Hansang

This once-quiet Korean restaurant is now being infiltrated by locals after being overrun by displaced students looking for a taste of home. They've made a big splash on social media, and now everyone is lining up for as many banchan (side dishes) as they can get their hands on.

Hansang means ‘table full of food’ in Korean, and that’s exactly what you get. Typically, when you sit down to a Korean meal, you’re met with a handful of side dishes; usually pickles (most likely kimchi), a salad, an ambient temperature stir-fry and a protein, but at Hansang, they fill your table. There were eleven plates at their count featuring a rice porridge spiced with black pepper, stir-fried shredded potato, a rolled vegetable omelette, a cucumber and seaweed salad, japchae, kimchi cabbage, stir-fried bean sprouts, spicy fish cakes, braised eggplant, kimchi radish and braised tofu. You might call it a gimmick if each plate wasn’t properly cooked and seasoned, adding to the experience of the ‘main’ dishes rather than distracting from them; all killer and absolutely no filler.

You’d be mad if you didn’t order from the set menu, where two people dine for $60, three for $90, four for $120, and so on. Each person chooses a shared main for the table and aside from the abundance of well-considered and interesting sides, you each receive a bowl of rice, a choice between a kimchi or soybean stew, and dessert. If you can’t finish your food, they encourage you to take the leftovers home with you.

Location: Hansang Bing Local 347-349 King Street, Melbourne Victoria 3003

Book a table: https://bit.ly/3DHuLSZ