Oriental Spoon

I will admit that I am a total noob when it comes to Korean food or culture.  In fact, my Korea-related knowledge is limited to having watched Winter Sonata (but dubbed in Japanese - oh Yon-sama!) and My Sassy Girl, which made me cry like a baby!  As an erstwhile language student, I always found listening to Korean frustrating, but only because I always used to think it was Japanese at first... until I realised I didn't understand a single word!  D'oh!  I don't think I'll be able to pick up Korean any time soon, but I certainly want to learn more about the cuisine!  And I was very happy when the lovely Duncan suggested Oriental Spoon for a cheap-and-cheerful catch-up dinner.

Oriental Spoon
254 LaTrobe St
Melbourne 3000
Ph: (03) 9654-9930


Oriental Spoon is just opposite Melbourne Central, and I think it's been refurbished recently, hence the fancy looking interior above.  It was relatively quiet when we got there at about 6:30 on a Monday night, but it slowly got busier as the evening progressed.

Honey & Citron Tea - $3.70

Front: beanshoots, Back Right: Kim Chi, Back Left: Some sort of noodle/mayo thing

The above condiments are provided free on every table.  I'm still not a huge fan of kimchi - it's an acquired taste I haven't quite acquired yet - but I loved the beanshoots!  Tau Geh is one of my fave things to eat.  The bowl at the back on the left was some sort of cold noodle thing with a thick mayo sauce.  I didn't mind it, but I don't think anyone else on the table was too crazy about it.

Sandra had a spicy chicken bulgogi, which came in a huge portion!  It could have easily been shared between 2 people.  You can order it in a varying levels of chilli-intensity - I believe this was "hot". It wasn't mind-blowingly hot, but just a nice comfortable level of chilli.  (Although I do realise that chilli-heat is a subjective thing!)

Spicy Chicken Bulgogi - $16.90

Duncan and I each ordered the stone-bowl beef bim bim bap, which came with a bowl of soup.  I'm not quite sure what it was - it looked like miso, but didn't have that fishy dashi-broth taste to it.
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Beef Stone Bowl Bim Bim Bap - $16.90

I quite liked the bim bim bap, especially the combination of all the different veggies (and more of those fab bean shoots!)  Even though it was a huge serve, it didn't seem too heavy or rich.  However, whilst I did enjoy the dish, Duncan mentioned that it was missing the expected crunchy rice on the bottom of the stone bowl.

I think Oriental Spoon was a pretty good find - cheerful, reasonably efficient service and tasty food, all in a central location.  However, at $16.90 for individual dishes, I think it's quite expensive, and I'm sure there are cheaper (and probably better) options around.

So speaking of which... what are your favourite Korean restaurants in Melbourne? Do you have a favourite Korean dish?