The Gu-E

The Gu-E

34/1 Dixon Street

Chinatown Sydney

9261 0888

http://www.thegue.com.au/En/

The gu-E is a brand spanking new 'Korean degustation' restaurant that's just opened up in the Dixon St complex. Gu-E brings something new to Sydney, as it offers itself as 'Australia's first Korean Fine Dining' establishment. To match Gu-E's ambitions, the restaurant's interior is sleek and modern. I was really surprised because most Korean restaurants are crowded and cheap.

Gu-E offers two menus, a Korean degustation menu and an ala carte menu. They even have private dining rooms and I think the minimum spend for a 10 person dining room is $150. We ordered off the ala carte menu this visit, but I think next time we might give the degustation a try.

Complimentary side dishes

Most Korean restaurants serve some kimchi, pickles, potato and seaweed just side dishes..

Angus Yukke ($22)

Seasoned raw 'yuk-ke' beef balls sitting atop pineapple rings

Sitting on top is a raw egg which you break and mix into the beef.

The menu description is a bit misleading as 1) its more like beef strips rather than beef balls and 2) the pineapple is actually pear. Also, the yuk-ke is slightly frozen. Oh and its really chilli (Korean style).

I enjoyed this dish. It wasn't what I expected as I've never had yuk-ke frozen or chilli but its actually really nice. Since the beef was frozen, it didn't have a raw meat texture so there was less 'yick' factor. Also without the chilli, this would have been pretty bland. Try it if you're game :)

Seafood Pancake ($18)

Classic crisp Korean style seafood pancake. The pancake was thick and crispy.

Bulgogi and tofu stack ($20)

Marinated bulgogi beef, pan fried soft tofu topped with balsamic mixed greens

To be perfectly honest.. this just tasted like lettuce with tofu and beef. Nice but not really worth $20 for four pieces..

Soy Short Rib ($24)

Ceramic pot braised beef short rib pieces, vegetable cubes and slightly caramelised soy reduction

This was really delicious.. We ordered two servings of this :) Its actually one of Gu-E's signature dishes and I can see why. The beef is tender and falls apart in your mouth. A must try!

Angus mince with rice cake ($20)

I didn't get to try this but its Angus beef wrapped around rice cake. Interesting hey? Presentation is very pretty.

Beef, Mushroom and Dumpling hotpot ($33)

We ordered the hotpot as a main course for everyone to share. This was great because the hotpot was pre-cooked and all we had to do was heat it up. We didn't have to wait 15 minutes for the beef to cook or worry about eating undercooked meat.

Overall I really enjoyed Gu-E. It sets itself apart from other Korean restaurants by providing excellent service and well presented good food. Most Korean restaurants fail in these two respects.

The Good- Private Dining Rooms, Reasonable Prices, Excellent Service, Clean and contemporary restaurant, Nice toilets (most Korean restaurants have shocking toilets) and wine list

The Bad- Doesn't have the 'usual' Korean food ie. kimchi fried rice, spicy chicken and etc