Korean Fried Chicken
Twice-fried, glazed, and the reason the room is full at midnight.
Korean · Willowdale
Han Ba Tang
Korean bar food at Yonge & Finch that runs until the small hours
KoreanWillowdale, Toronto$$Details being confirmed
The review
The Yonge and Finch strip has more Korean restaurants than any other block in the city, and Han Ba Tang separated itself by paying attention to the room and the drinks as much as the food.
Korean fried chicken is the anchor: twice-fried, properly glazed, and still crisp twenty minutes in. Seafood pajeon is the sharing order, crisp at the edge and soft in the middle. Rosé tteokbokki is creamy and sweet and disappears faster than anyone plans.
Honest notes: it costs more than the strip average and it is very loud after ten. Weekends mean a wait. The kitchen genuinely runs to 2am, which is why people come here after everywhere else has closed.
What to order
Seafood Pajeon
Crisp at the edges, soft in the middle. Made for sharing.
Rosé Tteokbokki
Creamy, sweet, aggressively moreish.
What works
- Kitchen genuinely open until 2am
- Presentation is a cut above the strip
- Good soju and cocktail list
What doesn’t
- Prices above the Yonge & Finch average
- Very loud after 10pm
- Waits on weekend nights
Verdict
Fried chicken, seafood pancake, soju. Go after 10pm and lean into it.