It’s been over a decade since I last stepped into Cho Sun Ok and on a rainy weeknight it’s as busy as ever. Thornhill is an area that’s stocked with Korean restaurants, but somehow this place continues to draw a crowd since opening in 2004.

Having tried a host of the “individual” dishes on my first visit and finding none of them impressive, this time I switched gears an opted for a jeongol or Korean hot pot, which occupies a quarter of their menu.

For $50.95 the price of the gamjatang jeongol may seem steep but it’s the equivalent of three (if not four) pork bone soups. Even though the menu states it serves two, the dish is enough for four people if you add an appetizer and extra bowls of steamed rice. In fact, when the metal platter first arrives with uncooked glass noodles sitting on top, it’s so full that our server removes two bones and soup into a separate bowl to make room for the noodles to cook down.

The pork bone was boiled long enough so that they easily broke apart, allowing us to get to the meat without much work. Yet, the broth just wasn’t flavourful enough. Yes, it satisfied but didn’t contain enough spice to really whet the palette.

Luckily, Cho Sun Ok’s kimchi had more than enough heat to make up for the tame gamjatang broth. Combining a hunk of meat, a scoop of rice, and a piece of the crispy fermented cabbage made for a great bite. I was so impressed by the side dish that I got a small tub to go ($11.99).

The meal arrives with a nice selection of banchan including fish cake slices, kimchi (cabbage and daikon), sesame oil laced bean sprouts, and chewy gelatin slivers. It was more than enough for our duo, but they regularly came by to see if we needed anything else anyways.

If anything, what stood out most about this visit was the attentive service. Despite being packed and us sitting in the far corner of the dining room, food arrived quickly and there were always people walking by at regular intervals, so no one felt ignored.

It’s taken me a while to return and while I can’t say that I’ll become a regular of the restaurant, their kimchi is so good that it may have me stopping by for a grocery pick-up.