Last night I had a random dinner catch up. It was organised at very short notice, with a mix of people. Eight of us headed down to a Korean BBQ place in Clayton, not knowing what to expect. I phoned ahead the day before to book, and we had some issues with spelling my name, but once that was sorted we were booked in!
When I go to a restaurant I like to try a traditional or specialised drink relating to the cuisine of choice. This time it was a cinnamon punch. I was expecting something warm but it was cold and came in a can. If you have ever had the cinnamon flavoured chewing gum, this is what this drink tastes like. It wasn't fizzy, it was more like a Lipton ice tea with a strong cinnamon flavour. Some people at the table commented that it was very sweet, but it went really well with the Korean food.

Most people on the table got the Korean BBQ, but my friend Kiran and I went for some noodles.

We had Jap Chae. I knew these would be good because I had them in Perth during my first Korean food experience. The glass noodles have a weird texture, and a lovely sesame oil flavour. We ordered one for Kiran without beef as she is vegetarian. It is always nice when a place can cater easily for vegetarians. We shared these around the table and everyone enjoyed them and their weird texture.

Onto the Korean BBQ:

First an arrangement of condiments arrived. From left to right: Kimchi, beansprouts, coleslaw, rice noodles, potato.

Then the meat was placed on the grill. For those who don't' know anything about Korean BBQ, there is a hotplate in the middle of the table for you to cook on.

This was BBQ Combo B. Clockwise from the left; beef, pork, calamari and chicken.
None of us knew Korean BBQ etiquette so we watched what other people where doing. We gave our meats a few stirs around, but then the waiter came and took all the meat off the grill when it had been cooked enough.

He then came to cook the fried rice on the hotplate:

The fried rice was not your normal Chinese fried rice. This rice had onions, spring onions and lots of Kimchi. It was rather spicy for some diners at the table, whilst others really liked it. There was a nice crust that formed on the hot plate, similar to a paella crust.

If you are going here with a bunch of people. BBQ combo B only feeds about 2-3 people. You can try to pad it out with fried rice but I'd just recommend getting another serve if there are more than 3 of you.

Finally we received the bill, written mostly in Korean, we had fun trying to figure out what we had ordered!

Pretty good, $114.00 for 8 people. Service is a challenge sometimes with language barriers, so just take it slow and they will understand. Looking forward to my next Korean meal!