Fried chicken wing buffet at Seoul Bistro

On the morning of Good Friday I saw on facebook that my favourite Korean fried chicken joint was introducing an all you can eat fried chicken buffet for (a promotional price of) under $20 per head:

SUNNYBANK'S FIRST FRIED CHICKEN BUFFET!!!That's right!!! Unlimited fried chickenUnlimited home made lemon ice...
Posted by Seoul Bistro - Sunnybank on Thursday, 2 April 2015

They says it's Sunnybank's first fried chicken buffet, and I've certainly never seen something similar before, so kudos to them for a great idea and a great price. The procrastinator in me has never gotten around to blogging about Seoul Bistro, but a big reason for this blog is to highlight small businesses like this which are big winners in my books. They first opened in December 2013, and I went twice in 3 days after "discovering" them. It was a bit more difficult eating out in 2014 juggling the demands of a newborn child, but I managed 4 visits. Today I returned for visit #7 and the promise of some serious chicken wing action.

View from the street corner outside.

We got there at 1:30pm and the place was still pretty full. We were given one of the outside tables, which was mostly ok apart from having to battle

1. Flies - obviously as attracted to the food as we were!
2. Second hand smoke from smokers who gather a few meters away on the public footpath where there happens to be a bench and bin. I look forward to increasing bans on smoking in public places.

Menu

Didn't take a close look at the menu because I'd been here before, but mainly because I already knew I was coming for the buffet! It seems the buffet is quite popular - the shop reports they served up 150kgs of wings on Friday (first day of the promotion), and some anecdotal reports say they were caught a little off-guard with the (high) level of response, so struggled to keep up with the demand. The co-owner/waitress with whom I've spoke a few times said she was at work until 2am last night/this morning prepping for today's trade... speaking of which, our first course of wings:

Our first lot of fried chicken - half yang nyum flavour

and half normal flavour.

We were actually still sitting around waiting for our friends to arrive when the first platter of wings were brought out. This was a little surprising as I didn't think we had ordered anything yet. In any case it was what we came for so wifey and I got stuck into these wings. They hadn't been fried to order, so weren't super piping hot, though still warm and we had no complaints about the taste. The other half of our table arrived soon after and we quickly worked our way through this first course.

Platter of bones.

The fried chicken buffet comes with a few other (non-unlimited) dishes:

Beer battered chips (with tomato sauce).

The chips were a bit on the salty side for me. Still good, but would've been better starting with less salt, and with salt provided to be added to taste.

Japanese cheese egg omelette

I thought when I first saw the facebook post about the buffet deal that this element of the deal was okonomiyaki. I either mis-remembered, or this element was subsequently changed to an omelette. Either way, it was received well by all on our table.

Home made lemon ice tea.

We could have had unlimited tea, but the two jugs tuned out to be just about right for our consumption. If I wasn't so busy eating meat I probably would've drunk a bit more of this tea. It had a nice flavour and wasn't too sweet; very refreshing.

Second platter of yang nyum chicken wings.

It didn't quite occur to me that we needed to ask for more chicken (mostly because we didn't ask for the first lot - it just came out), but when prompted and told there were three flavours of chicken to choose from, we were unanimous in saying we wanted all three. The only one I hadn't tried was the sweet/honey soy flavour, which is a new addition to the menu since my earlier visits.

Third platter of honey soy + normal flavour wings.

Can you ever have too much fried chicken? I'm sure the answer is yes... but we weren't there yet, so resumed our demolition of the wings with gusto. I quite liked the honey soy chicken, maybe almost as much as I like the yang nyum chicken, and only wished I had more stomach room to entertain a few more of their kind. Although the normal fried chicken comes a distant third, it was good to have something plainer to stagger with the other two flavours which (particularly with the yang nyum flavour) I find get pretty rich after a few.

The buffet deal was supposed to also include unlimited Korean side dishes (banchan), but we weren't served a single one and I didn't notice any on the few tables I could easily see. Not sure if they forgot / were too busy, or maybe took it off the buffet offerings and have one less thing to contend with. It didn't make a big difference to my enjoyment of the wings, and it wasn't significant enough on this day for me to ask about it.

What did surprise me greatly was what came out next - a surprise complimentary taste of one of the newer and reportedly popular items on their menu:

Bonus dish - tender Woo Chow pork ribs.

Reverse angle.

I'm not sure why we got this dish - the waitress just said we're being given this to try. Maybe it's because she remembers my face/name from previous visits and brief chats :) Whatever the case, this is one gift horse I'd be putting in my mouth!

Bite/cut shot.

The menu description of this dish is "juicy tender pork ribs marinated for three days for maximum flavour and tenderness, then coated in our special Woo Chow sauce". There's a BBQ sauce option too. I have no idea what Woo Chow sauce is, but this was pretty nice too. Texture wise it was a bit drier than I thought it should be, so there's no falling off the bone happening here, but I'd say the flavour component was up there in the realm of maximum! Because everyone else was already pretty full, I ended up eating about half of this ribs dish.

My plate of bones.

This was after the bones from the first platter of wings had been cleared. So besides the pork ribs and other sides, I managed 10 wings for the session. Both wifey and I were so full that we skipped dinner altogether. This is certainly not something you'd want to do every day but I sure hope the buffet sticks around and doesn't get too pricey after the introductory period expires, because I'd definitely want to have it again!

And so, to summarise:

• What was good
• The fried chicken
• The fried chicken
• The fried chicken! Particularly enjoyed the yang nyum chicken (a favourite from previous visits) and the honey soy chicken.
• The lemon ice tea
• The omelette
• The complimentary tasting of the pork ribs
• What was not so good
• Flies and second hand smoke when sitting outside
• No sign of the Korean side dishes (I subsequently heard from other friends who went that they did get some side dishes, so looks like we just got missed, though it was more than made up for by the pork ribs!)
• Chips could do with a bit less salt
• Service could be a bit more attentive (I know it was busy, but apart from the water and cups on the table, we had to DIY or ask for other things like napkins, the tea, and cutlery.).

The fried chicken buffet is currently available at all trading times lunch and dinner. Depending on popularity they may in the future decide to limit the buffet on weekend dinners. Call 3345 6360 to book.

8 Street Hawkers Market, Westfield Garden City - part 2

I saw on facebook that Gong Cha was still doing their 2-for-1 opening promotion, and when I mentioned it to the wife she suggested having dinner at 8 Street. Of course I readily agreed, and asked her to bring the 'big' camera from home so I can take some better shots. As a follow-up then to my menu-focused post the other day, here are more photos of the place itself and store(front)s within.

Main entrance flanked by a pair of faux stone lions (other one hidden by pram).
Gong Cha is the first store on the left.

The view from a few steps inside the main entrance.
The place does a 90-degree right turn at the end.

After the turn, partially looking out the other/side entrance.

Looking back in from the side entrance, with Teppanyaki Lovers on the left.

Right... so starting back at the front entrance, and working our way to the other entrance, looking at the stores on the left:

Gong Cha

Crazy Wings

BBQ by Burlington

Madtongsan (#5)

Congee Master

Other side of Congee Master

Drinks store with alcoholic beverages.
This is in the corner/elbow of the turn.

(After the elbow:) Won Ton Ton

Okonomi House

Dim Sum by Taste Gallery

Then brings us to the the end of one side (ie. we're now at the side entrance). Turning around and heading back to the main entrance, we have:

Teppanyaki Lovers

Noodle 8

Rice Town

Rice Town is in the inside corner.

Bun Vietnamese street food

Next to Bun (and nestled between it and grill n bao) is a recessed seating area.

Lanterns galore.

grill n bao

Apart for the Gong Cha drinks, we had

Stir fried rice noodle and beef (干炒牛河)
Noodle 8 - $10.90

We both thought the portion size was a bit lacking. My first impression about this store was based just on the menu and pricing (I wasn't impressed that everything is over $10). My second impression is based on seeing the serving size and tasting the food. I remain unimpressed, perhaps even more so. Maybe, hopefully, they have a kick-ass laksa that can redeem their standing in my eyes. Time will tell.

Signature braised beef (with rice)
Rice Town - $9.50

This was a much better portion size. I asked the staff member at the counter for recommendations from that store, and she said this was a popular dish. Having tasted it, I don't think it's all that special to qualify as a signature dish. It was ok overall, but I thought the meat could have been more tender. I suspect I'll enjoy some of the other dishes here more, so will be back to try those.

A few other points to note about 8 Street:

• It's located near Coles in level 1 of Westfield Garden City. The main entrace is roughly directly opposite Healthyworld Pharmacy.
• It opens 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, and 9am (or maybe 10am)-6pm Sundays.
• Seating is mostly along the centre of the "street", in between the stores on either side. There is one additional seating area that takes up the equivalent of a shop space between grill n bao and Bun Vietnamese.
• There's lots of additional seating in the general food court area just outside, and beyond, the front entrance of 8 Street.
• Seats are mostly of the stool/bench variety, with a smattering of taller tables/stools. There are also some seats with backs.
• There are no high chairs at all in 8 Street. They do exist in very short supply in the food court area outside. Those high chairs feel a bit low.
• The street is not very pram friendly, though you can push one through/around. The section nearer the second/side entrance is a better bet than the front entrance section.
• Quite a few stores are cash only - some perhaps temporarily so due to issues with their EFTPOS terminals. For example, one store had a sign saying they can't get mobile reception for their EFTPOS to work.
• Mobile reception has been problematic in some areas of the shopping centre.

8 Street Hawkers Market, Westfield Garden City

So it has literally been years since I updated this blog. I keep taking photos and some notes of food places I've visited, but that seems to never translate to a blog post. Well, today I found out that the long awaited 8 Street Hawker Market in the renovated and extended eastern arm of Westfield Garden City has finally opened! As it turns out, I had a work-related reason to be in the centre, so took the opportunity to have a walk through this new food court area and pick up a few menus.

The second/side(?) entrance to 8 Street.

What follows is a roughly ordered list of the outlets and associated menus, going from the main entrance (I consider it main because that's the one flanked by a pair of lions), through the right hand turn and out the other side/second entrance. Click on the photos to see them in higher resolution. Oh there's a drinks outlet in the corner which I didn't check out. I think they serve alcohol (beer) too.

First up is Gong Cha. There's one in the city but I rarely find myself in that part of town, so have little familiarity with this joint. They seem to have a wider range of drinks than a typical Asian drinks store, and going by their prices seem to be a more upmarket too. They were doing a buy 1 get 1 free promotion, so I asked wifey what she wanted and returned after work to queue for drinks. It took about half an hour all up - queueing to order, then waiting for the drinks to be made. The shop lost power twice while I was waiting - I think some circuit breaker tripped. The staff seemed pretty calm about it all so presumably has been happening earlier in the day.

grill n bao deal mainly in gua bao burgers, traditionally a Taiwanese pork belly bun, but here available with a choice of various proteins. This is pretty much along the lines of what The Bun Mobile offers. I think I'm a higher chance of eating these than chasing down the food truck when it happens to be near me. There's mention of sliders, but not much information on them - possibly smaller versions of the gua bao burgers??

Crazy Wings here offers a limited version of the menu from their Sunnybank Hills restaurant. The menu depicted above is the restaurant version. From what I understand, pretty much everything skewer related is available, and none of the rice/noodle dishes are. It can be a bit hit and miss trying to communicate in English with some of the staff... My previous experiences with Crazy Wings is that the food is probably a bit overpriced for my wallet and the flavour a less enjoyable sort of spicy for my tastebuds, so there's not really much more to say.

BBQ by Burlington - haven't eaten very often at their Market Square store but did get some roast meat takeaway the last time my mother in law was in town, so that's a vote of confidence for their main attractions. The prices seem reasonable and I would've gotten some takeaway meat after getting my Gong Cha drink, however by this time the store had its lights out, with no sign of life and a handwritten note stuck on the POS terminal saying "no eftpos". Were they not geared up to handle cash?? Oh well, lost sale for them.

Bun Vietnamese Street Food - keen to try some of these.

Congee Master - I don't know of (too m)any places that do/focus on congee, so I'm not sure how successful this place will be. Nevertheless I'm keen to sample their offerings. Pricing wise if you're going to buy a congee and a marinade, you may as well spend another 20c to get the combo deal and add a side, which seem a bit steep at $2.80 on their own. Given that BBQ by Burlington was closed, I ended up getting some salt steam chicken to contribute to an impromptu dinner at my parents' place. It was generally well received, and reasonable value for $6.80.

Rice Town - I reckon this would be an awesome option if you're feeling hungry - all meals are under $10, and you get one free refill of rice. This is probably ideal for a "rice bucket" like me. Not sure how big a portion you get, but you could conceivably share between two not so hungry people if you're willing to go halves on the meat. Definitely on the to try list.

Won Ton Ton - this doesn't excite me as much, but I'll probably still try some of the fare just because.

The fifth Madtongsan and third within easy access for me. I feel the menu design is a bit too try hard, but have generally enjoyed my previous visits to the other Madtongsan outlets so will likely give this a go at some stage too.

Noodle 8 - not sure if this is meant to be Malaysian... it does offer laksa and there's a picture of the Petronas Twin Towers in the menu... I'm a little put off by the fact that there are no meal options for/under $10. Certainly puts them lower on my to try list.

Okonomi House - these guys didn't have a paper menu, so I took a photo of the store (including menu board, which could have turned out better). Someone was paying attention and posed for the shot. I remember seeing them at the Night Noodle Markets in July, but didn't try their food. According to their facebook page, they usually do markets and this is their first permanent store, which means I'll be back at some stage when I'm looking for an okonomiyaki fix. Would have gotten some today but I was in a bit of a rush and didn't think I could afford another ~8 minute wait for it to cook.

Dim Sum by Taste Gallery. I've been hearing some not-so-positive things about the parent store of late, so am not feeling so enthused about this. In any case I think generally if I'm after dim sum fare I'll go the whole yum cha experience, whether for lunch, dinner, or supper (given all those options are readily available in my 'hood).

Teppanyaki Lovers, a chain/branch of the one already in the city. Looks like the upgrade option for when Hanaichi nearby just ain't cutting it.

Well, that's my take on the new stores. There's good amount of seating inside 8 Street, though I'm sure it would get full quickly during peak meal periods. Thankfully there's plenty more seating available just outside the front entrance, so I'm looking forward to making my way through some of these stores. They should all be open for dinner (until 9pm) 6/7 days of the week, and I can see the benefit of this as a regular dining option - free parking (3 hours during the day, free after 6pm), which should be plentiful after business hours, and undercover. Let me know your verdict if/when you try any of these places :)