IL MALE-e — Restaurant in Sydney

TLDR: restaurant serves inconsistent portions and skimps out on essential ingredients.

Heard good things about the raw marinated crab here, so we decided to try it. First time we came the crab was delicious and there was a decent portion, same goes with other dishes. From memory we also ordered the spicy pig feet and skewers. Because of the good experience we came back another day for round two of the crabs.

The second time, it was so disappointing. The crab was tiny, and they decided to make it look smaller than it already was, by placing segments stacked on-top of each other (but not stacked looking as the crab was so tiny and thin), in the middle of the big otherwise empty plate. Wish we took photos to show how silly it looked.

We also ordered the black bean noodle, I believe it was at least $18. This was one of the stingiest dish that we got. It was not even half as tasty as the paldo instant black bean noodles, at least the paldo noodles has a pre-made sauce with vegetables and meat in it for a fraction of the price. This restaurant served what probably is the instant packs with the powdered black sauce. This dish literally just contained the cheaper instant noodles packs, they made the sauce watery, added thinly sliced cucumbers with an egg on-top and called it a day. That's it, no onion, no meat, nothing. Onions are only $3 a kg come on.

If they were consistent and allocated some of their budget towards adding quintessential ingredients to their dishes, then maybe they could make more money from...

We went here early on a Friday night without a reservation to avoid the crowds we saw recently only to be sat in front of an extremely loud aircon unit at the front of the store. Later on, I realised that this was done with good intentions - because it gets very hot in the booth but the way we were served was extremely rude. The waitress pointed to the seat, we sat down and she pointed to the paper on the table and left. The paper had a QR code that didn't work. It took ages to get attention of a waitress and finally when we told her the code doesn't work, she went to print and and basically threw it on the table.

Perhaps it was just the bad attitude of a few people. I've read the owner was really nice but we did not get that service. I felt like she stared down at us whilst serving another table - pouring their waters and talking to them. We ordered double the amount of the other table but obviously she had some unknown bias against us.

Food wise, the meat was okay. The best meat, like everyone said was the lamb skewers. Some meats like the chicken heart had a very distinctive smell. The banchan (entree dishes) were average. I would have liked to see more sauce options available as I think that would make everything taste so much better. We were given soy sauce with fresh chilli, a chilli/herb mix and some special sauce for wagyu.

There were also a lot of dishes on the menu that were sold out.

Overall, good to try for "different" experience of cooking the skewers on their fancy devices but...

We had a wonderful Valentine’s dinner at Il Male-e, a hidden gem just off the main retail street, accessible via Raw Street. This unassuming Korean diner may have a simple interior, but its rustic charm and warm atmosphere make it an inviting spot.

Il Male-e specializes in traditional Korean cuisine but also offers skewers that you can cook over charcoal at your table—an interactive experience that adds to the fun. The friendly staff were attentive and took the time to explain how the auto-rotating BBQ works. Keep in mind that there’s a minimum order of 10 skewers to use the grill. • Crab Bibimbap: A standout dish, highly recommended by other diners, and it certainly lived up to the hype. The flavors were rich and well-balanced. • Skewers: Well-seasoned and delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of the automatic grilling system. • Pancake: Decent, though the ingredients were chopped a bit too large for my preference. • Side Dishes: Generous portions of complimentary banchan, with free refills on request—a great bonus.

Overall, it was a fantastic meal with great service, flavorful food, and a fun dining experience. We left full and happy, and we’d...