Jang Ta Bal

When Carlo and I were on vacation in Sydney, my cousins brought us everywhere and we ate at their most favorite places. That meant lots of meat and very huge portions (compared to the food portions we get in the Philippines, Australian portions are BIG)! So, after doing a Happy Hour, we were given an option of Ribs or Burgers. In my head, I just couldn’t do a BIG Aussie meal after a good drinking sesh. I needed a good post drinking meal like… Korean food! The moment I said Korean, my cousins knew where to go!
We ended at this restaurant at the peak of dinner service. So, there was a long line already. However, apparently my cousins know the owners pretty well (they eat here at least once a week) and, the moment they made eye contact, they told us we’d get a table after 2 tables finish! Hooraaayyy! We ended up waiting for maybe 30 minutes and, since my cousins are regulars, the moment we sat at the table, the banchans arrived! I have to say, of all the banchans that was served, there was this creamy looking mess of a salad which I thought was macaroni salad (I don’t like macaroni salad! It’s just… wrong). I did try it though and, guess what, it was sweet potato salad. OMG. It was sooo good! I don’t know how many servings I had, it was just so yummeh!
Anyways, I can talk about the banchans all day but, seriously, the Barbecue is the main show. Basically, the beef was FANTASTIC! Soft, tender and juicy! The Pork was nice and fatty; the slabs were thick slices too! Oh wow. We just kept eating and eating. Plus, we had Sogu shots the whole night! Perfection! I don’t remember what time we ended but I have to say, that was one of the BEST dinners I have in Sydney. When I return, I will most definitely be eating here again! :D

Well I’ve been to some Korean BBQ, but nothing prepared me for what I was about to encounter in Jang Ta Bal. The entrance was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ door followed by a corridor with pictures on the wall which leads to the world of Jang Ta Bal and you can see why this has become a lot of people’s favourite Korean BBQ including myself. Nab a table and sit on pillows for a traditional experience. The usual table and benches also available for those who value convenience over authentic experience.
Sides like pickled onion, pickled radish, kimchi, lettuce, mashed potatoes, green onions and spicy raw crab (yep, you heard me, it’s raw!) came seconds after we placed our order. A small bottle of sesame oil and a bowl of seasoning with empty sauce bowls provided at the table, a plus in my book as I hate to always ask for more oil and seasoning in other Korean BBQ.
The meat menu is extensive and at reasonable price. Any meat you choose you know you’ll get a great quality meat. Service is quick and staff are always ready to change your BBQ plate. Definitely worth a visit if you ask me!

Awesome

Loved the somewhat authentic seating, We weren’t quite sitting on the floor but almost. we had a great waiter that was very attentive. the food was so fresh and the meat tender. and we enjoyed cooking it ourselves. I will definitely come here again.

One of the 50 Korean BBQ places in the area but I would have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my night here.
Only a small entrance and it can be hard to miss, the restaurant is out the back and quite large considering the entry.
Ok… so apparently speaking English is not a big thing here but I loved that about this place, it was like a little adventure and delving into the unknown.
We had a group of four so we ordered pork belly, beef ribs in soy sauce, mixed mushrooms, and chilli chicken. We were very new to the whole BBQ thing so the waiter was more than helpful and had a laugh at our inexperience.
I would defiantly recommend this place and the whole BBQ experience. The food was great! The BBQ comes with lots of traditional sides and you can ask for more if you are hungry like we were.
It cost us about $ 46 each.
They have Korean drinks but BYO is accepted and no corkage.
Great food and company!

I’m just going to go on record and say that the Korean BBQ in Sydney CBD, including Sydney Madang has NOTHING on Jang Ta Bal. If you want the best Korean BBQ Sydney has to offer you have to go to Strathfield.
Came here with a group of 8 on a Saturday night and rocked up without a booking and we were promptly seated. Fortunately we came when we did, because it got super packed shortly thereafter. The banchan came out shortly after, we were served potato salad, kimchi (one of the better ones I’ve had in Sydney,) greens, and raw crab legs in chilli sauce. On top of busting out the charcoal for BBQ (legit,) I have NEVER seen raw crab legs served for banchan, so you know this place is legit.
We ordered two beef sets and a mixed beef+pork set that had pork belly. We also ordered some beer and soju.
The meat here is top notch, especially the kalbi… oh sweet heavenly kalbi. If you’re a sucker for punishment, you should come here and specifically NOT order the kalbi… because you’d be making yourself miss out on something great, and that’s one way to make yourself feel bad. It was so good we ordered 2 orders of kalbi on top of our beef set orders.
The damage for 8 people with 3 meat sets and two extra orders of kalbi, plus 8 beers and 5 bottles of soju was $ 33 a person. Freaking sweet.
Go. Now.

Love this place!
Great Korean BBQ house, and the meat is top quality including Wagyu.
Options to dine inside, which is probably more for couples or families, and out the back of the restaurant, which is for smokers and larger groups.
It can get noisy out there :)
You can browse the menu for a range of great meals, with unlimited side dishes,
but you have to try, at least once, the house rib specialty.
It’s not cheap, but it’s not cheap food either!