“Don’t you feel like your mom is feeding you?” my friend asked me as our smiling waitress scooped generous portions of noodles onto our plates last night. “Not really,” I said, “I feel like someone else’s really nice Korean mom is feeding me.”

Even if the food at La Maison Bulgogi wasn’t outstanding, our waitress (who is probably one of the owners) would have made our trip to the Korean eatery worth while. She was amiable, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. And she had a really sweet voice.

While we were ordering, I noticed her whisper something to one of the chefs in the kitchen. I later realized that as soon as we’d decided on our first course, she’d told the chef to start making it. As soon as we finished ordering, a waiter brought out small dishes of seaweed, rice and kimchi, followed by a steaming plate of potato noodles, or jap chae.

The jap chae were more elastic and transluscent than any noodles I’d ever had. They were quite fun to eat and the bits of fried beef and vegetables made the mild dish extremely satisfying.

Before we’d finished the noodles, our next course arrived and it turned out to be our favourite dish of the evening. On the menu, the dish was described as “Korean pizza”, but I feel that the term doesn’t do it justice. Pulled pork was mixed into a glutinous batter and deep fried with a tomato-based sauce. The result had an almost rubbery center surrounded by sauce and batter with a crispy fried crust. It was wonderful.

Our next course was almost as tasty, and a bit more entertaining. The waiter brought out a large plate of raw marinated chicken and vegetables sitting in a bath of black sauce. He switched on the heated metal plate that sat in the center of our table and dumped the mixture onto it. The chicken sizzled and steamed, making us feel uncomfortably hot but increasingly hungry. When it finished cooking, the woman advised us to push it to the side of the hot plate and eat it with pieces of lettuce. Good advice. The cool, crisp lettuce cut the heavy salty/sweetness of the chicken. As instructed, we dumped some rice onto the hot plate to soak up the sauce. When we were finished, not a drop remained.

The last item to arrive was the squid, which came up a little short in comparison to the other dishes. I’ve always found squid to be too chewy, but even the squid-lover in our group wasn’t in love with the dish. My friends found the sauce too spicy, and while I could take the heat, it still wasn’t yummy enough for me. But considering the great service, reasonable prices (our meal came out to about $15 per person) and solid B+ food, the mediocre squid is almost irrelevant.

La Maison Bulgogi; 2127 St. Catherine West; (514)935-9820