Deliciously fresh fried chicken! Crispy with a few flavours to choose from…read more Family run, definitely check this place out. Their other dishes are great too. A few of my favourites are the rice cakes with noodles, sweet potato noodles, kimchi pancake and cheesy corn. It may not look like much outside but give it a go! Bonus is they make their own kimchi :D

First time here and won't be our last..Small menu but what they do is sensational.Start off with…read morethere deep fried Pork dumplings(Yum)and If you like the heat you're in heaven,try the Red cave salt crispy chicken wings and Kimchi pancake.

No obvious signs or bright lights…read more Sitting near the corner of Waverley and Warrigul Road, boy am I glad to have stumbled upon this place. With both indoor and outdoor seating, this small restaurant welcomes people of all sorts and has Japanese beer on tap! Wooden chairs and tables with menus on wooden boards, Cafe Carpenter combines Japanese and Korean flavours and does it well! I have found a quiet hideaway near home!

Oh..where to begin. Korean, Japanese and everything in between, the sheer variety is a bit…read moreoverwhelming at first. If I could order everything I just might. Normally I am a bit skeptical about places with too many choices, but at this place they do not disappoint. If you are looking for a friendly neighborhood restaurant and drinking place (Like an Asian Fushion Cheers?), but maybe are unsure of what you want, but just know that you want good food, then Cafe Carpenter is the place for you. It is not easy to find a place with a classically trained chef from Japan and someone who also actually lived and breathed the Korean street food scene. Food wise, from the LA Ribs, to the Donkatsu, and Takoyaki everything is excellent and authentic. Wide selection of alcoholic drinks, coffee, as well as desserts. The pricing is also very reasonable for comparable quality. While the quality, variety and service were all excellent, the one thing that stood out most for me was the friendliness and warmth of the owners and staff. I highly recommend.

Having been to a number of Korean BBQ places in Melbourne (Oriental Spoon, Hwaro, Marroo) I would…read morehave to say this is one of the better ones. It's decked out decently enough; kind of has a warehouse feel complete earthy tones. I'd recommend dining in the basement close to the front for 2 reasons: 1. The smoke that inevitably billows out in korean bbq will rise and so if you're one of those poor buggers on the top floor, you will be copping 3 levels worth of bbq fumes 2. It's very close to the kitchen so your food comes out amazingly fast. One thing I must share are the desserts at this place which are absolutely amazing. The desserts are only 6 bucks a pop and you can have everything from black sesame ice cream, green tea cakes and ice-cream, lemon sorbet with jelly and black and white chocolate mousse. You'd easily expect to pay $15 for comparable desserts elsewhere. To understand my complex voting system, this place is a 4 for food, plus 1 for the dessert and minus one for the service, which was about as interesting and engaging as a wet lettuce leaf. They are attentive enough in that they bring out the food fast, and replace your grill as soon it gets blackened like coal, but as I've stated elsewhere, to get a 5, I need an experience with friendly casual banter! TIP: this place has unlimited lettuce and side dishes if you run out.

This is a hidden gem down McKillop that boasts a good selection of Korean dishes and the…read moreopportunity to grill your own meal! Not to mention the decor is classy and chic. I went with the bi bim bap, a classic that was cooked to perfection. Loads of toppings on purple rice. It was so delicious. You also get to add as much hot sauce as you desire. Plus there are unlimited sides like kim chi, pickled radish and seasoned onions. For a dinner meal coming out at under $20, it can't be beat! I would gladly come here again.

Great Korean BBQ place in Melbourne…read more Top quality meat, free flowing side dishes (of course) and great service. Please try the Korean rice wine. It's delicious! Will definitely come back again!!

I am of the opinion that it is hard to go wrong with a Korean BBQ. High quality meats, delicious…read moremarinades, good bbqing equipment and some icy cold beers to go with it. However, Hwaro in my honest opinion goes above and beyond these basics. We had the pleasure of going here for a friend's birthday and the food was amazing. The one qualm I do have with a place like this is the cooking of the meat. I know some people think why should they pay to then cook their own meat. However, I'm of the opinion that cooking your own meat is half of the fun of it. The staff were pretty insistent that it would only be them flipping and cutting the meat. Gripe over... Nevertheless, this place would go down as my favourite Korean BBQ place in the CBD. I'd say it edges the places near Vic markets and beats Dae Jang Geum Korean BBQ in Chinatown. If you know anywhere better, please let me know Yelpers!

We were back in Melbourne for the evening so for dinner, I wanted Korean BBQ. There's a ton of them…read morenear the Queen Victoria Market so after a quick search, we settled on Toodouri. This street houses three other KBBQ spots (Donwoori, Woo Ga and Hallah). Talk about stiff competition. We dropped in on a Tuesday evening (around 7:15pm). It wasn't too busy so everyone was sitting on the main floor but they do have an upstairs. This place is legit; the BBQ's are charcoal style. The menu had some happy hour specials (10:00pm to 1:00am) and daily specials (Monday to Thursday only). The rest of the menu consists of charcoal BBQ (beef, pork, chicken, seafood), set menus for 2/3/5-6 people, casserole (aka. hot pots), soups, main dishes and drinks. Service is great as they do all the cooking and cutting for you. They also changed our plates halfway and took out the hot charcoals when our last meats were done cooking (so that they didn't overcook). FYI: they give a 5% discount if you pay with cash. Otherwise, they charge you for using card (1.5%) and it has to be over $30.00 AUD. - Purple rice ($2.00 AUD) - oddly, you don't get any rice with the set menus so we had to order one bowl to share. - Banchan - you get three types (kimchi, bean sprouts and pasta salad) and it's unlimited refills. The kimchi actually impressed me as I'm not usually the biggest fan. Bean sprouts were good, pasta salad was boring. - Beef set B ($47.50 AUD) - beef bulgolgi, LA beef ribs and kimchi soup. They bring out a basket of lettuce wraps (the cheap kind) and pickled onions. The kimchi soup was fantastic! Great broth; again, tasty kimchi and there was a mix of tofu, enoki mushrooms, jalapeños and green onions. Bulgogi was nicely marinated and LA beef ribs were thin, satisfying bites. - Pork belly ($13.90 AUD) - this is their Tuesday charcoal BBQ special. You get three pieces of pork belly. They weren't too fatty and got crisped up on the BBQ. Another solid Korean spot. Reasonable prices, great service and tasty food.

Quirky and eclectic, but the food is tasty and reasonably proportioned for the price. Side dishes…read morequite generous with up to three refills each. Recommended.

Went here at lunchtime on a weekday. East to book via Dimmi with instant confirmation…read more Cuisine is Asian fusion with inspiration from Thai curries and Chinese cuisine. The two of us ordered fried cumin lamb dumplings to start. Crispy large dumplings filled with mince lamb. Could have done with a serving of vinegar for that extra bite. But quite substantial. We got the smaller portion of mapo tofu which consisted or large succulent pieces of tofu with tomatoes. Had a slight tamarind flavour and very sweet. I expected a spicy and sweet combination but it was extremely sweet. We also got the seafood yellow curry that came with two giant clams and mussels. It consisted of thick flat rice noodles. Delicious curry with the creaminess of coconut milk, herbal flavours, also quite sweet. The curry comes with rice and Is substantial. Food can take a bit long to arrive Disappointingly they said they don't do takeaway as they don't have a license. What a pity as we ran out of time and couldn't finish our meal. Is on the entertainment book so use th discount. :)

what an unexpected find! Didn't book and the team found us a table for dinner before heading to…read morethe theatre - our host Callum was sensational - he took the time to check if we had plans after dinner and suggested and checked in with our menu selections based on the cook time so we would get to our show on time. He really took the time to ensure we had a great meal suggesting to add the Asian greens based on our selections, and im so glad he did as he. was right - The best service I've had in.a very long time.... oh and the food and cocktails were sensational!

While Loi Loi is far from the best Vietnamese restaurant in the stronghold of this part of…read moreRichmond, they deliver pretty consistent and cheap meals. They also have a great sign (see photo), so I give them the benefit of the doubt on an outward aesthetic level at least. Loi Loi have this crazily extensive menu that covers a whole lot of Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian staples. While the flavours sometimes lack in depth, the produce is always fresh and of the dozen-or-so meals I've eaten there, I've never had something that was bad. But, I've never had a meal that I'd call great either, so it kind of falls into a bit of a no-man's land in terms of Victoria Street Vietnamese. That said, the Mee Goreng (Indonesian?) is pretty good and the servings are bloody huge. So if you're hungry and don't want to line in the more popular and potentially much better places up the street, Loi Loi is a soft option.

Had sweet and sour veggies and chicken lemon grass with chili delivered late on a Wednesday night,…read morefood was great! Still hot, not greasy. Chicken was good quality.

A rainy spring night in a dark alley... Perfect time and place for KFC and Beer!…read more Chicken and Beer is a must order at Gami. But we also enjoyed our Spicy Seafood Soup ($18). Service could be a little slow as we were seated in the front of the restaurant and had a hard time waving down the waitress. Half Chicken ($18) is a perfect portion for 2 to share so you can get something else to taste on the menu. Chicken with bones were tender and juicy, perfect pairing with Gun Bae Lager. Cheers!

The Koreans know how to do fried chicken. Second time to this place, the chicken and beer…read moreexperience is better than a trip to KFC. Get the original half and half; choose spicy + soy/garlic flavours. You'll get enough for two people and the meals come with sides (radish pickles, and cabbage salad). The flavour is a steal at $32. Don't forget the Gami beer (bitter or lager). Go for a jug, otherwise get a pot for $4