Hinoak Korean Charcoal BBQ — Restaurant in Melbourne

I have been a regular customer since the restaurant opened however I felt very disappointed after having dinner at the restaurant in my most recent visit. Bad food quality, not value-for-money and non-Korean-like BBQ culture are the main three factors that have led the restaurant down.

Food quality We ordered a platter of Pork Belly and various type of beef for BBQ grilling. Despite the meat having grilled with Charcoal, the meat had absolutely no charcoal flavour like what I tasted at most of the other Korean BBQ restaurant or back when this restaurant was first opened. In addition, the meat was mostly cooked with a 1 to 2 minute timer set aside by the waitering staff. However the meat was rather rare and the staff already took the meat out and started to cut it into pieces fiercely by scissors. It was obviously not easy for staff to cut into pieces when the meat was still rare - which explained why the cutting was rather ‘harsh’. At the same time the juice from the meat started to leak. Following the cutting, the staff put the meat back onto the rack sitting on top of the grill for further grilling. The meat ended up over cooked suddenly and some just became rock hard because they were smaller pieces (as the meat was already cut into small pieces) and there was just no juice from the meat.

We were served with pork belly that had about 95% fat and 5% meat, and we felt that the entire piece was not edible. Out of all of our Korean BBQ restaurant visits, we had never been served with pork belly of that quality. We flagged to the manager and she exchanged the piece for us. She tried to explain how the amount of fat seen was normal for pork belly but we felt unbelievable when we heard this explanation.

Not Value for Money The meat set was not cheap but it was still understandable given it was red meat and under current inflationary environment. However, it costs $4 for extra lettuce ordered and we only got given a few pieces, that was definitely not worth the money. The entire dinner, inclusive of entree and rice, ended up costing us around $90ish per person for just the two of us with us ordering just one soft drink each.

Non-Korean BBQ culture I found it rather odd not to get served any green chilli nor garlic in a Korean...

Food was fine. Meat was alright. Fried chicken was sick. Problem started 5 mins in when they asked if we were ready to order and we asked for 2 more mins to decide. “Your booking is one and a half hours so you need to order quickly”... like seriously? Then, kid you not, 3 more times it was mentioned how much time we had left or that we were running out of time. They came over and said they had to pull the current meat out of the charcoal early so they could start the next. You, my friends, were running out of time. Not us. I get the whole 1.5 hour bookings because covid social distance to make up the numbers but i been here before covid was a thing and they have not changed their table set up at all. Still cramming people side by side... so why the 1.5 hours if you fitting the same people? Cash grab if u ask me. Well youre a korean bbq joint that cooks pieces of meat one at a time 1.5 hours aint enough time for you let alone the people to eat and enjoy. Also wanted to hve a few more drinks. No time. Wanted desert. No time and either dont sit people next to the constantly opening front door in winter or warn them when they booking. Had to keep the puffy jacket on the whole dinner. Wont be comin back to these money hungry annoying dudes out of principle. Seriously the dominating topic at the table was how long we had left. No fun. Ended up cruisin up to the mexican place on the main strip of glenny. Asked if we could grab a table for drinks and desert. No problem. No rush. No drainers....

The Korean BBQ experience that is worth the asking price. The meat quality is the most important part of a good Korean BBQ, and this place does not disappoint. The cuts are premium and the taste is exquisite. The best is probably the pork and the beef ribs marinated in sauce. The food is cooked vertically as there are two charcoal slabs put into the table vertically. This means the meat is cooked evenly on both sides with a timer to precisely control the cooking process. The waiters will come to your table to cook AND cut the meats so you can simply eat bite sized pieces without any hassle. The side dishes are pretty good too, the mum’s beef and mushroom hotpot provided excellent soup that is so flavourful it is arguably more delicious than the beef in the soup. Highly recommended. The only issue i found when I visited was the staff being worked quite hard as they have to cook and cut all the BBQ table side and that means hectic pace of service. There were some water on the ground when I sat down and a waiter spilt some soup as they were trying to bring out the hotpot. This was on a Wednesday night so it will probably be a lot more hectic on a weekend. Don’t get me wrong, the waiters are very polite and professional but the working environment they are in means inevitably something might go wrong. That is my only complaint. Overall I would definitely go back again, perhaps finding a less busy time but it is always packed full it seems. It is an experience and worth the high...