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!

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So my first proper Korean food experience was in Perth a couple of months ago. We couldn't help but notice the vast amount of Korean restaurants scattered over Perth so we decided to try one for lunch towards the end of our trip.

Each table has a Korean BBQ in the centre, but we thought between the 2 of us we wouldn't be able to try a good variety of food to BBQ, so we just ordered off the menu.

I got the Jap Chae because it sounded so simple and delicious. And if it was a traditional favorite, there must be a reason why.
It didn't disappoint either, full of flavour, I could have eaten another one straight after it. The noodles were clear, glassy like but were a bit chewy. I really liked them, probably a bit too much capsicum for me but the beef was so tender. I need to find somewhere that serves this in Melbourne so I can get my fix.


My boy got the Kimchi Bokgum Bap because he wanted something with Kimchi in it to find out what it was all about.
This was a very nice dish, however very spicy... on the way in and out if you know what I mean ;)
He consumed a lot of fluid whilst eating this one because it was so spicy!

There are 2 Arirang restaurants:
91-93 Barrack Street, Perth
420 Hay Street, Subiaco

For the full menu and contact details head to: http://www.arirang.com.au/

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As I've mentioned before, my friends and I get together every now and then for an "International Cuisine Night".

We originally planned to go Lebanese, but the place we wanted to try had a $50 minimum per person on a Saturday night. With most of us on a budget we said "screw you!" and looked for a much cheaper option.

Korean was the cuisine of choice, and a quick scour of The Age website and we decided to try a place called Goshen.
I was quite excited at the chance to try Korean food again, as I had tried it when I was over in Perth. Possibly even try Korean BBQ if anyone else wanted to try it with me.


We arrived and were greeted pleasantly by a waiter and were promptly shown our table.
First impressions were good, the atmosphere was nice, the place was clean and filled with lots of people eating away.
We received complimentary water and received our menus. The menu didn't have much variety though. It was practically the same dish but with a different type of meat, weather it be chicken, beef, prawns, etc. We even had trouble differentiating between half the stuff on the menu.

I was quite eager to try "Bibimbap" after seeing Food Safari.
Wikipedia defines Bibimbap as: is a popular Korean dish. The word literally means "stirred/mixed rice" or "stirred/mixed meal." For a full description go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap

However, when we received it, it was nothing like what I was expecting. It was more simplified for the Australian pallet it would seem. It was tasty, but I was expecting more vegetables and the egg on top.


The other dish which was chicken in a hot pot with vegetables was rather tasty. Not sure if was traditional Korean but it was good. The only difference between this and the Bibimbap was this didn't have rice.


The vegetarians however we extremely impressed with their tofu-salad. The presentation was even a work of art.


The Kimchi pankcake seemed to be the only thing that had Kimchi in it, despite Kimchi being the most popular side dish in Korea. Some people can't even eat a meal without having Kimchi to accompany it.
This was brought to the table and cut like a Margarita pizza in front of us. It apparently was pretty bland, and non spicy.

If you are looking for authentic Korean, I doubt you are going to find it here. They don't even have Korean BBQ which I thought was standard in Korean restaurants. Prices are reasonable, service is about average. We had to chase up 1 dish that seemed to have gotten lost.

Bookings however I assume are essential. Probably good for people who want to ease their way into Korean cuisine.

Goshen
189 Smith St, Fitzroy
9419-6750

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