The proliferation of Korean barbeque joints makes us dream of summer nights spent tossing bulgogi just on the patio grill. Cafes are now offering kimchi, and high-end restaurants are dehydrating gochujang into a tuile-like crispy to sprinkle over salmon fillets. Melbourne, get ready to be shocked: Korean cuisine has gone mainstream and is lighting up Melbourne like such a fireworks display.
Only three fermented ingredients are used in authentic Korean cooking. You'll need salty components, as well as a dark red chili paste that is somewhat grainy and spicy enough to make your mouth tingle, as well as an acidic brown oilseed paste. There are innumerable possible dinners that may be made with only just three flavours.
Bibimbap, barbeque, & bulgogi would make excellent first orders of business. Bibimbap, a traditional Korean delicacy, consists of rice topped with a colourful array of veggies that has been cooked individually, then spreading out on over and crowned by egg yolk.
Koreans love japchae, which is made with potato noodles & julienned veggies stir-fried in olive oil & soy sauce. The major component or spicy sauce in jjigae, a traditional Korean noodle soup dish, is what sets it apart from similar dishes.
Though Korean fried chicken has only been a staple in Korean cuisine that since Korean conflict in the 1950s, one can find a crispy shop on every other intersection in Seoul, and not-so-secret spice hit arrives courtesy the gochujang. In contrast, bulgogi is the star of charcoal barbeques.
The health benefits of Korean food are an extra bonus. For his first business venture, Korean expat Min Hui Lee, now living in the UK, has opened Frying Colours, which will launch in Kensington next week. Koreans are some of the world's hardest working people, yet they also happen to be some of the world's biggest smokers and drinkers.
The typical Korean lunch is a lavish spread of colourful dishes that combine savoury and sweet, rich and light, animal and vegetable flavours in harmonious harmony. Some meal pairings, like vitamin C & iron, have been proposed as ways to boost nutrient absorption. There are beneficial bacteria and yeasts in fermented foods that aid digestion and boost the immune system.
Top Korean Restaurants In Melbourne
Why, then, is Korean cuisine suddenly all the rage in Melbourne?
Even more so, why do this now? Korean food has been increasingly popular in the United States, and this trend is eventually going to spread to Australia. In 2013, the first Korean Food Festival took across Times Square with stalls of delicacies and K-pop lovers. Another American chef is Chef Roy Choi of a Kogi Korean taco truck.
An ever-growing Korean community in Melbourne ensures that city will eventually be flooded with K-pop, Korean films, and kimchi.
At the time, restaurants in Melbourne are more likely to cater to a certain food trend than to provide cuisine from a particular region. The best places to hone your soju slam skills are late night snack bars. Any of the many barbeque restaurants that use coal to cook their meat will satisfy your craving for trendy K-food or classic inexpensive eats.
Jan Chi Korean Feast
Voucher fashion used to be centred on Bridge Road, but times have been tough for retailers in recent years, and the once-bustling street has gradually become a mound of tumbleweeds. Among the many boutique hotels that have taken on Richmond's pricey and historically unpopular real estate, Jan Chi is a shining example.
Jan Chi means "to feast" in Korean, which is appropriate given that the restaurant's signature dish is a 530-gram dish of slow-cooked Angus short rib.
Owners Scott Ryu and SJ Min aren't merely riding the wave of popularity for Korean food by updating classic recipes. Ryu worked as a cook at two of New York's most innovative restaurants, MASA and Momofuku Ssam. Then he went to Melbourne, when he spent time at Lucy Lui or the Cinnamon Temple. This establishment is normally reserved for more sombre occasions, but the two of them are bringing her combined conservative ideals and reckless party attitude.
We may have previously said this, but the slow-cooked short rib comes highly recommended. It's just the right size for a family of four to spread out and enjoy a home-cooked meal together while also enjoying an assortment of side dishes.
Tender short rib is coated in a soy sauce enriched with pears & apples and served besides a crisp salad containing the same fruits. You could just eat it by itself, but the framed photos on the wall suggest wrapping it in a basket of ssam veggies, which typically consist of a mix of lettuces of strong, bitter greens. Serve with some fresh kimchi you prepared yourself. Salmon slices marinated in premium soju are served with pickled cucumber and a sweet-spicy gochujang & yuja vinaigrette to cut through the richness.
Crispiness is added by rice puffs and cryo mandarin crumbs. Fried chicken is an essential part of any Korean meal, including the most traditional feast. Jan Chi's are fried in an unbreakable batter that retains its crunch despite being rolled in a blend of spices called "Yum Yum," and are served inside a serving size of six. There is even more truth here.
You can stick with the traditional, dry fare, or add some sweetness with some sugary treats and a splash of garlic oil if you choose. Fried rice cakes topped with a flavorful sauce paste sauce and flavoured just with chopped kale, crispy onions, and grated cheese may sound like an unusual combination, but they're actually rather tasty. Worried that you won't be able to decide what to eat. Either for $40 or $55, you can order anything off the banquet's menu.
China
Similar to the Jigawa Food Truck in Los Angeles, Chimac offers Mexican-Korean fusion fare. Bulgogi and kimchi are popular toppings for ta-kors, and quesadillas can be customised with the addition of the fermented cabbage dish. K-classics such fried chicken and shrimp pancakes are among the many other delicious drinks available.
Gami Chicken & Beer
True to form, the can's recommended pairing of chicken and beer. Intoxicated people, especially individuals who have been consuming soju, are abundant. Prior to performing at the nearby karaoke establishment, they drink it down with a couple cold ones plus half a platter of fried chicken.
Chae
In contrast to the common practise in the West of washing down one's meal with a few drinks, the Koreans have such a word for what we call "mingling": "melbourne." Chae in Brunswick may be small, but it's bringing a new aspect of Korean food to the table with their sticky soy garlic fried chicken wings & thin strips pf veal sizzling on the a Korean barbeque.
Since word of Chae's little eatery spread, she's been obliged to start taking names for a waitlist in preparation for the June reopening. Why then is it the topic of so much discussion, then? The food is unquestionably a big part of the experience.
Her own kombucha, kimchi, hot sauce, and vinegar are as neatly packaged as her delicious meals.
She has experience at high-end restaurants like Cutler & Co and Lûmé, and it shows in her fast plating and plain white apron.
Sesame oil from Chae's Korean sister's farm adds a pleasant note to the mushroom japchae. Glass noodles are interlaced with thin slices of delicately charred, rare, and blushing wagyu steak, solidly, shimeji, royal oyster, & pine ear mushrooms, and a drizzle of nutty essential oils or Chae's spicy nordhaus soy sauce.
Chae's favourite sweet is book jjim, which consists of a cooked pear with the core taken and a filling of jujube, julienned ginger, & walnut jochung. Don't let the pear's apparent heat deter you from enjoying the spiced, herbal nectar once it has cooled.
Chae hopes that one day her sponsor, who assists out with the restaurant's management, will be able to quit his current job. Watch the list and wait patiently until it's your turn.
Gami Chicken And Beer
You can dispute the hype machine any way you want, but Gami has been featured on multiple "best fried chicken in Melbourne" lists over the past few years.
Since launching their initial store in 2006 in Carnegie, Gami has spread their popular Korean fried chicken to seven more locations within and around Melbourne.
Visit Gami Chicken with a big party and for $35 you can purchase a full chicken or a keg or beer for $64 that will feed up to four people, dependent on how much they drink. It is recommended that you combine two or even more flavours to create your own unique taste.
Stick with the classic fried chicken and skip the saucy selections if you want maximum crispness. To complement the delicately flavoured batter, try Gami's home beer, the beautifully crisp Gun Woo Pale Ale, created exclusively for the eatery.
The marinade's balance of sweet soy & savoury garlic makes the fatty soy garlic component a favourite. It's best to dive in as soon as it hits the plate, while it's still piping hot.
Don't forget the condiments, but be aware that there aren't many raw options. Corn bread tastes just like corn bread, while kim pancake is just a vegetable omelette with some additional tang to cut thru the greasiness. Gami deserves special praise for thinking of selling fried soy meat at a Vegas concession stand.
The chickenless alternative goes particularly well with the spicy sauce and crispy batter. The food is prepared to assure a good time, even if service is sloppy during peak periods.
Spicy Korea
One of the very few places in Melbourne to get yukgaejang, a hearty soup made with red rice, kimchi, and a spicy beef broth.
You must try the fried chicken, bulgogi, & bibimbap when in Korea. Meals can be enjoyed at the restaurant, or ordered for takeout or delivery.
Joomla
You didn't notice any advertisements about the fun to be had in Joomak. Workers of "Team Joomak" deliver rice-wine or people cocktails to groups of young (mainly Korean) people seated on cheap stools or crammed into booths.
After the sixth cocktail, a gloopy rice cake resembling gnocchi loaded with shrimp, feta, and much more cheese is a welcome sight. Soups, casseroles with pig or squid in spicy sauce, biscuits, and other baked goods are also available.
Two
We've combined the best of both worlds with our Melbourne take on traditional Korean barbeque.
The restaurant's owner family consists of an interior decorator, a artist, as well as a chef who all contributed to the establishment's chic atmosphere. Customers order individual pieces to be delivered to their table, where they can grill their own cuts of marinated beef.
The pig package comes with 8 belly curls marinated in different flavours, in addition to some tasty fried appetisers & banchan.
Yong Green Food
At the end of 2009, we launched Yong Green Foods. The restaurant was a huge success thanks to its innovative menu, which featured raw and whole foods with influences like Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, & Italian cooking.
With its novel and incredibly healthy food, the restaurant quickly gained notoriety and, in less than a year, took home its first major culinary award.
The successful pair is riding high and has no plans to slow down. The Lees are nearing completion of a healthy lifestyle dinner menu to augment the existing one. Items like fried lotus root, pickled daikon, and chia seed-based imitation tuna will be available on the new menu.
The raw cuisine is entirely organic, vegan, and gluten-free, including their unique raw sage dish. Additionally, the Lees' homemade almond milk and strawberry smoothies, as well as a selection of unique Asian teas, are available for purchase.
Popular cooked delicacies include the housemaid grilled gyoza, chickpea kora and beetroot nut dip, as well as the Korean BBQ with faux meat. These desserts are all vegan-friendly and low in fat. We arrived too late for the tea leaves ganache, but still the flavoured soy drink with excellent, chewy red beans was indeed a close second.
Woo Ga
Woo Ga is among a small cluster of authentic barbeque joints on the other side of Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne's perhaps most Korean neighbourhood. Every wall is covered in wood panelling, and strong black vents get rid of any sauna feel. We serve at least three distinct cuts of beef in our "combos," together with rice, soup, and a selection of sides, for a really immersive dining experience.
Going The Palace
In terms of Korean barbeque, guhng is the truffle of all gastronomic delights. The restaurant on McKillop St. has a front that has been designated as a heritage site, and it is decorated to resemble a 19th-century tavern replete with slamming beer flags as well as a matronly hostess delivering meals.
The restaurant may have a vintage facade, but the inside is all new. Modern Asian fixtures, such as red mesh pendant lights, enliven the exposed brick and stone walls. Exhaust pipes of Korean barbeque restaurants tend to be a shiny brass tint, giving them a futuristic appearance.
Guhng sells barbeque sets suitable for hosting large gatherings because traditional Korean grilling is supposed to be enjoyed by many people at once. For example, four moderately hungry meat eaters can be comfortably satiated by an Angus set.
Cuts range from lean to fatty, starting with a cubed roll of beautifully marbled Angus sliced more than a pot of smoking charcoal. Beef is sliced thinly and grilled over hot coals until the fat sizzles and melts, at which point the meat is removed while still juicy.
The black pepper herb steak tenderloin is best when cooked to a moderate temperatures, and even then, a quick dip inside the light sweet condiments and chilli flakes from the condiments is highly recommended.
The charcoal should be nice and smokey before you add the bulgogi, and the leafy greens and royal brown broccoli will serve as a good palate cleanser.
Thinly sliced beef marinated in argan oil & sweet soy makes a very tender dish that may be ready in just a few minutes.
Sundubu jjigae is an irresistible hot pot soup. This scalding soup features silken tofu, mussels, and an egg cracked into the pot just before serving. Red rice could be used as an entree or a side dish in this dish.
Bistro K
Bistro K is a trendy bar with a fusion of European and Korean dishes in a laid-back, urban atmosphere. Salmon bibimbap on top with such a poached egg & sous-vide pork belly with soy-citron sauce accompanied with iphone x & kimchi chips are just two examples of the delicious bar food that can be enjoyed over a soju-based beverage or a beer.
Chick-In
A short hallway leads to Chick-in, Richmond's junior sibling to the more well-known Seoul Soul. At the communal tables, people listen to Korean fusion music as they dine. Boneless pieces of fried chicken, as one might expect from the name, are the speciality here. They're as crunchy like popcorn and so as wonderful as ever.
Try it with a side of fries that have been covered in kimchi, cheese, sour cream, and more. Try to put off eating it until late and pair it with a beer.
The copper oxide and wooden Korean eatery serves excellent fried chicken, Brunswick Stout, and Kenny G songs. In this part of the world, you can get chicken cooked in any imaginable way. We can't wait to come back and try the Korean roast chicken, which we would gladly have in the form of wings coated in a sweet soy sauce.
Melbourne Bornga
This traditional restaurant serves as a fine illustration of the culinary landscape. Bornga has the same owners and chef as its predecessor Myeong ga-Madang, but the menu has expanded to include Chinese dishes. Typical fare during Bonga gatherings includes savoury pancakes that are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, mandu, and home-cooked meals. Right across the corner is a karaoke bar, the perfect place to let free and sing their heart out.
Seoul Soul Plus
Embedded corn in a hot beverage that fills mugs to the brim. Indeed, this husky, buttery delicacy really exist, and it tastes precisely as you'd expect. In the newer, much larger and pinker Seoul Soul establishment, the staff's lovely tiny outfielders are available to ease the pain of the fiery bulgogi.
There are four half-communal tables arranged along the room's length, with simple block dividers separating the sexes like aisles of produce at a grocery store. Almost everything that made the most inviting Korean restaurant on Victoria Street so outstanding is still available at its new location on High Street in Northcote.
The dinner buckets have just as cute titles and seem just as spectacular, complete with cereal, salad, thin slices but fairly sizzled meats or soy, an abundance of pickles, & spring rolls. Party favours are often bottles of kimchi or additional pickles.
We always get the bibimbap, even if it's simply because they enquire so enthusiastically each time we come if we've had it before. Naturally, we usually say no, which prompts someone to pour copious amounts of spicy chilli sauce over the rice, meats, pickles, the sunny-yolked egg in the hot stone bowl before mixing it for you as your mum would.
At lunch, you can get tender dumplings, and at dinner, you can get grilled dishes like prawns. Even though the home is devoid of moisture, this simply adds to its appeal.
Gangnam Pocha
Any night out in Gangnam Pocha has the possibility of turning into a raucous party. It's open each evening until 2 a.m., blasts K-pop the whole time, and boasts a cocktail menu that's almost as extensive.
In certain cases, like with a rice-wine sorbet, the drinks are served alongside the food. Post-war American influence can be seen in staples like kimchi, ham, cheese, & noodle stew (budae jjigae), crunchy muffins, and bibimbap with simply a crunchy base.
Conclusion
A growing number of Melbourne eateries are serving Korean dishes including kimchi, gochujang, and bulgogi. Genuine Korean cuisine makes use of three fermented ingredients: salty components, a dark red chilli paste, and an acidic brown oilseed paste. Frying Colours, founded by Korean expat Min Hui Lee and set to debut in Kensington next week, will open its doors to the public on August 1. It's not uncommon for a normal Korean lunch to feature a rainbow-hued variety of dishes that expertly balance salty and sweet, fatty and light, meaty and veggie flavours. Fermented foods contain live cultures of bacteria and yeasts that help digestion and strengthen the immune system.
The first Korean Food Festival was held in 2013 and has since become a celebration of the city of Melbourne's growing interest in Korean food. K-pop, Korean movies, and kimchi will flood Melbourne thanks to the city's burgeoning Korean community. If you're looking for regional cuisine, you'll be hard pressed to find it at Melbourne's restaurants. The 530-gram serving of slow-cooked Angus short rib at Jan Chi Korean Feast is a prime example of this trend. It comes with a crisp salad comprising the same fruits and is coated in a soy sauce that has been supplemented with pears and apples. A family of four will have plenty of room to relax and savour a home-cooked meal there.
Content Summary
- Kimchi is now available in cafes, while gochujang is being dehydrated into a tuile-like crunchy for use on salmon fillets at fine dining establishments.
- Prepare to be astounded, Melburnians: Korean food has hit the mainstream and is illuminating the city like a fireworks display.
- In traditional Korean cookery, just three fermented ingredients are employed.
- There are an infinite number of supper combinations conceivable with only three flavours.
- It would be a great idea to start with some bibimbap, some barbeque, and some bulgogi.
- There is a crispy store on seemingly every corner in Seoul, and the not-so-secret spice hit comes courtesy of gochujang, albeit Korean fried chicken has only been a staple in Korean cuisine since the Korean conflict of the 1950s.
- Yet, charcoal barbeques really shine when it comes to bulgogi.
- The fact that eating Korean food can improve your health is a nice perk.
- Frying Colours, owned by Korean immigrant Min Hui Lee and located in Kensington, London, is Lee's first business venture.
- Nonetheless, despite their reputation as hard workers, Koreans also rank among the world's top consumers of tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
- It's not uncommon for a normal Korean lunch to feature a rainbow-hued variety of dishes that expertly balance salty and sweet, fatty and light, meaty and veggie flavours.
- The popularity of Korean cuisine in the United States indicates that it will soon become widely consumed Down Under.
- Thousands of food vendors and K-pop fans flocked to Times Square for the inaugural annual Korean Food Festival in 2013.
- With its rapidly expanding Korean population, Melbourne is doomed to become a glut of K-pop, Korean cinema, and kimchi.
- If you're looking for some trendy K-food or some classic cheap grub, stop by one of the many barbeque restaurants that uses coal to roast their meat.
- The restaurant's main dish is a 530-gram portion of slow-cooked Angus short rib, and the name Jan Chi means "to feast" in Korean.
- Innovating on traditional Korean recipes isn't just a fad that Scott Ryu and SJ Min are riding to success.
FAQs About Korean Food In Melbourne
Since 1986, KOREA FOOD Pty. Ltd. has been the leading importer and distributor of Australia's finest Korean grocery lines. And We opened a Melbourne branch in 2014. KOREA FOOD Pty. Ltd. is the main company to recognise the potential of this market and organise a principal role in supplying it.
Because Korea is a peninsula, seafood is also very popular. The Koreans have perfected preserving food, so many side dishes are picked, fermented or salted, and many are spicy. Kimchi, Korea's famous spicy cabbage, which has over a hundred varieties using different vegetables, is a constant of every meal.
Regardless of the differences between the cultures, we still have that one thing that binds us all together - the need for communion, belonging and sharing. Another interesting thing about Korean culture is the food markets.
It may not be as established as Chinatown, but this little pocket of the city is fast making a name for itself. Find your own slice of South Korea along Healeys Lane, the west end of Little Lonsdale Street and part of Spencer Street.
In 1971, the census showed fewer than 500 Korean people living in Australia. At that time, Korean was certainly not one of the new cuisines making waves. The first Korean restaurant, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, was Korean House, opened in 1975 in William Street by accountant Myongho Pak.
