Inaugural restaurant review: Soban

I’ve diversified!! (Nothing is safe from the scrutiny of Who.) Yes, this is a restaurant review. Just want to make a few things clear – I won’t be talking about ‘palettes’ and ‘infusions of flavour’, but rather a layman’s perspective on the world of food. I believe I eat enough of it to pass judgement on the quality of food I’m presented with in various restaurants.

Soban is a recent addition to the 6^th floor of Westfield Chatswood. It’s situated next to Kam Fook (the ridiculously popular yum cha restaurant) which could potentially be good for business... or backfire.

On the two occasions I’ve been there, the place has generally been quiet, the service quick and relatively friendly and the food was very, very fast to arrive (tick!). Both times I ordered the bulgogi – a beef dish.

The set meal, as you can see, is generally well presented. The beef is sufficiently tender and slightly charred, served with rice in an extremely hot stone bowl. The bowl actually makes the rice go crunchy (that’s how hot it is) and you have to eat the rice before it cools and hardens. The thick, sweet, spicy sauce combined with the beef is amazing! No doubt the best part of the experience.

The red stuff is the amazing sauce. The soup in the other bowl is the seaweed/miso stuff.

My dining partner (ok, it was my mummy) ordered broth of chicken stuffed with rice. We didn’t expect what came out of the kitchen – literally half a chicken sitting in soup!! I would imagine many people finding it difficult to finish such a large meal. The black rice (yea, you read that right) stuffed in the chicken was amazing too – really fragrant. It came with a separate topping of grainy sea salt mixed with sesame seeds. I made the mistake of liberally rolling a piece of chicken in the topping and nearly gagged at the saltiness. But in smaller quantities, it’s a delightful addition to the relatively mild-tasting chicken.

The side dishes accompanying the mains range from kimchi, potato salad, Korean-ised miso soup, pumpkin soup and spicy snake beans with tiny, crunchy prawns. It’s all very cute, with manageable portion sizes. However, I’m left wanting more of some of the side dishes, like the spicy snake beans. Also – two soups is a little overkill.

The ambience is quiet and low-key. Lots of people are there to have a quick meal before watching a movie at Hoyts next door. It’s generally a relaxed, unrushed atmosphere.

The prices are very reasonable – my bulgogi was $16.90 and the chicken dish was $25.

Overall, the food is good but if you're looking for a 'substantive' meal then it might not satisfy you. It's a little restaurant you can go to for a relatively cheap, quick meal but it's by no means fancy or exceptional.

~ Hurley Who?

PS. Sorry for the bad photo of that chicken. You can't even tell it's a chicken.