Hanyang Galbi, Strathfield
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Somehow I ended up at the same KBBQ twice in the span of 3 days. And to be honest, I think I have found one of my new favourite KBBQ places.
Hey all! Todays review will be on Hanyang Galbi in Strathfield. It was on a Monday night that my girls Jasmine and Anne-mary treated me to an amazing dinner at this place we randomly chose. However upon sitting down, I realised we had been here ages ago before thanks to a recommendation from all-time favourite couple, Fiona and Dan. Mostly from that time I just remember sitting near Dan and he was eating all the meat faster than I could grab them myself 😂
Anyway, Hanyang Galbi is located to the further end of The Boulevarde next to Won Jo's second store. What makes this place really special and stand out compared to all the other Korean BBQ joints in the area is; 1) Their unique complementary side dishes (more about that below), and 2) They always cook and cut up the meat for you! You can let them know if you would like to cook it yourself or if you would like them to cook more meats at a time or less so that's pretty cool. I really enjoyed the experience of none of us having to stress over cooking the meats and getting to truly sit back, eat and talk.
The menu offers not only KBBQ options but also a few other Korean dishes!
The dining space at Hanyang Galbi is not that big compared to most places but they do have a handful of tables indoor their restaurant and outdoor facing The Boulevarde. On this night it is really busy yet we manage to nab a table outside. Perks of sitting outside are that you'll probably less likely smell of smoke when you leave.
We make our orders and thanks to the speedy service in this place within a few minutes our table is decked out in delicious and colourful complementary banchan (side dishes).
Salad
This is a salad mix of iceberg lettuce, red cabbage and carrot. To be honest it's colourful but the uneven cuts kind of make it look like food scraps. The dressing on top is what we think is taramasalata but don't quote me on this! I can't actually confirm. Overall it's a simple dish.
Sauces + Cabbage and Chives in Soy
Each person receives their own non-shared dish full of shredded cabbages and chives in soy sauce. Hanyang's soy sauce tastes like they also mixed in a little extra wasabi as it has a spicy and hot zing to it. Love this!
To share, for every two people you will receive one Korean dipping sauce (ssamjang). Theirs is not very garlicky and a bit on the spicy side. Still perfect with grilled meat and wraps though. We also receive sesame oil with salt and pepper, and raw garlic slices.
Acorn Jelly
You either love this or hate this and I always describe it to people as tasting like you're eating a chunk of fat. The sauce that this soft jelly is served with is a zesty sweet and chilli one. Kind of strange, kind of nice.
Pickled Radishes & Lettuce + Chillies
Both of the two on the rectangular plate are what we think are pickled radishes. The red one is extremely spicy but more-ish so have your water ready, and the orangey one contains carrots and is much more mild!
The bowl of salad greens contains large lettuce leaves which we use for our wraps, and two long green chillies which Anne-mary keeps trying to convince us to try. Eventually I give in and discover it's not all as spicy and scary as it looks. It just tastes like a capsicum.
+ (unpictured) Kimchi
Their kimchi just like all their spicy things was really spicy. But pretty good, not too sour. It was just on the other side of the table for me so I didn't reach for it much when I had the radishes right in front of me.
Corn Mayo
Arriving on a sizzling hot plate, this is one of my favourite snacks and I love that is is a side dish here. The corn kernels are sweet and juicy and drenched in a creamy mayo. There is also the small addition of green peas.
Steamed Egg Soup
While I had heart eyes for the corn, everyone else was looking forward to the egg soup. This is also delicious and we would probably order it even if it wasn't complementary.
Raw Spicy Crab
This has got to be the most unique side dish! Sure I've had sashimi but I've never had raw crab. First things first, the sauce is extremely spicy as you can tell from the intense red colour. Next it's a little intimidating on how to eat this as you don't want to get your hands all dirty. The shell is soft enough to crack with a bite and you can also try to pry the crab meat out with your chopsticks. The texture of the raw crab is soft and strange to say the least. I don't think I like this side dish just yet but maybe after a few more tries I'll warm up to it. After all that's how my first raw fish experience went.
Set C: Ox Tongue, Neck Chain. Marinated Beef Ribs, Marinated Pork Ribs $74
There were plenty of other great contenders on the menu but anything with ox tongue on the grill is our obvious choice. Not an entirely bad price in my opinion! It's recommended to serve 3-4 people and us three definitely felt satisfied with our feed.
First up that the waiter cooked for us is the ox tongue...
The way he cooked it left it a little more overcooked than we would've enjoyed. To add, their slices of ox tongue are also slightly thicker and noticeably more chewy than at other places. I really struggled to swallow some of these pieces so in the end I wouldn't re-order this meat at Hanyang.
Next up is the 'neck chain' beef...
This was also overcooked in my opinion as by the time it was flipped it had already become 'well-done'. It's my personal preference to have my beef a little more on the rare and pink side so please note to tell the server if you feel the same way. Nonetheless the meat was still pretty good, just not as juicy and tender as I would have liked.
Third was the marinated beef ribs...
I'm not in love with their marinated beef ribs even though this is usually my favourite meat to order at KBBQ. This is because I found their marinade to be lacking in the usual sweetness. The ribs themselves are still delicious though and very much enjoyed!
Last up, the marinated pork ribs...
I've never ordered this before as we usually stick to beef and if we do order pork it'll always be pork belly. I'm so glad this was on our Set as it ended up being my favourite of the lot!! The marinade on the pork ribs were much sweeter than the beef ribs, just the way I like it. Not sure if they are the same haha! Anyway - oh my goodness, upon first bite the fats just melted away in my mouth and I was left with a juicy and sweet bite of pork meat. Looked at Jas as I held back the happy tears and she just responded with "I know" :')
Kimchi Soup with Rice $13
One more item because we love our stews! This kimchi jjigae was generous on the kimchi as the soup was rich in sour and spicy flavours. Anne-mary described this soup as being able to taste the natural kimchi flavours used rather than the generic ramen/powder tastes you tend to get in other restaurants.
A picture of our spread, credits to Jasmine for this great shot!
Then somehow for an unplanned reason, we ended back at Hanyang Galbi in the next two days from the above event. I mean I had plans to hang out with a group of friends but it was so last minute, the only option for most of us was to go as central as possible because we mostly live in different areas. And I didn't plan to eat here twice so soon but I have no regrets!
ANOTHER SPREAD.
Shoutout to handmodels James and Anne-mary.
This time we sat indoors on one of the largest tables as we were a big group. A handful of us waited for the other friends to arrive so we put off making our orders. To our surprise, the Hanyang Galbi staff began putting out all the side dishes on our table even though we could've literally walked out any moment. That's so nice and trusting of them!
Set B: Rib Eye Steak, Beef Short Ribs and Pork Belly $65
Recommended for 2-3 people.
Set C: Ox Tongue, Neck Chain. Marinated Beef Ribs, Marinated Pork Ribs $74
Again, because it's so good.
This is the Rib eye steak and it had some really beautiful marbling on it so of course it turned out really tender!
This is the pork belly which you get 5 cuts of.
It is grilled until the fat is slightly charred and crispy.
Between the 7 of us and an extra order of one meat plate, these two sets still ended up not being enough. It was getting pretty pricey for us still so we ended up eating again at another restaurant.
As for the service, it's decent but it depends on who you get to be honest. I was pressing the bell all night on everybody's behalf as it was right in front of me. There seems to be one waiter who was the one to attend to our table but he was particularly laggy on this night. Even then he forgot our requests so we had to remind him a few times over. Which made us feel so rude. But in the end he didn't even get back to us for a pair of chopsticks when Francis dropped his on the ground, so.. that's inconvenient for us.
On the other hand, there was an older waiter who mostly cooked the meats for us and he was pretty attentive with it. For example, I think the boys were wondering out loud why one side of the table still had meat on the beef rib bone - and he came right over and began to grill it for us and then cut it off the bone. No meat wasted hehe
Buckwheat Noodles w/ Spicy Sauce $12
Apparently these are some of the best cold noodles in Strathfield. I didn't get to try this but Anne-mary let me know that the noodles were extremely thin, didn't clump together as most usually do and they were pretty good! Definitely have to come back to try these.
Once again she was trying to convince everybody to eat the green chillies HAHAHA 😂
Cosy interiors of Hanyang Galbi.
Overall I had such a fun dining experience both times here! The meats were of high quality, the side dishes were fresh, unique and exciting and the extra cooking service is pretty great. Expensive prices but this is always the case when ordering meat at a KBBQ. Even so, I feel value is added into the price for the service and side dishes. I highly recommend Hanyang Galbi if you were looking for a KBBQ lunch or dinner at Strathfield!
TL;DR:
Price: Good if you factor side dishes and service
Quality: Great
Service: Depends but generally good
Ambience: Busy and lively atmosphere
Hanyang Galbi
28/45/47 The Boulevarde,
Strathfield NSW 2135
Open 7 days a week
11AM - 10:30PM
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