Sim’s Lunchbox

3 Reviews on “Sim’s Lunchbox”

• Spence

  I get excited everytime i come to Sim’s Lunchbox! The food is so good! And they are always so pleasant. I recomend combo #10. I have a huge appetite and it fills me up, thank you very much and ill see you soon, cheers! -Spence

  June 29, 2020, 1:40 am

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• Daniel Courchene

  Great family run restaurant. I’m not a big Asian food fan but my girlfriend is. I decided to treat her to a meal here and was not disappointed. I had the curry and it was delicious and inexpensive. My girlfriend had an assortment of food that she also really enjoyed. The chicken katsu was on the sweeter side which I really loved. The food is presented and tastes like homemade food.The owners are very nice and this place is the definition of a hole in the wall. I will definitely be back.

  November 3, 2017, 1:54 am

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• Prince Gastronome

  Prince Gastronome. For anyone believing theyve got me figured out, predicting my preferences, I wouldn’t presume to assume. Alternatively, you could even accuse me of being schizophrenic in my opinions, lamenting one type of restaurant while praising another for apparently doing the exact same thing. The truth is, two restaurants could produce similar food but go about them in different ways, resulting in divergent reviews. You’ll observe that some locations, family restaurants in particular, appear to receive uniform condemnation despite a few being clearly superior to others. Its not that I expect bad food or bad service; I just dont expect anything extraordinary. Is that a presumption, culinary bias? When I walk into a restaurant, I always expect to be satisfied…because we all should, because its a service industry and we pay to be serviced. Its actually something Canadians are good at, what our economy is mostly based on. Dont believe me? Its true. Sitting down on a lightly padded folded chair in front of an orange plaid plastic covered table, you’d expect instant disillusionment from having to endure another diner more suited to the back alleys of Bangladesh. Sims Lunchbox has only three tables, adding a fourth outside depending on weather, something I wont be attempting given this nippy late September afternoon. It certainly matches its namelunchboxwith just enough room for a half -dozen comfortably. Chocolate bars and crates of bottled pop obstruct an otherwise functional interior. The married owners greet me with an obsessive fanatical desire to please, quickly pointing out the various dishes, none of which I understood. Its not often Im broadsided by culinary lingo, but these items threw me, forcing me to Google a few options on my iPhone for clarification. The confusion stemmed from the geographical region being offered. Friends mentioning Sims described it as Japanese, while I assumed in passing that it was Chinese. Its actually Korean, and I dont mean Korean cooks slicing sashimi; I mean Korean-named dished. Stuff called gimbaps and bulgogis. I found something called bibimbap, and honestly, don’t you think someone just spelled out random noises coming out of R2-D2? I found donkatsu, yaki soban, and chicken teriyaki. Okay, that last one I knew, but I had to look up a few of the others. From an expert, Im told gimbap is a Korean maki which is usually a combination of vegetables, meat, and rice. Unlike sushi, it’s not vinegared (his word). The nori on the outside is often glazed with sesame oil. He didn’t mention that its also presented in geometric shapes other than a roll (I got a triangle). Yakisoba is Japanese, literally meaning fried noodles in sauce. Donkatsu are pork cutlets. Bibimbap is a mixed rice plate. Bulgogi is a fried meat dish…I know, kinda disappointing, isn’t it? Bulgogi sounds like something naughty. I know Im tempting retaliation by summarizing a countrys cuisine, but for the layman, theres really no other option. Sim’s food can be best described as askew of Japanese (since Sims claims to sell both Korean and Japanese, this can be excused). Most people arent aware of what Japanese cuisine is outside of California rolls and bento boxes. And what Im served looks like a bento box, but nothing placed inside of it was familiar, save maybe for the miso soup, and the salad…and theOK, so most of it was familiar under cursory examination; its the details of the meal Im talking about. It simply tasted different. Not different bad, just different. The sauce over the pork cutlet was literally indescribable. The egg roll didnt resemble anything I had enjoyed elsewhere. I had ordered the larger combination, which for $12.95 was a considerable amount of food. The pork was a little on the dry side, resting on a deceptively generous portion of sticky rice. Ive seldom enjoyed breaded pork cutlets as Ive never had one that didnt have the texture of leather. About the only element I felt could have used more was the salad. Not for the lack of trying on the part of the owners, whose obsession to pleasing customers was ranked up there with Michelin star restaurants and 10k/night callgirls. One orbited around the counter to point out the individual plates and their explanations, constantly smiling and bowing throughout. It was somewhat a disappointment when they failed to offer a drink. And for some strange reason, I had no knife but two spoons. The greatest praise I can offer Sims lunchbox is the observation that they make their own food, even the basics of food. Those gimbaps wrapped on a shelf are made on site (at least I think so). His teriyaki sauce is homemade. These are a pair of workers that for a handful of hours every afternoon move at the speed of a ferret on a double espresso to satisfy the flood of customers that occur between 11 and 1. Located in an industrial area of town, Sim’s competes with the likes of Ritas Place and Simmys Bistro but unlike those places, has no comparable cuisine. And this bothers me somewhat because I worry about the appeal of Korean cuisine among car mechanics and pipe cutters. Considering the customers swamping the checkout counter as I spoon-cut my breaded pork, my concern may be unfounded. However, during my meal, one customer wandered out unfulfilled because the owners had run out of both soup and noodles (although this might have been a simple misunderstanding). I know it reads like I am making excuses, and maybe I am, but I really want to like Sims Lunchbox. Here are two people running from the seat of their pants in a frantic furry to make all dishes they offer on their menu, stumbling when demand overcomes supply. Show up too early, and one might not be able to order the beef curry, too late, and you have to lose out on the Korean pancakes. Given the region, with little else as competition, I could see Sim’s succeeding. I have this lingering desire to try these other dishes. That happens when there are selections I had never heard of. I mean who wouldnt want to see what bulgogi tastes like? The idea is certainly more appealing than going to a family restaurant and measuring their burgers to the fifty other places in town. To those working in the area, Sims offers a nice alternative to your typical soup and sandwich places. Food: 3/5Service: 3.5/5Presentation: 3/5Value: 4/5Recommendation: 3.4/5

  December 29, 2012, 6:02 am

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