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Thursday May 17, 2012

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Hallah (Korean BBQ)

Posted by: Ela Carte | 20 August, 2010 - 11:56 AM

268 Victoria St North Melbourne (just opp Queen Vic Market)
www.hallah.com.au

Play Audio - Ela Carte's Review

I hadn’t noticed the Korean hub that is Victoria St North Melbourne, but on my way to Hallah it was pretty obvious that this is THE spot in town for a taste of Korea.

Hallah looks gorgeous from the outside. Big windows, candle-lit, timber paneling and Korean statues. Downstairs is the a’la carte dining area, but we headed straight up the staircase to the DIY BBQ area.

As is so often the case, the sign of a good Asian restaurant is an abundance of native diners, and so it was at Hallah. The only problem being that the large number of Korean diners seemed perfectly at home working the sunken BBQs at each table and we realized that we had no idea what we were in for! Seriously – how the hell does this thing work???

The menu is simple enough when it comes to the BBQ stuff – meat, meat and more meat (and some mushrooms). When you arrive the table’s already set with some goodies, a couple of condiments (including a great chilli sauce with a kick), a few pickled veggies (broccoli, cabbage and cucumber), and some lettuce leaves ready to wrap your meat in.

Normally – I have no qualms about asking for the advice of my waiter and waitress. Sometimes, this is not as simple as it sounds – particularly when English is not their first language. But you know the saying, if at first you don’t succeed … after a few attempts we managed to deduce that the pork belly, prime beef ribs, mixed mushies and fried chicken (“that’s what we’re famous for”) were the way to go.

Our friendly waitress fired up the barbie, and returned with our goodies. I was still a little nervous, but luckily she began to place the meat and mushies on the grill, and cook them in front of our eyes. The place smells fantastic, Lady Gaga was crooning in the background, and punters around us were chatty and happy.

Pork belly was great, cut up with scissors in front of our eyes, it was easy to grab with our chopsticks and tasted great after a dip in the chilli sauce. Beef ribs got a similar treatment, cut up, dipped in chilli and wrapped in cool, crisp lettuce. Mushies were cooked in an aluminium tray in a knob of butter.

Fried chicken was just that – a good example of it, with some chilli mayo and aioli, good crispy skin and moist enough white flesh.

Perfect accompaniment was a Korean beer (Cass $5.50 in the can), they’ve also got wine by the glass or BYO bottles.

Hallah’s upstairs BBQ is a great venue for a fun, group night out. Simple fare, but tasty and fresh.

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