Love it so much!!! First time in Brisbane, having a korean dinner here. Staff is very friendly, food is good, nice environment! Love it!! Keep it up!! Fighting!!
Awesome food and open till like late. Good place to have dinner and drinks with friends
Great food at great prices. One of our favourite places to eat in all of Brisbane
Fabulous, very authentic Korean food! Good price and friendly service.
Great service and great food! Great CBD location
I loved it. Authentic, well presented food, clean dining, and friendly staff. Every time!
Great food excellent service can't wait to go back xxx
The most fantastic restaurant not also in Brisbane but also in Australia..^^
This our go-to Korean in the city, regularly open late and always tasty.
Nathan Raymond O'sullivan
+5
Korean spicy pork stir fry is super yummy and awesome music
Always good. Thanks! Keep it up guys.
Chicken cutlet is yummy
Love eating here. It's been a favorite for years. We recently order takeaway lunch and everything was delicious!!
Love the hot stone bowls, japchae, noodles, rice cakes, pork cutlet and the side dishes. Never had a bad meal here.
I vote Madtongsan II in Brisbane city for having the best yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) in Brisbane. Generous portion of meat and veggies and also the taste. The best comfort food ever.
Aussie barbie and cold beer meets exquisite ability of Koreans to perfect the experience- indoors and upstairs in an old space in Elizabeth street. Grimy smelly sample photos and hand drawn adverts for foods in the wall stuck on with blue tack. Sit down. Have a beer have another beer. (Training tip turn cooker on immediately upon arrival) order the wagyu pack with triple onions. Cook. Eat repeat. Exquisite.
Don’t forget the extra onions and get them cooking early....wonderful
BBQ took almost 20 minutes to get hot enough to cook anything, and even then it was not very hot, on the hottest setting it took ages for even the smallest pieces to cook. Soup seemed reheated. Sides were good.
Overall a pretty reliable korean restaurant. I quite liked the pork that I ordered the second time I went here (bo ssam) and also felt that the serving size was pretty generous. The pickled vegetables were way too salty/vinegary though. My friends all enjoyed their meals (I think).
The soft tofu soup had really good thin slices of pork belly too, 10/10 would recommend.
Omg the marinated beef bi bab was delicious and really big size. My boyfriend ordered marinated pork bi bim bab and he loved it as well. Even the size was big for him. But we both finish our food as they were so good.
But the kimchi pancake was not the best tho.
A hidden lil gem. Climb the steps to amazing food. Polite service. We were after the korean army stew aka budae jjigae. The staff member was able to find it in the menu. She also recommended korean beers. The stew is meant for more then 3 people. The two of us couldnt finish it. Just be warned its super spicey. The beers went down well.
Great menu, good side dishes, and delicious Korean food! My favourite is their Soon Du Bu Jji Gae, with pork, and it’s my go to comfort food any day.
Madtongsan is one of the most well known Korean restaurants in Brisbane.
I don’t eat Korean too often but when I do, I enjoy it. The tuna sashimi bowl was no exception. Fresh tuna pieces, generous portion of the meat accompanied by a just-the-right-amount-of-spicy sauce.
I would have preferred to have the rice in a separate bowl from the rest of the dish, but that’s just because I don’t enjoy eating warm leaves after a while.
My friend enjoyed her meal as well and is a frequent diner at madtongsan!
Service was friendly and the table button makes it efficient.
Quick service and amazing authentic Korean food. Highly recommend their stews. After your meal, you're tempted to buy all the ingredients from the Korean supermarket next door to try and bring the Korea food hole with you.
Up a flight of stairs to a great little restaurant. The portions were on the large side of things and were packed with flavour. There’s good variety on the menu and you could eat here for a month and never get bored. The staff were friendly and helpful, which can never be underrated.
We were sat promptly and ordering is always nice and easy with the service buttons on the table. Pricing is very fair considering portions are definitely large and we always leave quite stuffed. We love the kimchi and pork pancake and bibimbap hot stone bowls. The only thing that may be improved on is perhaps the general tidiness of the place. Sometimes it's a bit off putting seeing what seem to be their recycled buckets from food suppliers in the corner of the dining area. Apart from that the servers are very friendly and helpful with my questions from the menu and food comes out very quickly.
Food was good, well priced and service was good. Will definitely be going back again. The place was fairly busy but we still got a table quickly didnt really have to wait
Everything was amazing. Wish I was able to try more. Will defs go back for more. Great service and great food. Went there with my friend and sister and this was all we could eat. The dishes were larger than we thought. Nice!!! 💘👍🏻
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overall: 3.5/5
gluten free options: 1.5/5
food taste: 4.5/5
ambience: 4/5
customer service: 3.5/5
pricing vs quality: 4/5
although they don’t have a gluten free symbol on their menus it’s still pretty easy to ask about ingredients and figure out what is and isn’t gluten free. also bbq and steamboat tend to be gluten free~
ordered gamsatang (pork back bone, potatoes and vegetables in spicy soup), which came with rice and side dishes. pork back bone was very nice although if you’re not fond of picking at bones this isn’t the dish for you. wish the pork had been marinated in spicy flavours prior to just cooking it and dunking it in a spicy broth but oh well... didn’t like the potato much because it wasn’t peeled but there’s plenty of potato. not much for vegetables — it’s just a few slices of wombok and not much else. spicy soup flavour was a good spice level and i enjoyed it. rice was good too. side dishes — didn’t try the pasta because it’s not gluten free but their fried sweet potato dipped in syrup is to die for. kimchi was ok, not the best, not the worst.
definitely keen to try more dishes here!
EDIT 25/7/18
tried their kimchi jjigae. boy was i disappointed. it was like 3 pieces of rice cakes. kimchi is already a side dish i could literally just pop them into the soup for more but it made me question why i was paying so much for an average dish that i could easily make myself at home... ahhh the sins of laziness...
also i swear they removed their delicious sweet potato fries as a side dish bc they knew i loved it so much... at least have it as smth i can order SMH
If you want authentic uncomplicated Korean food with good service and very good prices this place is highly recommended
A strong indicator of authenticity was the large number of young Korean nationals eating there
Upon entering the restaurant, I came in with low expectations because I was not very fond of the location, needless to say, I was very impressed with the service and quality of food.
Matongsan, an affordable yet outstanding restaurant in terms of food and service.
The air conditioning was welcome as we arrived at midday on a hot Sunday for lunch. The three of us stick with water then ordered our meals. Pork, tofu and squid. We also had a salad. The meals arrived promptly and were hot and delicious. Accompaniments were pickled onions, a pasta salad and kimchi. Food was reasonably priced and very tasty.
C16, in it's old form of 12A, has to be the best dish ever created
Love it. Great place too, nice and relaxing. Quick service and I don't find it to be overly busy such that you can't hear a conversation.
Been here numerous times. Great food + awesome service! Compares quite well to homemade Korean food I've had at my friend's place - very wholesome. Would definitely recommend.
Reasonable price. Big serving. Maybe too much rice. I've had good food from here the two times I visited with my partner. The staff are pretty chilled and don't look so miserable like some places. I will be returning when I'm near the CBD. One of the best korean places we've visited.
I love Madtongsan. I have been having it since I went to university. Always stop by after class to get some dinner before heading home. Spicy pork with rice is my favourite! Second favourite, spicy tofu pork soup with rice :)
Came for late lunch. Wasnt that busy. Ordered their seafood tofu soup. I really like it. Flavoursome. Would love to try other dishes. Next time I visit Brisbane will definitely do! Good service too
Used to come to Madtongsan regularly with my schoolmates when we were students. When I came to the city (which wasn't often) and felt like a Korean soup, I suddenly thought of Madtongsan.
Opened the door and saw how crowded it was, I was hesitating if I should find somewhere else. I didn't have much time to decide since a waiter got my attention and tried to look for a tiny table just for me. Easily I got a very last table far inside and ordered a soft tofu with pork and sausages.
The service was still incredibly fast and helpful. One staff got my order and another bought me a glass, water and cutlery. The wait of the food wasn't as long as I had thought though it was super busy. My soup came with a bowl of rice and 3 side dishes. The soup portion was generous-lots of tofu and sausages, and it was just right in flavour. It did warm the cold night up.
I would have given Madtongsan 5/5 if the spoon and the glass were cleaner.
Thank you for having me, Madtongsan.
Super super flavourful. My favourite place to eat in all of Brisbane. The tastes and spices of Korea are there in full blast and it's amazing. Service is alright, love the banchan. A regular customer since 2012.
Went here for a late night dinner. We shared the Spicy Bul Go, which was the 'BBQ/cook your own' marinated beef, vegetables and clear noodles.
The meal came already in its own hotpot, therefore we only got to turn on the portable burner, wait a couple of mins before the spectacle was all over - whereby we expected to actually BBQ or cook our own food. Secondly, there were only a few morsels of carrots and capsicum (and onions ++) as our 'vegetables'. Thirdly, the portion of noodles was also small.
However, the marinade was pretty delicious, the food came out quickly and the prices reasonable.
A good stop for a quick lunch, I think. Will not bother with future "cook-your-own" type meals.
Bibimbap is super big size which can absolutely feed two. Spicy rice cake with fish cake is also good. The waiters and waitresses are most Korean which makes the environment more 'authentic' LOL
This restaurant has been consistent for years. Overall, their food is authentic and nice. Their Japchae is to die for! Sadly, their pancakes are not the best, yet I recommend this place for a good Korean dining experience
Loved this place!
Had the steamboat with ramen...
came 10 mins before the crowd hit!
lucky us...
good and efficient table service
Definately recommended!!!
My fav Korean food place so far. Have been in Perth for 4 years and tried a few Korean places in Melb but nothing beats MadTongSan!!!! Absolutely fantastic food, feel like I'm in Korea. Enormous portion, me and my mom having a hard time finishing it but the food was so good that we did finish it at the end. Great atmosphere, prompt service, in the CBD, such a great price. A must try if anyone is in Brisbane! U have my words 👍👍👍👍👍
We love Korean food and we were not disappointed here. We shared a Dol Sot Yook Hwe (raw beef) Bi Bim Bap and a Kim Chee Soon Doo Bu Jji Gae - spicy soft tofu stew with kim chee, seafood and a raw egg. The food was delicious, the portions were generous and the prices were very reasonable. We also brought our own bottle of wine and there was no charge for corkage!
Nice authentic korean place. I've dined here with my friend, who was visiting Brisbane for a few weeks. She was a novice to korean cuisine, however she said that after our visit, she has become regular here and ate here with her boyfriend on almost daily basis :) I have had kimchi jjigae, It's very easy dish, where you can tell righ away, whether the (korean) restaurant is good or not. The kimchi was old just right, so it wasn't overly sour, and the soup had everything I was expecting in good kimchi jjigae. The prices are also very reasonable. While I have a different favorite korean place for dinner, I think Madtongsan is perfect for your midday korean cravings.
No nonsense good food. Friendly staff. Casual, verging on cafeteria style vibe. Wide range of traditional main course s and entrees. Limited side dishes, pan chan.
So good! I ordered the bim bim bap with raw egg and raw beef. The serve was generous, with a great amount of vegetables and meat. The bowl was a perfect temperature to gradually cook the meat and egg without over cooking.
Love the slight crunch from the rice cooking on the hot bowl.
Good value for money, efficient service and convenient location.
it's quite hard to find this place cause the restaurant's name was not seen easily from the street. the place was not too big, but the service was fast
i ordered pork cutlet. the portion was so big and it was delicious! the sauce was little bit acidic like pork katsu sauce but it's still sweet and savory. the pork meat itself was good and cooked perfectly. I hope there would be more side dishes as in Indonesia 😆
Good quality Korean good especially if you like "hot pot". Reasonably priced $40 for two including drunks. Very busy which just shows how popular it is.
The portion was big but the taste was average. Good for occasional dine-outs. Out of the 3 dishes we ordered, I'd say the bibimbap was the best.
One of my go to lunch places. Ate out every work day whilst working in the city over several years. Ventured everywhere. Kept coming back to this place. Service, staff, have never been disappointed. B5 every time!
Great food and customer service here, actually it become the premium choice when we decide have a quick lunch. The only downside is the menus doesn't have much change for almost 3 years haha
Was with my German friend and I introduced her to Korean food. Have to say that the bibimbaps are a good worth of your money with generous portions of rice and vegetables. Could be better with more meat though! The spicy version is not spicy at all and gives the rice a moist texture compared to the non-spicy ones. Vegetable pancakes are nothing to shout out for despite it's recommended ratings. On the whole, I will just come here for the bibimbaps!
Madtongsan II was the first place I ever had Korean food, & I've had a soft spot for it ever since. Cheap, tasty, outstanding value - what's not to love?!
My favourite dishes include the beef pancake, bibimbap, poached pork, & spicy chicken pieces. The complimentary side dishes are a winner too... :-)
I got dragged here by some friends as they were craving Korean food and I'm glad they did ! We ordered the kimchi and pork pancakes and dumplings. The pancakes were a hit but the dumplings were a bit too greasy for my liking. The stand out dish was the raw beef stone hot pot Bi Bim Bab (B6). Will be coming back just to get this and the pancake. I thought it was going to be very spicy so I ordered the hot sauce on the side but ended up using it all anyway. They were a bit short on the beef serving so the majority of the dish was rice. They also have a good aircon system so you won't be hot if you come in summer.
Not as good as the original Madtongsan (I) which is unfortunately not open any longer. I've tried the jeyuk bokeum here which was okay and the kimchi pancake which was good. Will be looking to try other dishes soon.
I think it's a good but not surprising korean restaurant. Stone rice is absolutely tasting better than other korean restaurant, with the right sauce, right rice and right sides. Everything just matches each other. Jinro is Yum. However, the hotpot is average, not special.
This place is a dream come true. I have just come back from living in Korea for a year (and eating Korean food for every meal) and the food here is authentic and really enjoyable, so happy this place exists. The service is fast, the food is cheap and servings are huge. I would recommend the vegetable pancake and kimchi soup.
Mohammed Altaaf Sharif
+5
The dolsot bibimbap is fantastic. Sometimes you have to wait for a table in busier periods but it usually does not take too long. Prices are good.
Great authentic Korean food. Quick, prompt and friendly service. Ordered the fried squid legs as an entree and the non-spicy bibimpbap in a stone bowl which came out sizzling and hot! Really big servings too. Good food, nice place, great price. Great experience.
Regret: sad they didn't have Gimbap - Korean sushi.
Friendly staff! One of the dish came out too spicy for my liking they were happy to remake it even though i didn't see the description mentioned it was going to be very hot! We had the Kimchi Cheesy Bbq Chicken and Kimchi stir fry. The free flow of macaroni salad was a great addition to our order. Will come back to try more!
We came here with friends for lunch on a Saturday and the food was great and restaurant was busy. We each had bipimbap, the sashimi one was great, the octopus one was pretty spicy but good. We also had some BBQ pork belly which was also great.
The restaurant is only accessible by stairs which meant we had to carry our pram up. There is no child's change table either so not very child friendly although they do have signs saying 'free bibs', not sure if that is for children or adults!
Food was good and menu extensive- we will come back for more
My partner had raved about this place for ages before I agreed to come along. Very basic setup in Elizabeth Arcade- foods pretty good but the stone bowl Bi Bim Bap deserves a shout out. Partner loves it so much I think he would marry it if it was legal. Mega cheap everything
The bibimbap was amazingly delicious!!!! I had the spicy tofu stew with seafood and it was terrific as well! I love how we could get free flow of the side dishes. Try the macaroni dish! It's so delicious! My table couldn't get enough of it!
Having blogged for quite a while now, one of the downsides I realised is not remembering where you have written about and what you still haven't. With the winter finally coming through, a friend and I decided to go grab a spicy Korean meal at Madtongsan II (since Madtongsan I closed). On our way there, he asked if I had written about it. Being a frequent customer of the establishment, I thought that I had, to realise later that I hadn't. So, dear reader, here is the long awaited post.
This restaurant is one of my favourites. You can't go past the bibimbap. The service is really fast. There are a lot of options to choose from and the food is great value!
Oh, just wow! Seriously delicious. The kind of meal that you power through despite being full because wasting it would be criminal. In fact, screw showing you the food. Here's what I left in my path
Quick and efficient service. The dumpling noodle soup I ordered was huge and came with side dishes. A decent feed for $12.90. There don't seem to be too many Asian restaurants around here!
Couldn't fault any of their food! They give you sides and their spicy noodles are the best! Also try their ramen, dumplings and bim bim bap.
Madtongsan is a great place to kick back and eat some great food. The interior is simple yet has a nice feel to it and the food is very decent. For it's location and food, the prices are not too bad.
I find the service is also very prompt and friendly. I can recommend the poached pork and salad - it's awesome!
If you want to bring your friends to a fun restaurant that will keep everyone happy then this is the place to go. I've been coming here for a few years and I still haven't had a chance to try everything on the menu since everything I've had has been too hard to let go of to try something new. You should definitely try their hot pots as well as their noodle soups and spicy rice cakes and deep fried dumplings which taste different to your typical gyozas.
Great Korean food. Generous servings at affordable prices. Typical efficient service. Definitely try the kimchi and pork pancake! Bit sad I didn't get Hite on tap like the last time I was here.
I've been going here for years and truthfully sometimes it can be hit or miss, but it's been far more hits for as long as I can remember. The best, or perhaps strongest selling point of Madtongsan II is that the food is plentiful, usually pretty good and cheap. You will easily fill your stomach and not empty your wallet.
Service is almost always insanely fast and even with a line the wait times are super low. This is absolutely a "casual place" for a lunch or dinner with a friend as the atmosphere is reminiscent of a busy cafeteria and the small location is usually insanely noisy.
Great Korean food. I regularly visit this restaurant and the one at Sunnybank. Such value for money. I think it's great how when you order a meal it comes with the traditional Korean accompanies (pasta salad etc). Definitely try this place out
Love coming here for dinner on a Friday night, but I would advise getting in before 6 to beat the rush. Favourite Korean place in the city. Always an amazing bibimbap. The complimentary kimchi, glazed sweet potato and creamy pasta salad are the perfect side dish.
Never had Korean food before, but glad i came here for my first try. Fresh, fast and very nice food. Good size servings too. Although its located up some creepy looking stairs, the restaurant and staff is great. Will definently be back with a big group to try more variety if foods.
Came here for a quick Korean snack fix, and boy were we surprised by the big portion sizes! We ordered the small (yes, that's a small...) seafood pancake, and beef bibimbap.
The red sauce in the bibimbap was very overpowering, and in my opinion nearly destroyed the dish. My advice would be to remove 50% of it before mixing it together. Otherwise, good selection of ingredients.
Seafood pancake was average. I enjoyed the proportion of seafood to pancake, but I felt the pancake batter let it down. The edges were very crispy as well.
Despite looking like they were slightly understaffed, service was quick whenever we rang the call bell.
Always my go to korean shop!!!! well only with 3 or more people, cause i always want to order that stew beef pot which i can't finish alone and i need my friends to do this with me. both spicy n non-spicy are good for that one.
Affordable, delicious Korean food in the city! Always an option for a place to eat while in the CBD.
They also offer complimentary side dishes such as kimchi, pasta and sweet potato (personal favourite).
Service is good and prompt, there's a buzzer on each table you just simply buzz the buzzer and someone will attend to you.
Defs a good place for some cheap korean foods. They serve pretty generous portion too. Their foods are just ok, definitely not something would surprise or whatsoever.
Fantastic value. Great quality food. Amazing environment. Quick food service and delicious. My favourite place to go and never disappoints :)
Good value. We live in city and once we want to eat korean food, Madtongsan ii is our first choice. good quality and quanity food, most of time, we got too full :P
Good rice. good lunch. will return
Lovely korean food. I was taken there by my korean friends. really nice~~~
Good value, great food. I have a different dish every time I go there and have never been disappointed. Not a flashy place, and if you ask for a Coke, you get a can of Coke. But great for dining with family and friends. Staff are quick to serve and very friendly to the Non- Korean who doesn't know what to order from the huge array of dishes.
Review. My bibimbap was very satisfying - slightly sweet rice topped with sectors of carrot, zucchini, mushroom, cucumber alfalfa, spicy sauce and beef mince. Excellent value at $12-ish. I'm not sure whether it's better than other Korean places, but I certainly had no complaints.
Excellent. Friendly, attentive staff, huge portion sizes, good prices. my favourite is the spicy seafood noodle soup
Im_havin_my_pet_rock_neutered
+4.5
Good Food. Ate here last night and it was quite delicious. although this is the 1st time ive eaten at a korean restaurant i dont have anything to compare it too....but the kim chi served was good. I went with the pork soup and rice in a boiling stone hot pot. watch out for that tofu! it literally is boiling! it was a little bit salty but the atmosphere was good and the staff seemed more friendly than I expected. recommend.
The best kimchi stew I've had in Brisbane and at the right price. You also get nice side dishes along with your order. I always come here for a budget meal out.
It has been my favorite Korean food restaurant! Love it! Their soup with rice are always on my top list!
Great food. Try the soy cake and fish cake entree. Has a boiled egg in it as well. Bonus. Very tasty. Clear noodles had a wonderful smoky flavour. Soup delicious.
Love it!. Very enjoyable and affordable meal in the CBD. The waiter buzzer and bottomless sides were awesome ideas.
Yes!. Dolsot bibimbap is great every time and you get unlimited refills of sides - kimchi, pasta salad and either onion things or honey sweet potato. the lemon soju is great too!
Beautiful, reasonably priced meal!
Delicious. Whenever I need a Korean-fix, this is the place to go. I regularly get bibimbap cravings and Madtongsan assists greatly. hotpots are great too and big portions.
good service, quick, well priced and love the little buttons for orders.
Happy customer. Visited Madtongsan II a couple of times before and never fail to disappoint. Good and prompt service from the waiters. Portion of food is just right if not more than expected. Affordable prices. In short, a good place for all especially students who would want a good hearty meal without spending too much.
Ranga With An Appetite
+4.5
Fantastic Value. Partner ordered the bi bim bap which she has tried numerous times and continues to re order. I ordered the spicy bulgogi and rice and was worried about the size so I thought I would go the dukboki entrée (rice cakes in spicy sauce) as I was a bit peckish. Boy was that a mistake, the bulgogi was huge as was the bi bim bap, not to mention the dukboki being huge for an entre. That aside it cost $30 for two people and we couldn't finish. Great value. Dukboki was tasty, reminded me of Korea, Bulgogi wasn't the best but huge. Definitely recommend.
Love every madtongsan. Great value and delicious. No wonder they're always packed.
Most popular Korean in Brisbane. This place has reached cult status among many CBD dwellers, and for good reasons.
The menu is delicious, but it's all very standard Korean fare. Nothing will make your jaw drop but everything should leave you feeling very satisfied. The Dolsot Bi Bim Bap is their signature dish, and it represents them well: cheap and basic, yet consistently delicious and satisfying. The simplicity of most dishes is also offset by the impressively long menu.
Despite the service staff having very limited English and the atmosphere feeling almost chaotic at times, I have never ever had my order mixed up or arrive late. It's actually kind of a miracle.
You *might* find tastier Korean in Brisbane... but with the same value for money and brisk service? Not a chance.
Yummo. We went to Madtongsan II on Saturday night. The food were delicious. They not the bbq style restaurant like the other Korean restaurant that we usualy go. They do have a bbq or hotpot menu, and if choose them, they will give you the portable stove to cook your meat.
We choose not to do bbq this time, and want to try the real Korean dish. We had the raw meat salad and kimchi pancake for entree, pouched pork belly with spicy salad and spicy bulgogi for main. Although (like at any other Asian restaurant) entree and main were show up at the same time, but the food was delicious. My favourite was the raw meat, and the pork belly. Something you have to try on.
The only negative probably that they don't take reservation. And if you dine there on Saturday night, be ready to wait in the line.
Kim Chi Attack!. Quick. Cheap. Korean. Nothing fancy, but a popular quick eat for travellers, students and all other humans. Nice enough staff, but the usual bill check required. Chaos adds to the fun.
Good bibimbap. I absolutely LOVE their bibimbap :)
I usually get the one with cooked beef with an egg on top.
Really good value for the price and sooo delicious.
I'm craving it all the time now. Excellent :)
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Madtongsan II - Brisbane CBD. *200th review*
You have to go up some stairs to get to this place, but it is absolutley worth it. The prices here are not much higher than at its cousin however you get a much more pleasant, quiet and clean atmosphere with less rustic service. Not many restaurants use the upper level in the CBD - an odd concept admitedly once thinking about it - therefore it is able to space out its plans and it shows how well thought-out they are.
To put it into perspective, there are numbered tables and the waitstaff allow you to sit at which ever one pleases (granted if you are a small group, I assume) and the table is already set with the chopsticks, spoon, serviette and menu. They give you your water and then allow you to sit there while you decide. Once you have decided your order, you press the buzzer. This is service at its most inspired and high in effiency.
The decor is very relaxing and spacious; this is a place you would want to go to for a cheap but not quite quick meal. Those two options usually are not ones that seem to gel in people's minds and are hard to find. This is not such the case here, which only adds to why it is worth visiting.
The service is what it needs to be, and there is nothing wrong with it by any means. Just by having such a learned perspective of layout as well as an organised means to ordering they already have all the service that they need on the first end of the experience. On the other end, they are fairly quick with bringing out the meals. Some arrive before others, but akin to Korean cuisine courses - as Westerners know - appear to be something foreign in concept.
So I was meeting a friend here and she liked the sound of this place. The menu is fairly extensive - its little cousin in the arcade is only a sample of what is on offer here - and she was having a hard time deciding (as was I). For starters a "Kimchi Jeon" was ordered which is a kimchi and pork pancake. This was very good and quite mild in flavour. It tore apart with ease using the chopsticks and blended well as part of the main dish.
As usual, there were the side dishes. This time, there were three which were a sort of cocktail onion one, the pasta salad and the ubiquitous kimchi. Alll were pretty good.
The two dishes ordered were a "O Sam Dop Bab" - a spicy stir fry of pork, squid and vegetables served with rice and a side salad - and a chicken cutlet, which was deep fried and served with a special sauce.
Both of these dishes were huge and balanced. I have come to a conclusion that it is impossible to leave a Korean restaurant without feeling full. On the plus side, it is not the bloated full and you do not feel any guilt from the meal either. Everybody seems to win, and most importantly you usually get a great meal from it all.
The O Sam Dop Bab was amazing, it was spicy but not too spicy and had varying levels of flavour to it. The vegetables were well cooked, just being soft enough to eat without any crunch from them. They finely sliced the pork thus it just so blended in with the other ingredients. It must be said, but the pork and squid both went together really well complimenting each other as opposed to having clashing textures and flavours.
I got to try a couple of bits of the chicken cutlet, and it was very good. The coating on it was pretty thick with the meat being juicy and tender. The sauce that they used on the chicken was hard to describe, being somewhat sweet, a bit salty and a little on the tart side as well.
In the end it was a great meal. There was more than enough and it satisfied me until dinner that night.
There are so many options to chose from this menu here that it really warrants several returns and recommendations. While the little Madtongsan I is quite good in itself, this ups the ante in a dining experiene and shows you do not have to pay excessive amounts of nice decor. The options are plentiful, serving sizes are generous and it is a place you would definitely take a group to in order to impress. I could not recommend this restaurant enough.
Nice, cheap option for a CBD lunch. I had the beef bibimbap and my partner the crumbed chicken and rice - both were great. Will definitely visit again.
Side dishes. Best side dishes ever! can never get enough of that creamy pasta
I've been here a few times now and I just love having the bi bim bap! I never really order anything else because its just so good! But I definitely want to try them out some time soon.
Still a winner. Love love :
#68 steamed egg
#43 spicy udon noodle (my fav - get it almost every time).
#4 raw beef salad
#5 seafood pancake
Jugs of hite beer
Hitting the button and a waiter appears almost instantly
Not so good:
#33 tofu stone pot - the tofu was all mushed up and kinda seemed overcooked like it had been microwaved
In a nutshell.... This restaurant is worth going upstairs for. One of the best Korean restaurants in Brisbane CBD. A great place to go in and dine.
Highlights:
(a) Bimbimbap (lunch) and Bo Ssam (dinner) are big hits!
(b) Condiments are usually of higher standard than other Korean restaurants.
(c) Big comfy seats, solid tables. A pleasant dining experience awaits you.
Lowlights:
(a) Dirty, old (male) toilets. Sorry, this is the only downfall. Upgrade it!
(b) There's a long wait during high-peak times. Best to book in advance.
(c) Could be a little bit cheaper but then again, it's cheaper than other Korean restaurants interstate.
Overall: 9/10
Had the yukhoe dolsot bibimbap, which came piping hot so you get the crunchy rice bottom. :) Good price compared to Melbourne Korean restaurants. Although, nothing beats the bibimbap I had in Jeonju, Korea still..
Great Korean Taste. I simply love all the spicy dishes, and with unlimited kimchi side-dish, how can you go wrong?
Satisfying. This is one of my favourite eateries within the Brisbane city! I can come here over and over without being disappointed. There is genuine korean cuisine served at Madtongsan, with their signature 'bim bim bop' dish; to seafood pancake; to my personal fav, beef, noodle and carrot stew this restaurant has a good solid menu on offer. Service is good, the staff are attentive and speedy, while the atmosphere is lively. I caution though, the 2-person hot pot is a big spicy concoction of 2-min noodle style noodles, heavily cooked vegetables and not for everyone. The menu picture displays all the ingredients uncooked, implying you are simply adding the ingredients yourself, but this is not the case.
..Otherwise a great restaurant to get fast, cheap eats in the Brisbane city.
LOVED IT!. I must have gone at a good time because when we walked up, we were seated straight away and our orders came very quickly. The staff were friendly, nice and they literally came to our table only seconds after I pressed the bell (but that was probably because he was already quite close to our table but anyway...).
I haven't actually eaten much korean food so I can't really compare the food but it tasted really good to me. I will definitely be returning when I get the chance.
Consistently good service and food at an affordable price!
Great, cheap food!. I've been here quite a few times and have never been disappointed. I love the chilli chicken and the free side dishes you get. Food is well-priced and delicious, and staff are friendly. What more could you want?
Fast service - tasty food. We've always enjoyed our lunches at Madtongsan II. Their Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap is my favorite in Brisbane.
Great little eatery in the Elizabeth street arcade which is full of other Asian joints. The upstairs of the restaurant is great as it has the feel as if u are in a crappy small restaurant somewhere in Asia. I couldn't fault the meal. The dish came out sizzling as it should be and the flavours were fantastic and the rice crispy on the bottom of the dish. The place also serves Korean beer and Soju at decent prices!
So cheap and so tasty!. We spent $22 on food for the both of us and left feeling really full.
I highly recommend the vegetarian pancake.
they also give you free sides , sweet potato -roasted cubes, kim chi and pasta tuna salad.
Everything was yummy. I will be back.
I also liked that you just press the little buzzer on your table when you are ready to order. No wonder this place is always busy. tasty food and fast service.
Korean food!. Not only do I love Korean food, I adore Madtongsan II. This is one of my favorite Korean dining locations, the other being Hancook. Quality Kimchi, rice, and the miso soup while is a little spicy for some, is excellent. Love it.
Always a crowd pleaser. We often go here with a large group of friends, ability to split the bill and the "ding dong" buzzer on the table make ordering easy. Free side dishes = win! Go for the clear noodle bulgogi soup, it's one of those thing's that's so delicious I've been afraid to stray and try too many other options. Have had the deep fried tofu which is also good, but is too much of the same thing so you have to REALLY feel like tofu. Beef pancake is an excellent starter, you will not be able to stop til it's gone. Go here to kick off a good night, a few soju shots will get the party started. Downstairs is a korean supermarket as well where you can pick up cheap icecreams for desert.
One of our favorite places for lunch or dinner- the restaurant is always busy but we never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a table. Friendly and quick service. The food is delicious- often we can't even eat it all there is so much per meal. Our top picks are the sweet and sour pork or the hot rock bowl dishes.
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Mad not to try Madtongsan II. We climbed the stairs to Madtongsan II on a Wednesday @ 6.30ish and were seated immediately. If we had arrived a little later we would have had to wait for a seat, but the queue seems to move quickly. We found at the corner of each table a little button which when pressed summons the waitstaff. This worked fantastically and waitstaff would appear within seconds.
For two of us we ordered: Vegetable pancake - crispy and a great way to start the meal. Korean Dumpling - having never tried these before but loving all things dumpling these were a lovely surprise. They were similar to gyoza (japanese style dumpling) in shape and taste but lightly deep-fried. For mains we ordered: Chicken Salad - the chicken was tender and juicy, but there could have been more textural salad greens and it was swimming in an inch deep light soy dressing which whilst tasty did not need to be so much. Bi Bim Bab Dol Sot Yook Hwe - the highlight of the meal is a hot stone pot (don't touch the edges!) filled with rice at the bottom then veges, spicy sauce, marinated raw beef and an egg on top. We stirred all these fresh ingredients together in the hot pot and allowed it to heat through to lightly cook the meat and veg. The outcome is a beautifully balanced simple dish with great flavours - and we felt a little healthy too! We waddled away feeling we'd probably over ordered as it was so much food! The entire meal including 1 beer and 1 softdrink came to $45.00, great value!
Great, filling!. All the dishes I have tried have been tasty, filling, and very reasonably priced. I love their side dishes as well. Good service for a busy restaurant. This is the place I go for Korean food.
Super yummy Korean food. It is very reasonably priced and does my favourite version of the yook hye dol dot bi bim bap in Brisbane. They never let me have the ban chan before my meal which is kinda annoying... but I still just keep going back again and again!
My ultimate dish is the beef rib stew. It comes with two rices but you could easily share the stew with three. Do not ask for the non spicy version, it is very plain. The terrifically red and hot version is where the flavour is at!
And a word to the unwise: the pancakes are rubbish. Don't order those.
Another winner dish!. Had the modeom tteok bokki (fish cakes, rice cakes, ramen, whole boiled egg and crispy meat dumplings in a spicy korean hot sauce!)!
My favourite dish yet from Madtongsan!!!!!!!!
Cheap eat. Madtongsan II is cheap, quick and filling. You will definitely be full for $15 or less (not including drinks). It's consistently good, service is good, fast with the bell on the table, and the decor is quite nice. However every time I have been there half of the air cons are "out of order" and it is very stuffy in there and the BBQ menu doesn't help either. The spicy dishes are VERY spicy, so if you can only eat a "little spicy", don't bother ordering spicy food from here, it will be way too spicy. this is Korean food for students!
Passably good. Definitely one of the better Asian places I've tried in the 'cheap eatery' bracket. Yet to try Madtongsan 2 down the road, mostly because of the queue at the door (promising when it's like that early on a Wednesday night) but if it's as good as this it'll definitely get a visit soon.
Cheap and tasty. This has been my go to for Korean food in the city for a while now.
Food is always fresh and tasty and service is great considering how busy it gets.
Great Korean with fantastic service the place was packed but within seconds of hitting the table buzzer service arrived. The portions were large and great value for money
Great food. The soup I ordered was fabulous (I can't remember the name, but it was no.33 on the menu), the staff were friendly and effective, you just simply hit the bell on your table they ll come straight to you !!! The sides were replenishable which was great ! The only con was not enough rice with one serve
Plum wine and kim chi pancake yummmmmm
Great cheap night out. I eat here very frequently. The interior is nothing to get excited about, and there is often a queue for a table. On certain nights they don't take reservations. But the line moves fast and once you order your food will be in front of you within 15 minutes (max). The prices are ridiculously cheap and the food is delicious and well proportioned. The staff are friendly, helpful and incredibly efficient (thanks in part to those great buttons on the tables). Would definitely reccomend for a cheap night out.
Best Korean in brisbane? I think so. Love it!
Worth the walk from MTS 1. This place is probably better than Madtongsan 1 in the Elizabeth Arcade in every way, shape and form. Although MTS 1 is ok, this place has a better atmosphere, menu and banchan than its brethren downstairs. For this reason though, it's usually more crowded. But well worth the wait in my opinion.
Good value meal and good atmosphere. Be prepared to wait over 30min for a table though on a busy night. And the water tastes like it's straight out of the tap, not even boiled or filtered.
A must order for us is a serving of piping hot Soon Dubu Chigae (Spicy Beancurd Stew). Chockful of mussels, prawns and beancurd, this savoury stew is comfort at its best.
Michael and I love the Bi Bim Bap here so that’s what we ordered – I got tuna and Mike got beef. Mario chose to have a pork belly stir fry with vegetables and rice! We also got a dumpling appetizer to share. Our dishes came out very quickly and mmm – the food never disappoints!
...this time, I did go for the hot stone bimbimbap and when it was served, OMG! It was as good as I imagined it to be!
I decided to order Dolsot Bibimbap ($11.50) with marinated raw beef, which is the traditional Korean dish of Bibimbap (rice, vegetables, chilli sauce and raw egg) but served in a hot stone bowl. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of raw meat, but I figured the meat would all cook itself in the bowl, seeing as it came out sizzling. My meal took a lot longer to come out than L’s or my sisters, which was a bit annoying... I didn’t really know why, as nothing in my meal required any cooking
Can you keep a secret? It's not a giant slice of pepperoni, it's a delicious kim-chi pancake! I'm not sure why it took me so long to discover Korean food. It's probably been around in Brisbane for decades, but it wasn't until last year that I started eating it regularly. I've been making up for lost time ever since, and my absolute favourite Korean dish is bi-bim-bap in a stone pot. I've tried quite a few different versions of this and my favourite so far is at Madtongsan. There's one in the Elizabeth Arcade, and and a second one above the Korean supermarket on Elizabeth St (Madtongsan II). The original Madtongsan is good for a bit of people watching, since you can sit and see the passing parade in the busy Elizabeth Arcade, but it's not open Saturday or Sunday nights. Madtongsan II is bigger, and open all weekend. Although I've found some of the menu items differ slightly between the two restaurants, the bi-bim-bap is pretty much identical. It's basically a big hot stone pot with stea
Brisbane Food Adventures
+4.5
I have not always enjoyed Korean food - or even knew what it entailed. As a child, my only dalliance with the cuisine was my Mum's Korean Beef Stir Fry from a bottle which wasn't bad. This was before I discovered the strange and wonderful Asian restaurant
I don't frequently get cravings for Korean food but there's been a few bouts in recent weeks. Usually, an itching for Korean cuisine is represented by a change in the palate towards anything chili, garlicky or sour (or, more likely than not, all of the ab
The SO's mum proclaimed that she would take me out to lunch during the week to celebrate my birthday. Belated, but apparently a week is a tonne better than her record breaking belated months. And we dropped by Target on the way to grab some uggies for me.
Delicious food for an affordable price! We went on a Monday night when it wasn't too crowded and service was prompt, our food came out very quickly, and it was extremely delicious! I found myself taking bites of my partners food while cooling down from the spice in mine. Great portion sizes, too. It was only my second time giving Korean BBQ a shot, and I immediately realised what I'd been missing out on. Will definitely be back!
Came the day after the big storm in Brisbane. Extra star for putting in the effort while a lot of the other restaurant are closed. Had the soy fried chicken which I believe they used chicken breast rather than thigh which is still good but just not my favourite. The squid rice and tofu & kimchi soup is good as well. Old but clean. Generally recommended!!!
Been coming here for years, the food has been consistently great. Even though this restaurant is fairly hidden away upstairs, it is always so packed at dinner time. Food never takes too long to come out, and service is also prompt. There is a great variety of options available for all tastes.
I was impressed with how fast the food comes for groups, even with the staff shortages. Yummy food. A bit hard to find a car park nearby especially on a weekend so I recommend riding a scooter or public transport to get here.
Went here last week with my wife on a date night.
Beautiful food. Beautiful customer service. It wasn't overpriced. It wasn't dry. It wasn't overcooked. Everything was just right, which means perfection.
Not often you get these types of places, which is exactly why I prefer to cook at home. But this is one place I think I will make a repeat occurrence.
We had a delicious lunch yesterday. We used to go to their Sunnybank location but since it’s closed we ventured into the city as we were missing our Madtongsan lunches! Did not disappoint and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I always have the stone pot rice meal. You just can’t get the same experience if you are doing take away, going in to have it in the stone pot is the best.
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