Suliya Korean Pocha x Gogiya Charcoal BBQ Lidcombe — Restaurant in Sydney

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One of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve ever had. I used to love this place—I’ve been here many times for their grilled beef intestine set, which was absolutely delicious. I also enjoyed their marinated crab. So when I found out they were offering a buffet, I was excited and brought my friends along. But this turned out to be the WORST Korean BBQ buffet I’ve ever had.

The beef had no flavor and didn’t taste fresh at all. The pork belly was thin, and when grilled, it started foaming with a strange white substance—and the porky smell was overpowering. The beef intestines were especially bad—completely different from the quality in their regular a la carte set. They smelled awful and tasted even worse.

Service was terribly slow. The first time I ordered, I only asked for one portion of each meat to avoid wasting food. But when the food arrived, I was shocked—each portion only had two or three tiny pieces. When I placed my second order, it took ages, and we had already finished everything before anything new arrived. When we asked what was happening, we were told we could only order five plates at a time because there were only three people working in the kitchen. I honestly don’t understand—if they can’t handle the orders, why run a buffet at all? Why have a time limit of 90 minutes if half that time is spent waiting for food?

There were no lettuce leaves or side dishes provided, which is shocking for a Korean BBQ place. Even when I ordered kimchi and garlic slices, I had to remind the staff twice before they brought them—very late.

The soups all tasted like they were made with instant noodle seasoning—completely cold and unpleasant. The fried chicken and dumplings were cold, hard, and clearly not fresh.

I honestly don’t want to waste more words on this place. I’m never coming back, and I won’t recommend it to anyone. Save your time and money—AVOID!

Just for reply your explanation：

First of all, your claim that reducing the average spending per person creates a “value for money” experience is simply not true under your current conditions. The quality and grade of the BBQ meats in the all-you-can-eat option are not the same as those in your à la carte menu. For example, the pork belly in the à la carte menu is thick-cut, while in the buffet it’s thin slices. The beef is also not Wagyu, yet your menu labels it as Wagyu-grade. The pictures on the menu do not match the actual food served.

Maybe new customers who have never tried your à la carte BBQ won’t notice the difference, but for returning customers like me, the difference is huge and disappointing. I used to spend over $80 per person every time I visited, and I would rather pay more for food that is actually worth it — not this downgrade.

Your move makes it seem like your business can’t handle quality expectations — and your current explanation only makes...

Previous review:The intestine combination is out of this world and fantastic value! The fried rice at the end is so tasty, great combo of crisp, fatty, cheesy and umami.

Edit: Visited last month after returning 3-4 since my original review and for a table of 2-3, it's no longer the same value/experience. They've changed the establishment into an 'all you can eat' BBQ buffet $65pp (but without decent charcoal) or otherwise the gopchang/intestine combo with 'unlimited side dishes', but it's set price $99 and NO takeaway PLUS $20 charge for excess food. As far as I can understand, it's to limit people overordering, but even with only my partner and I ordering the gopchang which we have loved in the past, and adding one small serve of chilli crab, they were going to charge us the 'food waste' fee and of course refused takeaway. It is bad enough they have changed to this opaque system, but even worse is that they should have point blank told us that between two people, it is impossible for you to eat everything and because there are new charges now. After protesting the nonsensical charges for ordering the same amount of food in the past, they finally let us go but it feels like a huge slap in the face to a previously loyal customer. The staff didn't do a good job explaining the changes or providing service, but then again, it was going to be a hard sell. Hugely disappointing. The irony is that by changing the 'menu' this is what causes food wastage. If they want to minimise the wastage then they should be charging a separate all you can eat 'gopchang' fee per person, similar to the BBQ, and THEN apply wastage if there was a lot left. Food was still tasty but the soup quality and some of sizes portions have noticeably shrunk (clearly trying to create more margin). I don't begrudge them that specifically, but it all left a bad taste in the month how it was all handled. Perhaps takeaway is still fine value and no need to deal with the charges. It's definitely not worth dining in if you're a...

Lidcombe is fast becoming one of the top suburbs for anything Korean, and restaurants like Suliya fill that craving when it comes to KBBQ or just good Korean cuisine. It boasts a unique menu compared to other restaurants in the area such as its signature intestine dishes which can be an acquired taste given the texture and what it is but you can’t fault them for having that option. We ate there with a large group with kids and adults so got to try out many many dishes. The meat for the Korean BBQ is excellent whether marinated or not and you get five sauces to match whatever your tastebuds feel like (wasabi is a great choice to have). There are so many cheese based dishes and while I’m not normally a cheese fan I found myself continuing to eat the halloumi cheese and snowy cheese fried chicken inbetween the Japchae, rice balls or Ramyun and meat, don’t forget the meat! My kids had no problems eating the rice balls that you get to roll yourself, snowy cheese chicken, mozarella potato pancake or glorious meat. We had ample tongs and scissors to cut and they replace the grill regularly to keep your cooking experience going. The restaurant has two sections, the front sections which looks like a normal restaurant and the back section which is lined with longer tables for big groups and perfect for the grill. It’s right across from Lidcombe station so getting there via public transport is not a problem and there’s a parking lot nearby if you don’t find street parking. If you order too much like we did there’s takeaway boxes so your experience can continue the next day when you’re craving some of that fried chicken, but there’s no more meat because we devoured it all! Did I mention...