Korean Fried Chicken at Thunderbird

Fort Street's oven-roasted Korean chicken spot where the lighter, juicier alternative to deep-fry has a near-perfect 4.7 to back it up.

Victoria's neon-lit Korean pocha pub, where you pile the table with tteokbokki and pour each other rounds of soju all night.

Victoria's Korean spot for crispy three-glaze fried chicken, a bubbling army stew with cheese, and a 4.5 that keeps the room packed late.

Downtown Victoria's 4.6-rated Korean grillhouse where you cook for each other and emerge smelling faintly of garlic-soy triumph.

A Korean-born chef cooking Japanese soul food in a tiny Langford room with a 4.8 and complimentary tea that arrives before you ask.

Fort Street Korean tapas and cocktails: low-lit, late-running, and serving a 'Squid Game' gochujang dish with the world's most appropriate name.

Bay Street Korean-Chinese noodles where ordering one jajangmyeon and one jjamppong and swapping halfway is the best date hack you'll find.

Downtown Victoria's 4.8-rated Korean fried chicken spot, where the cheese-pull corn dogs are both a snack and a mild competitive event.

A mountain of fluffy snow-ice in Saanich built for two spoons, one disagreement about toppings and a lot of awkward photo attempts.

Quadra Village's Korean fried chicken house since 2017, where the soy-garlic versus yangnyeom debate will outlast dinner.

A 50-seat Fernwood wine bar in a charmingly creaky heritage building, built for daily-changing small plates and old-world wine.

Victoria's long-running Ethiopian-Eritrean room, where dinner is one shared platter by hand and the closing act is a from-scratch coffee ceremony.

Brad Holmes rewrites the menu weekly in a tiny, loud Chinatown room, so come curious and ready to share everything.

Quadra Street Afghan-Persian home cooking: mantu dumplings, qabuli palaw and hospitality so warm that ordering too much is practically required.