sydney madang, sydney cbd

Madang is not exactly "on" Pitt Street, but rather situated inside a scary and dark alleyway - well not that scary since there are lots of people lining up for some Korean food. But point is, this lovely eatery can easily be missed.

We arrive at 5:30pm on a Saturday night and there are already groups of people huddled around an outdoor heater while they wait for their number to be called up. Once called up, you'll be lead inside to be seated.

madang:

The fun thing about this place is that, to call the waiters and waitresses, you just have to press a small button at the corner of the table. Someone will then immediately respond and tend to your needs.

side dishes:

For side dishes, there was miyeok julgi bokkeum - which was a sautéed sea plant stem dish, poached. They are a little chewy and sort of salty. Gamja jorim - potatoes cooked in a sweet soy sauce, uh mook jorim - a stir fried fish cake strip dish. It's a little starchy and chewy. The other two side dishes given were your regular cabbage kimchi and lettuce with coleslaw sauce. You can refill these if you want!

mushroom japchae ($15.00):

Starch noodles stir fried with various mushrooms and vegetables. This is one of my favourite Korean noodle dishes. Although it looks oily, it did not feel that way. Madang's japchae is the best. The noodles are not too dry, not intensely flavourful and there isn't an excess of sauce either. Whether you choose to eat it with the beef or just with mushrooms, it's still nice. The mushrooms provide a really chewy texture for the noodles and it's so nice.

left: pork belly slices ($15.00), right: ox tongue ($15.00):

"I can't eat ox tongue! It feels like I'm kissing a cow!" Well you, my dear friend are missing out on good stuff.

The pork belly slices and ox tongue slices are cut super thin which pretty much makes the meat seem very tender. The pork belly slices were dipped into a soybean and hot chilli paste before wrapping it up in the lettuce leaf provided with a bit of steamed rice.

burseot dukbokki ($32.00):

Mushrooms, carrots, cucumber and rice cakes topped with cheese. Whoever thought to combine chilli with cheese is a genius. I love Korean rice cakes. They're chewy, thick and both chilli and sweet at the same time. The cheese just makes everything stickier and nicer. Last time I tried the chicken version and it was oh so nice. This vegetarian version is nice too.

The menu has a chilli level rating which goes from 1 - 4, 4 being very chilli. I was surprised to find this dish had a chilli rating of 4 since I thought the stir-fried squid tasted spicier than this dish.

ojinguh bokeum jungsik ($14.00):

Stir-fried squid with chilli level 3. This spicy dish is served with a bowl of steamed rice. It's loaded with red chilli pepper flakes and julienne onions in a red pepper paste (gochujang) sauce. At first it's sweet but a few more chews, the chilli starts to hit. But it wasn't bad. I almost always crave chilli dishes during winter.

I've been here a couple of time and I think the food has improved each time. The staff are bubbly and cute even though their English isn't the best. Can't wait to come back.

sydney madang
371 pitt st
sydney NSW 2000
t: (02) 9264 7010