Restaurant Reviews

Ga Bin Korean Restaurant

- Alex 1 Comment

Chilli Pork Set

date of visit: Friday 29 April

Adelaide seems to be a bit awash with Korean restaurants at the moment. I’m not spending as much time in town so I’m reliant on my partner to report on the rapidly changing restaurant scene (which means I get to hear about the restaurants he wants to visit). We’re both big fans of Korean food so it’s hardly surprising that Ga Bin rated an early mention.

The restaurant is in an old furniture sales room on the corner of Morphett and Grote streets. The location and the large building make for an imposing space and it’s really lovely to see that the owners haven’t been tempted to cram in tables. The restaurant is, however, choc full of hard surfaces and right angles and I suspect if it were full it would be hard to hear yourself think.

Fortunately for me, grumpy old lady that I am, Friday lunch time is a quiet time for Ga Bin and our table of three was just one of a handful so things were quiet and we could have a civilised conversation.

The main menu is actually a mix of Chinese and Korean dishes. I’m never sure if this is a good or bad thing. Personally, I like to see restaurants have a short menu that makes sense and is cooked well. A menu that offers “garlic flavored [sic] fried chicken”, “garlic flavored [sic] fried king prawns” and “garlic flavored [sic] fried pork” is just a bit disturbing. But I guess that a broad menu offering some Korean and some Chinese dishes is one that might have wider appeal. There’s no Korean BBQ, so no danger of having to cook your dinner yourself!

We all ended up ordering from the lunch specials menu: I chose the chilli pork set, Andy the bulgogi set and the third party chose the shrimp fried rice (all under $10). We shared dumplings to start. The dumplings came with individual portions of dipping sauce which was a good touch. There was a complaint that the shrimp fried rice could have contained more prawns. However, the two lunch sets hit the mark. I thought I won with the chilli pork but Andy disagreed and was happy with his bulgogi. The lunch sets come with all manner of tasty sides: various pickles (of course), rice, soup, tofu, omelette. I found it all perfectly proportioned.

Our visit was swift. The restaurant wasn’t busy so we were served extremely promptly and the food came out quickly. As it was lunch and there were other things to do (people to see and so on) the fact that we were in and out in about an hour can be seen as a positive. Anyone who works nearby can nip in for lunch without worrying about stern looks on their return to the office.

I’d definitely return for lunch and I’d be happy to check out the main menu over a casual dinner. Ga Bin fits in with much of the food scene around Gouger and Grote Streets but it doesn’t strike me as being a venue for a slow, intimate meal. Ga Bin is definitely a venue where you need to make up your own mind: if you like Korean food you had best check it out while it is not too busy.

Ga Bin
144 Grote Street
Adelaide SA 5000
phone: 08 8231 9996

Ga Bin on Urbanspoon

Mandoo

- Alex 2 Comments

Untitled

date of visit:  Tues 1 March 2011
most recent visit:  Friday 7 September 2012

We’ve been enthusiastic in the past about Grote Street’s Dumpling King. You get a huge pile of dumplings for not a lot of cash.

However, Andy and I are also keen on Korean food (in particular, I’m a big fan of kim chi) so Mandoo, on Bank Street, has been on our radar for quite a while.

Mandoo are Korean dumplings and this tiny restaurant focuses almost exclusively on just that (there’s bibimbap available, if you’re not in a dumpling frame of mind).

We arrived at 6pm and this early start made our booking somewhat redundant, but if you want to go at a later time or on a more popular night of the week, booking could well be prudent. The restaurant also seems to do a pretty sharp takeaway trade.

It didn’t take long for me to decide on the steamed kim chi dumplings, and Andy followed suit. Our dining companion ordered the beef bibimbap. Pretty much all the main courses are priced at $9.99, and the dumplings all come in serves of eight, accompanied by pickles, sauce, salad and cold mash (which tastes a lot better than it sounds).

The dumplings are made in front of you, while the bibimbap appears from a kitchen at the rear of the restaurant. I was impressed by my dumplings on several fronts. Although steamed they are well enough stuffed and sealed so that biting in to them does not risk a mouthful of too hot water (something I do find a problem at Dumpling King). Also, the filling is finely chopped but has not turned in to a paste so there’s plenty of texture. The heat of the kim chi dumplings was good – especially when dipped in the sauce. Additional sauces are available (including gochujang, if the food isn’t spicy enough for you). I found the eight dumplings a good size portion – far more manageable than portions at Dumpling King.

Both Andy and I were agreed that while the food is more expensive, and portions smaller, than at Dumpling King, Mandoo is a better experience – from the tables and service, through to the food.

I only wish I lived in the city because I suspect I’d be having takeaway from Mandoo quite a lot …

Mandoo
Shop 3, 23 Bank St
Adelaide, 5000
phone 08 8231 3303

Mandoo Korean Dumplings on Urbanspoon

Pondok Bali

- Alex 2 Comments

date of visit: Wed 16 February 2011

It was time for a meal out just the two three of us. In our household, any decision to go out en famille always results in quite a discussion about where to go. This is quite possibly why we go out in groups rather more often … We started off by deciding the cuisine would be Japanese and that, for easy parking, the destination would be outside the city centre.

And that is how we ended up dining at Pondok Bali, an Indonesian restaurant in the city centre …

In amongst Adelaide’s plethora of Asian restaurants the food of Indonesia is somewhat underrepresented. I’m sure someone will correct me but Pondok Bali seems to be the sole Indonesian restaurant in Adelaide. I’ve been there once many years ago for a work dinner (my sole memory of the event is that it was a ridiculously hot day!) so a return visit was more than overdue and a booking was duly made.

I booked for 6pm (I know, I know … stupidly early but fits in well with knocking off work and hauling around a baby) and when we arrived, just a fraction before, we were a bit stunned to see that the restaurant was closed. Our confused faces must have been spotted from within the restaurant, as seconds later, the door was opened for us and before we knew it we were seated in airconditioned comfort. On booking I had mentioned we’d be bringing a pram with us and it was lovely to note that our table had been selected with this in mind.

The menu at Pondok Bali is reasonably extensive without being frightening. The dishes have reasonably comprehensive descriptions so if you’re not conversant with Indonesian food you don’t need to worry about making an ordering error. It was interesting to see that the menu notes that the main courses are all served mild but can be made hotter according to individual taste. Based on the dishes we ordered, the restaurant’s definition of ‘mild’ may be different from yours: although we can both handle our spice, we decided that both of our dishes were hotter than mild. Consider yourself warned if you’re not a huge chilli fan!

I started with martabak – a stuffed pancake, folded and panfried and served with a curry sauce. I’m a big fan of the martabak my dad makes (which I think are more Malaysian style than Indonesian) so I was interested to see a restaurant take on this dish. At Pondok Bali the martabak is not deep fried and the filling is heavier on the egg and spring onion than I am used to but it was still very tasty and the curry sauce added moisture as well as a good kick of heat.

I followed my martabak with beef rendang which was really good. The sauce was very thick, concentrated and reduced and the meat simply fell apart – a sign of some very long, slow cooking. There was plenty of flavour and plenty of heat. Although there wasn’t masses of meat, we did have plenty of rice to help mop up that lovely dense sauce. It was one of those meals where what I ordered matched my expectations exactly and everything seemed right with the world.

Andy ordered some corn, potato and onion patties to start with (think onion bhaji with mashed potato), which were served with sweet chilli sauce, and for main he ordered prawns pan fried with chilli and garlic. His main course dish we likened to an Asian take on garlic prawns. I particularly liked Andy’s main course but in this instance, we both decided I had definitely won in terms of menu selection.

The service was very friendly but just a touch erratic … while there are massive plus points for taking on board the fact we’d have a pram with us and letting us know the martabak would be about 15 minutes in coming out, our drinks were (briefly) forgotten, and our entrée plates weren’t cleared by the time our main courses arrived and we were asked if we wanted new plates. I find that, in particular, a bit odd. However, this isn’t a restaurant which is setting itself up as a fine dining experience, so this shouldn’t be taken as a serious problem.

Our final bill was $85 (two entrées, two mains, rice, two beers and a pineapple juice) which I thought was a little bit steep. We used our Entertainment Card which brought the total down to $64 which we both agreed seemed a lot more on the money. Neither of our main course portions was particularly huge and I suspect someone with a substantial appetite would need to bolster their order with some side dishes. Personally, I thought it was fantastic to be able to order both entrée and main and be able to eat it all (and without feeling ill)!

The bottom line is that if you fancy something a little bit different then Pondok Bali could well hit the spot: you’ll certainly be looked after and enjoy some tasty food.

Pondok Bali on Urbanspoon