Gourmet Tofu

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

As there are increasing numbers of Korean restaurants in the vicinity of Kingford this place remains one of our favourites to go for when we're extra hungry. The menu is abit on the pricey side but the meal are complete and overall satisfying. The couple who run the restaurant serve with polite gestures and meals are always served hot and steaming.

I usually order the Tofu Hotpot meal which includes a stone pot rice, a spicy tofu soup and a selection of the main dish (bulgogi etc) plus refillable side dishes.

The restaurant also show kPop music videos on their TV screens to entertain the visitors. Overall a nice restaurant to eat once in a while!

Mar 31, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  6     

This place is a little pricey as far as korean goes but we found the serving size made up for this. The food was absolutely delicious and the staff enthusiastic. They seemed a little understaffed the night we were there though and as a result our food took a very long time to come. We had to wait about an hour. We weren't in a rush though and the food was so delicious it was probably worth the wait. If you want good food this is a good place but I wouldn't go there if you had a time constraint.

Mar 14, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  8      Value  9     

This is a solid choice for Korean in the Eastern suburbs. We usually order bulgogi and spicy pork. The mains come with a good selection of side dishes, rice and a kimchi soup. We leave absolutely stuffed and the bill is around $40 for two.

Aug 21, 2010 

3.8 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  4     

Well, I have patronised Gourmet Tofu a year ago, and I must say that the experience I had was good.

However a year on, their standard has dropped tremendously. First, the dishes. Imagine advertising it on the menu as spicy pork veg with tofu, but all you find on the dish are tofu, some veg, and 2 miserable pieces of pork - all for $30!

Seriously, this is totally abusing the customer! In addition, we had meant to order the seafood hotpot and seafood pancake, but they ran out of seafood! It's only 8pm on the night, on a friday, and we had booked a table for 20 persons beforehand - common sense would kick in to stock up more meat etc.

The rest of the dishes such as spicy octopus etc are rather ok, and we wish we hadn't order the $30 veg tofu dish! Secondly, their service - I would say is minimal. Seriously understaffed, and at some point the staff was rather rude as well.

My friend was trying to help by stacking the small plates into the stone pot when the staff was clearing the table. But, the staff retorted back at him for messing it up by placing the plate into the pot. So much for being helpful! In another instance, the boss of the establishment had limited us to refilling the side dish, and attempted to limit us on the water as well.

Their reason - we ordered only approximately 18 person's share of food when we have 20 people. This goes to show that the establishment is not generous at all, and have no business sense. If they are to be slightly more generous, we would definitely return to dine in the establishment in future. But, at least at the end of our meal, the boss gave each of us a can of soft drink, compliment of the house. Nonetheless, the damage has been done.

The lack of value for the food, the understaffed establishment, the rude staff, the ungenerous service culture is enough to put me off this establishment forever!

Jul 25, 2009 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  4      Service  3      Value  3     

We visited this restaurant to celebrate a friend's birthday, and was totally disappointed by the food and service offered. The Fresh Tofu with Stir-fried pork and kimchi had barely a strip of meat in it and the portion was awfully small, with more tofu than the condiment portion.

The Ginseng Chicken was like chicken in chicken broth, no taste of ginseng, or even traces of ginseng at all! The other single person sets were even worse, the portions were below average with the main ingredients of the dishes barely traceable.

The service was poor with only one waiter who spoke minimal English serving the entire restaurant. Worse still, the kitchen said they could not serve half of the dishes on the menu that night, even with bookings made earlier! Further, they only allow limited refill of the side dishes and water, what kind of Korean restaurant does that?!

Prices were expensive and they only do cash transactions, really disappointing experience. I would have rated them lower had the owner not treat each of us a can of soft drink for the birthday celebration.

Jul 25, 2009 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  6      Value  4     

I'd really like to say more positive things about this place, but the brutal reality is I just didn't like it. Look, the flavours of some things like the special nut/grain rice, and teriyaki chicken are okay, the broth the seafood hotpot came in tasted of the sea, but it is difficult to communicate with the waitstaff, and there is too much guesswork to establish what the bulk of what you are eating is (especially the side dishes, the anchovy dish was awful, the seaweed smelled and tasted somewhat like seasol, and I think, but I'm not sure, we ate jellyfish of some description in mayonnaise, which surprisingly as far as jellyfish goes I quite liked).

Also serving sizes are ordinary, which isn't helped by the menu erring on the side of what I consider for Kingsford hefty pricing. That in combination with the fact its a cash only establishment (which I really think should be advertised somewhere so you are at least prepared for the inevitable dash to the closest ATM) left me feeling a lack of love.

Jul 10, 2009 

6.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  4     

June 2009 update:

Prices have gone up and portions have significantly decreased, with cheaper ingredients used to bulk up and less meat included in standard meals. The flavour is still great, but the last few times I've had dinner here there has been a consistant reduction in quantity.

-They used to have prawn in the tofu soup but now it's just tiny bits of pork/egg.
-The japchae used to be loaded with bulgogi beef slices but now it's pretty much vegetarian.
-The amount of meat served on hot plate main dishes is about 30-40% less than before.

The only dish that has still retained original serving size is the seafood pancake, but of course, with less seafood in it.

I can't help but feel slightly disappointed and cheated, but because the food does taste great I will still come here - but just not as often.

I recommend the beef rib or sweet potato noodles (Japchae) because both are perfectly seasoned and delicious. If you have a large group, order a delicious seafood pancake. The side dishes are excellent and well seasoned and my favourite is the sesame bean sprout salad.

The service is slow when this place is busy and they will not give you the side dishes until your mains are ready, so sometimes you may have to wait (and perhaps form a gastric ulcer in the process) a while before you receive your food.

Value is not that great considering the prices they charge and the small portions they now give. However, the flavour of the food is good so for some, like me, that is enough to allure returning customers.

Jun 20, 2009 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  9     

Great food and quite good value for money! Make sure you get the set! We usually get the normal rice not the special rice. Food is full of flavour! If it is busy, service is a bit slow, understaffed though friendly but it is definitely worth the wait. Side dishes are served when the main meal is about to come. The food has never disappointed us and we are regulars here!

Mar 27, 2009 

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

Good place to go if you want to try something different. I tried the specialty, tofu soup, can't say I enjoyed it, but it was an experience.

Feb 12, 2009 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

I've been there with my friend for dinner. I didn't expect real tastes. In Sydney, Korean food is little bit different to original Korea, too sweet or salty because for foreigner I think. But Gourmet food remind me my mother's cook. I especially recommend Galbijjim (I'm not sure what spell is).

Nov 03, 2008