When Sydney-siders think of Korean food, they quickly refer their minds to Strathfield or even Eastwood or Hurstville. Of course then, in the growing district of Canley Heights someone would see this niche and open a modern Korean restaurant in the heart of this booming suburb.
Korean food is something I've come to enjoy a lot once I realised that no, they don't just eat BBQ everyday. However, it's nice they also have this option at La Grilla.
The restaurant is remincent of all the new hip and happening restaurants in the Canley Heights area - modern interior, warm lighting, wooden furnishings and quirky artwork/fixtures. There is also an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ only buffet down in the more quiet Canley Vale area, but besides that this would be the only 'Korean' restaurant I think.
Of course, as with many of the restaurants in the local they have very young wait staff who know little to nothing on how to serve customers. I'll let them be with their quiet and timid voices as they remind me of how I was when I started my first job (jokes, I was excellent).
We ordered 4 dishes between the 5 of us as none of us were quite hungry yet (we had a 5pm dinner as we all had other plans after).
Complimentary stuffed peppers w/ mayo and chilli sauce
Complimentary sides - kimchi, rice cakes and green beans w dried prawns
After we order our dishes, we were served some side starters as they do in all Korean restaurants. These sides are usually refillable, with many restaurants doing this as you finish your plate (quite easy to do between 5 people). We asked just to be sure, and she said yes (woohoo, free refills). The stuffed peppers was my favourite, but it was cold! Our waitress only refilled the kim chi plate after we finished the rest, and when we asked her if we can get more of the other ones she hesitated before saying "Uh, I don't think we have any more left..." SURE YOU DON'T as I see her serving other arriving customers the same sides.
Fried Sweet Potato Noodle (glass noodle) $10 (we got the vegetarian option which was the same price)
If there is nothing I love more, is carbs in a carb form (potatoes as noodles). This has always been one of my favourite Korean dishes for it's pure simplicity. The vegetarian option was loaded with mushrooms (shitake and oyster I think), it wasn't overpowered by onions and the green and red capsicuns gave it a pop of colour. The soy dressing was light and sweet and the sesame seeds gave nice toasty taste. Only downfall was that the serving size was tiny compared to what we usually get at a Korean restaurant in Strathfield. One person could easily down two bowls, and at $10 a bowl it was not cheap especially considering the area.
Vegetarian Bibimbab w extra egg $14 ($2 extra for egg i.e $16)
Beef Bulgogi Bibimbab w Chilli Sauce $14
For those who aren't familiar with bibimbab, it's a Korean rice based dish served in a hot stone bowl with assorted vegetables, your choice of meat and Korean style sauce. La Grilla had three different meat options; beef bulgogi, soy or mild chilli chicken and chilli pork. The three sauce options were; mild chilli sauce, soy bean sauce, sweet soy sauce. It is in my opinion to ALWAYS CHOOSE CHILLI.
The vegetarian hot stone pot wasn't sizzling (like how it's suppose to be) and so the rice and other components was mildly warm and not hot. It had a good mix of vegetables and rice, again the serving size was quite small for the price ($16 for vegetarian option?!) The bulgogi one was quite tasty with the meat being well marinated and grilled nicely. Again though, serving sizes weren't big enough, so not enough to quite convince me to come back.
Mexi-Kor Tacos - Bulgogi Tacos (2 pcs) $10
I guess this is what they meant by 'modern' Korean. There's a choice of two different soft tacos; Bulgogi or Milk Chilli Chicken. We, of course, opt for the more 'Korean' Bulgogi version. Soft tender strips of soy marinated sirloin beef, salsa, guacamole with kim chi w cheese and mayo. The tacos were quite big (size of a palm) and would have made for great entrees but the dish came out last and was served not even remotely warm with the soft tacos feeling like they just came out of the fridge. It would of been better if they put them in the oven or something for a bit to warm it up and melt the cheese a bit. However the comonents of the dish went quite well together, kimchi, mayo and guc, who would have ever thought!
All in all, food was decent however for the price and serving size I rather travel to Strathfield.
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Interior: 4/5
Revisit: 3/5
Food: 2.5/5
Service:
2/5Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Interior: 4/5
Revisit: 3/5
Labels: food