consisted of rice cakes, onions, peppers and fish cakes in a red pepper sauce. It was quite spicy and was just missing a little something. I wouldn’t recommend ordering this.

Lesson learned. We’ll just stick to the pork bone soup next time.

At a glance:
• Delicious pork bone soup ($6.99) but skip the food
• Not the cleanest restaurant
• North York location open 24 hours
• Several other locations – Chinatown & Bloor/Christie

Ratings (out of 5):
• Food: 4 (pork bone soup); 1.5 (rice cakes)
• Service: 2 stars
• Atmosphere: 2 stars