Tochi's Hut

Several weeks back, YL suggested this restaurant known in the Korean community as the "spicy chicken" place.  The joint is in this dinky little plaza on Yonge St & Glen Cameron (north of Steeles).  One of those spots in town that you'd never visit unless you knew about it.

Apparently, this particular restaurant is part of a chain that became really popular in Korea two years ago.  There are franchise locations every couple blocks in Seoul.  Unlike most other Korean restaurants, this place does not serve any beef.  It only serves chicken. 

The restaurant has the darnest of names.  It's called "Home of Hot - Taste".  The menu's star item is "Blazing Fire Chicken".  My favourite dish, a soup, is fittingly named "Egg Soup".  It's actually steamed egg set in a base of chicken stock soup.  Super tasty.

YL knew what to order and the food tasted super good.  I'm totally not a spicy food eater, but the hotness was just perfect that I was able to enjoy it.  That experience left quite a lasting impression on me to the point that I strongly recommended the restaurant as a must-visit to our food "gang".

While we usually stick with different Chinese cuisines, under my insistence, we descended upon Home of Hot Taste this past weekend.  I tried to order the same things as YL did on the last visit, but added some kimchi rice and noodles.

I don't know if YL told them to make the dishes milder for my tastes before, but holy cow, Blazing Fire Chicken was really Blazing Fire this time.   I could not drink enough water.  Even after rinsing and dousing my mouth with water, that burning sensation was still persistent.   Even YZ, who supposedly is our best spicy food eater, thought the chicken was too spicy!   The servers eventually brought us TWO jugs of water.  Surprisingly, the kimchi rice was super good.  It had a strong flavour of seaweed, which I love.  The rice didn't taste spicy at all, but that may have been due to the chicken.

In the end, everyone agreed that the food was very good.  The spiciness is just one of a kind.  So spicy yet so good.  Definitely worth trying, but I need to check with YL to find out what happened.  I guess the best way to describe our experience this time around is: 真正的貼錢買難受!!!!

We took a quick visit to the Korean supermarket next door afterwards.  I saw a section stacked with BOXES of Chili powder.  Man.  Hardcore Hardcore.  A newfound appreciation.