The best Korean barbecue restaurants in Sydney

What is it? A flash BBQ restaurant with an old-school menu and one of the best banchan offerings in Sydney.

Why we love it: There’s an enormous amount of care spent to make this feel like an experience you could get in Korea, and there’s probably no better proof of the achievement than the restaurant’s popularity with West Ryde’s Korean residents.

Time Out tip: All the usual cuts appear, but what sets this menu apart are the extra, less common offerings like pork jowl, ox intestines, and intercostal strips (the fatty meat between beef ribs).

Address: 1031 Victoria Rd, West Ryde NSW 2114

What is it? Korean BBQ without the frills or the big bills.

Why we love it: There’s something about the waiters here. They look like pop band members, and they’re chatting to us as if we come here every weekend. Before we even get a chance to show some hesitancy around our barbecuing ability, there they are; flipping our ribeye at the right time, dexterously cutting our galbi (marinated pork or beef ribs) with scissors, and explaining that the slab of pork belly that just crisped on the grill is best eaten with a dab of ssamjang (fermented soy bean paste) in a lettuce wrap.

Time Out tip: You come here for a cheap, fun night of barbecued meat, maybe a bit of somaek (a shot of soju in a beer). It's so good, you’ll probably have to wait, if it’s a weekend, anywhere between 10 and 45 minutes.

Address: Shop 21/1 Dixon St, Sydney NSW 2000

What is it? Charcoal-fuelled Korean in Market City.

Why we love it: Fiery Korean barbecue spot Kogi delivers an authentic hands-on cooking experience, with each of the table kitted out with hot charcoal grills and rose gold exhausts. The searing hot charcoals imbue the meat (which include more than 15 premium cuts of Wagyu beef and pork) with a smokier flavour than a gas flame does. The chefs are also doing extensive banchan (the free sides you get to complement your barbecued meats).

Time Out tip: The bibimbap bowls also slap.

Address: Level 3 Market City, 9/13 Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000

What is it? Pile your plate up high with unlimited fresh cuts of beef, pork and chicken at this popular all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ joint.

Why we love it: If you're a meat lover who can't choose between all of the cuts, at Butchers Buffet you don't have to. In addition to its Blacktown, Cabramatta, Eastwood and Strathfield joints, this Korean barbecue buffet has become a Chinatown mainstay.

Time Out tip: We’re fans of the almost-paper-thin slices of bulgogi to chunks of soy-marinated scotch fillet steak and spicy pork belly.

Address: Shop 8/363 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW 2000

What is it? Darling Square’s Korean barbecue joint where you can get kimchi, soju, caramelised meat and an all-round good time.

Why we love it: It’s by the same team behind 678 Korean BBQ in Haymarket and Eastwood, who are seasoned pros when it comes to firing up the grill. The seafood pancakes and chilli-marinated pork belly are also ace.

Time Out tip: They cater well to vegos, too.

Address: Shop 4/35 Tumbalong Bvd, Haymarket NSW 2000

What is it? An upmarket Korean barbecue from celebrity chef Jong Won Paik.

Why we love it: A glossy menu with styled pictures of marbled beef and glistening pork-belly slabs. Pastiche Korean interiors featuring mock temple awnings and custom-built barbecue tables. Overly professional service. And a banchan service that includes a hunk of chili-marinated crab (eat it raw, chuck it on the grill, whatever). No doubt about it, Bornga is the fanciest Korean BBQ in Sydney. Thank Jong Won Paik, a Korean celebrity chef with a number of franchise restaurants including this one, the first Australian opening of an international chain on a mission to make Korean food accessible to foreigners. 

Time Out tip: Jong Won Paik's signature dish is woo samgyeop, paper-thin sliced beef brisket grilled at the table (medium is the usual for this cut) and eaten in a lettuce wrap with ssamjang (a thick, pungent chili and bean paste) and maybe some raw garlic. That’s the go-to order.

Address: Level 1/78 Harbour St, Haymarket NSW 2000

What is it? Korean cook-your-own with banchan of the gods on the side.

Why we love it: The banchan at 678 will land at lightning speed on your table as soon as you take a seat. All the staff in the vast, wood-lined space will rush about faster than you can catch them. When you do, though, order the pork belly and the marinated boneless short rib for your tabletop barbecue. But really, all the meat is fab here.

Time Out tip: It’s damn noisy, so don’t go here for a heart-to-heart. But for a good time with tasty eats city-side, we’re definitely on board.

Address: Level 1/396 Pitt St, Haymarket NSW 2000

What is it? Cheap, loud and simple: a Korean BBQ with famous ribs and an even better pancake

Why we love it: The small restaurant is so popular with the local Korean community, it’s packed almost every night. They don’t care about the austere fit-out, they come for the ribs: marinated in garlic, soy, ginger and sesame; grilled by you or for you at your table (they’ll help if they see you struggling); and sold for a few dollars less than most other restaurants on this list.

Time Out tip: There’s not much else on the short menu but we’d encourage an equal parts gooey and crunchy leek pancake, and a bowl of cold buckwheat noodles to finish.

Address: 999A Victoria Rd, West Ryde NSW 2114

What is it? A legendary Korean barbecue restaurant with outposts in Campsie and Strathfield

Why we love it: Jang Ta Bal was open long before Korean barbecue exploded in Sydney, so it's been one of the most popular joints since the very beginning. It offers extremely good-quality meats and has a good-time vibe that’s akin to a well-sauced house party.

Time Out tip: Two options. Head to the Campsie branch if you want old-school mat-seating and a homely vibe. If you want beats, booze, the permanent aroma of smoking meats stuck to your clothes and friendly crowds of international students, try the Strathfield branch. At both you’ll find some of the most tender, marbled beef in Sydney; a longer-menu of pork cuts (intestines, thick-cut jowl and loin making appearances), the occasional free helping of raw crab doused in chili paste and same, busy crowds.

Address: 19 Morwick St, Strathfield NSW 2135

What is it? This Croydon favourite brings together the best of all the culinary worlds; all-you-can-eat, buffet, and barbeque.

Why we love it: Pull up a red chair, pay your fee and then head to the two chilled buffets absolutely brimming with cuts of meat for the cooking. Think: a couple of hours to grill and sizzle until your heart's content.

Time Out tip: Go for the garlic beef.

Address: 668-670 Parramatta Rd, Croydon NSW 2132

What is it? A Hornsby Korean BBQ restaurant with an epic menu and a banchan offering to match

Why we love it: First, your table will be invaded by banchan, up to ten of them. Then your meat (pork belly with matured kimchi is good fun, cook them together for a fat-sour-spice mix in one mouthful) arrives, greens along with it and the dips (salted sesame oil and soy) too. You’re already running out of table space but then your side orders (probably a rich hot pot of spicy beef ribs, rice cakes and maybe some fried chicken, too) arrive. It’s a constant problem here but the waiters, oddly smiley for those who wield buckets of burning charcoal at 400°C, will sort it out for you in between dexterously grilling and cutting your meat.

Time Out tip: The usual Korean cuts are represented, but there are also a few rarer meats – fresh king prawns, smoked duck breast, pork cheek, and the option to add matured kimchi and fried rice to your pork belly. Try that.

Address: Shop R2/236 Pacific Hwy, Hornsby NSW 2077

What is it? One of the best Korean barbecues in Sydney, plus colossal servings of DIY Korean rice paper rolls.

Why we love it: Maroo is famous for barbecue and Korean rice paper rolls. A quick run down on each. The barbecue menu is small and best approached via galbi and the combo – ox tongue, thinly sliced skirt steak, soy-marinated pork neck, mussels and a small octopus. Korean rice paper are a Korean-Australian invention that’s adapted Vietnamese DIY rice paper rolls with different ingredients and Korean sauces and they’re a good foil to a full plate of chargrilled meats. Either way your table will be so full of house-made banchan, you’ll need a waiter’s tray to hold it all.

Time Out tip: If you’re looking for something a little less labour-intensive than barbecue or DIY rice paper rolls, the special section of the menu is as good as any Korean menu in Sydney, bar maybe Hansang or Gyeong Bok. The jokbal (boiled and seasoned pork trotters alongside a spicy bean paste and greens for wrapping), bossam (similar but with pork belly) and yukhoe (raw beef with pear, radish and an egg yolk – stir it all together at the table) are particularly popular orders.

Address: 16 Church Street Ryde 2112