For those who thought Ossington couldn’t get any more exciting, last weekend saw the opening of two new spots: pop-up-turned-restaurant Rock Lobster Food Co. and new late-night spot ODDSEOUL, the long-awaited second child of brothers Leemo and Leeto Han, who opened Swish by Han almost four years ago.

While Swish by Han sticks to Korean roots, ODDSEOUL is meant to showcase a little more of the Han brothers’ American upbringing (they were born in Toronto but grew up in Philly) while retaining some Korean influences.

To start, there’s a bulgogi cheese steak sandwich ($7) and The Loosey ($7), a Philly-style burger on sandwich bread. Other dishes on the menu also boast Asian flavours: a salmon sashimi rice bowl ($10), an acorn squash poutine ($5) with Japanese mayo, spicy Korean chicken wings ($5) and kimchi pork-fried rice ($8). Soon to come: a daily dolsot bibimbap; Pennsylvania-inspired scrapple; Viet-style ssäm with rice paper rolls and fillings to suit; and a raw bar.

Though alcohol selection and pricing could change, beer currently starts at $5, with Flying Monkeys, Big Wheel, Tecate or the requisite PBR on offer (this is Ossington, after all). Cocktails focus on bourbon, gin and soju, including infused ginger soju, citrus soju or cucumber soju (as a promo offer, carafes of soju can be had for $11).

Opened in an old hardware store, the renovated space maintains an industrial feel with half-plastered walls, exposed-brick, a wide and long bar top, refurbished science lab stools (which are now bar stools), a collection of old-school ghetto blasters on the shelves and old Stallone movie posters ink-transferred onto the walls.

Published: Dec 6, 2012