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A hidden underground Korean pub near MC known for its distinctive Han Ok interiors. My Korean friend said it looked just like pubs in Hong Dae in Korea. They open 7 days a week and close very late (~3am) so it's a perfect place to swing by for late night drinks and food.
We tried their Fish Roe Cheese Egg Roll, Kimchi Stew, and Takoyaki. I personally found Kimchi Stew sub par. It didn't have enough kimchi and other ingredients inside and ultimately lacked flavour. My favourite was Fish Roe Cheese Egg Roll. It was fluffy and juicy with a savoury kick from fish roes. It was a simple side dish but went really well with ice cold Asahi beer. Takoyaki wasn't that bad. I know it's not freshly made but it was only $8 for 10 pieces! It was delicious enough to eat as ahn ju.
I didn't get a chance to try their famous fruit-blended rice wine cocktail and Korean-style pancakes this time. Would love to visit again for them later!
Nathasya Christiana Suryo
+5
probably the best rice wine in the town! the ambience goes well with the rice wine and soju which make Joomak a perfect place to chill and hang with friends.
Come here couple of times, i should say they have the best korean pancake compared to other korean restayrants i’ve even been to. Love the egg roll cus theres tobiko in it, great kimchi soup. But i think with the prices we would normally get a bigger portion for the meat dishes at other places, but will def come back, the place has great atmosphere as well
A well known place for rice wine - rice peach wine especially, my fav. Normally come here for the rice wine, never really the food. Plus they're on Zomato Gold : '1+1 on Food'.
Ordered:
Beef Rib (LA Style) $18 🥩
Sweet & Sour Pork $20 🥘
Kimchi Pancake $16
Takoyaki $8
Mango Rice Wine $17 🥃
Overall, just average quality food. Nothing too special. There's places out there that serves much better food. But they're open till late on Fridays & weekend. Prefect for late night meals. However, hands down on their rice wines - the best 🙌🏻 Incomparable - MUST TRY 💯
Visited Joomak again recently and left just as satisfied as the first time. This place has definitely gotta be one of my top Korean restaurants in the CBD. I love that it’s tucked away underground, and I like the booth-style seating where you can press a button to get the waiters attention. My top picks for food have to be the LA Beef Galbi, Tteokbokki and Kimchi Pancake. Definitely recommend!
Intimate. Cosy. Dark. Cute korean booths. Restaurant hidden in basement. Better atmosphere with a group. No korean bbq but dishes were delicious. Well cooked pork belly. Crispy seafood pancake. Draft rice wine had the right fizz and flavour . Pity that don’t accept cards. Cash only .
Thank you Joomak, great food and service!
The first time I came to this place, I felt it was difficult to find as they are downstairs and not obvious from the street. After the first time, it is a breeze.
The place has a good ambience, clean loo, helpful staff. Food is delicious, portion is small for sharing. Makgeoli (rice wine) Peach is superb, great for sharing for 4, even better if sharing for 2.
Will definitely come back again.
Love this korean place. Must try their ice blended soju.
10/10 food with the best strawberry rice wine I’ve tried. Restaurant bit dark tho
Lovely spot for food with a hidden entrance. Food was lovely and delicious, but only downside was that our pork bulgogi arrived about 20-30 minutes after our other dishes had arrived :(
Came here for a slightly late dinner around 9pm, ordered the pork belly and beef bulgogi small serving, I expected the beef bulgogi to be much bigger in size, it was soooo tiny. Flavour wise the dishes were good, service was fast and friendly c:It's located in the basement level near the RMIT building 80 close to KFC, the ambience is really nice as well.
Chicken and cheese was average but the spicy pork belly was juicy, tender and flavourful. Definitely will come back for that pork :p
The food is good here, though is a lil bit oily hut the taste is still good! Too bad we only have 2 hours to enjoy the food, not much time to enjoy our soju.
Visited Joomak twice so far and I can say most of the dishes are really delicious! The dishes that we ordered the first time were the seafood pancake, beef bulgolgi and extra spicy BBQ chicken with mozzarella cheese. The highlight of the night was definitely the seafood pancake. I can say that it’s the best seafood pancake i’ve ever tasted!
The second time my partner and I went to Joomak, we ordered the seafood pancake again as it was too hard to resist. Ordered the beef bulgolgi and tried the rice cake with seafood and cheese.
The overall rating of the food ordered;
-Seafood pancake ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️/5
-Beef bulgolgi ❤️❤️❤️❤️/5
-Rice cake with seafood and cheese ❤️❤️❤️❤️/5
-Spicy BBQ chicken with mozzarella cheese ❤️❤️❤️/5
Used to come to Joomak a lot when I was a student and when friends said lets go I was very excited.
Service was very friendly and quick. KImchi pancake is literally the best in Melbourne! That egg cheesy thingy and the corn cheese were pretty awesome as well! I also loved the mango rice wine. Other dishes werent too impressive but the kimchi pancake itself has already made my day! Good dinner!
It would be much better if they accept card payment though. Some of my friends complained about the service but it was ok for me regardless. The food was superb.
Ensure to book before you come to avoid disappointment because the restaurant is mostly full all the time.
Great Korean food! would definitely come back again :) definitely try the mango rice wine
Joomak is a hidden gem for late night eating. The portion sizes are generous. We did not have a booking, but they managed to seat us on a small table in front of the bar. All the booths were booked out. It was a busy Tuesday evening and so we appreciated any table 😊 Next time I’ll order some drinks with the food, because they kind of compliment each other. Oddly the mild version of their meals means no spice at all for some reason. Will get spicy next time 🤔
Steven Yuniansyah Suyanto
+4
One of the best korean restaurant located in city but pretty pricy. If you come here, you have to try their rice wine because taste really good. Size is portion is pretty small with really high price. On other side, this place is pretty good for hang out with your friends.
This is my favourite go to place for spicy chicken giblets! The pan fried mackeral, kimchi pancake, crispy school prawns are the favs too. The rice wines bowls (jugs) are delicious, the mango and strawberry are a must try with a group. Joomak is one of those spots that you can head to for a casual fun experience located in a basement off Swanston Street late at night. These guys have been around since 2010! It's been a secret with locals for years but now everyone is catching on. It's super busy so definitely book as you will be waiting for about 2 hours for a table.
I appreciate the rice wine there. But the female staff is so rude and even showed her impatience. Sooo disappointed with this experience. Not going anymore😡
Hidden in a basement behind a heavy wooden door down an unmarked set of stairs off Swanston Street you’ll find one of Melbourne’s CBD food gems, Joomak. Owner Youn Joon Nam, who hails from Seoul, opened Hwaro Korean BBQ in 2006 with his mother, and in 2010 struck out on his own with Joomak.
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You better be observant because this is a hidden place you wouldn’t wanna miss!
FOOD: We ordered the famous Egg Roll, Seafood Pancake, Rice Cake and Beef Bulgogi. The yuma were the Egg Roll, Beef Bulgogi and the Seafood Pancake. The Beef Bulgogi was extremely tender and flavourful so it was absolutely delicious, the egg roll was cooked to perfection (hence why it’s so famous) and not too delicate but not too hard either! The seafood pancake is great tho it was a little oily but it was really crispy and delicious. The rice cake was a little more of a miss for me and it may have been because we told them to make it less spicy and because of that it came tasting extremely bland. The seafood was also really skimpy so for $23, I’d say that was a miss for me.
SERVICE: The service was pleasant at most times although there was a server that was a little more unpleasant at times. Also, to my fellow Zomato Gold-ers, do remember to unlock your privilege before ordering, but thank you to the kind cashier who allowed us to use our Gold.
Overall, Joomak is a great place to chill with friends and grab some yummy korean food. I would definitely come back with a large group of friends and for their food!
Had heaps of drinks here, beer and rice wine. Played a few drinking games. Delicious snacks to keep us going through the night as well! Price is very reasonable.
It was very hard to find the place. The service was okay. The ambient is amazing so very good for a late night meal with friends. It has an antique feel to the place, like you’re in an ancient kingdom.
Classic delicious Korean food I love the atmosphere but the stand out here was actually the peach soju cocktail could barely taste the alcohol as it was so smooth and delicious, it tasted like fresh peaches I definitely recommend getting that drink with your food
The price is affordable and unexpectedly low, I like that. But the food quality still stays at high level. I liked the chicken feet with the spicy sauce, the bulgogi and the seafood pancake. A reservation is a must. The first time we got there, we were told that we have to wait till nine. Anyway, good experience.
This is the fish dish that I had been looking for. Suggested by a Korean friend, this place would be off the top of my head whenever I think of an authentic Korean restaurant. Staffs are not very friendly when I came, but I will give another try anw.
Nice place for a simple dinner
The chicken feet was quite spicy but had a very rich flavor
The cheese egg roll was delicious and mild which was nice for kids or goat
Big thumb up
My dinner date said she couldn’t handle spicy.. which knocked out most of the Korean menu 🤣🤣 but we still managed to quite a yummy meal with the beef ribs (gal-bi) and fried mackerel 🤤
The authentic korean joint! Going down the stairs to a basement filled with people enjoying their food. Their rice wines are amazing and the Galbi ribs are so good. Definitely reminds me of the one in Korea
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Chill underground korean eatery.
Hidden underground (down the stair) there are a few private huts and seats on the open area near the bar and has a laid back ambiance. I honestly dislike the seat in the hut it's uncomfortable like you're sliding in a way (also bit far from the table), but again I like to have my own space. It's usually crowded so it's good to book beforehand especially on weekends. Food comes reasonably quick, staffs were nice and thank god for the bell on the table!
Starting from my favorite, L.A Galbi was flavorful, juicy and tender. Cheese fish-roe omelette roll was really yummy altho maybe not as cheesy and portion was smaller than other places, but the roe was pretty generous!
Special pork soup has pretty good broth, but portion was small and there was only meat and no chitterlings, also bit too salty for my liking. The corn cheese is definitely very cheesy so it needs more corn, flavor was good though.
Ddeokbokki was also surprisingly good because it wasn't as spicy as many other places which I appreciate LOL but really I like the sauce and the cheese was generous.
Kimchi pancake was quite good too. It was good portion and had great texture. It lack the kimchi however, as I think they only put in juice.
Stir fried pork belly was quite good. I requested less spicy and it was definitely barely spicy. The sauce was quite good but the meat wasn't marinated. Still, it was tender and enjoyable.
I like their side dishes which are kimchi, macaronis and the sweet peanuts.
Of course we can't forget the famooous peach makgeolli (rice wine)! It's pretty good because it's rice wine with blended peach so the texture is thicker and not just artificial peach. However, I find it bit too sweet and artificial? But my sister really loved it, and most of my friends liked it too (depends on preference) and could barely taste the alcohol. I do think it's good to try, it's served in a really cute pot too with a ladle!
Their peach soju cocktail (bottle) was pretty good but not as good as the rice wine cocktail because it was mainly ice and i could barely taste the soju, so we ended up getting a normal soju.
Overall a good place to chill and drink or even just for Korean eats, bit on the expensive side though.
P.S Cash only.
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Their rice wine is pretty good! I come here just for the soju and the comfy place. Their snack foods are not worth it. Don’t forget to bring cash!
Food is pretty good but portion is quite small. Great supper or drinking place. Love their cocktails selections. Book in advance to avoid long wait.
Definitely one of the best sitting environment under basement. The food is lot better than expected, was more like a homemade taste for all dishes. Not over-powering on the hardcore restaurant flavors but still great on the texture and light seasoning.
Always a good night at joomak, make sure you book if you are planning to come on a weekend night as they get really packed. the mango and peach rice wine are my faves, along with the corn cheese! make sure to bring cash too!
Eat_today_diet_tomorrow
+4
Another hidden gem in the city. It is a bit hard to find this place as it is located in the basement. The restaurant gives you a korean vibe. We ordered egg and cheese omlette, pan fried pork , corn and cheese , and seafood pancake. Everything tastes amazing. We love corn and cheese just perfect!
I love the restaurant atmosphere. It’s literally hidden away along Swanston street but I’m glad my friend introduced me to this place. We ordered the chicken feet, egg and cheese omelette roll and tofu soup as well as strawberry rice wine. The rice wine here is definitely a must try because they blend in the fruit making it very smooth and delicious (but quite pricey)
The other dishes were also quite nice however the chicken feet was SUPER spicy! Wouldn’t recommend this dish unless you have super high spice tolerance.
Great atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious food! What more could you ask for? I rate this place highly as they have a variety of Korean dishes that aren’t usually all offered at any other place. Their prices are decent, not too expensive and opens late as well which is a bonus! Definitely a great place to go for a feed after hitting the clubs or bars :)
One of the best late night restaurant bars available. In fact I come here more for the food than the drinks! They open late almost everyday till 3am and serve food until then as well! If you want late night Korean, JOOMAK has you.
I always order the pan fried pork belly without fail. So much flavour it’s addictive. The pork feet were s favorite too. And if you’re an egg fan, definitely get the egg roll. I also got the Bulgogi beef which was decent but probably wouldn’t order again.
Kimchi pancake was good and hugeeee. The japchae was delicious too.
A very hidden Korean bar in the basement with no specific sign can be seen from outside. It’s been my favourite hang-out place with friends on every weekend. Their peach rice wine is something you will definitely fall in love with!
Don’t forget to make reservation before you pay a visit as the place are fully-occupied sometimes.
The food is here is good. My favourite are the kimchi pork silken tofu soup and the cheese egg roll. The mango rice wine is good too! However, I think the portion of the dishes are quite small.
One of our long time favourite since ages ago, always busy with students so its a must book place. egg roll and kimchi pancake was up to standard, beef bulgogi is a must order however seafood tofu soup was not spicy. Rice wine are my favourite especially peach and mango
Had mango soju, lemon lime bitter and cheese egg roll for two and spend $16/person. Love the lemon lime bitter not sweet not sour not bitter as well so its pretty nice and refreshing. Mango soju!!! Not sweet and not too mango-ey pretty nice. And the egg rolls!! Tasty :) 5/5 for the service! Will come back :)
😱Lizzie’s first impression: my go to Korean restaurant - I love the small areas to dine for groups.
🍩Lizzie enjoyed: the food here is always consistent - I especially love the japchae, the Korean pancake and the dobboki rice cakes.
🍅Lizzie did not enjoy: it way be a wait on a Friday night so I recommend you making a booking before hand.
🥇Lizzie rates overall: A great place for a late night dinner or a group catch up.
Had the seafood pancake and pan-fried pork belly with rice.
Seafood pancake size was large, pancake itself and the squid had great texture. Pair it with the dipping sauce and you have a super savoury appetizer.
One thing I'll commend on this place is the meat ratio they serve with their meat dishes. Sounds silly to mention but some Korean restaurants serve their meat dishes with 80% vegetables like onions, carrots and cucumber. The pan-fried pork belly was marinaded well, served with a satisfying portion, no vegetable fillers here. Tried some beef bulgogi as well and have to say both the pan-fried pork belly and beef bulgogi were really delicious.
Overall, great food but put-off by the dining time limit imposed, especially only finding out when you are told at the end! More value could be added if the meat dishes came with rice instead of having to order it separately at an additional cost.
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This place is awesome!! The entrance is so hard to find, and you walk downstairs and through a very unassuming door. But the interior is so cool; wooden booths, funky seating, dim lighting etc. It very much embodies the whole "underground, secretive" speakeasy vibe.
The staff are very attentive and pretty approachable. It gets quite busy so sometimes they come off as a bit blasé but they are pretty fine.
As for the food, our group of five ordered a few dishes:
Silken Tofu: I absolutely loved this. The seasoning is scallions and I think a soy sauce, and is just enough and not too overpowering. The portion is pretty cute for a side dish too.
Kimchi Pancake: again, I thought this was a pretty flavourful and warming dish. It's quite large so is well worth the price. But I must say, that it is a little too greasy for my liking. Overall though, a very comforting and delicious dish.
We also ordered the fish soup and two beef bulgogi, but I didn't eat these. However, the others said that they were delicious and the beef dishes were quite a decent size.
We all shared a peach rice wine and a jug of mango soju. The rice wine was my favourite with a nice creamy consistency and a welcoming (though not overpowering) peach flavour. The soju was great, but I just preferred the rice wine.
Overall, I definitely recommend this place and cannot wait to visit again and try more of the menu.
The ambience is nice, very mystic. I ordered the fish cake soup which wasn't too bad. But I was sitting on a non proper table so it was really difficult to eat. Staff aren't the friendliest of the bunch. And price wise I would say it's a tad overpriced. But will definitely come back to try other stuff.
We went to the restaurant around 6:40pm and most of the tables were vacant. But we were told by a waitress those tables were reserved, we have to wait until 8:30. I went to ask the waiter over the counter, he was lovely and told us if we can finish by 8pm before the next table reservation, we could use a table. We said we could definitely finish our meal by 8, so we got a table. ( We did finish before 8 p.m) The food was absolutely lovely, the egg roll was very tasty. Love the tofu soup. The pineapple rice wine was very nice. However, when we asked for the menu for more drinks, the first waitress literally threw the menu on our table and walked away. That was the WORST service I’ve ever got. Her attitude and service was VERY DISAPPOINTING.
I definitely recommend coming here for some late night drinks! Their rice wine mixes are so good and refreshing! Pineapple is the best one in my opinion.
Amazing place. Probably best to book before going. The beef bulgogi here is amazing, I still think about it everyday. Other highlights are the mango rice wine. Slightly pricey but worth it for a rare treat
Popular, almost hidden korean place
Went for a weekday dinner (7pm ish) and it was packed already. We ordered takoyaki ($8), beef ribs ($18) and kimchi pancake ($16)
The good:
- food came reasonably quickly
- underground vibe is very nice/chill
- food is delicious especially takoyaki which has large portion for a side dish
Not so good:
- kimchi pancake too mushy/oily ??
- can be difficult to flag down a waiter/waitress
Overall, pretty good experience and would return :)
Everytime I have friends visit, I always bring them here.
Great ambience and a great place for drinks. Their soju/mageolli cocktail must not be missed ! (This place was the very first korean place that made this kinda fruity cocktail).
Their food is very delicious. I love their cheese egg roll, and the chicken feet here is def the best I could find so far.
They accept cash only though.
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This review is long overdue after having dined here 5 times in the last month. Once a restaurant turned into a no brainer sinful addiction, we knew we're on to a good thing.
Joomak is probably the closest speakeasy korean venue in Melbourne if not for the tiny signage just above the stairs. This venue is cash only, the nearest atm would be Cba across the road. For an enhanced Joomak experience, call in to reserve one of the cosy private booths beneath the traditional Korean neowa roof construction.
Our go to favourites includes anju(bar food) such as chicken giblets, kimchi pancake, cheese egg roll, jjigae (no.5 on the menu listed as kimchi pork soup). Menu also offers outstanding Japanese dishes such as takoyaki and mackeral. Wash it all down with some delicious milky sweet and sour rice wine - makgeolli. The former 'farmer's alcohol' which has made a strong comeback in recent years.
The only two dishes that we didn't enjoy were the fried chicken which i didn't quite like the batter and found that the seafood pancake a bit too wet for my liking. It would be too soon to call this 8 year old venue a dining institution but seeing how it has brought various ethnicities together in a dimly lit basement with it's delicious offerings, can't help but feel hopeful.
Set in the basement of the busy Swanston Street, Joomak provides lovely and relaxing vibes for a night out with friends. The dim lighting sets the mood for a fun filled meal. As for the meals, there are many options for both spicy and non-spicy eaters. Food was on the more pricey side however the serving size is reasonable, quite good for sharing.
Beautiful hidden gem on Swanston Street. This establishment has been here for years!
Cash only, so come prepared. Gets really busy as well so be prepared to wait!
Food quality is exceptional, hasn't changed over years. Alcoholic drinks were amazing from what I remember, but couldn't have any this time around!
Loved their rice sticks with cheese and seafood, as well as their tofu hot pot.
pancake is amazing. Cheese corn too!
Will definitely be back 😊
Finding.happiness.in.food
+4
Located in a basement on swanston street with no sign outside, it's quite easily overlooked if you are walking past. Booking is recommended as it's almost always packed. Food is deliciousss and packed with flavours. The bill can easily skyrocket, especially with the alcohol but it's worth it once in a while when you feel like korean food. Would have liked them to serve japchae which they don't have!
Love this place! Off the beaten track underground dimly lit restaurant, Joomak serves up cool vibes and awesome tasting dishes. Love their rice wine, meat dishes, pork soups, LA galbi, CHEESY CORN and everything else. Thought it is seemingly hidden, don’t be deceived. Joomak is popular so come early to get a seat or make a booking to avoid disappointment.
Came here with bunch of friends and we have to book the table two weeks in advance to avoid disappointment on a weekend. My favourite is the omelette and seafood pancake!! Of course have to try their rice wine!! We ordered mango and peach and it’s sooo good! The best in town.
Egg roll and beef bulgogi are pretty good. The price just under 30 AUD but u need to pay the cash. Next time I would like to try the peach rice wine and pork feet kkkkkkk～
So satisfied with the rice wine.
The staff were so nice and offering me less sweet special made, which also makes everything so perfect together.
The BBQ beef rib really wow me, didn't expect to have such high standard!
As a super fan of kimchi pancake, this one was just normal. Not so recommended.
Would definitely come back for the yum rice wine!
The food was incredibly delicious and flavoursome. The location of Joomak was quite hidden and easily overlooked; but the restaurant had a very private and charming ambience. It almost felt like I was eating at a local place in Korea. We were lucky to get a table but I do strongly recommend to book in advance.
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