[Melbourne 2022] Diner on Franklin (Korean Kitchen)

I was staying nearby, and this place is just 5 minutes walk from the hotel. To read more on the hotel experience, click here. Actually, Diner on Franklin is just a few minutes walk from Queen Victoria Market. But be careful as you might walk past without realizing it. Reason being, there wasn't any signage that indicated the restaurant name.

shopfront

The system here is pretty simple. Have a look at the menu, decide what to eat and order at the counter. Pay for the meal either by card or cash, have a seat and the food will be prepared and served to you thereafter.

owners busy preparing the food

sitting by the window

The menu had limited items but one could find Korean street food like tteokbokki 떡볶이, gimbap  김밥 as well as bapsang 밥상. The rice dish came with a main such as tofu stew (spicy), kfc (korean fried chicken), beef bulgogi or stir fried pork, and accompanied by side dishes.

Contemplated for a bit and decided to try kfc, and one could choose the sauce for the chicken. Sweet chili or soy garlic.

kfc bapsang

Wow, the rice portion was like alot! I think the rice could feed 2 pax. Loved that the meal came with kimchi, salad and cauliflower.

one serving of vegetables

yummy cauliflower

eat this rice skewer (떡꼬치) before it gets cold

fried chicken

The boneless chicken was chunky and fried to a golden crisp on its exterior. The inside was juicy. But the soy was a tad sweet, so on hindsight, a spicy sauce would be better to go along with the rice. The kimchi was the type that I liked as it was mature and tangy. Helped to cut through the sweetness. The spicy sweet sauce from the tteok kochi was also good with the purple rice.

There is no wonder why I felt super duper full after this meal. Not only there was big portion of purple rice, there's the rice skewer and cauliflower and all these are really filling. One could never be hungry after this meal!

The dressing on the salad was pretty strong towards the bottom of the dish. 

fried dumpling

While I was munching on my fried mandu, I saw the other tables had fried shrimp ontop of the fried dumplings as their side dish. Why I didn't get one? =(

The small burnt cheesecake was cute and a good finale / dessert to the meal.

one bite cheesecake

First day and first meal in Melbourne, successfully completed.

Do you think I had dinner/supper that night? Here's a hint.

Diner on Franklin

Address: Shop1/245 Franklin St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diner_on_franklin/

Business Hours:

Monday: Closed

Tue - Sun: 1:30am–8pm

이태원짜장 Itaewon Jjajang @ 64 Peck Seah St

We were nearby for our staycation and decided to drop by Itaewon Jjajang for lunch. Unplanned, and without reservation. Walked to it and saw a good number of pax queuing up. Hmm, to persevere or to give up? Decided to stay in-queue and after 10 minutes, we were rewarded as the staff allowed us to wait inside the restaurant.

unanimous decision

Decided on the menu while waiting and soon, we were informed that our table was ready. To our surprise, the staff let us into a private room. Wow!

Yes, we ordered Set A and upsized the jjajangmyeon plus added a fried egg to top it up. Additionally, we got the seafood pancake.

Set A - tangsuyuk + jjajangmyeon + jjampong (not in photo)

jjampong  짬뽕

Interestingly, one could choose the spice level for the jjampong at Itaewon Jjajang. Tracy selected Level 3 out of 4 levels and the staff was amused. She asked us if we really wanted to do Level 3 as it will be spicy. Keke!

Indeed, the jjampong turned out to be spicier than what we normally would order but still bearable (if one doesn't drink up the soup!) The spicy kick was sharp and noticeable once you drink the soup, stays only for a short while in the mouth (thankfully!) and then it travels down slowly to the belly while freeing up the tastebuds again.

Next up, I've long heard about the jjajangmyeon here so was excited to try it. The sauce was thick and gooey, and flavourful. Enjoyable.

Jjajangmyeon 자장면

To tell the truth, I was more interested in the tangsuyuk rather than the noodles on that day. The version here was pretty good with the batter remained crisp and the sauce not overly sweet.

tangsuyuk 탕수육

Unexpectedly, we were wowed by the seafood pancake. For me, it tasted eggy with crisp edges. Plus, not too oily. Eating this makes me want to have beer, or makgeolli!

seafood pancake 해물파전

yummy

I liked the pickles here, and we ordered seconds for the pickled cabbage. So good!

my favourite pickles

The staff here are pretty friendly and efficient. Thank you!

Enjoyed lunch with my staycay buddies; Ivan, Hence and Tracy.

이태원짜장 Itaewon Jjajang

Address: 64 Peck Seah St, Singapore 079325

Website: https://www.instagram.com/itaewonjjajang/

Contact: 6223 1600

Business Hours:

Mon-Sat: 11:30am–2:30pm, 5–10pm

Sun: 11:30am–2:30pm, 5-9:30pm

Taste Of Korea 찐 (JJIN) @ 109 Amoy Street

Wendy wanted to have Korean food, so we went to Taste of Korea for the first time. Reservation was made and received the confirmation the next day. Pretty efficient.

shop front

interior

are we doing BBQ today?

Lunch Special for weekdays only

I wanted to try their jjajangmyeon, so we ordered the 'Chinese Value Set' @$42++ which comprises of two bowls of noodles; jjajangmyeon and jjampong plus a serving of tangsuyuk. Came with side dishes.

The staff was concerned as she highlighted that this set is only meant for 2 pax, while we are in a party of 3. Nevertheless, we assured her that we weren't that hungry and if need be, will order more.

side dishes

spicy green chilies

Was thirsty, so ordered the yuzu tea. Otherwise, complimentary cold barley tea was provided as well.

cold roasted barley tea

iced yuzu tea @$5++

The bowls of noodles were rather huge! Definitely can feed 3 pax comfortably.

jjajangmyeon 짜장면 @$15++

Tangsuyuk was served with the sauce on its side. The sauce was flavourful, and adequately sweetened. There was a nice fragrant from the sauce as well. Plenty of onions in the sauce.

tangsuyuk (small) @$28++

dipped in sauce

The tangsuyuk meat was rather lean, and best to eat it while it is hot!

jjampong 짬뽕 @$16++

The jjampong was not spicy and was rather sweet. Could do with more seafood but I do like the addition of black fungus in there. Soup was tasty!

Overall, the food portion was good and we were definitely stuffed.

Thank you Jingwen and Wendy for joining me for lunch.

Taste Of Korea 찐 (JJIN)

Address:  109 Amoy St, Singapore 069929

FB: https://www.facebook.com/TOKJJIN/

Contact: 8030 9691

Business Hours:

Closed on Tuesdays.

Wed - Mon:  11:30am–2:30pm, 5–10:30pm

Noodle Star K 누들스타 케이 @ 58 Tanjong Pagar Road

Was doing a staycation nearby at Amara, hence dropped by here for lunch. We were led to Level 2 of the shop.

shopfront

menu

Ordered the cold noodles, chicken noodles, tangsuyuk (because I insisted!) and gogi mandu (meat dumplings).

Side dishes are served once our order has been taken.

boiled beansprouts, pickled radish, sauce for mandu and kimchi

The kimchi here has a stronger fermented smell to it, hence am not used to this version. Taste wise was ok, quite appetizing.

The orders are served quickly. Pretty efficient!

Chik Naengmyeon 냉면 (冷麵)

Chicken Kalguksu 닭칼국수

soft, chewy noodles

Cold noodles are refreshing while the chicken kalguksu is more comforting. Both were nice.

Given a chance, I'd always want to try tangsuyuk from the various shops here. Have I found the one? Not yet, unfortunately. The criteria involves good batter, ratio of meat to batter, flavour, and sauce taste. Even in Busan, the portion given was impressive but the ratio of batter to meat was overwhelming with very little meat to taste.

At Noodle Star K, the tangsuyuk is kind of slim whereas other places seemed to go with the flatter rectangular slice. The batter wasn't crispy but still tasted nice when it was warm. The sauce was sweet but not overpowering.

tangsuyuk @$28

dipping or pouring?

lean meat

Gogi Mandu

The barley drinks here costs $3 per glass. Not sure if it is refillable. Noodles are priced at $16+ onwards.

We spent about $28 per pax for lunch.

Noodle Star K 누들스타 케이

Address: 58 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088479

Website: https://noodlestark.com/

Contact: 6224 6061

Business Hours:

Daily:  11:30am–3:30pm, 5:30–9:30pm

Luna and GO! K-BBQ @ Amoy Street

For our first dinner at Telok Ayer where we were doing a staycay at The Clan, we actually whatsapp'ed a place to reserve but unfortunately, no response by dinner time. Dropped by the said place and was informed that, sorry, the earlier reservation did not go through. Hence, we walked around and decided to try GO! K-BBQ, one of the many Korean BBQ places around the area. Left our name in the waitlist and walked over to Luna for some dessert first.

The shop had some tables left, so we sat down comfortably and ordered some cakes and drinks. Can see the cakes on display, make your order and pay at the counter. Return to your seat and the friendly crew will call you when the order is ready.

Gula Melakaya (back) and Matcha Opera (front) @$8 per slice

Gula Melakaya

Truth be told, I thought the cakes looked rather dry. But, I'd soon discover that after taking one big bite, that was not so, as the layer of cream complemented the texture and taste. Sweet but not overly. Gula Melakaya tasted of pandan and coconut-ey.

Matcha Opera

There's a bit of edible gold flake on the Matcha Opera, so that gave it an instant chic feel. As the fork cuts through, one could feel the denseness of the cake. This is matcha gao gao (strong matcha taste). Of matcha mousse, ganache and chantilly cream. Very likeable and recommended to share.

Luna

Address:  53 Amoy St, Singapore 069879

Website: https://www.luna.sg/

Business Hours:

Mon - Fri: 12–6:30pm

Sat: 12–6 pm

Sun: 12-4pm

By 8pm, we went back to the BBQ place to check if it was close to our turn. Alas, not quite. So we guai guai stayed in queue. Think there were about 3 to 4 groups ahead of us still.

GO! K-BBQ

let's eat meat!

Noticed that the Manager running the place was super busy. He does almost everything from attending to the customer queue, cutting up the meat and serving the tables, and that's pretty impressive.

looking at pictures while waiting

We finally got a table around 9pm and the floor manager was pretty apologetic about the long wait. No problem but first up, let's order meat! Left it in the good hands of Tracy and Hence to recommend while I made a quick dash to the washroom.

By the time I returned, the table was starting to get crowded.

side dish and wraps for the BBQ, the pickled leaves should be 깻잎 장아찌

lots of lettuce 많은 상추

salad

steamed egg 찐 계란

let's have a big bite

Big Beef Rib Soup 큰 쇠고기 갈비 수프 @$22++

It was comforting to have the hot food. Steamed egg was soothing and the beef soup was good, with bits of ginseng and red dates. The meat was good with a dab of salt.

Have you tried beef tartare / yukhoe before? I had it in Busan and it was good. But in Singapore, this was my first time trying. A bit squeamish when you see those reddish hue of the liquid from the pear mixed with the raw meat. Taste wise, it was enjoyable and non-funky.

Yukhoe 육회 @$28++

Let's wash it down with some soju. I'd prefer flavoured soju but this original one, was not bad as well.

Jinro Soju @$15++

But let's get some BBQ action going, shall we? Guests can sit back and relax as the staff will do the grilling for you. Jerome was assigned to our room and he's pretty quick.

Beef

let it sizzle

almost done

ready to eat

Within a few minutes, we finished consuming the first place of meat. Not enough, let's have some more. This time round, let's try pork. As with aged meat, there was some smell emanating from it but the taste was alright and the texture was nicely tender.

pork neck and pork belly with tteok 돼지 목과 삼겹살

let's brown it

not yet

almost

I think in total, there were 4 portions of meat, 1 yukhoe, 1 soup, 1 egg and lots of vege, all consumed from within 1.5 hours. Yes, we were that hungry!

finale, of iron pressed pig skin

If you like QQ, then the last bit of pork skin will appeal to you. For me, not so much in this manner and moreover, our dinner was more like supper hence, felt sinful after inhaling all the meat.

Food adventures with Tracy, Hence and Ivan.

GO! K-BBQ

Address: 76 Amoy St

Contact: 6423 0308

Business Hours:

Mon - Fri: 11:30am–3pm, 5:30–10:30pm

Sat - Sun: 5:30–10:30pm