"History will be kind to us, because we will write it"
Kimchi in Dickson is one of those restaurants I’ve peered through the window of for a while now but never managed to eat at.
Last night GoosePig and I gave it a go and were pretty impressed.
A word of warning though, not being au fait with Korean fine dining we made some mistakes and you can probably expect to as well.
The staff, while very friendly and attentive, had a failure of imagination that anyone could not already know what to do with all the little things they brought out to accompany dinner.
If, like me, you rather like trying new things, then it’s a bit of fun.
We discovered after eating our fried pork and vegetable dumplings (delicious) that the dipping sauce was meant to go with them.
Even before the dumplings arrived however our BBQ dishes were underway on the cooktop in the middle of our table.
Some Korean BBQ joints have you cook your own, but at Kimchi staff swooped in at appropriate intervals to turn things, move things around, chop things up, and let us know when it was safe to use the steel chopsticks to grab tasty bites off the hotplate.
We had pork ribs and beef (they have a minimum two serve order on the BBQ) and they were frankly delicious.
Combined with Korean Hite beer (for some reason on the menu cheaper than domestic brands) it made for a great dinner.
With loads of drinks we were well stuffed for $66.
So it’s delicious, it’s bewildering, and it’s good fun.
Combined with a window seat to snark from safety at passersby down Woolley Street and you’ve got the makings of a good night.
Their number is 02 6248 7705.
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Cheers boys. Will be my next lunch or dinner outing place.
Have been looking for a close to genuine Korean BBQ eatery outside of Eastwood, Sydney.
The place looks authentic, based on the article’s photo.
I actually like the idea that they expect you to know how to juggle your condiments, which only means that they have something that pleases actual Koreans.
(I have this philosophy that if a restaurant of culture X is not filled with people from X then it is probably not a good X-ese / X-ian restaurant.)
Korean custom is to put the whole dumpling, piece of meat etc in your mouth in one go. Dont bite your food in half as that is considered rude.
Ate said :
Meh, if I’ve paid for it I’ll eat it how I please. I think the superfluous customs of Western dining etiquette are just as stupid. I mean, if I’ve gone in and paid for a nice Korean meal then I obviously find the food appealing, and I’m obviously not a Korean person, having them crack the sh*ts for not following their cultural dining etiquette seems a bit rich.
Great korean food, great prices, always busy, – you have to book, and I can highly recommend the kimchi pancakes, bibimbap and hotpots. For a family of four we can eat out for around $60 (vege pancake and large beef and dumpling hotpot and rice). As to following Korean customs they are incredibly polite people and it is always a mind opening experience to share in another countries food and to try and understand a few of there manners – certainly their polite way is not going to harm you.
I do hope that is a stock photo and that two people didn’t eat that much meat.
My only waiting experience was at a Korean restaurant many years ago where I was taught ‘traditional Korean cooking’ at the table by a revolting (and non-Korean) boss in about ten minutes, and then had to cook for real customers using a ‘magic seasoning’. I had to wear a ‘traditional’ Korean costume.
I do not look Korean, knew nothing about Korea, and the food was awful. Dessert was tinned fruit.
This sounds much better.
poetix said :
That was about half the meat. And didn’t we love every bit of it!
JB, I’d love you to own that little pink car with the P plates on it.
Chop71 said :
sadly not I!
Tried our first Korean restaurant a few days ago in Melb. – at the time I thought the steel chopsticks were just an affectaion of the restaurant, but after noticing the reference in the review I googled it up.
Turns out it’s very much a Korean thing along with the use of a spoon for drippy bits, and that the usage etiquette is completely different to what I’m used to (don’t pick up the bowl, eating rice with chopsticks is for peasants etc) all of which means I must have looked like a complete tool to the waitstaff. We did inadvertently follow the “elders eat first” rule, but that’s only because I was hungrier than the other two.
The food itself was delicious and looked similar to JB’s – would definitely eat again!
Sounds damn good – thanks for reviewing.
johnboy said :
‘He who eats three pigs can not ride in the piglet car.’
We did it last year with 4.
Food is all good, a few spicy things but you really just have to go with it and enjoy the korean experience.
Its also very affordable for the amount of work they do.
The place is pretty small though, so booking would be an idea.
Originally we were going to goto the gunners Korean place thinking they did the Korean bbq, but they were booked out so we went to Hangari Kimchi instead. We later ventured out to the other one that was previously booked out but its not nearly as good.
I would love to find a nice Thai place on the southside. I’ve heard that 2 sisters is not too bad
Love Korean BBQ! Looking forward to trying this one out. Also pleased to note the little side dishes indicate authentic Korean fare (echoing Jivrashia – Eastwood is also where I go for my Korean food fix).
Was there any vegan options on the menu???
Along with a couple of mates I had Kimchi at a very upmarket restaurant in Pusan in Korea in 1997 after a very arduous week at sea. It was bloody fantastic, and I can still remember that meal all these years later.
I’ve dined at Hangari, and while it’s not as good as that particular place I wouldn’t expect it to be. Hangari has great food served in an interesting way at good prices. Try it, you’ll like it.
Sounds great.
“…snark from safety…”
Typical Canberran!
FreddyVegan said :
I took a vegan broad to a Korean BBQ once, she left hungry, and soon realised we had very different sense of humour.
Diggety said :
Oh lucky her, you sound like a real charmer.
FreddyVegan said :
Correct. Diggety’s charm was quite potent and she did indeed get lucky!
Diggety said :
Was that when you found out she had different sense of humour?
Conan of Cooma said :
Actually, I should have said Yogi, as some Canberrans aren’t actually from here!
gumby34 said :
In fact, this is half the fun of trying new things like this.
FreddyVegan said :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfa8S2ETogo
rosscoact said :
Haha burn
rosscoact said :
Well played sir!
Might be worth trying – at least once.
Is it a worthy (i.e. better) replacement for the original Korean BBQ restaurant, Koreana in Dickson?
Might put a vote in for Arirang in Gungahlin (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/344/1577012/restaurant/ACT/Gungahlin/Arirang-Canberra) and their related Japanese restaurant KoKoRo (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/344/1714362/restaurant/ACT/Kokoro-Gungahlin).
Of course, as a non-Korean married to a Korean, I get to eat Korean at home (and in Korea) quite a lot so have a bit of a fussy Australian-European-Korean palate; YMMV!
hotwaterservice said :
I liked the DIY fun of Koreana, but for mine this tasted better.
Jim Jones said :
Good thing I am not a vegetarian then!
FreddyVegan said :
They like to crack eggs over every bit of exposed vegetable. Also, the airspace inside tends to have a gaseous layer of meat around nose height exuding from the the table grills.
I doubt you’d want to be anywhere near a Korean BBQ Freddy.