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Burwood Korea House, Burwood

“It looks exactly the same, this has to be owned by the same people!” These are the first words out of our mouth as we walk into Burwood Korea House.

I’m here tonight with Astroboy and Rin because of rumours that the newest Korean restaurant on the Burwood Rd strip is actually a spin-off of my favourite Strathfield Korean restaurant, Ceci. Rin’s been filling our ears with tales of how she saw a commercial for the restaurant on the Chinese Community Channel and how very similiar the decor is.

The moment we step inside, we know the rumours have to be true. The decor is identical, from the 70′s style booths, the wallpaper and faux french wall decorations, even the placement of the cashier bench at the back is exactly the same as Ceci’s. What confirms it all though is our sighting of the owner of Ceci sitting calmly behind the cashier, gazing over her domain.

“It’s her!”

The owner of Ceci is a remarkable woman, she’s seemingly always behind the counter of Ceci, with her hair artfully curled and make up touched up to a tee. She’s become my constant for Strathfield Korean restaurants and it’s actually a bit of a shock to see her seated here in Burwood Korea House.

It’s a late dinner for us tonight, by the time the sides have come out I’m starving and have to restrain myself from lunging at the food. The Kimchi is satisfyingly crunchy with a surprising hit of chilli that has me reaching for water almost immediately. We’ve a selection of 3 sides today, Kimchi, steamed bean sprouts and my favourite, sweet fried potatoes.

We’re regulars at Ceci and thought the best way to compare the two restaurants would be to order our favourite dishes and compare that way. Japchae is a glutinous mass of glass noodles, stir-fried with generous servings of beef, carrot, shallots and carrots. The noodles are so slippery it’s nearly impossible to lift the heavy mass with just your chopsticks, and tongs are provided to help you out.

The noodle to condiment ratio is more than generous with the fried beef giving everything a slightly sweetened meaty taste, all offset with the slight crunch of the carrots and onions. It’s one of the first Korean dishes I ever tasted, and still one of my favourites.

It’s a feeling of deja vu, but Rin similar to Squishies has next to zero tolerance for chilli. It’s a little surprising then that the majority of our meals together are spent gasping for breath in various Korean restaurants! The Chilli Squid is another staple of our korean dinners, the rubbery tentacles are fried with onions in a deliciously spicy sauce and sprinkled liberally with sesame.

The first glance is a little misleading, as the plate looks to be overflowing with squid, but it only takes one bite for me to realise that half of the squid is actually onion (my arch nemesis!), and towards the end of the meal it’s a scavenger hunt for the last elusive slivers of squid.

The biggest appeal that Korean food has for me is the various soups (surprise surprise!). My co-eaters are equally greedy and when it becomes apparent that we’re not going to come to an agreement on which soup to order, we decide to simply order one each!

I’m torn between the soups and eventually settle on the Pork Bone and Potato Soup, my greed for potatoes has overcome me. A bubbling pot is carefully placed by the staff members and I take a moment to marvel at the sheer size of it all.

Large chunks of pork bone are visible, peaking through the layers of shallots and blanket of pepper. It’s actually a little difficult to break through to the soup and half the pepper is left on the sidelines as I stir up the contents (oops). The potato isn’t as cooked as I would have liked, a little more crunchy than mushy but there’s a strange caveman satisfaction I get in picking up the bones and gnawing them clean.

Astroboy is constant in her choices and decides on the Tofu Soybean Soup for her love of tofu. Although the servings of tofu and meat are generous, it’s probably the weakest of our soups tonight, the tofu and soybean are a little unsatisfyingly bland and the soup flavour accordingly so.

Despite the fact that Korean food is known for its spicyness, this sweet soup is what keeps me coming back – Beef and Vegetable Soup, or rather as I found out after an hour of googling, Bulgogi Stew. Rather than being based on the stock the secret to this stew is actually the Bulgogi, thinly sliced beef marinated with onion and carrots in soy which forms the base for the soup. Bulgogi is usually made for BBQ, with the soup usually made to use up any left over meat.

The soup is packed with cubes of tofu, handfuls of mushroom and possibly half a cows worth of thinly sliced beef. My guilty pleasure is to simply drown my bowl of rice into the soup! Astroboy and I keep stealing spoonfuls of the soup and I know that next time we visit, the potatoes won’t be enough to lure me away from the Bulgogi soup.

We know we’ve over ordered, but we’ve done it knowing that we’ll be taking away whatever remains. Somewhat mysteriously, though by the end of the night all of the food on the table has managed to vanish entirely…

The food at Burwood Korea House easily lives up to its sister restaurant if our bulging stomaches are anything to judge by. I really should know better but I can’t help but take one last look at the dessert menu as we leave, I’m craving something sweet but my stomach disagrees so the giant Parfaits will need to wait for another day.

I have to laugh looking at the menu as we walk out, just under the Parfaits is a sign clearly stating CECI Strathfield. Nice to have solid proof for all our detective work, even if our stomachs had already decided at the first bite.

Burwood Korea House
175 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134
Ph: (02) 9715 5098