Hallah Contemporary Korean Cuisine
268 Victoria St
North Melbourne, VIC 3051
03 9329 4293
hallah.com.au
GoogleMap
Looks like the blog migration has worked! Hello all, and welcome to my new domain fatboo.com. I’m still trying to iron out things, neaten the theme and get all the sidebar gadgets in order. And WordPress certainly has a different user interface to Blogger, I’m trying to get used to that too! Maybe in the next few weeks or so, I’ll hold a blog “housewarming” when the page design’s complete, hah! But all the same, it is business as usual with my (rather prolific) blogging. So let’s get going!
I’m not an expert on Korean food, but there are aspects of it that I quite like. The Western segment of Victoria St, opposite QVM, has become a bit of a Korean food enclave. I held lofty dreams of trying each and everyone of them, but to date have only managed to visit Mr Lee, Hallah and Wooga. Why I’ve not visited many more is probably because they are mostly Korean BBQ focussed venues, don’t like.
Yeah yeah… I understand how Korean BBQs can be a wonderfully social meal between friends, but having multiple tables cooking away in that enclosed space is just too much. You leave dinner greasy-faced, with your clothes and hair stinking of meat smoke. Also, many of the meats on offer are marinated, in my books: marinated = not fresh. And the final icing on the cake is: why am I forking out money to cook my own damn food? Ha ha!
Hallah is about the only Korean BBQ place on that stretch that isn’t smoky, and the reason why is because, like Maedaya in Richmond, the BBQ section is in level 2 upstairs. So when I feel like having Korean and don’t feel like driving all the way to Carnegie for a meal at 7 & 7, I’d probably end up at Hallah’s downstairs. On a side note, looking at the restaurant signage, I’d always thought it was called “Wallah”.
A catch up with Swells was long overdue since I’d returned from Singapore, so we met at this corner of the city and deliberated for a very short while before agreeing on Korean food. As we trundled down the “path of the kimchi”, I cringed at all the potentially smoky-looking places and yes, once again, entered Hallah. Ha ha! Yes yes, I know this is a very bad way to guide my palate, according to smokiness rather than food quality… but anyway.
The kimchi selection isn’t as lavish as what I’m used to at other places, but it’s still pretty satisfying. Love Korean kimchis!
So this visit isn’t going to cover the hugely popular KFCs or BBQs of the Korean food world. Laudably, Swells and I went with the beef mushroom hotpot (2ppl) $28 instead. It’s funny, because I half expected having to cook the beef myself, sans BBQ smoke. But no, it appears Korean hotpots tends to have all the ingredients already in the pot. And you just let it all simmer under low heat and cook slowly as you pick away at all the delightful components hiding inside.
*Shiok… this hotpot was delicious!
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*Shiok is commonly used in Malaysia & Singapore. It’s essentially used to convey a feeling of sheer pleasure and happiness. [source: urban dictionary]
The simmering broth was clean tasting and gently sweet with hints of Japanese konbu. Also, anything with so much vegetables and Asian mushrooms in it just makes me so so happy. Swells felt the same way, he also liked the beef pieces in the soup. My only complaint with the beef was how they came clumped on one side of the pot and you had to free them out yourself.
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Interestingly, the (assumedly) sweet potato noodle did not go mushy or soggy even as the pot continued simmering over an hour or so. I didn’t touch the accompany bowl of rice that came with the hotpot, the noodles were good enough to satisfy. I also liked how the broth didn’t start off over-seasoned, I can’t stand hotpot broths that’s overloaded with salt and MSG because it gets even worse as the soup evaporates. This was a really pleasant, slow-paced meal with good conversation.
We had a kimchi pancake $10 to go with our pleasure-pot of conviviality. It arrived typically oily and heavyish, reminiscent of Japanese okonomiyaki. I’m usually not too fond of these types of pancakes, but having the kimchi version was a great choice, because it helped counterpoint the cleansing nature of our hotpot. So in this situation, I liked it!
Service was on the disengaged and perfunctory side, typical of many Asian joints. After I waved them over to take our dessert order, the guy just took away the hotpot set-up, and left the rest behind. Ugh… eating dessert with all that finished clutter. Tsk… but I guess at such reasonable-ish prices, you can’t ask for the world. You can only hope for a little bit more attentiveness.
There was quite a wait before the green tea hodduk (Korean pancakes) and black sesame ice cream $8 arrived. It was quite a dense, tall and slightly savoury pancake, with what looked and tasted like dried figs as its filling. When eaten with the ice cream, it was not bad. The ice cream sat on a water cracker… odd, lol. Interesting dessert… no clue as to its authenticity, but I’m glad I tried it.
So yes, here’s the ‘civilised’, non-smoky downstairs section of Hallah. I’m in no hurry to try Korean BBQs or Korean fried chickens in the near future, but after my heartwarming pork-spine soup experience at Mr Lee and today’s meal at Hallah, I’m keen to try more Korean-style hotpots.
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For another Korean place that’s popular with me, check out 7 & 7 in Carnegie. Also, you might want to read about my less than exciting experience with KFC’s at Gami Chicken & Beer, CBD.
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For another Korean place that’s popular with me, check out 7 & 7 in Carnegie. Also, you might want to read about my less than exciting experience with KFC’s at Gami Chicken & Beer, CBD.
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Congrats on the successful migration to WordPress and your own domain!
I feel the same way you do about Korean BBQ LOL! So funny to read it as if it were my own words! I can’t stand the stinky smoke that gets into your hair and clothes, and it’s true, why should we pay to cook our own food? :)
Thanks, April. And I’m glad you see Korean BBQ in a similar way. =)
Don’t like smoke, don’t like grease, don’t like oily, don’t like clutter… Crankyboo! :P
P.S. You know I love you.
P.P.S. Congratulations on the switch!!
Haha, I think I’m too used to the the pricey places these days, spoiltboo!!
HAHAHA… I can’t believe you included the definition of “Shiok” in your post. You’re too awesome lah, Bryan LOL! What a yummy post… I think I eat Korean more than any other cuisine in Melbourne, actually. I like it more than Jap (surprisingly) esp when I’m in the CBD because there aren’t many affordable Jap dinner options around!! Btw, congrats on the new move to WP! Seems like you’re one of the “big boys” now while us kiddies are still fiddling around in Blogger hehe. Cheers to more exciting advancements to come on your blog!
Thank you, Winston. I have been spending days getting the design to look pretty. :) Actually, I thought you’re with WordPress, cos your URL doesn’t have “blogspot” in it.
If you do make the move, do so before you reach 200 posts, cos the importer only brings over the most recent 200 posts. I could not transfer and redirect 20+ posts properly cos I had 224 posts.
Welcome to WordPress :) and congrats with the ‘migration’!! It all looks great ~ But i’m getting use to the new look too hehe it looks great so clean!
Ohh i remember driving past this place and wasn’t sure if it was worth trying, so i’m glad you’ve done a review ~ Korean food is one of my favourite cuisines and I agree with Winston that it can be even better than Japanese food hehe
I definitely think it’s a plus when you said that it’s not smoky :) I hate places that are so smoky and everything gets so so so smell the next day!
Ps I still think you should have a ‘blog warming’ for your new domain :)
Thanks, Daisy! Nice being in a new setting, am still trying to add all the options to make browsing easy.
I have to disagree with you and Winston, I think I still prefer Japanese food at the moment. :) But Korean definitely remains quite yummilicious, as ong as it isn’t d BBQs. ;)
Aahahahaha blog warming, do we congregate at a set GMT time and do mass comments while drinking wine? Hahahahaha!!
Oooh PRETTY! Lovely, elegant new design!
I have been wanting to try Hallah for ages, although I will be upstairs in the BBQ section, smoky clothes and hair be damned! That pancake looks like crispy perfection.
Beautiful photo of the hot pot noodles!
Thanks, Lauren. It was a bit of a headache setting it up, but I’ve transferred all posts and comments completely. Thank goodness!!
Hahaha, you definitely love your Korean Barbies then, but you see, they will cook for you!! They won’t do it for me, hahaha!
Wah, love the layout!
How are you finding wordpress now? Who is hosting your site?
Next time, try the fried chicken at Hallah – they are good!
Thanks! I’m loving the customisation that you can do with WP. I’m w HostGator. But I’m having teething problems w format and paragraphing when writing up or formatting posts and the placing of images, still needs getting used to since I don’t know HTML code.
I’ve had the KFC at Hallah before, they’re definitely better than Gami Gami’s. :)