Strathfield - Jang Ta Bal

Usually when people think of Korean food, the first thing they think about is BBQ; which is exactly what I had today with my boyfriend.


This relatively new spacious BBQ restaurant is located in Strathfield, a place where people usually go to for a taste of authentic Korean food. Strathfield is literally populated with Koreans, with 90% of the shops owned by Koreans. Not only are there many Korean restaurants, but there are Korean bookshops, bakeries, cafes, supermarkets, salons and stationary shops etc. 


I have seen this restaurant a few times before when I went to Strathfield but never had the chance to try it out. We walked past a few BBQ shops, just to check out the environment to see if there were many people in there. In the end, we decided Jang Ta Bal was the best.


After walking in, the waiters were really nice to ask us where to sit. The restaurant was quite big and divided into two sections: a smoking area and a non-smoking area. In the non-smoking area, you could choose where you want to sit: on chairs or a platform where you have to take off your shoes and sit on cushions. We chose the latter one. 

Since we were starving, we chose the famous pork belly (samgyupsal), two servings of the beef belly and waited. The waiters were extremely efficient, giving us our water, side dishes and rice whilst we waited for the meat to cook.

Usually, the side dishes are quite similar in all Korean restaurants. However, Kimchi is a must. Koreans will not tolerate it at all if there are no Kimchi. Other than that, we had potatoes, potato salad, spinach and cucumber.

We decided to eat the Samgyupsal first. It doesn't matter at all how you decide to eat it. It can be served with rice or with lettuce. If you choose lettuce, you can be creative and add any of the side dish along side the meat with the sauce provided; special bean sauce or sesame oil....or both! 

After finishing the Samgyupsal, we moved onto the beef belly. It was the first time I tried it and they were SO tasty!! The meat was so soft; the texture a bit like Wagyu beef.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves Korean BBQ. There is a huge range of meat you can choose from. The waiters are all friendly and willing to refill your side dishes whenever you want. The Samgyupsal was tasty but what was special was the beef belly. It didn't take a long time to cook and one portion was huge! In terms of the price, Samgyupsal was $15 and beef belly was a bit more expensive, at $20. Overall, I would definately come here again. However, like any BBQ restaurant, the meat takes some time to cook so remember to have allocate alot of free time for that! Enjoy!  


Price range: $15.00-35.00


Kitty


Address:
Jang Ta Bal Korean Charcoal BBQ
48A, The Boulevard Strathfield NSW
Phone: (02) 9747 2800