Tag: korean bbq

Categories
Korean

Pork Over Flowers (꽃보다 삼겹)- Strathfield NSW Restaurant Review

Pork Over Flowers differs from most Korean BBQ restaurants in that it focuses on grilling a majority-pork based menu together with kimchi, bean sprouts, and shallots, allowing the rendered fat and meat juices to soak through the vegetables as they cook.

Banchan selection was broad, but was not refilled even though we fully cleared most of the plates.

We had the fresh pork belly set ($89) with an additional serving of pork neck ($26). The meat was cooked at the table for us, and just as advertised the rendered pork fat and meat juices did combine to add a umami flavour to the mix of kimchi, bean sprouts, and shallots. This was pretty good, and also a pretty novel experience for us three Chinese guys who hadn’t had broad experience in different styles of Korean BBQ.

The Kimchi Pancake ($25) was not as bad as people online indicated it would be. It certainly didn’t stand out, but reading what others hand said you would think that it was poisonous.

There is allegedly soft serve ice cream included for all customers at no extra cost, though the machine was not working during our visit.

One problem I do have is that I noticed while writing this review that this restaurant offers freebies for positive Google reviews, which I feel really defeats the purpose of the review process. It’s already hard enough to find nice places to eat with all the social media influencers with undeclared paid partnerships, but when the Google review system is gamed it makes it really unfair. (On that note we did witness like five Instagram girls spend an extremely long time taking photos of their mountain of food only to not eat it).

Categories
Japanese Korean

Suminoya – Sydney NSW Restaurant Review

My partner’s younger brother took us to his favourite Korean-run Japanese BBQ restaurant in Sydney. We had the $89 pp deluxe BBQ buffet with a 70 minute ordering window and a 90 minute seating time and access to the restaurant’s full selection of meat and non-meat foods. The meat quality was good, and he ordered a literal kilogram of wagyu straight off the bat, which was definitely too much, and kept us well occupied throughout the entire meal.

Alternative meats were of course available, and we did sample some pork jowl as well as some duck. I didn’t love the duck, which I found chewy. but respect that this could’ve been a result of my poor cooking skills.

We did eat other things. We had an unusually large amount of aburi wagyu nigiri (too rare for me), aburi salmon nigiri, one single slice of salmon sashimi (my partner had difficulty understanding the ordering quantities), some mushroom, some garlic butter, and all of the available desserts, of which the calpis jelly was our favourite.

It was overall a good experience, though I have a major complaint about this seemingly unnecessary charge for a new grille. Rather than pay the $2-3 per BBQ grill change on top of our already $267 bill between three, we just chose to have more cancer.

Why nickel and dime?

Suminoya
1 Hosking Pl, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9231 2177

Categories
Korean

Stoneage Korean BBQ – West Ryde NSW Restaurant Review

My partner and I have a lot of Korean BBQ, but it is rare for us to do it with actual Koreans. Recognising the experience of our senior Korean colleagues HWJ and CJP (both PGY8 medically and PGY30-ish Koreanly), we put our faith in them to lead the meal.

We started off with some pork belly. During this encounter I learned about the difference between the two main types of cooking surfaces used in Korean BBQ. The above pictured grill plate, contrasted with the mesh-type grill plate pictured below, is used preferentially for high-fat cuts like pork belly. The reason for this is that it has far fewer holes for fat to escape into the fire through, reducing the frequency of flare-ups. How did I sleepwalk through life not knowing this until now?

The second part of our highly-focused Korean BBQ experience was the rib eye. The meat was fresh and highly marbled – generally a delight to eat. Our friends knew exactly what they wanted meat-wise, and stuck with it. One pork option and one beef option, and both were very good.

The marinated baby octopus was cooked on the other type of grill – the same type as the beef – that allowed greater direct contact with the heat and more evaporation. I wasn’t a big fan of this octopus, despite it having been ordered at my request. They were large babies.

I just generally love steamed egg. (But I think BBQ Biwon‘s was softer and better)

This soft tofu chilli pot ($10) was cheap (commensurate with its lack of animal protein) but otherwise not much to write home about.

I enjoyed this cold noodle soup ($10) but wonder if in Korean culture these are not meant to be shared. One of my colleagues certainly acted like it was the personal order of the other colleague, but in the end no one stopped me from taking some. Actually very good value.

Other Feelings
The banchan was good, plentiful, and quickly resupplied. The grilles were swapped out meticulously, so as not to leave too much burnt char on them for too long. Service can therefore be considered to be quite good. We paid a total of $55 per person for a very big feed for four humans.

Would I come back? Why not. The nearby Juwon Butchery is also a great place to pick up some wagyu Korean BBQ cuts to take home for a repeat meal a few days down the track.

Stoneage Korean BBQ
1B Chatham Rd, West Ryde NSW 2114
0401 167 688

Categories
Korean

BBQ Biwon – Strathfield NSW Korean Restaurant Review

There was neither rhyme nor reason behind our choice to eat at BBQ Biwon amongst the 50 other Korean restaurants in Strathfield earlier this week. We just happened to luck into a good one with good prices.

Banchan selection was extensive. I was today years old when I discovered that I am allergic to all forms of raw crustacean – I ended up cooking the Yangnyeom Gejang on the grill instead.

The steamed egg was something I was keen to spend a few dollars on, but surprisingly came free with the BBQ meats. It was light and fluffy on the top, with the internal components just a little bit more textured. It felt warming and wholesome and reminded me of the steamed egg that I would make as a Asian child in Western Sydney.

While I’m told that BBQ Biwon’s BBQ sets are quite good value, we found that no set had a range that encompassed all three main animals – beef, pork, and chicken. As such we decided to order our portions individually. We had the Wagyu Rib Fingers ($27), Pork Belly (6 pieces for $21) and Soy Marinated Chicken Thigh ($22). Our first three slices of pork belly were placed onto our grill and following that we were essentially left to our own devices. The meat was of a normal quality for the price – the fact that the rib finger came from an alleged Wagyu cow made no difference to its taste. The pork belly was served with leaves, garlic, and green chilli pepper for wrapping.

The Beef Rib and Cabbage Stew ($18) was very large and filling. There was a huge amount of meat that we weren’t even able to finish. The flavour of the soup was good, and it was very nice and warming. It made me think of the difference between what Korean kids and non-Korean kids must think when their parents tell them they’re having soup for dinner. Korean soup is just four steps above a standard soup. I could totally recommend this soup alone as a quick and cheap and very filling meal.

VERDICT
4/5. I can recommend BBQ Biwon . We had a good and reasonably priced meal.

BBQ Biwon
42 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW 2135
(02) 8068 1221

Categories
Korean

Hanok Korean BBQ – Wollongong NSW Restaurant Review

The state opening up hospitality and businesses to COVID-19 vaccinated patrons only really makes sense if these venues are doing their due diligence in checking that their patrons are indeed vaccinaed. It always makes me feel uncomfortable a venue, which has reopened under strict legal conditions to minimise the spread and harm of COVID-19 within the community fails to check my vaccine status on entry. It’s not that checking would affect whether or not I myself would be let it, it’s that it introduces the possibility that those dining around me might have slipped in unvaccinated. The imaginary bubble of safety has burst.

Banchan was served with our waitress naming each individual side dish, something I’d not experienced before. Unfortunately no moves were made to refill these, despite them sitting empty for some time.

The marinated beef short rib was rock solid, as were the wagyu intercostals and pork jowl. While I can’t fault the quality of the meat on offer, it was clear looking at the prices that they were charging a bit more than you would expect to pay at the average Korean BBQ restaurant in Sydney.

The steamed egg rated low on my list of previously eaten steamed eggs. I didn’t feel like it was as soft as it could’ve been, but my partner could not pick the difference.

OVERALL VIBE
I think the overall vibe of the place is that the food is fine, but you would expect to either pay less or get more from a comparable restaurant in Sydney. In fact, BBQ Biwon in Strathfield (link will go live in like March 2022, the review is queued) will actually give you your steamed egg on the house if you order enough BBQ. Either way, I’m not pleased about the lack of COVID-19 safety.

Hanok Korean BBQ Wollongong
W119/200 Keira St, Wollongong NSW 2500, Australia
+61 433 962 959