Park Bong Sook City — Restaurant in Sydney

Park Bong Sook cook their Google reviews by offering free ice cream to people who show their review at the counter when paying. The incentive for review program is so well established, it’s a menu item on the online ordering system. Diners are unlikely to show a staff member a negative review. The silly part of this is, they really don’t need to, their food is solid. Whether it’s five stars good is debatable, but without any free products changing hands, I rated it four stars.

Much bigger than their Lidcombe restaurant, the CBD outlet is spread across multiple floors. We’re sent subterranean into an over-lit cafeteria style dining hall. Perhaps it’s meant to replicate an outdoor square in broad daylight, as there’s roof detailing and faux windows along one edge, breaking the large space into smaller modules on that side. The front counter is lined with baskets of banchan that make their way to your table as soon as you are seated. Japchae glass noodles, fish cakes, and candied sweet potato number among the side dish selection. Ordering is outsourced to the diner, either on your phone or via the on-table iPad. The drinks range is pitched at a younger crowd, though we find our favourite sugar-free (no fructose) Saero soju ($18) and Kook Soon Dang makgeolli ($16) to ease any burn.

Marked with three red chillies, spicy grilled pork bone ($67) does pack some heat. Cut in a different way to Australian butchers, these large hunks of back ribs are marinated then slow cooked in plenty of gochujang. Glove up and get stuck into them. Collect the small bits that drop onto your plate into a soft milk bun. They’re messy but compelling, and presented in a serving size a table of two will struggle to finish. Less generously proportioned, a tray of corn cheese ($15) gives your mouth a nice sweet cheesy counterpoint to the heat. We rounded out our meal with the rice seafood pancake ($32) or haemul pajeon. The “pa” means scallion (shallot), though this version is dominated by seafood, with calamari and quite large prawns studded across its crisp surface. Dragged through a dipping sauce made of soy, vinegar and onion, it’s my kind...

Management made poor decisions. Their food quality used to be really good. I even boasted about their side dishes to friends on how fresh they were.

Tonight it has changed. Staff claimed the head chef is still the same person so I guess it must be the management who changes the way they run the business.

I always come back to this place when I craved for korean food. But, I won't come back again. Their grand opening staff members were fantastic. It seems they lost some really good team members.

Their food quality tonight is not good at all. I'm not enjoying their food taste at all. I even thought they change the chefs.

Customers come back when they feel happy and satisfied with the overall food quality and service level. This is now gone and it gives me no reason to return here.

Spent nearly $70 tonight ordering too much food and have leftovers. The shop used to give free takeway containers. Now, they charged 50-70 cents each. Using $1 as the excuse to make $70 sales. This is not efficient. This is business stupidity. Of course, business should be willing to give back $1 free container for every food order excess your customers have.

Profit they made from the food each table ordered should be enough to cover the cost of $1 takeaway container.

They reduce the size of their side dishes which I can tolerate. But, they go even further, did not control their side dishes quality, they made in big batches and serve less to customers so the turnaround is now slower and the freshness is lost at time passed by.

Summary.

Before: Side dishes: so fresh ✅️ Soy chicken: perfect crisp, cooked perfectly ✅️ Soup: balance and cooked perfectly ✅️

Now: Side dishes: not fresh and poor quality ❌️ Soy chicken: overly sweet, not properly cooked ❌️ Soup: sauce base not fresh, meat...

I met up with a friend for Sunday dinner, and we finally decided to try this spot. There was a short wait for a table, but luckily, the turnover for 2-person tables was pretty fast.

🔥 Hot and Spicy Chicken Feet Soup You can choose between the dry or soup version — we went with the soup. The portion was massive! The chicken feet were super flavorful, cooked until perfectly tender and easy to eat. We even noticed a subtle hint of herbal (Chinese medicine) flavor, which made it quite unique. We couldn’t finish it and ended up packing the leftovers — there was enough for each of us to take home a full serving!

🥣 Bak Kut Teh Pork Rib Soup with Rice Korean-style Bak Kut Teh — an interesting twist! I saw it recommended in other reviews and it was perfect for a chilly, windy Sydney night. Very warming and comforting. Paired really well with the spicy chicken feet, helping balance out the heat. The ribs were tender, and the best part? Dipping them in the house special sauce — so good!

🍚 Hot Stone Pot Bibimbap with Beef The beef bibimbap was also a great pick. They were super generous with the seaweed, and the portion was very filling. It was packed with ingredients and every bite felt satisfying.

💰 They charge a 10% weekend surcharge, which is the first time I’ve seen it at a Korean restaurant. Thankfully, they offer 5% off if you pay with cash, which helped ease the pain a little 😮‍💨. I’d definitely recommend coming on a weekday if you can!

Overall, the portions were generous and prices were mid-range. It’s definitely a great place to visit with a group. For two people, ordering two dishes would be more...