Moon Park (Redfern, Sydney)

Moon Park was one of the first modern Korean restaurants in Sydney which stirred up a whole hosts of interest in the Korean cuisine. When it first opened I recall reading many positive reviews of critics and food bloggers.

DD and I finally got a chance to dine there just before Christmas. I was a little worried that my expectations might be too high after reading so many positive reviews but no such thing happened! :)

Be aware of the nondescript black door which opens up to a short flight of stairs. I would have walked past it and not realised Moon Park was just up the flight of stairs! It opens up to a rather open space of tables filled with diners.

Not long after we were seated we were served a side of soy braised beans. At first bite I found it quite salty due to the strong soya taste but something about those beans became addictive and I kept going back for more.

We decided to go for the banquet menu as we had not been there before.

Cucumber kimchi with fresh nashi and perilla - great flavours and I was surprised that the cucumber was still very crunchy.

Deep fried rice cakes with gochujang and peanuts (Ddokbeokki) - interesting chewy rice cakes. I liked it.

Bulgogi beef short rib and anchovy in sweet cabbage (Ssam) - I enjoyed the savoury flavours of the tender ribs. Wrapping the beef in the cabbage reminded me of the Chinese sang choi bow.

Sea urchin and black garlic on seed biscuit - I was initially hesitant to try this as I didn't think I would like the taste of sea urchin. But it was surprisingly tender and delicately offset by the crunchy seed biscuit which had a strong sesame flavour. Such a clever dish and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

Three Williams (Redfern, Sydney)

I have been hankering to check this place out since it first opened last year. So I finally made it, thanks to a last minute decision made on a late Friday night at work. Three Williams here I come!

When I got there around 11.30 am on Saturday, there were people queuing up for a table. I quickly put my name down and I was told it would take about 20 to 25 minutes to get a table. I was willing to wait no matter how long it would take. My friends arrived in a few minutes and after a short wait we got a table. A lot less than the 20 minutes. Yay!

The young lady who called out my name asked me if we would be happy with a small round table as there were 3 of us. We said yes! Now why would I even mention this? This is the first time I have been asked by anyone in a cafe or restaurant whether I was happy with the size of the table offered! Big tick!

We decided to order a few dishes and share.

Fish croquette with lemon and aioli - as I could order this as an each, it was all mine. I liked the presentation, cutely presented in a egg carton. It was nicely crunchy and a good start to get my appetite going.

Glazed beef brisket, slaw, gherkins and chipotle mayo narnie - we ordered 2 of these. The meat was juicily tender and I was intrigued by the texture of the naan bread. It impresses me even more to know these naan were made in-house. I definitely liked the crunchy slaw and gherkin, a much needed texture to a delicious dish.

Spicy smashed beans with avocado on toast. The original dish included two poached eggs which I elected to leave out as I knew we would be ordering a few dishes. Note once again it was the considerate young lady who questioned if I wanted to leave the eggs in or out (big tick!). I didn't even know that was an option. Admittedly it was not an attractive looking dish but as we started having bits of it, we kept coming back for more. It was quite addictive and the star was the spicy baked beans. Thoroughly enjoyed this!