PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAYou will find it tucked away in an almost-alleyway, between Flinders and Pirie Streets. For more than two decades, those in the know have been coming to Seoul Restaurant for the best Korean meal in town. Its clientele is a mix of office types after a quick fix of their favourite lunchbox special and those wanting to make a magnificent meal from the hotpots, stews, noodles, rice, beef, pork, chicken and seafood offerings available. Chef and proud owner Jae Yol Lee is aware that there are few Adelaide restaurants of this style. The boutique room seats about 70, giving it a restrained feel. There is none of the “churn ‘em through” feeling you get in some of Chinatown’s Olympic-sized eating emporiums. A few Korean ornaments are present but overall it’s of contemporary design rather than traditional.
Manager Young Kim ensures you get the best service on every visit. Practical but not so pretty plastic trolleys ferry lunchboxes, a la carte plates and assorted accompaniments to diners. Entrees run from pan-fried Korean pancakes to the fresh shrimp salad with honey mustard sauce. Garlic chicken is a popular main as is bulgogi – marinated in soy sauce, thinly sliced beef is served grilled and pleases with its sweet flavour as opposed to its alternate marinade with chilli. Those who like it hot will savour the spicy pork and cuttlefish with vegetables. Hotpots star in this show. Seafood fiends can suck on crab, squid, mussels, Anglerfish and baby octopus, while meat hounds will pounce on the mixed ham version. A selection of sausage, cheese, kimchi and, wait for it, spam play nicely together in a spicy broth with ramen noodles. If you have behaved at the dinner table you may finish the meal with a dessert of homemade green tea ice-cream.
Roz Taylor