Arrow Foodie: Review

Monday, 29 October 2012

Review - Guk Bab

Thursday, 23rd Aug 2012

Guk Bab
Shop 1, 535 Little Lonsdale St
Melbourne

Cuisine: Korean
Taste Rating: 7.5/10 Value Rating: 7.5/10

Guk Bab is located under a multi-level car park in Little Lonsdale Street. The interior is neat and quiet. It seems to be popular with Asian youngsters, as well as office professionals. I've been to Guk Bab for lunch a couple of times. The second time, there were ten of us for lunch.

First some Korean terms! Bibimbap means 'mixed rice' - this dish consists of a bowl of white steamed rice with various toppings which are mixed in with the rice before eating. Dolsot means 'stone pot' - this pot is heated up such that food placed inside continues to cook for a little while.

I ordered Prawn Bulgogi Dol-sot Bibim-bap. The others ordered Beef Bulgogi (beef on hot plate), Spicy Chicken (stir-fried spicy chicken on hot plate), Gai-bi Jjim (Korean Beef Short-ribs Stew), 2 x Beef Bulgogi Dol-sot Bibim-bab, Spicy Pork Dol-sot Bibim-bab, 2 x Chicken Bulgogi Dol-sot Bibim-bab and Vegetable Dol-sot Bibim-bab.

Everyone enjoyed their meals. Comments I gathered for feedback were:

Spicy Pork Dol-sot Bibim-bab "Not as spicy as elsewhere".
Chicken Bulgogi Dol-sot Bibim-bab "Third time ordered this, not spicy, nice" commented friend who does not eat very spicy foods.
Vegetable Dol-sot Bibim-bab "Nice, mild taste, good mix of flavours"
Korean Beef Short-ribs Stew "Beef was tender but there was gristle. Has vegetables and enoki mushrooms. Spicy hot and temperature hot. Dish was boiling when served and continued boiling for about a minute."

I thought the short-ribs dish was the most interesting of the lot. The heat caused the enoki mushrooms to move gently, providing added interest.

The prawns in my Prawn Bulgogi Dol-sot Bibim-bap were average in taste. It was not a bad dish but I would try something else from the menu next time.

There is a lunch menu which is worth looking at as the prices are slightly lower on this menu. E.g the Dol-sot Bibim-babs are $11.50 on the lunch menu but $15 on the regular a la cart menu.

The service was quick. The wait staff were very polite and helpful.

Overall, a good place to go if you want a quiet environment for lunch, with reasonable prices and food that caters for non-vegetarians and vegetarians.