Again I have had the opportunity to check out another restaurant in Toronto that’s really affordable, a good time and I have to say, a hidden gem for students anyways. As a student we all know we want a good time, alcohol and it needs to be relatively inexpensive so we don’t empty our wallets all in one night. So if you are looking for a cheap night out in Toronto look no further than Il Bun Ji.

The idea to go came up as an option for a night out with most of the students I work with at my current co-op job. It sounded pretty sketchy at the time, something about how they had previously gone, $20 a person or so, a bucket of beer, popcorn, fruit and then food as well. BUT you could only get the deal in the upstairs of the restaurant. It sounded a little suspect to me, but it sounded like a great time anyways.

A Cheap Night Out in Toronto

We made a reservation for the upstairs instead of just showing up since we had a large group, and then we were handed a menu that had a huge list of food items. It was sorted in categories based on your food choices, categories ranging from $20 to $35 I believe, and you can order bi bim bap under the $20 category and receive 5 bottles of beer as part of the package.

So basically, choose your food, I of course being the cheap student that I am went for the $20 deal, the bi bim bap which was pretty good and this meant I would also get 5 beers throughout the night. Everyone ordered and they started to bring buckets of cold beers and popcorn out as well as some really artistically cut up fruit as appetizers. The bi bim bap came out in it’s stone bowl, which was quite hot and then we smothered the dish in korean hot sauce.

Throughout the night we played a drinking game called Sink the Ship which kept us pretty occupied while sipping on our beers from the buckets they came from. And as an additional surprise huge bowls of mussels in broth were brought out towards the end of the night, 3 in fact for our table of about 20. And all for free as well!

Bottom Line

Il Bun Ji’s secret upstairs part of their restaurant is a really great deal. The food doesn’t blow your mind, but you get to experience food in Korea town with a bucket of beer, free appetizers that are super random but awesome (where else can you get popcorn as an appetizer..seriously) and all at about $23-25 with tax and tips.Oh and it’s walking distance from Christie station so you can take the TTC and be super eco friendly and oh…cheap. Try it out, it’s a great night out with a group for sure.