G23/620 Collins St, Melbourne 9973 6244
Gang Jung Soy Chicken
Sweet crispy chicken pieces combined with potato wedges (which I found to be strange and unnecessary) and rice cake, served with a cabbage salad which was drenched in an incredibly sweet mayo dressing
= Not bad
Salmon Bibimbap
Essentially rice, avocado, salmon and salad drizzled with soy sauce
= Not bad
Overall:
An unremarkable dining experience.
136 Koornang Road, Carnegie 9563 4424
Moo set
Oink set
Thoughts:
Moo set – 350g of marinated Galbi beef ribs, 150g of Skirt steak, tomato and avocado salsa salad = Good
Oink set – 250g of chilli pork belly, 150g of pork neck fillet, smoked salmon and onion salad = Good
Note that each set comes with butter and garlic potatoes, corn, soup of the day (which was soy bean paste soup), and rice for two.
The complimentary side dishes that are served with all meals include: homemade kimchi, pickled onion, spring onion salad, ssamjang soy bean, dipping sauce, and pepper and garlic salt.
Overall:
Really delicious and well marinated meat! In fact everything here was very tasty. My only complaint is that the meat sets need to be bigger so that there is more meat to be enjoyed! The atmosphere is casual and the staff are efficient and friendly.
315 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick 9532 9644
Okonomiyaki
Tuna tataki
Agedashi tofu
Beef bulgogi don
Rainbow roll
Sushi (small)
Thoughts:
Okonomiyaki – Japanese pancake with vegetables and squid. A bit too much sauce was added which made the pancake very soft = Not Bad
Tuna tataki – lightly seared tuna with home-made yuzu dressing = Not Bad
Agedashi tofu – deep fried bean curd and dried bonito flakes in dashi soup = Not Bad
Beef bulgogi don – beef bulgogi with rice and vegetables = Not Bad
Rainbow roll – lobster meat, avocado and cucumber inside the rolls. Prawn, avocado, salmon and tuna on top of the rolls. As soon as I saw the word ‘lobster’ I knew that I had to try this. Unfortunately this dish did not taste very fresh and the lobster meat was questionable = Not Bad
Sushi (small) – salmon, tuna, prawn and sweet fried tofu = Not Bad
Overall:
Friendly service, pleasant atmosphere, lacklustre food.
Carinish Rd, Clayton (near the corner of Clayton Rd) 9543 4276
Steamed dumplings
Seafood and kimchi pancake
Spicy corn noodles
Half fried chicken/Half ganjang chicken
Thoughts:
Steamed dumplings – healthy tasting mince and vegetable filled dumplings served with soy sauce = Not bad
Seafood and kimchi pancake – not enough seafood, not enough kimchi = Not bad
Spicy corn noodles – chewy corn noodles with vegetables (carrot, cucumber, cabbage, bean sprouts, seaweed), sliced apples, and half an egg, served cold with a spicy sauce = Not bad
Half fried chicken/Half ganjang chicken – the fried chicken is original Korean style fried chicken, while the ganjang is soy and garlic sauce fried chicken. Both were delightfully crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with the ganjang chicken having a delicious sweet flavour to it = Excellent
Overall:
This small casual place has the usual Korean menu (eg. sizzling BBQs, clay pot soups) but the stand out item for me was definitely their fantastic fried chicken!
374 Centre Rd, Bentleigh 9557 5694
Ice green tea latte
Kimchi pancake
Deep fried octopus balls
Pork with bulgogi sauce on a sizzling plate
Bibimbap
Japchae
Thoughts:
Ice green tea latte – contained more milk and less green tea powder than previous ice green tea lattes that I have had but was still very yummy = Good
Kimchi pancake – a light eggy pancake that barely had any kimchi in it = Not bad
Deep fried octopus balls – came with a generous amount of dried bonito but did not actually contain much octopus in the balls themselves = Not bad
Bulgogi pork – came with rice and miso soup. The pork was tender and bulgogi sauce had a great balance of salty and sweet = Good
Bibimbap – tender stir fry beef with a good variety of vegetables. They forgot to give us any chili pepper paste but were very apologetic when we asked for some = Good
Japchae – chewy sweet potato noodles served with sliced beef, onion, carrot, zucchini, eggplant, enoki mushrooms, chives and Korean soy sauce = Not bad
Overall:
A tiny little restaurant that serves a mixture of Korean and Japanese food. The service is fast and friendly, while the decor is simple and a little bit strange (think little green footprints on the wall). My only gripe with this place is the portions of the food: too small!
1344 Centre Rd, Clayton 9562 7849
Spicy rice cakes
Kimchi pancake
Spicy kimchi hotpot with tofu and tuna
Mild beef stock soup with rice cakes and dumplings
Japchae
Teriyaki chicken sizzling plate
Dolsot bibimbap
Side dishes
Thoughts:
Spicy rice cakes – soft chewy rice cakes covered in a moderately chilli sauce = Not bad
Kimchi pancake – mildly spicy pancake that tasted almost pizza-like with the amount of capsicum that came on it = Not bad
Kimchi hotpot – regular kimchi soup that came with a decent amount of (canned) tuna = Not bad
Rice cake and dumpling soup – great for those who don’t like spicy soups, comes with a total of 3 dumplings (that contain indistinguishable meat) = Not bad
Japchae – a highly sweet dish that consists of chewy potato noodles, beef, capsicum, baby corn, onion, cloud ear fungus, spring onion and sesame seeds = Not bad
Teriyaki chicken – the excessively sweet teriyaki sauce is overwhelming = Not bad
Dolsot bibimbap – tasty combination of beef, egg, beansprouts, carrots, spring onions, onion, and dried seaweed = Good
Side dishes – pickled bean sprouts, kimchi, fish cakes, candied potato, chicken mayo salad and seasoned broccoli = Good
Overall:
Typical Korean fare at a place that has fast service, decent servings and is good value for money. The main dining area is upstairs, although they do have some traditional floor seating tables downstairs. Now each table upstairs has a service bell which you press whenever you require a waiter’s attention. However this only works when the waiters are not busy so you may need to press it at regular intervals to remind them that you still waiting to be served. Note that this is a cash only place.
100 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne 9671 3232
Corn cheese
Kimchi pancake
Fried chicken
Spicy sauce fried chicken
Thoughts:
Corn cheese – hot bubbly cheese mixed with juicy corn kernels and a bit of mayo for sweetness = Good
Kimchi pancake – crispy, oily, kimchi laded pancake that was full of flavour and didn’t need any dipping sauce = Good
Fried chicken – ordinary deep fried chicken = Not bad
Spicy sauce fried chicken – the spiciness of this chicken doesn’t hit you immediately, but when it does it’s fiery hot! = Not bad
Sweet chilli fried chicken – somehow reminded me of sweet and sour pork = Not bad
Sweet soy garlic fried chicken – sweet sticky chicken with a hint of garlic flavour = Not bad
Overall:
Unfortunately this place did not live up to its hype and was a bit underwhelming. The original flavour chicken was alright while each flavoured chicken came drowning in sauce. This is the place to go to if you are after a quick meal that is messy, greasy and fatty. The service is average and the atmosphere quite noisy. Also be sure to use the toilet before you come here as the single toilet that they have is quite disgusting.
270 Victoria St, North Melbourne 9328 1221
Top grade beef rib
Spicy kimchi and pork soup
Seafood pancake
Thoughts:
We ordered the Combo A set menu ($39 pp) which included:
Seafood pancake – contained lots of egg and not that much seafood, so was just an average pancake. HOWEVER the dipping sauce that comes with it is fantastic! = Not bad
Overall:
Among the multiple Korean BBQ restaurants along Victoria St, I found this one to be so-so. The food overall was average with nothing standing out (apart from the seafood pancake dipping sauce, which I’m not going to count). I found the portions to the Combo A set menu to be on the small side, so unless you eat very little, this set menu will not fill you up. Service to this place was standard with the waiter coming around every now and again to turn our meat on the BBQ. What I did like about this place was that they used good exhaust chutes for each table which made the place less smokey compared to other Korean BBQ places. Having said that there is still no escaping the strong BBQ smell that seeps into your hair and your clothes, that lingers with you once you leave this place.
Who knew such a thing existed? (Koreans probably) Designed to be super convenient as all you need to do is add water (hot or cold).
Once you open the pack and take out the flavouring sachets and plastic spoon, this is what you’ll see:
Add enough water so that it reaches the marked line inside the package. Close the zipper and wait 10 minutes if you use hot water, 40 minutes if you use cold water. It should then look like this:
Add the flavouring, give the whole thing a mix and voila!
Overall:
1d Bank St, Box Hill 9890 4588
Agedashi Tofu
Seafood Pajeon (Korean style seafood pancake)
Creamed garlic prawns with kimchi fried rice
Kimchi Jjigae (Spicy stew with kimchi, pork and tofu)
Thoughts:
Agedashi tofu – Warm silky tofu encased in a crisp batter with sweet tsuyu sauce = Excellent
Seafood pancake – perfect for those who like their pancakes on the crispy side, a bit bland so the dipping sauce is needed = Good
Creamed garlic prawns with kimchi fried rice – Amazing! Creamy fried rice that has just the right amount of spiciness in it to give it a tasty kick! = Excellent
Kimchi Jjigae – Spicy and full of flavour = Excellent
Overall:
I have been to this place numerous times and have yet to experience any bad service (which seems to be the main complaint for most of the Urbanspoon reviews of this place) Maybe I just got lucky? Who knows? What I do know for certain is that the food here is delicious, and that I will definitely be returning.
DAMMIT JANET I LOVE FOOD 