Wednesday 8 August 2012

Korean Chapter 1. Verse 3. Sinabro (Francis Street)

Some of you might remember this restaurant premise used to be El Toro - a Balkan steak house with one of the most intriguingly cheesy escargots I've had in Perth. Sadly, it closed down - it seemed like an odd location and didn't seem to do too well over the years. Rarely saw anyone there...

Happily after it closed down, Sinabro grew to replace it as an icon! The actual charcoal a la carte Korean BBQ in the backyard is very authentic - comes with your Korean speaking waiters and minimal English! Which is always fun!

The buffet, reasonalby priced, has a lot of variety from pre-cooked hot foods (japchae etc) to raw ingredients. The table grill pan allows you to do a steamboat / stew style (there's a little bowl/pot in the middle of the grill) as well as hotplate BBQ grill style. They also have uncooked manduk, so you can boil yourself at your table.

The meat comes marinated or au naturel. The ox tongue is sometimes a hit and miss depending how thickly they're sliced, I prefer the thinner the better. Instant two second grill action - juice and tender. Not huge on pre-marinaded meats but this

Great place to have a group thing. Date-wise, guys not a wise idea unlessy you want to come out smelling like BBQ meats or unless the girls like that sort of eaux de boeuf!

Food wise, if I go for all-you-can-eat, I always do a spciy stew soup, using the kimchee, sauces and other raw ingredients to create a seafood based soup and then cook tofu and vegies in.

Personally I like turning the mussels over faced down using it's shell to steam/grill in its own juices!

Sinabro on Urbanspoon

Photos comming soon.

Weight gain was inevitable...

I tell myself this because I've gotten lazy... I still eat out quite a bit. Yet I haven't posted up anything for a long time - Facebook is detrimental to my food blog. I post it on FB and then I forget about updating Blogger, let alone keep up with my Urbanspoon account. My silly little iPhone is filled with photos of food, even the once I've cooked/tried out. (e.g. Cumulus Inc. does Brussel Sprouts soooo delicious... so I tried it for myself - my variation is obviously not up to that sort of standard but friends have given positive reviews). Speaking of which I have Brussel sprouts at home, that might be tonight's re-hash dish and I'll post it.

I've had 2 more short holidays since going away to Melbourne in the last two months - Dunsborough & Margaret River so there's food reviews coming for those areas too. Gods, that's quite a backlog. Not to mention Matsumo Japanese Omakaze!

Ok enough tantalising prospects of food, more "healthy eating". I have gained at least 4 kg - no I did not weight myself, I can tell when my favourite skirts get a bit tighter around the waist line. *sigh* So instead of "eating", I'm going to focus on "making". See my Thermomix blog for cooking stuff - which I will keep posting.

Oh and my friend introduced me to iPad app games... I have such an addictive personality - was soooo late for work this morning. Ok I overslept too but that was because I was working on a baking project (which will be posted here after the weekend). It's a surprise... *GRINS*

Thursday 2 August 2012

Korean Chapter 1. Verse 2. Took Bae Kee 2 (Barrack Street, Perth)

I have had half the menu here, there's not much I haven't tried. Which makes it hard to summarize in one review. I'm pretty much a regular.

TBK2 is a branch off the Pier Street's Took Begi Korean Restaurant. The soupy stuff all moved over to Barrack Street once TBK2 was up and running (this would have been a couple of years back now).

I'm a loyal fan. Honestly speaking it's value for money!
What you get:
@ Lunch: 4 starters/nibble trays of kimchee, pickled bean sprouts & variety of other two side dishes (love the marinated lotus roots and the cripsy seaweed and the soy beans...) oh it's endless varieties!
@ Dinner: this becomes 6 side dishes!

I recommend trying the set meals during lunch - as they're usualy discounted to $11 or $12
Pork Ribs - mild spice
Kimchee tofu & slice pork soup

Shared dinner - hotpot/steamboat Korean style: the Kimchee & Sliced pork is hearty and very fufilling!

Ambience: I like the rowdy, slight smokey-ness so I'm giving it 5! It's not as smokey as Tong86, Seoul Korean BBQ or Sinabro can get so that's a plus on a work day! It's a casual dinner place, don't expect the Ritz!
Service: 3-4 out of 5 (this depends on when, sometimes they're so busy they forget your drink order. Other days the leading waitress remembers your usual order and gets it right without you saying much at all!).
Food: 5 stars! I don't give full marks often.or at all. The kimchee is a bit more tart and not as spicy as some may like it. It's up to personal preference.
Took Bae Kee II on Urbanspoon

Photos later