Shinara Grill and Lounge – Sydney

Friday, 6 Mar 09

Rice

I need to apologise in advance for my photos today. My camera really hates low lighting, and it shows unfortunately. Not that the lighting was very low at all – just spotlights tend to be low enough to aggravate my camera.

Tim and I were intrigued by the newly opened Shinara Grill and Lounge near his place advertising Japanese/Korean Yum Cha, and so decided to go pay it a visit. The system works much like a normal yum cha restaurant – trolleys bearing an assortment of tasty morsels being wheeled around for the perusal of hungry patrons, and the waitresses noting down what is selected.

Kingfish Sashimi

Much like a low-tech sushi train, many plates of different types of sushi are offered, as well as more traditional Korean fare, and an a la carte menu can also be inspected if diners would like something not on the carts. The kingfish sashimi was so-so, the rice was possibly a little too soft and the fish could probably be fresher.

Chilli Chicken

The chilli chicken was extremely chilli, which we hadn’t quite been expecting, as we weren’t warned when we chose it. Nonetheless, it was tasty with a large mouthful of rice to mop up the fiery sauce. Again, apologies for the shoddy photo.

Korean Pancakes

viagra without prescription Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that side effect on the overall health, but this also has a damaging effect on the fertility of men. Below I list a number of traps that you can verify the quality of the product as it can lead cheap viagra from canada to health hazards. This helps the drug to mix well in the purchase cialis solboards.com human body to erect the penis as well as improve the condition. How many men cheapest cialis 20mg solboards.com are struggling with this problem? According to estimative numbers in USA, Europe and Japan are 50 million men suffering in impotence.Apparently this is another modern-age disease.

A trolley with a frying surface offered these Korean pancakes (zucchini, mince and kimchi) served with a mildly spicy sauce, which happily weren’t oily at all. The kimchi wasn’t too chilli in the orange pancakes, lending an almost sweet flavour, which we hadn’t identified as kimchi until we asked. Perhaps frying them on the spot so they are served fresh and piping hot, rather than simply reheating them in the trolley could improve these, but otherwise, we enjoyed them greatly.

Beansprout salad (Sukju Namul)

Beansprout salad is fragrant with sesame oil and helps to cool down the lingering effects of the chilli. It’s always been a favourite and I was not disappointed with this flavoursome version with carrots.

Beef Bulgogi

This being my second time in a Korean restaurant, and having enjoyed this dish last time, we couldn’t resist the beef bulgogi. Sweet with soy sauce and sesame and tender, the dish did not have as much sauce as my previous experience, but still was delicious to eat with the rice.

Service overall was variable. While friendly and polite, we had to ask a couple times for water as the order seemed to get lost in translation, but tea was brought very willingly towards the end of the meal. Some of the waitresses had a little difficulty explaining what each dish was, but we expect these kinks will be ironed out as it gets busier.

The ceramic dishes used to serve were simple but elegant, particularly the bowls the rice was served in. And for a total price of $20 for two (plates for yum cha range between $1 to $7), this was an extremely affordable lunch for the city, and we left satiated and satisfied with the variety. In fact, so much so that we returned for the Korean barbeque buffet dinner that night! More on that coming.

Shinara Grill and Lounge is located at 338 Pitt St (near Liverpool St).

5 Comments

1. I love kimchi. The pancakes sound good, but you’re right that it would be yummier and more exciting to have them made on the spot.

   Comment by Arwen from Hoglet K — March 6, 2009 @ 1:37 pm

2. Hee, I’ve never heard of sushi yum cha style (I’m not big on Korean food at all…the orange pancakes remind me of pumpkin!). Though, it does sounds lots more appealing to me than traditional yum cha I must admit. :)

   Comment by Jen — March 7, 2009 @ 2:05 pm

3. whooahh Jap/Korean yum chhhaa?!?!? And never apologize for your photos! haha each time you do you make me want to cry :P Interesting place should check it out thx!

   Comment by FFichiban — March 8, 2009 @ 12:46 am

4. […] were lured back to Shinara Grill and Lounge that very day, by the tempting offer of a $26.50 Korean BBQ Buffet. There is something so primal, so bonding, so […]

   Pingback by the way it crumbles » Shinara Grill and Lounge - BBQ Buffet — March 8, 2009 @ 9:38 pm

5. i went there for dinner the other night and absolutely loved it! have been ranting about it for days (maybe because of the soju… maybe just because it was that great…)

   haven’t gone during the day for “yum cha” though. sounds like plans should be made :)

   Comment by shez — March 23, 2009 @ 4:06 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

.