This popular soup chain has 95 sites in Korea. Now its first global outpost is in Sydney
This site also housed the final form of BBQ King, so seeing the kitchen that once roasted Chinatown's most famous ducks pumping out poultry again feels right. A 1970s street food predating the country's fried-chicken obsession, Korean charcoal chook has a limited presence in Sydney – Sutbul in Lidcombe, near the magnificently named nail salon Nail Me Now, is one of the only others doing it. I'd love to see more rice-stuffed roasted spatchcocks splayed and grilled until the grains crisp, but for now, Jiho is the go.
More soup? The dakdoritang, a signature featuring aged kimchi, is pure comfort, packed with potatoes, carrots and chicken tinted red from a gochujang marinade. Served on a gas burner, the sauce reduces to a peppery glaze, the acid in the kimchi keeping it fresh. (Add a plate of fresh geotjeori kimchi, made every three hours, for a crunch-filled comparison.) Equally wholesome is the juk, Korea's famed rice porridge, here flavoured with ginseng and packed with the shredded meat of a whole spatchcock.
Apart from the framed A1 shots of signature dishes, there's no charm to the fit-out: the lighting is harsh, and if you sit in the basement you might ride the lift looking for the bathroom, end up on the street by accident, only to find the hand-dryer in the upstairs bathroom doesn't work. Waiters might forget ladles for shared dishes.
Does it matter? Probably not. This is a chain, after all, with eyes on more outposts in Sydney and Melbourne, and the focus is on the food. And while it's not the city's most personal Korean cooking, the balance between doing things the slow way and doing them at scale is impressive. A wave of samgyetang? It's coming this summer.
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This popular soup chain has 95 sites in Korea. Now its first global outpost is in Sydney
This site also housed the final form of BBQ King, so seeing the kitchen that once roasted Chinatown's most famous ducks pumping out poultry again feels right. A 1970s street food predating the country's fried-chicken obsession, Korean charcoal chook has a limited presence in Sydney – Sutbul in Lidcombe, near the magnificently named nail salon Nail Me Now, is one of the only others doing it. I'd love to see more rice-stuffed roasted spatchcocks splayed and grilled until the grains crisp, but for now, Jiho is the go. More soup? The dakdoritang, a signature featuring aged kimchi, is pure comfort, packed with potatoes, carrots and chicken tinted red from a gochujang marinade. Served on a gas burner, the sauce reduces to a peppery glaze, the acid in the kimchi keeping it fresh. (Add a plate of fresh geotjeori kimchi, made every three hours, for a crunch-filled comparison.) Equally wholesome is the juk, Korea's famed rice porridge, here flavoured with ginseng and packed with the shredded meat of a whole spatchcock. Apart from the framed A1 shots of signature dishes, there's no charm to the fit-out: the lighting is harsh, and if you sit in the basement you might ride the lift looking for the bathroom, end up on the street by accident, only to find the hand-dryer in the upstairs bathroom doesn't work. Waiters might forget ladles for shared dishes. Does it matter? Probably not. This is a chain, after all, with eyes on more outposts in Sydney and Melbourne, and the focus is on the food. And while it's not the city's most personal Korean cooking, the balance between doing things the slow way and doing them at scale is impressive. A wave of samgyetang? It's coming this summer.
