Category: Korean

There are always Kimchi dishes in Korean restaurants

Sally’s Grill and Hotpot

Sally’s Grill and Hotpot Review:

Our friends told us that there was a new Halal Korean BBQ restaurant in Kingsford. We went to Sally’s Grill and Hotpot at the end of last month. The restaurant was actually owned by the same group who owned Halal Thai restaurant a few doors down the road.

The menu looks like a mashup between Korean and Japanese BBQ. Their two main offerings are the hotpot and BBQ grill. You have to spend a minimum of $30 for the BBQ grill. Just like in Korean restaurants, you get a few complimentary side dishes.

Cheese spring roll – $8 – 4 pieces – and Takoyaki – $8 – 7 pieces octopus balls

The cheese spring roll was quite the favourite here. The name ‘spring roll’ might be a bit misleading as it is just cheese coated with bread crumb and deep fried. With the takoyaki, I’m sure a lot of restaurants can make a decent takoyaki.

Braised beef short rib hot pot – $30 – cook on the table with vegetable and sweet potato noodle in homemade Bulgogi sauce

I am actually quite happy with the size of the hot pot.

If you don’t want the preset hotpot, you can also choose the shabu-shabu option, This way, you can choose your own ingredients for the hotpot.

Snow cheese fried chicken – $12 – 8 pieces

The snow bit is actually coconut shaving. Nevertheless, the fried chicken is interestingly sweet and crunchy.

BBQ Grill

They have assortments of meat and seafood dishes on offer. However, you have to order at least $30 initially. It’s not that hard to do if your choice goes to the wagyu meat.

Interestingly, the vegetables are pretty cheap in this restaurant. Everything is $3!

The final verdict for Sally’s Grill and Hotpot

Sally’s Grill and Hotpot automatically has a place in the mind of those who looked for halal BBQ restaurants.

Did you know?

As I previously mentioned, this restaurant is part of a rather successful Thai restaurants group: It’s time for Thai.

Rating for Sally’s Grill and Hotpot:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: minimum of $30 for BBQ

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

315 Anzac Parade, Kingsford 2032

+61 2 9357 6100

Sally’s Grill and Hotpot on Zomato

Jul 25, 2017
Gukbab Korean Restaurant

Gukbab Korean Restaurant Review:

We came across Gukbab Korean Restaurant when we were walking down Melbourne CBD looking for a nice cup of coffee. Later that night, we decided to dine there because it was close to where we stayed. As with any other Korean restaurant, we receive free side dishes. They were just a simple kimchi and marinated onion in Gukbab. They also gave us a plate of salad with sesame sauce. However, I’m not sure whether that’s part of the side dishes or the main dish that we ordered.

There are the usual Korean dishes in the menu. Judging from the number of dishes displayed, the Korean Fried Chicken and soup were the main dishes in the restaurant. However, we did not get to try the soup this time around.

Sweet Chilli Chicken – $18

Korean Fried Chicken is usually our unanimous choice when dining in a Korean Restaurant. That’s exactly what we ordered at Gukbab. We ordered the sweet chili chicken on this occasion. They only gave pieces of chicken wings with quite a generous serving of sweet chili sauce. In addition to the chicken, we also asked for extra cheese with the chicken (for a small amount of money – I could not remember).

Their fried chickens were really nice. However, it’s unfortunate that they chose to serve only wings.

Beef Bulgogi – $16 – stir fried marinated beef and vegetables

Another classic Korean dish is our choice for the other dish on that night. Bulgogi is the name people usually mention when talking about Korean food. They gave quite a sizable portion for the bulgogi.

The final verdict for Gukbab Korean Restaurant

Gukbab is quite a nice Korean restaurant in Melbourne CBD. .

Did you know?

There are quite a lot of Korean restaurants in Little Lonsdale. Some of them are Korean BBQ restaurants.

Rating for Gukbab Korean Restaurant:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $19 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 1, 535 Little Lonsdale Street, CBD, Melbourne 3000

+61 3 9939 0380

Jun 28, 2017
678 Korean BBQ Restaurant

678 Korean BBQ Review:

My friends told me that 678 Korean BBQ was one of Sydney’s hottest restaurants at the moment. It was quite early in the evening when we got there but the queue was already quite stifling. So, my expectation was already pretty high.

Customary in any Korean restaurants, we were given Banchan (Korean side dishes) upon sitting down at our table. The side dishes were so many that we hardly had any space left for our main dishes!

Being a Korean BBQ place, obviously the spotlight was placed in the BBQ dishes. The good thing about it was that they use charcoal for cooking… grilling with charcoal on a mesh is so much better than gas!

Our choice went to a few BBQ dishes that were staple to our group, like beef tongue and short rib. Their price ranges from $21 (for the beef tongue and brisket) up to $38 for Wagyu Chuck Tail Flap.

For four adults, our table was extremely full. You really need to get busy real fast or you won’t be able to move!

The menu was divided into three big sections: BBQ, lunch, and meal. There are also a few meal dishes that we ordered on the night.

Marinated Fresh Wagyu Beef Sashimi – $29

One of my favourite dishes in life. Known in Japanese as Yukke, this delicate dish has to be top notch or you will be in all kinds of problems consuming it. My only problem with this dish was the price. The place that I frequently visited include yukke in their buffet set.

Spicy seafood soft tofu stew – $16

Korean soups are always good to have in cold winter days.

Egg Soup – $2

For $2, it’s quite a bargain!

The final verdict for 678 Korean BBQ

It was apparent that quite a lot of people enjoyed dining at 678 Korean BBQ restaurant. However, I think my friends sold it a tad too much to me.

Did you know?

678 Korean BBQ is actually located in the 1st floor. The entrance to the building was quite narrow and there was only a sign outside the building.

Rating for 678 Korean BBQ:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $36 per dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Corner Pitt St and Goulburn St, Sydney NSW 2000

+61 2 9281 8997

https://www.facebook.com/678Sydney/

Aug 19, 2016
Wagyu House Korean BBQ

Review:

Everyone in my inner circle would know that my top two all you can eat restaurants in Sydney are Suminoya and Churrasco. This week’s restaurant we reviewed has proven itself to be a genuine contender for that spot! Wagyu House is an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant in Croydon. It is always busy on weekends and parking is very limited on the venue. So, I suggest you start early!

Wagyu House charges $29.90 per person and $12 for kids aged 5+… such a great deal for an all you can eat place! Bear in mind that the usual restrictions of an all-you-can-eat place applies here: 2-hour limit and finish what you take or you will be charged for excess.

They have quite a system when you go to the restaurant. You will need to get a table first, then go to the other building in the venue to pay for it. You need to get the meat from that other building and you can get the ice cream from there too. There are two big chillers full of meat. The left one is predominantly beef and pork while the right one is an assortment of chicken wings, pork, beef and calamari.

Back to the main dining hall, they have the kimchi station where you can get… well… kimchi and more than a dozen of Korean side dishes. You can also get Korean Pancake and Korean glass noodles at no extra charge!

One thing that I love about Wagyu House is that they still use charcoal (instead of gas) as a method of cooking! They have quite a decent exhaust system that doesn’t make our shirt to have that smoky smell… or probably we were there early enough and not that many people around us.

Obviously, when you see the price tag, you will immediately raise this question: How about their quality? Is it a compromise?

They don’t use the ‘fancy’ seafood and chicken pieces, in fact they only have calamari and chicken wings. They might also have a limited cut of beef. However, they covered that limitation by having different marinaded cuts.

The final verdict for Wagyu House

All you can eat for $30 with decent quality meat? It’s not a surprise they have customers willingly queue there!

Did you know?

I have to write this separately. They have an assortment of beef cuts in the chiller that is part of the $30 but individually packaged at about 400gr each. Apparently, this is the more ‘premium’ selection but have to be consumed as a package. I suggest you choose this over the regular cuts, just be mindful of your own eating capacity.

Rating for Wagyu House:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $29.90 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

668-670 Parramatta Road, Croydon 2132

+61 2 9797 9999

Wagyu House Korean BBQ on Zomato

Jul 1, 2016
Won Jo

Review:

One afternoon we walked around Strathfield trying to find a nice Korean rice cake, or tteokbokki. Our short stroll around the area lead us to Won Jo Korean BBQ restaurant. On this occasion, we actually did not order the BBQ menu. We were interested more on the rice bowl and… obviously… its tteokbokki.

Won Jo served quite a number of kimchi. We had the five dishes below to begin with and when we asked for a refill, they gave us an extra one.

Cheese stir-fried rice cake – $20 (M) or $30 (L)

This is a variant for the dish that we came to Won Jo for. Instead of having the normal sweet chilli rice cake, they added cheese to the dish. It actually dumbed down the chilli flavour – good for people who doesn’t eat crazy amount of chilli like me!

Ginseng chicken stew – $22

Every time I see ginseng chicken on the menu, I am always interested in ordering it. The first ginseng chicken stew I ever had was in Seoul. I went there a long time ago but somehow it was imprinted in my memory.

Ginseng chicken stew is usually served with garlic, rice, and jujube. In Won Jo, they also put some mushrooms in the stew. It was a nice hot soup.

Beef bulgogi with rice – $16.50

Having a Korean beef bulgogi in a Korean restaurant is like ordering a Japanese Karaage. Nothing can go wrong… if it’s wrong, don’t come back to that restaurant!

Garlic Soy Fried Chicken – $17 (half) or $27 (whole)

We actually ordered this in our second visit to Won Jo. Their fried chicken is boneless, which was always nice to have!

Seafood pancake – $15

Their seafood pancake was quite large for the price. There was also quite a few toppings inside the pancake!

The final verdict for Won Jo

It was quite an enjoyable lunch at Won Jo. We definitely got our craving for tteokbokki satisfied.

Rating for Won Jo:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $16.50 – $30

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

33a The Boulevarde, Strathfield 2135

+61 2 9746 7041

Won Jo on Facebook

Apr 12, 2016
BCD Tofu House

Review:

For this week’s review, we had to travel pretty far to enjoy this Korean restaurant. My friend told me that his Korean friend would only go to this place for Korean food. The restaurant is called BCD Tofu House and it’s in Epping.

They have seven different Banchan (side dishes). It is always nice to have more options than just a plate of kimchi!

Haemul Pajeon – $15 – Seafood and green onion pancake

One thing that we always looked for in a Korean restaurant: seafood pancake! Nothing really stood out from this particular pancake, but it wasn’t bad either.

Ox Tail Soup – $15

It was predominantly ordered for the kids as the tofu soup was more on the spicy side. They seemed to be enjoying the ox tail with vegetables and glass noodles.

Beef Bulgogi and Tofu Soup – $25

This is what you are here for: Tofu Soup. They have quite a few options for the tofu soup, including a mix and match with other dishes. Obviously our choice fell on the most common name in Korean dish: Bulgogi!

Their tofu soup is really good – as expected given the restaurant name. I felt that the Bulgogi was a bit overcooked and dry.

Spicy Braised Beef Short Rib – $26

My favourite for the night. Although the dish was pretty spicy (I have a very low affection to chili), I could not get enough of it.

I failed in taking picture of this dish in close up. If you look at the picture below, it’s the one on the left.

Special Rice (Youngyang Dolsotbab) vs normal rice – $3

For all of the dishes above, you have a choice of having it with normal rice or Special rice (for $3 more). The special rice is an interesting Korean-style dish with (I’m pretty sure) nuts and fruits.

The final verdict for BCD Tofu House

I can understand why people travel to Epping for a tofu soup. The tofu soup from BCD Tofu House was pretty good.

Rating for BCD Tofu House:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $26 per set

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

74 – 76 Rawson Street, Epping 2121

02 9868 4300

Nov 17, 2015