Hanyang Galbi, Strathfield

Hanyang Galbi is a Korean barbecue restaurant in Strathfield. There you'll find a range of meats to grill on the charcoal grill at the table plus cold noodles and other dishes. It's a restaurant with an outdoor section too and is so popular that you'll probably need to queue!

It had been ages since Mr NQN and I had a date night. We're always dining out with friends but when Mr NQN tells me that he really likes date nights I planned one. Mr NQN is a simple guy, while he enjoys fine dining he really prefers something more casual so I combined his love of casual with my craving for Korean BBQ. It's Saturday night and we arrive at Hangyan Galbi at 6pm on the dot hoping for an outdoor table. Hangyang Galbi usually takes bookings but not for peak times for the outdoor section so if you come after 6:30pm you may quite likely have to queue.

The menu isn't huge and it's slightly confusing because the first page lists their lunch menu which isn't strictly their lunch menu, you can order all of these dishes as long as you order barbecue meat. Service is fine, helpful enough but at several points they emphasise that you do need to order barbecue meat. You basically choose whether you want the plain or marinated pork, beef or chicken. There are the usual suspects on the meat menu but also items like pig rectum which is a new one for us. We go for the set A that includes inside skirt steak, marinated beef ribs and marinated pork ribs and is designed for 2-3 people for $94 .

The food and drinks hit the table quickly. First comes out the banchan side dishes and drinks. Mr NQN has a green grape soju that comes with two shot glasses.

The banchan featured thinly sliced crunchy radish pickles, sliced fish cake, tofu cakes with chilli, a big mound of very good kim chi, salad, lettuce leaves, a puffy egg omelette, corn salad and their popular spicy marinated crab. There is also sesame oil mixed with sugar and gochujang to dip your meats in.

The spicy marinated crab or Yangnyeom Gejang is raw crab marinated in a very sweet, spicy gochujang sauce and is very moreish and worth ordering extra of (refills of most banchan are free but extra crab, corn and egg are extra). The egg omelette deflates quickly so is best eaten straight away and the corn although coming on a mini hot plate is not hot. All I can think about is that delicious crab.

The kimchi pancake arrives and it is very tasty with a good amount of tangy kim chi in it.

A few minutes later our waiter comes out bearing a plate of our meat and starts the cooking process for us. He starts with the inside skirt steak. This is good with a nice, slightly chewy texture to it. Mr NQN loves the beef short ribs while I adore the pork ribs with their caramelised edge to them from the marinade. I dip these into the sweet crab sauce and wrap them up in the lettuce leaves for a delicious roll. One thing to note is although the meat set says that it can feed 2-3 people I think it is best for 2 people as we finished all of the meat.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you do date nights? What sort of restaurants do you like to go to on those?

This meal was independently paid for.

Hanyang Galbi

28/45-47 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW 2135 Hours:

Wednesday to Monday 10am–11pm

Tuesday closed

Phone: (02) 9763 7374