Wooden Bowl Strathfield — Restaurant in Sydney

As I don't think I can write 2 reviews for this place, I am giving it an in between score.

Prior to lockdown, this was a great place. The staff were friendly, the food was good, and the side dishes were plentiful and delicious. It was a fairly regular joint for us in Strathy. I always ordered the sizzling beef bulgogi, and partner grabbed the beef and mushroom something other. This take on the restaurant was a solid 5 star, we enjoyed the food, it was filling and also not too expensive either.

Fast forward to 2021. "Freedom" day.

Rocked up and noticed all the staff were different. No worries, we went up and spoke to a friendly character who had pretty good English, and ended up getting seated, although we had to grab the table next to the door on a cold night but not their fault. All's well so far.

I couldn't find my order but I described it as the bulgogi beef sizzling plate and the waiter assured me he knew which one I was talking about. My wife ordered her usual, the waiter double checked her order.

The waiter returned a bit later with the side dishes, minus kimchi. Was a bit odd, as kimchi is the last one I'd think they'd forget but we asked for it when we requested the next missing thing, chopsticks/spoons etc.

Soon my wife dishes arrived... it seemed off, but we weren't sure why at the time, as we hadn't been there for a while, but the dish was missing rice, so we requested some. Shortly after, my dish arrived.... and it was completely wrong, a bone pork soup ro something. I gave my order again, and there was mass confusion around the register with all the wait staff huddled around the menus working out what I wanted. They ended up (more or less) getting it right, and my dish arrived, but man, it was literally only half cooked and they slammed it with about 60% rice. Normally the dish is a full sizzling plate of beef and assorted vegetables, but this was 3/4 rice then a ton of uncooked veggies, and like 50 grams of meat.

At this stage I was too hungry to care so we ate.

Then came the nail in the coffin. Went to pay, it was SIXTY FIVE dollars. What in the two people having s.e.x!!?? Turns out my wife's dish we thought was odd was not the half dish half rice one she ordered but the "full" version (hence the no rice initially) which was FORTY FIVE dollars a plate on its own. Wow. Just. Wow. Not sure I'd pay that for a single dish unless it came with guaranteed happy ending for the person who ordered.

Anyways. Couldn't do much as we had eaten it.

So the restaurant in the current state barely scrapes a 1 star, and that's simply because service was relatively quick.

Wooden bowl, I sincerely hope you go back to the way you were.

We'll try again in a...

Naengmyeon Reviews: Ham Ji Park/Wooden Bowl (Strathfield)

I visited Wooden Spoon for the first time with level expectations; the restaurant specializes in Korean-Chinese dishes but I am hopeful as always. Optimism will find me the best naengmyeon in Sydney. Would I find something unexpected here?

First thing I noticed about the dish was that the presentation was very different, like a free-hand painting. I wasn’t fussed with the look of the dish, the impression of the noodles just surprised me a bit. Non-standard toppings such as a tomato slice and pan-fried beef only emphasized its quirkiness. When I sipped the broth, I just thought ‘Oh…not again’. Like Mirac, the broth was of the instant variety. Sweetish, tangyish and no umami flavour. Nothing to suggest that a beef broth was specifically prepared for this dish. So already, the dish is a 2 out of 5.

However, like I said in previous reviews, I don’t mind the flavour of the instant broth so I still enjoyed eating the rest of it. I just expect more if I am dining in at a restaurant. The only other element worth mentioning was that the pickled pear had a very pleasant nutty flavour, rather than being too tangy or sweet. The other elements of the dish were standard.

An inoffensive offering from Ham Ji Park/Wooden Bowl. I can clearly notice a pattern now. Go to restaurants where naengmyeon is either the centerpiece or complements the main offering, such as BBQ. Interestingly, the restaurant does offer yeolmu variant cold noodles. I may be back in the distant future to try this and their usual Korean-Chinese fare.

Verdict? 2.5 out of 5 (rounding...

Seating/Environment: The place is quite open and cosy.

Payment: The place accepts card but there is a surcharge for orders under $30. However, for certain set dish menus you can ONLY pay by CASH which is a bit odd. The place DOES NOT accept Amex.

Staff: The staff are overall quite nice, friendly and responsive.

Food: While the food came very quickly, it did not taste great. For what you get, the dishes are quite overpriced. We ordered a set menu which had sweet and sour pork and also black bean sauce noodle. We also got a kimchi pancake as well.

The pork was probably the most disappointing dish. It was extremely tough to chew on and the sweet and sour sauce did not have a lot of flavour.

The black bean sauce noodle was average. The noodles were nice and firm and the flavour of the dish was pretty decent. They also provide scissors for you to cut your noodles should you wish to do so.

The kimchi pancake was pretty average. Some parts were nice and crunchy, however there were also parts that tasted a bit doughy. The kimchi flavour was also not as prominent.

Overall opinion: This would be a place that I would not recommend people going if they are in Strathfield. In my opinion, there are much better Korean restaurants around the area to eat at. The dishes there do not taste that great and the meals are also...