Tteokbokki with mandu dumplings is a textural delight. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
“Another Korean restaurant, Lucy? Really?”
My colleagues are suspicious when I tell them I’ll be writing about, yes, another Korean restaurant.
“But Canberra is currently experiencing a boom of Korean restaurants,” I protest.
“There are many new places to write about!”
From Wanniassa to Gungahlin, the piquant scent of kimchi spices the air as fried chicken joints, traditional tea houses, fusion menus and authentic family restaurants pop up all over town.
Nowhere is this more apparent than the corner square of Woolley St in Dickson, which has become something of a ‘Little Korea’ with two large Korean BBQ joints and the popular Rogane Chiminac Fried Chicken. The shop next door has seen a bit of turnover but has recently reincarnated itself as Ondam Table.
I am a huge fan of this K-wave: I love the big flavours of Korean food and I reckon I could eat Korean food every day of the week without tiring of it, because there’s just so much variety.
Beef bulgogi: dinner for one! Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Korean dining is generally casual and equally suited to solo diners or large groups. Dishes for one at Ondam include a range of Korea’s hearty, rich soups, served as a set with rice and the ubiquitous banchan (side dishes such as pickles and kimchi, served with every meal in Korea). Groups of diners were sharing from large hotpot dishes, bubbling away on portable stoves in the centre of the table.
When I visited Ondam, it was with three friends, and while the drama of a big hotpot tempted us, we decided to try a range of smaller dishes instead.
We chose a set meal of bulgogi beef, rice and banchan (which we figured would be easier to divvy up than a soup) and a seafood pancake. Tteokbokki – rice cakes in spicy sauce – is a favourite of mine and a classic street food in Korea. At Ondam Table it comes with fishcakes and we also opted to add crispy mandu (dumplings) too.
And last, but not least, how could we turn down the opportunity for Korean fried chicken? Sauce options included jalapeño mayo, soy and sesame, or snow cheese, but we went for the classic sweet and spicy.
The seafood pancake was huge – despite being listed under the ‘entree’ section of the menu – and came with scissors for handy portioning and an accompanying sauce. While the word pancake might conjure visions of fluffy stacks dripping with maple syrup (lovely!), Korean pancakes are a savoury affair, mostly made up of vegetables with just enough batter to hold their shape. This seafood variant has a scattering of baby octopus legs, mussels and shrimp throughout the pancake. The edges are crispy, the middle is soft and the whole thing is outrageously good.
Divvy up the pancake with scissors and tongs, then dive into the sticky-sweet, spicy fried chicken at Ondam. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The tteokbokki delivers on texture. We chew the rice cakes, slurp the thin fishcake slices, and crunch on the fried dumplings (with a juicy beef filling), all coated in a moreish sweet-and-spicy sauce.
The beef bulgogi set is also very good. The thinly sliced beef has been marinated in soy and cooked to tender perfection with sweet onions. The banchan includes kimchi, pickles and a spicy green which I can’t quite identify but enjoy immensely. I can definitely see myself returning for a solo lunch or dinner to enjoy one of these set meals. There’s also a fridge full of tempting bottles of soju, Korean beers and soft drinks.
And the fried chicken? It was exactly what I was craving: juicy meat with a crispy coating and a sinfully sticky sauce coating everything.
Sorry, boss: as long as folks keep opening Korean restaurants, I’ll be there!
Ondam Table is located at 3/28 Challis Street, Dickson. They are open from 11.30 am to 2 pm, and 5 pm to 9 pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Check out their menu at Ondam Table.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
