Nowadays, 'Chinese food' in Korea connotates slightly different meaning compared to other countries around the world. Most of the Chinese restaurants you will find in Korea are run by Koreans (which is also helped by the fact that the Korean government in the 60s-80s implemented policies to suppress growth of Chinese immigrants). The foods they serve are very different from that of the mainland China. For half a century, they have been cooked by Koreans, developed to suit the appetite of Koreans, and have become quite an original Korean cuisine.
In terms of this, Ga Bin is a unique restaurant . Unlike other Korean restaurants in Adelaide, it specialises in Koreanised Chinese cuisine. Having lived in Korea for 15 years, it makes me quite glad to think that the existence of this restaurant adds some diversity to the Korean foods offered here.
Ga Bin is located at the intersection of Morphett Street and Grote Street. It is isolated from the main hustle and bustle of the dining sector of Gouger Street. This can make navigation slightly difficult, but the restaurant itself is quite big so you should be able to recognise it easily
Even if Ga Bin specialises in Koreanised Chinese food, they still serve many popular Korean dishes, like the ones on chef's special. Their price is a bit dearer than other Korean restaurants though.
The interior of Ga Bin was not flashy or glamorous. It served its purpose of defining the identity of the restaurant. There was a minimalistic approach to the walls and ceiling, and the utilisation of square shapes and warm colours gave it a polished, clean, simple, and welcoming atmosphere. The restaurant was also quite spacious too, giving it a refreshing quietness, unlike many other Asian restaurants. There were about 5 or 6 tables occupied when we entered Ga Bin, but it was not noticeable. This is an advantage of being located away from the space-lacking and business of Gouger street, in that Ga Bin could afford to utilise wider spaces.
Even if I don't visit Korean restaurants often, one thing I always love when I visit Korean restaurants is that I get cold filtered water for free. I didn't appreciate it when I was in Korea because I took it for granted. Now that I am living in Australia, I know that it is not as common in other kinds of restaurants.
Soy sauce, vinegar, and chili powder. These are 3 condiments you would find in any Chinese restaurant in Korea. Soy sauce is most commonly used as a dipping sauce for dumplings. Vinegar is most commonly poured onto raw diced onions that come out as a side dish (we didn't have any served in Ga Bin though). Chili pepper is basically put in everywhere where you feel a need for some extra spiciness. There is no fixed rule or tradition though. I mean, one of my friends in Korea used to put vinegar in rice, soy sauce in onion and sprinkle chili powder over dumplings.....
Okay, now let's get on to foods, we ordered;
- Large Black Bean Noodle Soup (삼선짜장면)$11.5 + extra $2.5 for large
- Stir-Fried Vegetable & Pork and Sweet Potato Noodle on Rice (잡채밥) $13.9
- Small Sweet and Sour Pork (탕수육) $14.5
On the right side of the photo is danmuji, pickled radishes. Originating from Japan, it is a popular accompaniment for dishes in Korean Chinese restaurants. Their purpose is exactly the same as sliced pickled ginger in Japanese cuisine; to refresh our palate.
Sweet and Sour Pork, or tangsooyook, is arguably the most popular side dish in Korea (except for fried dumplings, which you are able to get for free when you order jiajangmyuns). This dish originates from Sweet and Sour Pork of China, specifically from the recipe of Guangdong region. Originally, tangsooyook consisted of deep-fried pork strips with starch, egg yolk batter, and sweet sauce. The modern form of tangsooyook has flour and sodium bicarbonate added to its batter for extra crispiness. Its sauce also has canned pineapple added as its primary ingredient for extra sourness.
Below are the pictures of tangsooyook. The meats and sauce are served to you separately, which is a unique feature of tangsooyook compared to other sweet and sour pork dishes. This adds some flexibility to the way you can eat tangsooyook. You can either pour the sauce onto the meat, dip the meat in sauce, or be a badass and shove all the pork strips down your throat, washing it down with the sauce (I'm joking!). Another added bonus of having meats and sauces served to you separately is that the freshly deep-fried pork strips retain all its crispiness.
The way you eat Tangsooyook has always been a subject of heated discussion. It seems like everybody has their own way of eating it. My family tradition is to pour the sauce onto the meats first though. Even if I dipped my meat on the sauce in the picture below, I did end up following my family tradition.
I think Ga Bin's tangsooyook well exemplified how a well made tangsooyook tastes. Its batter was crispy and well seasoned. The sweet and sour sauce had a good balance between moderate sweetness and sourness, with some fruitiness from canned pineapples. Vegetables in the sauce (we forgot to take a picture of the sauce, but there were sliced onions, sliced zucchini and dried moki mushrooms) also added nice chewiness to the dish.
Black Bean Noodle Soup, or jiajangmyun, is arguably the most symbolic Korean Chinese dish. It is by far the most popular delivery food in Korea with more than six million servings sold per day (read this for more information). jiajangmyun was first introduced to Korea in form of Zha Jiang Mien (炸酱麵, literally "fried sauce noodles") by Chinese labourers from Shandong region during the late 19th century. jiajangmyun in its original form consisted of wheat noodles topped with a mixture of pork mince stir-fried in salty fermented soybean paste Zha Jiang (炸酱). It developed into a modern form of jiajangmyun in the mid-1950s with the development of sweeter fermented soybean taste called chunjang (춘장). Modern Jiajangmyun consists of wheat noodles topped with a mixture of minced meat (either pork or beef) and diced onions stir-fried in chunjang. Some variations of jiajangmyun also contain scallops, prawns or mustard seeds.
Before going on to jiajangmyun, I must point out that its name on the menu was misleading. 삼선짜장면 (samsun-jiajangmyun) as it was written on the menu, refers to jiajangmyun with seafood. However, from what I was served, it was just vanilla jiajangmyun. Its English description on the menu was quite correct though.
Ga Bin's jiajangmyun consisted of jiajang sauce (stir fried onion, pork mince and chunjang sauce) noodle, and some cucumber slices. I have heard many people saying that those cucumber slices on jiajangmyun are meant to help digestion. I don't think that amount of cucumber slices will help digestion significantly though. In my opinion, the slices are just there to add some visual highlight. Jiajangmyun without cucumber slices would very closely resemble a black smudge... Not so appetising.
Jiajangmyun doesn't actually have that much soup. It just looks like noodles are submerged in jiajang sauce because jiajang sauce is poured onto the noodle before it is served. Since jiajang sauce is quite viscous, you must stir it a bit before you eat. The stirring makes jiajangmyun look like a mess but it tastes more consistent that way.
Stir-fried onion and caramel (caramel is used to sweeten chunjang) added some pleasant sweetness to the jiajang sauce, while fermented bean still kept it savoury. There was no pungent characteristic of fermented sauces either, which I found very pleasant. The noodle was not handmade, but it was still chewy and nice. However, I found it disappointing that there wasn't much pork mince. Pork mince plays an important role in forming the flavour of jiajangmyun as its savouriness balances with sweetness from onion and caramel, while also giving the food a nice meaty texture.
One thing you must be cautious of when you are eating jiajangmyun is that it is very easy to make a mess. Since the sauce is thick and black, you would have very visible splotches of jiajang sauce around your mouth. Make sure you wipe it off
Stir-fried vegetable & pork and sweet potato noodle on rice, or simply japchaebap (literally japchae with rice), is also a very popular dish in Korean Chinese restaurants. However, it differs a bit from other foods in the sense that they originate from traditional Korean food. Japchae was first made in the early 17th century in Korea for royal functions. Originally consisting of stir-fried sliced vegetables, mushrooms, and pork slices seasoned with soy sauce, it now has dangmyun (noodles made from sweet potato starch) added as a primary ingredient. japchaebap is simply a dish consisting of this japchae and rice.
Ga Bin's japchaebap consisted of rice and japchae. Japchae was made of stir-fried vegetables (sliced carrot, onion, zucchini, Korean chives), dangmyun, and pork strips.
One might think it is a weird combination to have rice accompanied by noodle. However, this combination works well because dangmyun differs a lot from other noodles. Being made of starch, it is a lot more chewy than flour-based noodles, making it a bit difficult to be eaten as a staple food. It works better when consumed as an accompaniment to rice or other noodles.
Following tradition, the flavour of japchae was formed primarily by soy sauce. Its saltiness was moderate, just right to accompany rice. However, one thing that differed it from traditionally made japchae was a strong emphasis on black pepper. The taste of black pepper in dish was as strong as soy sauce. Hien and I did not mind it, but the pepperness of this dish can be a turn-off factor for some people. I would also have not minded having more pork strips in japchae. The rice was cooked in Korean style, exclusively using short-grain rice and simmering. This resulted in its characteristic stickiness but it was not too much. Complimented by the chewiness of dangmyun, it provided a nice texture to the dish.
The overall price of dishes in Ga Bin was a bit more expensive compared to Korea, but in Australian restaurant standard, it was not bad. $40-50 was enough for two person to dine with 3 dishes, 1 main for each and 1 side dish. Even if I felt that they could have been more generous with portions of meats in the dish, the actual portion was quite nice too. Hien and I were feeling very full after our meal (our stomach size is about average). I was quite satisfied with what I was served in Ga Bin. Considering its uniqueness and symbolic value to Korean part of me, I will be visiting the restaurant again every once in a while.
Food: 3.5/5
Jiajangmyun tasted the way it did in Korea. Tangsooyook was crispy and well seasoned. However, strong pepperness of Japchaebap can be a minus factor to some people.
Value: 3.75/5
Reasonable
compared to other Gouger Street restaurants & other Korean
restaurants. Portion was nice, enough to make us feel very full. However, jiajangmyun and japchaebap could have had more meats.
Service: 3.5/5
Free cold filtered water, prompt service when requested.
Ambience: 3.5/5
Warm welcoming atmosphere. Spacious dining hall. Interior consistent with the food being sold. Ga Bin
144 Grote Street
Adelaide
South Australia, 5000
Ph: (08) 8231 9996
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