Namsan (Melbourne)
A vibey Korean restaurant in the Melbourne CBD serving up generously portioned Korean street food and drinks, open late into the evening.
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Before reading ❗️
Who is this suited for?
Guests who want to enjoy authentic Korean street food and drinks in a lively atmosphere, open late into the evening.
What type of food is available?
Seafood, jeon, yukke, tteobokki, fried chicken, sizzling dishes, soups and stews and range of Korean alcohol.
What should I order?
We loved their king size tonkotsu, seasoned rice balls and carbonara chicken.
How much will it cost?
Most dishes range from around $18 - $30 with stews priced from $35 - $40.
Can I see the menu?
Namsan's menu can be found here.
Where is it?
In the Melbourne CBD, just around the corner from Melbourne Central (5 min walk from Melbourne Central)
What're their socials?
Namsan can be found on Instagram here.
The details 📝
Our first of many delicious meals during our Melbourne trip in June 2022 was at Namsan. It definitely set the bar high for the food to come! To date, Namsan ranks highly in the top Korean meals we've ever had.
Located in the Melbourne CBD, Namsan serves up Korean street food, known as "pocha". In Korean, pojang-macha or pocha is a type of commercial establishment based out of a small tent or street stall.
Namsan's menu covers a range of Korean favourites and a handful of Korean alcohol. Orders can be made by pressing the red button on your table. You'll also soon see that portion sizes at Namsan run on the generous side 😉.
You can never go wrong when ordering Korean fried chicken. Craving something heavier, we opted for the carbonara chicken. As implied by the name of the dish, the chicken was cheesy, but not too cheesy (possibly the best compliment for any South East Asian dish - "not too ___"). The carbonara sauce is kept warm through the use of a small heat source, preventing it from thickening up. We loved the shoe string fries that came with the chicken too.
As expected their king size tonkotsu was massive. The pork cutlet was close to the size of A4 paper. We easily shared with between four and the addition of rice and a couple vegetable sides was a nice addition.
According to Namsan's menu, this does sell out, so get in quick.
The next dish to continue on the theme of "generous portions" was their tofu kim-chi, which for the price came with a decent amount of steamed tofu and pork belly.
Sesame sauce and egg yolk added to the the yukke's richness. A serving of sliced pear on the side helped to cleanse the palate.
More giant serves of food!
We weren't too sure about the size of the rice balls, so we ordered one each (a gluttonous mistake!). These seasoned rice balls were delicious. Each rice ball can probably be comfortably shared between two. If you like onigiri and furikake, be sure to grab this!
The last dish we attempted to finish was the kim-chi cold noodle soup. Being a cold dish, it was a refreshing end to our dinner.
We definitely made the mistake of over-ordering. Between the four of us, we ordered six dishes and two serves of the seasoned rice balls. We easily could've skipped on the tteokbokki a serve of the seasoned rice balls.
Namsan offers both inside and outside seating. We dined outside in early winter which was pleasant (we suggest dressing to the weather if dining outside). If you're seating outside, best try avoid the seat right in-front of the doorway due to the kitchen exhaust. From memory, some of the chairs also double as storage, so be sure to stow away your jacket if needed.
Before visiting 🚙
Anything else I should know before visiting?
- Servings run generous here, so come hungry or bring more friends!
- Namsan is open to 11 am most nights and 12 pm on Friday and Saturday.
What's the address?
Where do I park?
Limited street parking is available on Little Bourke Street (note Namsan is a 5 minute walk from Melbourne Central and a number of car parks are closely located).
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