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!



Photos comming soon.

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.

Photos later

Korean Chapter 1. Verse 1. Tong 86 (Beaufort Street, Northbridge)

What can I say this is one of my comfort eats. It's just comfortable to go there, any day and get a table and fast service. Although sometimes the staff doesn't really speak a very great deal of English, but I like accented waitstaff (as long as they bring me my order promptly). And everything is prompt, unless you want re-fills and this could take a while. You can do a lot of self-service, and just indicate to the boss you did it and what table number. I like the ring bell for service thing too (unless I'm sitting under the speaker).

The neko co. has tried nearly everything on the menu, from all of the portions of meats to the soups and stews. We also go there for the projected K-pop MTV, it's been on repeat for a while. So no new stuff. Just adds ethnic authenticity to the experience I guess. They don't wear gimicky Korean outfits but the food is just as authentic.

The factory feel here is convenient and evolving. Interesting comments and tiddie-bits are written and drawn all over the walls. There's a few rude artworks too, if you can find them. Add your mark, permanent markers are provided. The hanging bottle cap thing is very Korean casual eatery style. There's a lot of bottle cap drinking games a la Korean style. The shochu is cheap, you can mix your own chu-hai (order a fruity drink and self-mix). The makkoli (draft rice wine) takes getting used to if you've never tried something like it before. I like it, it's easier to drink - but it's slightly yoghurty. A bit like calpis / calpico but alcoholic. A friend of mine has called it toilet wash liquid before, but then I don't know when he had the opportunity to drink toilet wash.

Favourites:
the kimchee pancake - although not as great as Took Bae Kee 1 or 2. This is still fantastic in colour!
the ox tongue - alwasy a fav, especially good when you can see a speckling of fat and the slices are thin
the intercostals - not all people like the chewyness, but I find this is the easiest to cook with enough pink inside to taste juicey
the mushrooms - grilled mushrooms
the side dishes - the pickled spring onions is delicious with cooked slices of meat.
steamed egg - yes I know it sounds simple but you have to try this. The soup that you can spoon up in this is delicious. Fluffy yet substantial in flavour!

Traditionally the pork belly would be the top of the list, but I find the ones here are now more often very fatty. And I don't personally recommend the neck chain... it's harder to cook right and tastes a bit tougher.

I've also tryed the fish cake soup - don't really think there's much to it, other than the unmarinaded fish cake slices which you have as a side dish. So not much taste. There's the kimchee soup which is spicy but not as flavourful as the ones I tried at TBK. Has something to do with their kimchee, which is a little bit sourer than others.

I am almost sure if you know Korean, there's extra menu items to unlock. So I need to go there with a Korean friend sometime. Anyone want the job?

Vote: 5 out of 5 Stars
I'll add photos later.