The Owl of Minerva

Usually when I think of the Annex in Toronto, I think of U of T and all the students. 

Then my next thought is usually: cheap eats and Korea town.

Late night eats in K-Town:

You can't miss The Owl of Minerva with the bright yellow sign on the second floor of the building.

The menu

Side dishes to start: kimchi cabbage (not pictured), beansprouts, potatoes in sweet sauce, cucumbers and kimchi potatoes

Gunmandu (Deep fried meat dumplings)

Fantastic! Really crispy outside despite having a thicker skin than most dumplings I'm used to. I have to say though, it totally hit the spot. The soy sauce was nice, but the dumplings were very tasty by themselves. 

Bul Go Gi: Stir-fried specially marinated sliced sirloin with assorted vegetables, clear noodles and sliced rice cake 

After reading the description of the dish again, I can't say that I had any rice cake in the dish. The dish had carrots, onions, noodles and beef from what I could tell and it was a good bulgogi. I would have like a little bit more sauce with the dish so that I could have paired it better with the bowl of rice, but I can't really complain for $8.14 (excl. tax). 

Jok-Bal: Pork Hock

Steamed pettitoes with sweet soy sauce. Sliced petittoes served with sliced garlic and pepper and Korean dipping sauce and assorted shrimp

After my experiences eating Pork Hock/Knuckle in Suzhou and Berlin , I was expecting a juicy, fall-off-the-bone Korean version of pork hock. So, I was shocked when they served us thinly sliced pork hock (which was great for eating and sharing the dish) and it was such a colourful and appealing (because usually it's just meat on a bone). Then, I took a bite and realized that the pork hock was chilled (definitely not expecting that). However, it was really good! The fatty parts were a little more obvious (they turned into a cold jelly), but it was really delicious and a little spicy from all the peppers. The coolest part was eating all the pettitoes (I had to google the word and it means feet of the pig used as food) and then finding that they were all resting on the knuckle bone of the pig. 

Overall: It's decent, simple and quick Korean food for a great price no matter what time of day (It's open 24 hours a day).