Goshen

Why this place doesn’t have a 5-​star average, I can’t fathom. Back in my «Melbourne days» I lived a few blocks down, so it was literally a home just up the road from my actual home. The stone pots and dumplings are simply the best I’ve ever had, but there’s also a «westernism» to the menu and restaurant, so it’s perfect at introducing people to Korean cuisine for the first time.
It’s also quite intimate — seats about 20 – 30, which is great for those nights you want to enjoy your downtime after work. It’s a MUST every time I’m down in Melbourne, and while I can’t understand how they don’t have their own website/​advertising up all over the web, I guess it’s true that the best secrets are kept secret! Prices range in the $ 20−30s, so not cheap; not expensive. In my opinion it is quintessential Melbourne food — delicious menu coupled with great service, and intimate and trendy ambience. and yet no one seems to know about it!

I just moved to Fitzroy and been trying out places within a 2 minute walk (Enjoying the benefits living in the middle of fitzroy), maybe I didn’t order the right dish, I got the stone pot rice dish with chicken, but I wasn’t impressed. The food was decent, but for the price ~16 $ I expected better flavors, it was just sweet and not too much else…
My first stop for Korean in Australia, but definitely haven’t found my final destination.

If you like Korean cuisine then you’ll love the food at Goshen. They serve up a great range of spicy, punchy Korean dishes that are far fresher and more refined than many other Korean restaurants I have eaten at.
My favourite entrée is the dumplings which are slightly different from their Chinese counterparts and absolutely delicious. And you can’t go to a Korean restaurant without getting a frizzling hot bbq done chilli hot.
Korean cuisine is not a delicate one, so be warned your taste buds will get a working out here. Most dishes are also flavoured with the widely used ingredient doenjang (fermented bean paste) and gochujang (fermented red chili paste), which have fairly distinct flavours. So if you don’t enjoy this then make sure you ask the waiters what dishes don’t include this ingredient. Because has a tendency to predominate any dish it is included in.

I’m no expert on Korean food but I know it is meant to be damn hot, and so I’m always slightly disappointed in the mildness of their dishes. Everything I’ve tasted here is really delicious, so it’s not as if there’s a lack of flavour. It’s just that I love my spice, and I know Koreans can stand the heat too, so I just wonder why it isn’t more apparent in the dishes at Goshen.
Still, the restaurant is rather lovely and cosy, the staff are nice, and like I said before, the food is good. For the price of the dishes, I’m not really complaining. It’s all good.

I didn’t realise that there was a Korean restaurant in Fitzroy/​Collingwood area so finding Goshen nearby is great.
Located on Smith Street, Goshen is a cosy Korean restaurant serving delicious food with great service. We started with the dumplings. I have to say I’ve never had Korean dumplings before and these dumplings were amazing. I wished they offered more than just four per order. Next time, I’ll order 2 servings.
For our mains, sweet potato noodles with beef — spicy or non spicy? Non spicy. We also ordered bul go gi — spicy or non spicy? Spicy. Both of the mains were full of flavour. However, the spicy bul go gi was a bit too spicy for me. I definitely prefer non spicy.
For $ 25 (food and drinks), we had a great meal. The only issue I had with the place was the lack of soju. How can it be a Korean restaurant without soju? Soju is alcohol made from rice that tastes similar to vodka. Basically, soju is to Korea what sake is to Japan. NO SOJU? Even the waiter thought it was weird…

You little beauty Allan B! Based on your recommendation, I decided to check out Goshen last night and needless to say it was great to share that little slice of Korean heaven too.
There aren’t too many Korean joints I know of in Fitzroy and Collingwood, so Goshen is a great find. It is not a Korean BBQ place like most restaurants seem to be. That means you don’t have to cook your own food (i actually enjoy this part actually). And it doesn’t serve Soju (this is probably my only gripe).
But the food was an epic sensory experience. The dumplings are amazing to start. Then I had the sweet potato noodles with sliced beef. They remind me more of glass noodles and were delicious. The final dish was the pork bul go gi and it was a spicy love affair. I always order this is Korean BBQ places and if you haven’t had it before it is the ultimate in marination.
Will definitely be back again very soon.

Kimchi, noodles and anju, OH MY!
But that’s not even the strong point of this tiiiiiiny little slice of Korean heaven. Goshen really shines in their hot pots. Basically a molten hot stone bowl, with spicy seasoned rice, and then you pick; veggies, beef, chicken, all of the above, and topped with an egg to mix the yolk all together and rich and spicy goodness!
They also have some great Korean beers on the menu AND amazing dumplings for starters. Can’t find that often in these parts.
Not food for the faint of heart, most is quite spicy, but for some amazing Korean food to break from the monotony of ‘modern Australian’ get in here and chow down.