Korean cuisine

Suga Korean Restaurant

Tofu Canape

(pan fried homemade tofu topped with Suga’s seasoned rice balls and fried lotus chips, served with wasabi mayo)

★★★☆☆

Side Dishes

★★★★☆

Seafood Pajeon

★★★☆☆

Original Fried Chicken

Sadly dry.

★★☆☆☆

Handmade Kal-Gook-Soo

(knife-cut wheat noodles boiled with egg in fish broth, flavoured with seasoning, onions, garlic, topped with carrots and dried seaweed)

★★★★☆

Spicy Soft Tofu Stew

(soft tofu stew with seafood, mushrooms, zucchini, spring onions and onions in spicy hot soup topped with a cracked egg)

★★★★☆

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Soondae

(Korean style sausages stuffed with pork blood, sweet potato glass noodles, carrots, onions, spring onions, seasoned with ginger, salt, garlic and pepper)

With so many other ingredients mixed in, these didn’t taste like your typical blood sausage (ie. they didn’t have that livery iron-rich blood taste)

★★★☆☆

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Cold Noodles

(thin buckwheat noodles served icy cold in beef broth topped with cucumber, beef slices, half a boiled egg, served with vinegar and mustard)

★★☆☆☆

Tofu donuts with vanilla custard and ice cream

There was tofu mixed throughout the batter which made these donuts extra soft on the inside.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

You will find a huge range of traditional and contemporary Korean dishes at Suga, many of which I have not seen served anywhere else. The must try item however is their delicious home-made tofu which is prepared daily on site! Staff were friendly but service was slow. I just have to make sure that I’m hungry but not ravenously hungry the next time I come here.

Suga Korean Restaurant

269 Huntingdale Rd, Chadstone, VIC

(03) 9888 1001

http://www.sugarestaurant.com/

Sydney Madang

Marinated Pork and Bul Go Gi

★★★★★

Pork and Kimchi Korean Pancake

★★☆☆☆

Kimchi Jjigae

★★★★☆

Overall:

It’s easy to understand why this place is so popular. The Korean barbecue here is outstanding. We weren’t even hungry when we arrived, yet we managed to inhale our selection of barbecued meats within no time. Whatever the marinates were, they were fabulous. We arrived pretty late in the evening so we were seated straightaway and didn’t have any issues with the service. I’m looking forward to eating here again the next time I’m in town.

Sydney Madang

371A Pitt St, Sydney, NSW

(02) 9264 7010

ABC Chicken

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Original Fried Crispy Chicken

★★★☆☆

Sweet Chilli Chicken

★★★★☆

Soy Garlic Chicken

★★★☆☆

Seafood Pancake

★★★☆☆

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Corn Cheese

★★★★☆

Overall:

A large group of us ventured here for chicken and beer, and we were not disappointed. ABC Chicken offers a decent variety of boned and boneless chicken, the usual Korean sides, and reasonably priced beer. Service was prompt and the food was satisfying. Note that you get 5% off the bill if you pay in cash.

ABC Chicken

361 Queen St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9670 8881

http://www.abcchicken.com.au/

Bibimfresh

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Bibimfresh Signature Bowl

(kale, oak leaf, onion, pear, red cabbage, carrots and sashimi served with chojang sauce)

Fresh and healthy!

★★★☆☆

Kim Mari

(deep fried seaweed rolls filled with glass noodles)

I had never come across anything like this before so was curious to try these out. These little parcels of deep fried goodness had great crunch but needed the dipping sauce as they were quite bland.

★★★☆☆

Ddokbokki Carbonara

(rice cakes served with Korean style carbonara sauce, mushroom, prawns and bacon)

Small portion aside, I really enjoyed this carbonara dish! And the combination with the ddokbokki wasn’t anything extreme so this dish worked well for me.

★★★★☆

Spicy Seafood and Tofu Soup

(spicy soup with soft tofu, vegetables, and seafood served with white rice)

Mildly spicy with lots of tofu.

★★★☆☆

Kimchi Fried Rice

(kimchi fried rice, pork, fried egg)

The runny yolk mixed with the spicy fried rice made this really tasty.

★★★☆☆

Matcha Cake

This delicate sponge cake wasn’t overly sweet (which was nice), and had a distinctive matcha taste.

★★★★☆

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I loved all the awesome air plants that they had on each table.

Overall:

Bibimfresh isn’t your typical Korean joint. This place is bright and spacious, and offers a unique menu of delicious fusion food. From customised quinoa bibimbap and green juice to fried chicken and poutine fries, there is definitely something here for everyone.

Bibimfresh

Shop 9, 108 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9654 2371

https://bibimfresh.com/

Carnegie Korean BBQ

What’s better than Korean BBQ? The answer is all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ!

Pork Belly, Mushroom, Onion, Sweet Potato

Pasta Salad, Bean Sprouts, Kimchi, Fish Cake

Mandu

Beef Bibimbap

Soy Bean Soup

Green Tea and Black Sesame Ice Cream

Overall:

There are 2 all-you-can-eat options: the Standard Buffet ($31.90) and the Gourmet Buffet ($35.50). For a few dollars more the Gourmet Buffet offered a greater selection of meats, soups and dessert, so we ended up opting for this. We initially wanted to try all the different meats however this turned out to be impossible as there was simply too much food! The meats that we did manage to try included the LA Beef Ribs, Beef Brisket, Marinated Beef, Diced Beef, Non Spicy Chicken, Pork Belly, and Spicy Pork. The only meat that did not take our fancy was the Diced Beef as it was super tough and extremely difficult to chew. The staff were friendly however unlike some other Korean BBQ places, they don’t help out with any of the barbequing (which was fine with us). In any case, the all-you-can-eat options here are perfect for all you carnivores out there.

Carnegie Korean BBQ

Shop 2, 23 Koornang Rd, Carnegie, VIC

(03) 9563 6608

Oree Korean Duck Restaurant

Duck and Beef Set

Bean paste, Salt and Pepper in Oil, Bean Powder, Chili Paste

200g Fresh Duck

As soon as the duck cools it becomes tough and chewy, so it’s best eaten straight off the grill.

★★★☆☆

100g Angus Beef Rib

★★★☆☆

Beef gal-bi

★★☆☆☆

Overall:

One of the most unique Korean barbecue experiences I’ve had due to their specialisation in duck. (In fact this is Australia’s first Korean duck barbecue restaurant) The set menus were reasonably priced while service was very attentive. A good option for those who feel like Korean barbecue, but don’t feel like red meat.

Oree Korean Duck Restaurant

179 Queen St, Melbourne, VIC

(03) 9642 1270

http://www.oree.com.au/

Hudadak

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!

Hodori Korean Garden

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.

Dried Bibimbap

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:

Quantity wise, a pack isn’t quite enough for a meal but it is certainly enough for a filling snack.
Although the majority of what you get is rice (with the odd morsel or two of vegetable), the taste of bibimbap is definitely there.
For something that has been freeze dried, this is actually quite good!

Yami Yami

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.