The ideal weekday evening here should go like this: a trip to Wang Food Mart to stock up on instant noodles, snacks and the month’s supply of kimchi, then a short walk opposite to have dinner at Friends. Friends is the kind of Korean place where you can easily spend under $25 per person, or blow out and spend over $50, depending on how many people in your party (that is, if there are many people in your party, you should want to blow out). But there’s plenty to like in the under $25 space, like a particularly good crispy seafood and chives pancake, which is perfect to put in the middle of the table for everyone to snack on. The usual spicy pork, chicken and squid on sizzling hot plates here are great examples of what they should be, as well as the soups (ox knee and pork bone are favourites). But what really sets this place apart from the others in the area is the friendly, warm service, especially from the owner, who is known to give out free cans of Milkis on his rounds. Love that.