Arrow Foodie: Review - Corean House

Fri, 3rd August 2012

Corean House
Shop 5, 551 Little Lonsdale Street
(Healeys Lane entrance)
Melbourne

Cuisine: Korean

Taste Rating: 7.5/10 Value Rating: 7.5/10

I asked my hairdresser why Corean is spelt with a 'C' and not a 'K'. He tells me that C is the French way of spelling and K is the English way. He is Korean (or Corean) so he should know. I had thought it was so the restaurant listing would have an alphabetical advantage. One little mystery solved!

I last went to Corean House on 1s July 2011. Since then, it has reopened under new management and now has a lunch time buffet. Twelve of us went to try out the buffet one fine Friday in winter. The place was fairly busy, more so than last year during my lunch there , coincidentally also on a Friday. The entrance to this restaurant is in quiet Healeys Lane.

The buffet had about ten main dishes and four side dishes. There were two pots of soup, two trays of leafy greens and two trays of fruit (this is sounding like Noah's Ark!). Dessert was one Korean sweet. So, not a large buffet, but quite adequate for a quick lunch. And the price was a reasonable $11.95 per head.

I was happy with the quality of the food. The main dishes included Potato Noodles with Mixed Vegetables, Beef Bulgogi, Fried Chicken wings marinated in Soy Sauce, Fried Spicy Pork, Chicken Teriyaki, Gyozas and Fried Rice. Plain steamed rice was sitting in a pot next to the two pots of soup.

There was an eye-brow raising dish of tiny Beef Patties, Chips and Vegetables - a nod to Western taste or a trendy Korean dish? Closely followed by Sausages with Vegetables, which looked like footy frank type sausages. Again, maybe this is a popular Korean dish.

I tried all the main dishes except for the sausages. I like the potato noodles, beef bulgogi, fried chicken wings and yes, I liked the beef patties too. Someone commented that the beef patties did not have the texture of beef burgers that they are used to. These were softer than normal minced patties but still tasted good enough that I had a second serve. The gyozas appeared at the buffet table about mid-way through our meal. They looked really promising but on biting in, I found the gyoza skin strangely dry and not the usual soft moist texture.

The side dishes were kim chi, white kim chi, pickled radish and edamame.

The one sweet at the buffet was a mochi-like glutinous rice flour ball with a red bean filling, cut in half. Unusually, this was served "fridge-cold". It comes down to different expectations and taste. Someone commented it "was stone, frozen, cold". But I like these little mochi balls although I would have preferred them at room temperature. I went back for a second serve but the tray was bare. A staff member noticed and went to get a refill but we had to leave before he returned.

The restaurant was well appointed and clean. The staff were friendly and patiently did their best to answer questions even though English was not their first language. The buffet was kept replenished with food while we were there.

Overall, nice food for a reasonable price. I would go back again for the buffet, especially with a group. Corean House has hit on the right strategy with the buffet as this has brought a buzz to lunch time at this restaurant.