Ga Bin Restaurant

I visited this place for dinner on the 14^th April 2016 with a group of friends to try a new Korean place.
The location was near Chinatown with easy street parking and the décor and furniture were absolutely amazing to take in with its’ Asian wooden chairs and tables. Pretty comfortable and spacious setting and our group sat in the back of the restaurant with a private screen to section our group off.
The staff were polite and courteous and made sure our meals came out about the same time as we were a group of 18.
Dinner — I ordered the dolsot bibimbap, is a signature Korean dish and is served in a hot clay pot of warm white rice topped with sautéed and seasoned vegetables, chili pepper paste, soy sauce, a raw egg and sliced beef meat. Once served, you have to mix the rice together and let it sit for the rice to go crispy and golden brown.
I enjoyed the meal and the serving was quite filling where each mouthful has different flavours of crispy rice textures and the broken cooked egg is dispersed through the rice while the chilli paste adds that kick to the dish. I liked the bean sprouts and beef. Thumbs Up!
I also ordered the seafood pancake, the serving was of entrée size as I have had bigger elsewhere. The pancake was slightly thick and overcooked and burnt at the edges, probably left too long on the stove. There wasn’t much seafood pieces, I was a bit disappointed in this dish. Thumbs down!
We also received accompaniments on the side such as savoury kimchi (pickled cabbage), Kkakdugi (A kimchi of white radish), Don moo gee (Yellow Pickeled Radish) and Gyeranmari (Rolled omelette). These were amazing and delicious, each one having its own sour, or bitter or pickled sharp taste. Thumbs up!
The staff were overwhelmed by our big group on a Thursday night and forgot to take our drink orders but treated us with respect and friendliness.
The head chef came to visit out table after dinner and asked if anyone was allergic to peanuts and none of where. He jumped for joy with a big smile on his face and said ‘That’s good’ and quickly ran back to kitchen to cook us some peanut desserts ‘on the house’ He few minutes later he bought our 2 plates filled with friend peanut and corn honey balls on toothpicks. These had a distinctive taste of sweet honey doughy balls flavoured with corn and peanut, which was usual for an Asian dessert.
Overall, I would definitely come back again for the bibimbap and try some other dishes here. Big Thumbs Up!

Korea is one country that I have not had the pleasure of visiting, therefore I am not sure how Ga Bin stacks up against similar restaurants in the motherland. I did notice that many of the menu items were Chinese, but a quick Google search revealed that there were some very authentic Korean dishes, none of which disappointed.
Have brought several friends and family members here, all who had reservations about Korean cuisine — thankfully all walked away wishing there was more. The internal layout of the restaurant ensures that you don’t feel cluttered whilst enjoying your meal, nor do you feel rushed out the door by staff hovering around constantly clearing away your plates as you finished your mouthful.
With all the little Korean extras they provide with your meal, I consider the pricing here to be quite generous. Great introduction for anyone wishing to experience this cuisine in a relaxed setting.

My first impression of Ga Bin was that it had a playful, if somewhat unfortunate name and was a little devoid of warmth and atmosphere.
After dining there just once I had completely revised my opinion and was virtually in love. Korean food is great and Ga Bin serves some top dishes, although not all are true to their theme.
Last time I took a big group here we were on a table on the far side of the restaurant and behind a screen which was nice, as it afforded us a little privacy. The hot pots were real winners and as Chloe said also — Kim Chi pancakes are a must-​do. The prices are reasonable and the service efficient. Maybe I’m biased, as I’m obsessed with condiments so Korean always works well for me. Although, the decision seems to have been fairly unanimous amongst all I have taken there that Ga Bin provides, worthwhile, honest, good value food in a comfortable environment.

Ga Bin, when I saw that a new Korean restaurant had opened near china town I was overjoyed, which may have been the cause of my disappointment when I came to this restaurant.
While the service is good and the food I ordered was ok, I was disappointed to find that more than 75% of their menu weren’t korean dishes and the few korean dishes that they do make are pretty basic for a restaurant of that size. Coming to a Korean restaurant, I don’t expect to read «Cantonese sweet & sour pork» among other things.
I understand expanding your menu in order to accommodate different patrons, but if I wanted chinese food, I would go to a chinese restaurant. When you advertise yourself as a Korean restaurant, my expectation is to come and be overwhelmed by the sheer Korean-​ness of your menu so that I may eat what I came here for — which would be Korean food.
I’ll admit it has been awhile since I’ve dined in here, but passing by and having a look at their menu I see it still hasn’t changed much. As a restaurant, it has a nice spacious interior and the food for what they serve is good.
My primary qualm is that they’ve decided to dilute their menu in what I feel is an effort to attract more of the usual visitors to chinatown. Seriously, there are not that many great Korean restaurants around, but there are a ton of chinese restaurants. You shouldn’t be competing with them. You should be UNIQUE.
Change the menu, be KOREAN and people will flock to your restaurant like wildfire because trust me, there are people such as myself that would jump at the opportunity to eat good Korean food in Adelaide.

First things first: order the Kimchi pancake. Order two of them. While the rest of the menu here is good, these are great. Crispy on the outside, slightly squishy on the inside, that trademark kimchi flavour.
Okay, now I’ve got that off my chest… Ga Bin is a relatively new Korean place, off the main strip of Grote St. The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s absurdly large frontage and spacious interior look a little odd — it used to be a furniture display room. They’ve made the best of the cavernous white interior with wooden screens and lovely ceramics and wall-​hangings. It still feels a little empty though — maybe some paint on the walls and a few tweaks to the layout would help. This certainly isn’t a big complaint though — it is still a very comfortable place to eat, especially you want to be able to hear your companions talk.
This place is pretty reasonably priced, especially for Korean food which at some places around town can be pricey. I nearly always get the Dolsot Bibimbap (which is done very well here), but there are other good things on the extensive menu. In the last six months they have also added three big hotpot options to the menu, which can be shared between two to four people. The Bulgogi hotpot is really delicious. With all meals come a selections of side dishes — little plates of pickles, kimchi and tiny Korean pancakes. If you want a drink with your meal, try out a Korean beer, or as a dessert wine the Ume plum wine is great.
As of the last time I was there, Ga Bin don’t have an official dessert menu, but they will whip something up for you if you ask. Usually they will offer one of two things — sweet corn balls or fried sweet potato with syrup. Both of these are good, but their desserts isn’t my top pick.
Well worth a visit, and excellent lunchtime specials.