Note: This review was written shortly after Little Miss Korea opened so they may have been working through teething issues. Apparently they're much better now.

Expectations were high, Darwin has been longing for a Korean BBQ restaurant and hunting one down is one of the first things I do when travelling out of Darwin. The wait is no more and now we finally have Little Miss Korea thanks to the team behind Seoul Food. They've taken residence in a very industrial looking space out the back of the old Woolworths building. With subdued lighting, exposed ceilings and walls, concrete floor, gorgeous wall murals and numerous giant vacuum exhausts coming down from the ceiling, it all looks very non Darwin and quite stunning. Adding to the industrial affect is the big toolbox on wheels that serves as the front counter. We booked a table but somewhere along the line the reservation was lost, but it wasn't busy yet so we were quickly shown a table. Groups of four seems to be the optimum amount as you won't be able to combine tables due to the setup. All the staff are very friendly and efficient in their work, the maître d' / floor manager is a pleasantly bubbly chap who runs around with gusto and I also spotted the head chef doing the rounds with diners. Now if you haven't had the pleasure of a Korean BBQ dining experience before, the general gist is that you get a variety of meats that you cook yourself over a hot grill in the middle of the table. Excellent entertainment value and you can't blame anybody but yourself if the food isn't grilled to your liking. You also get an array of side dishes to compliment the grilled protein. Some Korean BBQ places will allow you unlimited free side dishes, but that is not the case here thanks to the cost of simply existing in Darwin, however you can get a second round of sides on the house before they start charging you for more. The not vegetarian friendly 'mains' on offer come in three sets at $39, $49, and $59 respectively, but you can chop and choose extras if you like for extra cost. An à la carte menu is coming but for now they do have daily specials on offer. Our grill was fired up with some hot coals, the vacuum switched on and the array of dishes came out soon after. We went with two of the $39 sets - black angus porterhouse, pork belly and soju marinated chicken along with some large king prawns, scallops, kimchi and rice – all fresh and well prepared. For four people it somehow ended up costing $230 which is certainly not cheap considering the serving sizes are freaking tiny and the meat isn't even cooked!!! We thought they forgot to bring out the second set, but alas that was it, heck, even if the amount we got was doubled I'd still call it stingy. If I packed everything together it would probably amount to two take-away containers plus one for the rice, that sure as heck won't and didn't touch the sides of four point five hungry adults. As George Takei would say - Oh myyyyyy. Consequently I drank a lot of water to fill the void in my stomach. I really hope they reconsider their portion sizes and pricing going ahead - poor hungry diners is the last thing you'd want on your hands.

This is what $230 buys you (one little bowl of chicken not in the photo). No drinks ordered.

 

This is a dedicated BBQ restaurant, so in future I wouldn't think it be too much of a stretch to see:

• A larger selection of meat cuts
• More marinated and unmarinated meats
• Sides that diners can pick and choose from as they like
• More sauces to dip into, and
• Some cold teas would be nice too.
• Oh, and let's not forget the vegetarians - how about some big ol' mushrooms, corn, zuchinni or any of the other BBQ friendly vegies?

Being open less than two weeks old at time of writing new I can overlook the limited menu. What I can't forgive is the shameful serving sizes coupled with exorbitant cost. Eating here makes fine dining restaurants like Pee Wees and Evoo look like exeptionally good value in comparison. Such high expectations, such low results. Such hunger. We bought some takeaway food from Zhen's Corner on the way home.

Contact details

Address: Austin Lane, back of the old Woolworths building. Phone: 8981 7092 Online: Facebook Alcohol: Licensed