Seoul Ria

With the exception of Sydney Madang and Cocom Hair News, FM Hair and the grocery next door, the kind of service experience you get when you go Korean is that “I’d rather be in Seoul” snarly attitude. Dump and run. Roll of the eyes when you ask for something.

They certainly weren’t smiley at Seoul Ria either, a fairly standard issue K restaurant fitted out with the typical shades of timber and the large LCDs playing eye candy K-pop film clips. The food doesn’t raise the standards of Korean in Sydney but doesn’t lower them either. Beef bulgogi doesn’t have that intense sweetness as others might which means you can continue to consume without reaching for a glass of water, the seafood kimchi pancake pan fried to a nice golden brown. What will need you asking for more H20 is the kimchi hot pot that looks like it’s been scooped from a volcano, the stone pot for the bibimbap hot enough to give the rice and contents a good char.

So the staff might have a bit of an attitude, maybe it’s management policy to hire K with a lack of personality. But the fact that they might be soulless doesn’t mean that should distract you from the decent Seoul food here.


3 / 5 yums!
------
Where? Level 2, 605-609 Cnr of George and Goulburn Street, Haymarket, NSW

O Bal Tan

Manny Pacquiao without the excitement, pound for pound the most expensive meal I’ve paid for in Sydney, and had to cook the damn food myself. Space pipes hanging from the ceiling provide constant suction for the smells as you cook over coals. Jap chae a required dish to accompany the measly meat platter for two including pork, beef that’s thinly sliced and diced. Paying $35 per person for such little food means you’ll need to refill multiple times on the banchan to extract full value. Prices for Korean that doesn’t deliver a knockout punch to its neighbours.


2 / 5 yums!
------
Where? 363A Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW
What? Expensive

CeCi

Likened to a 70s coffee lounge, I’d add that the girly purple wallpaper and cream coloured skirtings has the feel of your sister’s bedroom back in the day. The décor may need some updating, but not the food of Korean origins. It’s rad and hardly surprising that a wait for a table is required and seemingly one of the more popular places in Country Korea Strathfield.

Kim Chi pancake gets you started, a good level of heat and a balance between firmness and sponge. Bring your sweat towel for the dumplings, deep fried parcels of meat, smothered in a thick sesame sweet yet hot chilli mixture. Pork bulgogi sizzling hot plate continues the perspiration. For those wanting to avoid the hot flavour, slippery Jap chae noodles, a stir fry of beef, mushrooms, carrot, onion and spring onion and the beef bulgogi as good as you’d get anywhere.

So CeCi might look like a little old and a fashion tragic, but if you haven’t been or heard about this place, it’ll be your restaurant list that needs updating.

3.5 / 5 yums!
------
Where? 37 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW
What? Dishes under $12

Wooree BBQ

Representing the Koreans, Wooree is another from the ever dependable Pai Lo food court for cheaper cheaper Asian food. From the lit up menu, a decent selection of rices, noodles and hot pots to choose from, and as you’d expect, the majority with that kim chi, pickled chilli flavour. Spicy pork bulgogi, stir fried slices of pork in a mildly chilli marinade satisfying for a quick meal. A bit of a walk, don’t get distracted and walk to the corner where Wooree is.

2.5 / 5 yums!
------
Where? Lvl 1, 401 Sussex St, Sydney, NSW

Won Jo Korean Restaurant

I didn’t know the NSW Galleries had an off campus display in Strathfield. In the heart of K-Town, a massive wall country mural, with a few more framed paintings hanging proudly throughout the restaurant. The owner might be a bit of an art buff. These are pieces not the only thing that catches the eye. If you’re not used to conventional table and chairs, you can always take a seat on the substitute pine at the high tables.

Orders come out quickly. Unconventional bulgogi, beef, sliced glutinous rice cake, spring onion, enoki, comes in a stewing stone pot on heat. Obviously soupy wet, it’s a bit like Gatorade, a watered down cordial. I much prefer the dry, stir fried version on sizzling plate. Also unconventional, though probably due to the ordering, the bibimbap comes with the usual beef mince, julienned cucumber, carrot, beanshoots mushroom, sunny side egg and chilli sauce however served in a sterile stainless steal mixing bowl. Again much prefer the dolsot (excuse my Korean) version, hotpot style so the rice gets a nice char. Japchae, strands of translucent noodles with a sweet sauce, very nice. Pieces of chicken, deep fried in a batter that might infringe on the Zinger burger patty’s copyright, is not as potent as the KFC product but has a good peppery salty taste.

Can’t say Won Jo would be frame worthy in my house of restaurants. But for a place that blends art with food, it’s not half bad.


2.5 / 5 yums!
------
Where? 33A The Boulevarde, Strathfield, NSW

Manna Corea

Deep in the dark crevasses of the Sydney CBD, there resides the basement Asian hawker style food court at 303 Pitt. It’s a bit dingy, and some say dodgy, but the brightly coloured plastic chairs brighten the place. Think of it as the lesser of Hunter Connection. A visit two years ago to the Korean joint, Manna Corea, ignited a love affair with the stone pot bibimbap. Having had many since, I’ll never forget that first one. A return to where it all began disappointed though, possibly a change in management? All the ingredients are there, sliced mushrooms, julienned cucumber, carrot, bean shoots, Asian greens, but the sliced meat seemed more poached and lacked the usual char of a fiery wok. Same with the bulgogi, the normal flavour of sweet soy and sesame exists but was a little wet and again lacked char. Unfortunately, into the dark crevasse of my restaurant list it goes.

1.5 / 5 yums!
------
Where? Basement 303 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW
What? Under $10

Ginseng Plus

Another from the ever dependable Pai Lo food court for cheaper cheaper Asian food. Ginseng Plus, with a Korean slant, is probably the healthiest sounding store ever to grace Chinatown, offering herby soup based offerings, presumably including the magical root that’s said to have amazing medicinal and body cleansing qualities. Because my body isn’t used to such things that would help my body, I go for a more conservative springy el dente, sticky translucent potato noodles, warmed from the topping of either a black bean or kim chi gravy with slices of roast pork. Cold corn tea for $1 is a great value proposition, a healthier alternative to the $1.20 ice tea from the Viet shop. Just one of the many things at Ginseng Plus a pit stop for a meal that will help purge the body.

2 / 5 yums!
------
Where? Lvl 1, 401 Sussex St, Sydney, NSW

Asian Night Noodle Market

It’s that time of the year again. No not when the ladies attempt to destroy the doors on the Lonsdale Street entrance of the Melbourne CBD Myer at the crack of dawn for the boxing day bargains or when the blokes decide to clear out the underwear drawer of garments which have lost their elasticity to be retired as grease cleaners for engine parts. It’s Sydney’s October Good Food Month and one of its most popular events, the Asian Night Noodle Market held in Hyde Park’s North. With every year, the setting becomes more and more spectacular, with streams of red paper lanterns lining the air above, colour changing globe light features and the hypnotic lounge music. With booze available and plastic chairs to make oneself comfortable, or the patches of grass in the surrounds, make it a night out under the stars with some grub from the south east. It might not quite be hawker style or hawker quality, but there are plenty of choices as the stalls do their best with their hands tied due to equipment restrictions. With almost every country covered, you’ll either have to have a number of stomachs equal to a cow to sample them all or return on other nights.

2.5 / 5 yums!
------
Where? Hyde Park North, Sydney, NSW
What? Dishes under $10





Left to Right : Char Kuay Teow, Chicken Satay, Satay Sauce, Mussels, Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab

Min Sok Chon

Another establishment in “little Korea” that is the Liverpool St precinct, Min Sok Chon is the saviour of many looking for a cheap, quality, late night feed. Chicken or beef bulgogi on a sizzling plate will arrive quicker than you can run 1500m and save you from that imminent hangover. This occasion was a little different, not reading the menu properly the stew pot beef bulgogi was ordered instead of the regular. The sweet aromas and flavours from the sweet soy sesame marinade apparent in the soup containing tender strips of cow, enoki and other vegetables. Seafood Kim Chi pancake, a floury eggy batter mixture of baby octopus, shrimp, squid, spring onion and chilli that’s pan fried is a good way to help the body soak up that alcohol and perk you up for the trip home. I’m good after that… anyone up for K-Mix around the corner?

3 / 5 yums!

------

Where? 1/116 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW

What? Average Main $10

Left to Right : Stew Bulgogi, Banchan, Seafood KimChi Pancake

Madang

When there’s hardly a word of English spoken at this packed back alley restaurant you start to feel a little out of place. I feel like an honorary Korean when they start speaking to me in their native tongue. Then get the blankest look when I ask for “one Bul Go Gi” in a thick Aussie accent. Least the staff are extremely friendly and willing to assist, unlike the sassy service at some of the neighbouring Korean joints. Like Ceci in Strathfield, also filled by the local Korean community, you sense that ex-pats come here for comfort food, something that reminds them of home. Look up the definition for benchmark and you’ll find this place for Korean food. From the spicy hotpots soups, the fun of DYI Korean BBQ, compulsory pork and kim chi pancake to the bul go gis, your guaranteed a treat. Disregard the chilli ratings at your peril, the Korean’s take their chilli very seriously. However if you want to lose your tongue, try a 3 chilli dish. I’ve never been to Korea but being here takes me there. My favourite Korean in Australia.

3.5 / 5 yums!

------

Where? 371A Pitt St, Sydney NSW

What? Entrees - $10, Rice and Meat $13, HotPots - $30, BBQ - $35

Left to Right : Nibbles, Pork and Kim Chi Pancake, Chicken Bul Go Gi, Beef Bul Go Gi, Fried Dumplings, Bi Bim Bab