Onyu in Wolli Creek has become a go-to for Korean food, with hungry diners lining up for a table every night. But is it worth the wait? We visit this popular new restaurant to find out what makes it so busy, what the food is like and, most importantly, when to go if you want to beat the queue.
"Hurry! We've got to get there before it gets busy!" I tell Mr NQN as we walk briskly along Mount Olympus Boulevard in Wolli Creek. I am not fond of queueing so I like dining earlier during hours where I know I'll probably get a table. If that means going to dinner at 5:30pm so be it (I like to eat at 6 pm anyway!).
Onyu is located on the outside of a small shopping centre (with one and a half hours free parking). And come 6 o'clock all of the tables will be filled and people will have to use a QR code to join the queue for a table. Onyu means gentle, mild, tender, or warm-hearted in Korean.
We grab a table inside. The menu is full of Korean classics and their number one item is the pork bone soup but there's also plenty of other things including Korean fried chicken.
We sip on water and enjoy the complimentary banchan. There's daikon kimchi, cabbage kimchi, a surimi and noodle mayonnaise salad, zucchini and onion slices, and sweet, pickled daikon cubes. These all have free refills. We are not waiting long before our food arrives.
The first to arrive is the boneless fried chicken which comes in five different styles including the regular crunchy classic without sauce. What you can do is order the sauces separately for three dollars each so we get some of the plain boneless fried that is crunchy and then we dip the chicken in the sauce so we could try two flavours at once. While the soy garlic is recommended the creamy jalapeño caught my eye and it does not disappoint. It's a creamy sweet mayonnaise with diced jalapeños in it. The chicken is wonderfully crunchy, not greasy and very tender and juicy-normally I'd never order boneless but these are excellent. All the pieces are sizeable so easy to pick up and eat.
The pork bone soup has two massive pork back bones covering a mound of noodles with cabbage and spring onion, perilla seeds and a lightly spicy pork broth. I especially love when you can get a bit of the pork, noodle and soup together.
The Galbi Jim is super tender beef short ribs with shiitake mushrooms, carrots and rice cakes braised in a sweet soy based sauce. The tenderness of the beef is such a standout. Make sure to get some rice for this delicious dish.
We also order the kimchi pancake which comes out scarlet coloured, crispy and chewy and cut into pieces. It also comes with a dipping sauce with onion. It's got a lightly sour taste from the kimchi. I actually like this dipped into the creamy jalapeño sauce for a sweet contrast.
We actually have so many leftovers that will make for a great lunch and dinner the following day. The bill is a reasonable $110 and if you pay with cash you can also get 5% off.
So tell me Dear Reader, what time do you like to eat out? Do you pay with cash if you can get a discount?
Onyu Korean Table
ShopC/6 Mount Olympus Blvd, Wolli Creek NSW 2205
Phone: 0493 071 468
Tuesday 4:30–9 pm
Wednesday to Sunday 11:30 am–3 pm, 4:30–9 pm
Monday closed
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