Myeongdong Chatswood — Restaurant in Sydney

Used to love coming to this place pre covid-19 situation for their generous sides and tasty dishes. Been here three times now since it’s been take away only - first time was great (gave a takeaway plate of sides varieties for each main ordered, mains were hot and tasty), second time was not great (only one sides varieties plate for 4 mains ordered and fried dishes were all soggy and warm despite us only eating it within minutes of receiving). We thought they may have had a bad day so gave it another go tonight. We ordered direct from them and requested extra kimchi (as we ordered numerous mains to be shared between 4 people). A tiny small container of extra kimchi was given begrudgingly and the young waitress told me that they usually don’t do this. This caught me by surprise as if we eat in, they would happily refill the sides plates when we request it. However during these times where it’s takeaway only, it doesn’t matter how many mains you order they only give you one plate of sides even if you request extra sides as I did since we would be sharing between 4 sides loving people? For me this almost defeats the purpose of ordering from Myeong Dong as the main reason we used to frequent there over the other Korean restaurants is for their generous sides. We also ordered fried chicken today and I asked for the sauce to be put on the side as I didn’t want it to go soggy on the way home - they only filled up the container perhaps 1/3rd way so when we tried coating the chicken when we got home, only half the portion was coated before we ran out of sauce. There’s plenty of local restaurants to support and unfortunately I don’t think we’ll be returning until we can eat in again as their takeaway has been a bit too hit and...

I had heard the Chstswood branch was even better than North Strathfield , so I was keen to go.

Bad, bad idea.

There were two waiters to serve the entire restaurant, and both were completely overwhelmed.

I had to ask for tongs and scissors twice, my companions the same for their drinks. After the meat for barbecue came out (before the sides and the entrée) I had to ask the waiter to bring the grill grate and light the burner.

The kitchen was completely chaotic. After an hour we had still not been given our two bowls of rice: at that point we just gave up and cancelled them.

I told the waiter that he needed to get a job at a better-run restaurant because he didn't deserve to bear the brunt of the management's ineptitude. With a look of immense relief, he told us he had found a new job and would start it in a couple of days. Good luck to him.

Meanwhile, his poor colleague was at the next table taking a complaint from the customers (their food had taken so long to come out, and had come out after tables who had ordered later; two of the party could no longer endure it, and left in disgust; the food was too salty, and lots of other stuff I couldn't hear). By the time I fled, he was still there listening to the complaints. I hope he, too, can find a better job elsewhere.

We had sat outside, and the outside area had no extractor fans. Thus the experience was more fumigation than delectation.

If you are insane enough to try this place having read the above, do not order barbecue, or sit near others who have done so.

I'm not even sure how this set-up is legal.

Anyway, you get the gist of this review; if you go there you have to be utterly mental.

Head to North...

The soundtrack to our Myeong Dong Korean Restaurant meal was a cacophony of drunken voices, each shrieking over the other to be heard in the deafening space. It’s quite an assault on the senses, and saw me struggling to hear our very patient waiter. We revert to pointing and nodding, and then try to acclimatise by necking shots of Chum Churum soju ($15) with bowls of Kook Soon Dang makgeolli ($15) as chasers.

We’d come for banchan—I’d heard this North Strathfield restaurant delivered the biggest range of side dishes—and we were not disappointed. A full tray arrives bearing twelve different sides, ranging from old favourites like kimchi, stir fried glass noodles (japchae) and stir fried fish cake, to the less often found fried tofu, spicy braised potato, and slippery mung bean starch (nokdu-muk). While it would be easy to just gorge on this virtual feast of (mostly) vegan vegetable dishes, you are required to order one dish per person.

Crispy K.F.C. ($22/small) comes as a small mound of sticky red chicken wings, that eat sweet but have a good bit of kick on the back palate. Cheese-topped fire chicken ($38) isn’t as generous (or as good) as my benchmark version at Danjee, but it keeps the endorphins moving and prompts me to order more makgeolli to soothe the burn. There was little heat relief in a more-generous pot of boiled down spicy beef ribs with rice cakes ($62). The tteokbokki were perfectly cooked and complemented with glass noodles, wood ear fungus, crunchy green capsicum and tender, well-rendered beef rib under a dusting of sesame seeds. Oversized containers ($2) take the sting out of the spend because you can take home a proper lunch to take to work...