Sofia Levin reviews: Kimchi Grandma – ‘a Korean gem, going strong for 20+ years’

In a sentence: Family-run Korean gem, going strong for 20+ years
The damage: $25 per head
Top tip: BYO takeaway containers
#EatCuriously: try jokbal, braised and sliced pork trotter
Quench your thirst: Milki soft drink and Bon Bon grape juice, imported beers and Korean spirits (soju plus plum, rice and ginseng wine)
If you like this: try Hansang, West Melbourne or Mumchan, Laverton & CBD

It’s impossible to review anywhere at the moment without first acknowledging the current state of the hospitality industry. Already short-staffed restaurants are closing without warning whenever team members contract COVID or are close contacts. Indoor density limits are back – though I hardly see the point at this stage – restricting indoor dining to one person per two square meters.

If you’re dining out, it’s a good idea to call ahead or check Instagram to see if there have been any interruptions to service. That’s how I found myself at Kimchi Grandma in Carnegie.

There are half a dozen or so Korean restaurants along the strip, but Kimchi Grandma stood out to me for the precise reason that it doesn’t stand out. While others nearby have sparkling fit-outs, neons and tricked-up vents for tabletop Korean barbecue, you’d be forgiven for thinking Kimchi Grandma is closed from the street. It has simple brick walls, wooden tables and a yellowed, faded newspaper review framed in between water colour-like Korean scenes.

The family business has gone mostly unchanged for more than 20 years and its success is easily attributed to the homely, affordable Korean food. To start, you might recognise dishes such as homemade mandoo (dumplings) and pajeon vegetable pancakes loaded with seafood and kimchi. There are familiar stir-fries and barbecued mains, from steaming piles of spicy beef bulgogi to bibimbap served in the essential stone pot.

If you visit with four or more people, you’ll be able to order a spread of dishes and get out at around $25 per head. Cold buckwheat noodles are tossed with a gochujang-based house sauce (fermented chilli paste) and come with thin beef slices and vegetables, salmon sashimi or as a cold broth. I love how they’re served with scissors for easy eating. There’s a variety of jjigae, or stews.

My 21-year-old brother gave the kimchi jjigae “two thumbs up”, as well as permission to quote him. The cabbage does a stellar job at soaking up the soupy base, while slices of glutinous rice cake add chew.

Sam-gae-tang, homemade chicken and ginseng soup, might just be a supplementary Covid cure. It comes with a whole spatchcock, the meat so tender it falls off the carcass with ease. You can taste the love in the broth, but the unexpected highlight was the pork ribs, slightly spiced in a sweet, sticky sauce.

There’s no dessert here, but both Roule Galette and Daniel’s Donuts are within walking distance.

Kimchi Grandma
125 Koornang Road, Carnegie
kimchigrandma.business.site