Oppa Kitchen

When I was in NJ, I remember scrolling on instagram and seeing these very interesting Korean dishes serves in wooden bucket bowls and then over the next few days, it popped up a few more times. Being depraved of Korean food and stuck in the cold, those photos made me salivate and I was determined to try this place once I was back in Melbourne. Lucky for me Miss P loves Korean food and when I told R and K about it, they were also interested to try. So Mario, K, R, Miss P, Bear and I set out to a Korean adventure. Oppa is located on Swanston Street so it was easy to find.

We got there around 7.30pm and had to wait for a table for 6, we were told a 15 minute wait, which we didn't mind so we waited. After 20 minutes they called our table and we went upstairs, only to find they had given us a 4 +2 table (on different ends of the room) which was not we wanted, and much to our annoyance we were told in order to sit together we had to wait further  20- 30 minutes. At this point was I fuming already, they have been giving away 2 people and 4 people tables to people who put their name down after us. In the end we had to wait a further 15 minutes before we got a table where we could sit together.

The menu wasn't designed to be shared but it doesn't really stop us. We got fried chicken to share and some small plates to start. We got the boneless original, honey soy and sweet and spicy KFC. The KFC were served with a side of Korean coleslaw and came with pickled cucumber, potato wedges and fried rice cakes. The original KFC was just fried chicken and more on the bland side. It was fried well but it needed more seasoning. 

The sweet and spicy KFC was a typical sweet chilli sauce. I liked this sauce with the fried rice cake. I liked this better than the original KFC as it packed a small kick with the spice level.

The honey soy was the most interesting KFC out of the lot, this was purely due to the fact it was the most saucy KFC. 

There was also gyoza and doppoki. Nothing to comment here, both was average, as you would expect from a Korean fast food restaurant.

Meal buckets was what we came for so we got a few to share so we could try more things. The first meal bucket was the pork belly. Miss P picked this one and it wasn't a bad choice. The grilled pork belly was tender and came well marinated. 

K picked beef bulgogi, this is a classic in Korean food and generally a favourite on the table. Oppa Kitchen's beef bulgogi had the same classic taste but the beef was slightly overcooked and dry. We found that there wasn't quite enough meat to go with the rice either.

I picked the Korean beef meal bucket, this came with sliced beef which was served in a sweet barbecue marinate. Personally I like this the best out of all the meal buckets, the meat was tender and the sauce was just right.

Overall 12/20 I think this place has a novelty appeal with the bucket rice presentation, but overall I think the food is more target to be a fast food place. I think it make good student meals and a good after uni feed.  Taking into account the wait time and service, I don't think it would be a place that I would specifically visit again. Would I visit if I was in the area and there was no wait? YES. Would I specifically go there? Maybe not