We headed off immediately to try this new venue out. It seemed to be less dark than the Faro in town, and tables were partitioned off to give a sense of privacy. There was also an area to the right that could accommodate larger groups. Otherwise, it was much the same, with a grill ring in the middle of the table for you to BBQ your food, a button on the side of the table for summoning your waiter (common to Korean restaurants) and a pipe which you can adjust to hang above your grill, for extracting the smoke from your cooking.
Extraction pipes hung above each booth. |
Floor seating for a larger group. |
Our entrees came first, the stir-fried peanuts labelled kong (땅콩무침) to begin with, then the sesame ssam with rice (깻잎밥). And here I have to digress...
Sesame ssam: rice and black sesame seeds wrapped with a pickled perilla leaf. |
While I was looking up the Korean for this dish, I discovered that kkaenip ssam (깻잎쌈) is actually a wrap with a perilla leaf, not sesame, the common mistranslation. I confirmed this with a Korean friend:
Perilla is correct. Because both perilla and sesame seeds are used in the Korean cuisine in similar (but distinct) manners, one word, '깨', refers to both.Yay. So we seem to have eaten a green version of what is growing in my garden. It was a bit soft and fibrous, quite unlike the crisp and juicy feeling you would expect with a lettuce leaf, though perhaps not so different from a stuffed vine leaf in Greek or Turkish cuisine.
참깨 ('true' 깨) refers to sesame, usually more expensive, used as garnish or to get sesame oil (참기름, or 'true' oil)
들깨 ('field' or 'wild' 깨) refers to perilla, used for flavouring soups, or making oil (들기름), which is used as marinade or dressing for vegetables.
Because the word '깻잎' simply means the 'leaf of 깨', not many Korean people would know which one it refers to. But the correct answer is perilla :)
A couple of dishes from the Dinner Special page came out shortly after this (though they still looked like entrees to me): stuffed chillis called gochu jeon (고추전) and chicken on fried tofu, or dubu dak (두부닭).
Dubu dak and gochu jeon. |
Marinated boneless beef rib fillets, fresh cut top blade, marinated chicken with hot hot hot sauce, and side dishes. |
Galbi-Jang: best with marinated beef
Roast Salt: best with fresh beef & pork
Ssam-Jang: best with vegitable wrap
Marinated beef rib fillets on the grill. |
Grilling vegetables. |
Shiregi rice with doen jang soup and soy sauce. |
Panda Recommends
Mains: something off the grill menu ($11 - $13). This is a Korean BBQ restaurant after all. Don't forget (as we did) to ask for your sauces.
Vegie Pandas
Unlike the menu from Faro in town, the vegetarian options are not clearly marked here. There are a number of beautiful entrees which you could order, as well as a plate of vegetables to grill, or go for the default option of vegetarian bibimbap (비빔밥).
Menu - page 1 |
Menu - page 2 |
Menu - page 3 |
Restaurant Details
Faro
49 Nuffield Street, Newmarket
(09) 529 4040
Opening hours:
Mondays to Sundays 11:30am - 3pm, 5:30pm - 10:30pm
The Newmarket branch of Faro is not far from Hansan, where HP8 used to be. |
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I have been meaning to try out this place for a while. Thanks for sharing your review Nom Nom Panda.
ReplyDeletelol @ the healthy warning. I don't think I've ever come across that at a restaurant. Good to know it was delicious despite being healthy!
I've had shiso a few times before, sometimes I liked it, other times, I found the licorice too strong tasting and overpowered whatever I was eating. What do you use use the perilla in your garden for?
The problem when someone tells you not to order something is that you never know whether it is because the item truly isn't good, or whether they just think you won't like it. I recently rewatched that Hong Kong episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, and it was both amusing and cringeworthy seeing the stall holder object to selling him pork intestines and chicken kidneys.
ReplyDeleteAs for my red perilla, I've only used it in Vietnamese noodle soup so far, with other strong flavoured herbs such as sawtooth coriander, mint, coriander and Thai basil. I might try making wraps with it when the leaves grow bigger.