Noda Grill

RNIS did not have to pay for their food but they paid for their drinks thanks to Dimmi Rewards!

Noda Grill is in Richmond outside the Epworth hospital and has been opened for about five months now.

On a mid-week night, they were not too busy when we visited. It was cold outside but not rainy.

The waitress was quite lovely and warm. The place is run by Koreans but it doesn't have many blog posts.

As I have promised Healthyintstudents that I'd participate in Meat free may, I ordered a dumpling and soba noodle salad and rice cakes.

They come with the banchan which I quite like. Although I would like kimchi, my dishes were quite spicy without it.

The rice cakes were cooked nicely and were mind-blowing. The sauce was addictive and the cakes were fried nicely.  I enjoyed these with a nice Pinot.

Soba noodle salad

I enjoyed the soba noodle salad. There were a lot of dumplings and vegetables for $17. This filled me up really easy. The vegetables were really fresh and the dumplings were cooked nicely. I haven't had a lot of Korean dumplings before so I can't say much about them.

Do come by to this Korean place and give them some love.

Yami Yami

There is another Yami Yami and that is in the city. Here they have Korean food like their Richmond counterparts. Like their Richmond counterparts they are a cheap eat.

The service is your usual no frills service. The staff looked unhappy and wanted to go home.

The toilet is behind a door and there were a few smells from where I was sitting. The place was dead quiet except for a few late lunchers.

Here I had their Bibimbab which was $13. On top that there is no free kimchi (kimchi is another $2 extra). The meal was just ok. At least the tofu was fresh. There was too much rice as per usual. And as per usual the rice was stock standard. But I loved the huge serving of vegetables. Who can get that wrong?

But the egg though was at least good.

I can find much better places in the city for that price such as Oppa Kitchen.

Oh Deer Korean Fusion

Oh Deer Korean Fusion is in Tivoli arcade where the old RMIT business building was. Here they cater for all uni students as well as the locals. This place is a real restaurant and you can book via Dimmi which is a online booking service.


The restaurant was quiet and the service was very slow. It was also unattentive. The waitress had forgotten my kimchi. I ordered it and she forgot until I reminded her. Also all the takeaway orders were all on the table waiting to be picked up by that one driver

Here I had the bibimbab for $14. This one was the fish roe one which cooked quite nicely. The bowl was massive and they had one whole egg yolk which is good for a runner like myself. The kimchi was an added $2 when in other restaurants it is free.

Do come for the bibimbab and don't mind the slow service. I wonder what it is like when they are flat out busy.

Sam Sam

Sam Sam is a new Korean eatery which replaced Claypot King. Here they have two levels and a whole lot more seating.

Sam Sam specialises in chicken and value meals and just that. I was disappointed that they didn't have any entrees, just mains. And they didn't have the pork dumplings that you would find in many Korean restaurants and festivals.

Coming in one night after a run I was really hungry. Here they were really busy with the students who love Korean food on a winters night. Here many of the students ordered the fried chicken but I was not in the mood for that. I was in the mood for some bibimbap.

The tofu bibimbap was $13. It was in a bowl but not as big as the one at Oppa. Also there were no appetizers. However the kimchi was free and that was pretty good. There wasn't much rice in there and nor was there any burnt bits. I love eating all the burnt bits. But there was heaps of tofu and egg which is good. The tofu was fried perfectly.

Rating: 14/20- the food came out way too fast. Another minute or two might have worked. A good thing though is that the staff are very friendly.

Oppa Kitchen

Oppa Kitchen has been around eversince late last year and they have been popular with everyone especially students ever since. They are known for their big sizes and chicken meals. At first I did not want to go as I was a bit skeptical about going especially for the meat. But ever since I have been going to the gym and all I have been craving some big meals afterwards.

It is really close to RMIT city campus, hence it is very popular with the students

I learnt that chicken has a lot of protein going for it and I thought that since I need to keep my protein up  I better order this.













They talk a lot about meal portions in class and this was the right sizing. The carbs were fist sized and same as the proteins. The proteins were good but I wish there were more. I liked the salad except for the dressing which ruined it all. It smelt like dishwashing detergent, but edible.

I liked the complimentary kimchi. That gave the meal a very good spicy kick and if you want some you can ask for it. It is free and it comes in a cute jar.

The potato hash was also good.

And to warm me up on this cold summers day, I had corn tea. I haven't really had anything as good as this. It had that really smokey feel to it so me likes.

Rating: 14/20- come for your cheap meal. They should really put the salad dressing on the side though as some don't like the dressing and others do.

Oh and the hotpot does look like fun, but its more suited to a winter's day and its best with two people

Melbourne Namu

Melbourne Namu is a Korean fusion cafe in the heart of the city and its right in Hardware st. Here it is a cosy little cafe where Sensory lab coffee is served.

RNIS purchased a Groupon for $9 for one meal and one drink. Here I chose water rather than soft drink as they are very sugary.

 We went because of the kimchi queasidilla which we enjoyed. The meal also offers burgers but we wanted something different. Here it came with chips at 1:30pm we weren't that hungry so we were happy with smaller sizes.

The Queasidilla was really spicy and gave us that kick. The salad was good and the chips balanced out the spiciness well.

The lady there was really friendly. She knew a lot of people and this one lady that came in after got her coffee and she really likes the food.

Do come by for lunch. Oh and I wished they were open for dinner.

Korea festival

The Korea festival is on this year and its the second one. As per usual it is free for everyone to attend and we went at night when the K-pop was on. All the performers were really good. Then the judging began.

Korean cakes

Biscuit samples

Games

The entrance

 At night the crowd numbers and types were a bit different. During the day it was more the families and older people and at night it was a younger crowd. At night it was the International students where as during the day it was more local Aussies.

And also the food is a lot cheaper during the night meaning that we get to try everything such as dumplings, rice skewers and kimchi udon. Some thing which we're not able to do during the daytime as the udon was $10 during the daytime. At nighttime it was $5. Sweet. And it was 5 dumplings for $3 and two skewers for $3. Also a bargain.

The skewers were lovely and so was the kimchi udon. That spice was just gorgeous. It added that kick to it. The dumplings though were just perfect and it did not need the sauce as there was lots of spicy sauce on my rice skewers and some in the kimchi.

Do go to next years one in the evening.

Oree Duck Korean Cafe

RNIS purchased a Groupon for $9 for a drink and duck meal (lunchtime only)

This place has been opened for about a month now and RNIS was keen to check out. They specialize in duck so here's hoping that their duck will be good.

The service was friendly and we loved how they  have their business card competition and in fact we left ours.

RNIS's favourite food is bibimbab and we enjoy a good one with the rice and vegetables cooking at the bottom and lots of duck and veg. It had lots of veg, but not a lot of duck. And it had lots of microwaved rice. It did not have that smoking feeling to it. The duck was tender and smoky tea infused flavour.

We enjoyed the special spicy sauce and we know to mix it in without the waitress having to tell us.

Orange juice (left) and banchan (right)

The Korean juice was good though. It was the real thing

The dumplings on the other tables looked good.

Rating: 10/20 not a fan of the bibimbab but a fan of the service, drink and business card competition

Koba

Koba opened late last year and already they have over 10 blog posts which are all positive. They have been at many festivals as well promoting their Korean BBQ. I particularly loved their skewer and thats what saw me visit the place in Hardware Lane CBD. It is a stones throw away from the office.

The place is small so it is easy to miss. But luckily I have passed it a few times so I knew where it was. There isn't a lot of seating so people got take away.

They specialise in Korrito, a mix between burrito and Korean food. It had kimchi in it which is spicy but not too spicy. If you don't like spicy you can opt for plain rice. They also have kimchi fries.

You can watch them make your korrito. You can order a pork, beef, chicken or tofu korrito. Like Guzman Y Gomez they put the filling in first and then top it up with vegetables, cheese and sauce. Everything is made to order

This is the first time that I have had a korrito. Actually this is the first Korean store to have a korrito and already they are popular. Also their bibimbabs have been popular too and they are put into those plastic containers for people to take away. 

I bought the Living social Deal which is $9 for one Korrito and small fries and they were filling. I was full by the end.

I really enjoyed the spiciness of the food. However it was a little bit cold by the time it got to me.

The service there was friendly and it was also friendly at KWAVE. They are happy to change things to your liking.

Now I have garlic breath whilst writing this.

Students do visit this eatery for your kimchi fix.

Table by S a lovely Korean eat

RMIT Newintstudents dined here as guests.

The Table by S is in West Melbourne and is a short stroll from the Queen Vic Market. It's a small little cozy place.

I was welcomed by Corrine and her husband. It's actually owned by Koreans.

Yes there is only one bathroom there and the sign is above your head which made it look like a hallway.

Oh and yes they do mocktails and corn tea. The tea was a little bit sweet, but I enjoyed the mocktails. It was flavoursome and they did put a little bit of soda water in there as well as syrup.

The other table had alcohol. And the other table had the bbq meat on an open grill with the staff grilling it. It was really fascinating to watch them do it. If I wasn't so much of a vegetarian that can eat fish, this would have been perfect.

They make their own kimchis and geez it was really spicy. I love spicy food but for those that don't best not to visit as everything is spicy. The chestnut jelly didn't have that much taste.

Left: Kimchi. Top: potatoes and the bottom: Chestnut Jelly

The tofu steak tastes like lasagna. They put lots of cheese in there, but if you are not a cheese person you could ask for it to be without. Oh and between the two pieces there is a lot of spicy kimchi (cooked of course). Hence this is a great dish for vegetarians.

Of course I ordered the Vegetarian Bibimbap . Bibimbap was spicy and I loved the fact that they put so much veggie goodness into this. It wasn't oily but it was stone cold. The tofu was nice though. I had trouble finishing this. I loved the hard boiled egg on top.

When it came to the table it wasn't in one of those actual stone bowls which cooks the food.

I saw another table get the hotpot and I saw the waitress cutting up the meat and flaming it. This looks like a lot of fun I thought. I shall have to give this a go next time

Do come and visit this lovely place during winter. Pity its only open nights though, but soon it might be opened for lunch. What a lovely way to warm up on a cold, freezing winters night.

If only they'd lower the sign.