Given today's heat, you'd think that I ought to have had Messina's Gelato for lunch but I spent the day in Chatswood, my favourite asian food hub, so I would be loco not to have some sort of Korean or Japanese food. If you've ever been to Chatswood, then you would know that the main road is lined by Sushi, Teppanyaki and Korean BBQ restaurants. I put my brave girl shorts on and opted for the hottest option... the Korean BBQ option.
Why in the world did you opt for Korean BBQ in this heat?! Are you insane?! Perhaps I am but one of my friends made me crave it when he texted me photos of Korean BBQ (if you're reading this... told you you're a stalker, ahahah) and also, I haven't had Korean or Japanese BBQ in forever, so nostalgia and adventurous-ness got the better of me! I must say #noregrets.
There is an array of Korean BBQ restaurants in Chatswood but it was boiling and I couldn't be bothered scouring the suburb for the best one, simply opting for the one nearest to me. It was called Bassim and in the words of the guys sitting in the table next to mine, it was "sick aye ladskies"... for those who doesn't speak ethic, it loosely translates to "amazing".
Located at Victoria Street, Chatswood
We ordered the DIY menu to BBQ it ourselves. You can opt for the cooked menu but if you ask me, you're missing out on the fun part. I've been in one of my vegan/vegetarian moods for the past week but you simply cannot come to a Korean BBQ restaurant and only order vegetables... that's just sinful! So, I opted for the Vegetable Plate and went against my vegan/vegetarian diet, opting for the tenderloins.
Once you order your selection, the lovely guys at Bassim will fire up your built-in stove and pull out a hidden drawer from the side of your table which housed the cutleries. I was so amazed and amused by the drawer, I think the guy thought I went a little insane from the heat. Poor thing.
But come on... this is pretty cool!
Almost instantaneously after you've placed you order, the waiter will adorn your table with little plates of vegetables.
I'm usually not a big fan of the complementary side dishes that Korean restaurants serves but Bassim's offerings were exceptional! The bean sprout salad was divine (juicy, fresh and crispy) but if you ask me, the winner was the kimchi (chilli, flavoursome and fresh at the same time). I'd go as far to say that it is probably the best kimchi I've ever had. EVER.
Kimchi
Bean sprouts and rice
An array of vegetables
Not long after, our order of vegetables and tenderloins were served (raw) and ready to be cooked. By this point I was salivating.
Vegetable Plate - $15
Tenderloins - $18
I was slightly disappointed at first because I didn't think that the tenderloins were worth the price - there were only a few slices and didn't seem as though it would satisfy my hunger. But I was wrong... more on that later.
Contrary to the tenderloins, the vegetable plate was massive and looked divine. I'm a sucker for mushrooms, potatoes and pumpkins... so you can imagine my excitement.
Now comes the fun part... placing all the ingredients on the stove and cooking it like a boss. Even if your cooking skills are abysmal (like mine), you'll find this part so enjoyable... unless you're one of those grouchy people who tends to say, "I came to a restaurant to eat, not to cook". In that case, all I have to say to you is... oh honey, you're missing out!!!
Apologies - my face somehow made it in this photo...
As briefly touched on above, I was slightly concerned and underwhelmed by the small number of tenderloin slices served for two people but boy was I wrong. There's nothing disappointing about the tenderloins. They were absolutely divine and surprisingly filling when combined with the veggies... we probably didn't need to order rice!
Just before I placed the tenderloin slices in the stove, I basted a little of the sauce they gave us (I forgot to take a photo... sorry!) and as the open fire cooked the slices of beef, the basting was absorbed into the meat, making it succulent, juicy and flavoursome. The best part - you can cook it as you please! I went for medium-well.
YUMMM!
Words cannot describe the vegetables. They were bellisimo. I'm not sure what the chefs in the kitchen did to it before it came to our table - seemingly nothing but the flavour was so amazing that I'm sure some kind of magical spices were shaken onto it. They were fresh but crunchy and gooey at the same time. My favourites were by far the enoki mushrooms and the potatoes... delish!
Potato Slices
Enoki Mushrooms
I kept loading things onto my plate and left nothing on my plate (except for the rice). And if I had more stomach capacity, I'd probably another plate of tenderloins and vegetables... but it was a good thing for my wallet and given the fact that I have to have a presentable 'beach body' for the summer... at least minutely presentable (oh summer how I hate you, come back winter!).
So beautiful and so delicious
If you're in the Chatswood area or nowhere near the Chatswood area but want some delicious Korean BBQ then Bassim is the place for you (and me... haha)! This was the first of what I presume will be many trips to Bassim in the near, not so distant future for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment