678 korean bbq

i love a good bbq and whenever anyone invites me to korean bbq i get excited. i think it's because there are so many different types of meat, a variety of flavours and the great vibrancy of a restaurant where everyone is laughing and conversing over their own little bbq and that what you get at 678. we cooked up ourwagyublade and cube cuts. i’d like to think it had to be my cooking (even though i let someone else do most of it) but the meat was tender and sides added that little extra element expected in a meal. the dumplings and seafood pancake were just as nice and complimented the meat options perfectly. if you are having a feast then make sure you also grab the sizzling stone pot - a delicious mix of noodle, spice and broth. this place has a restaurant in the city and i will be sure to give it a visit as well. this eastwood version has heaps of room, although your best bet for a park would be on the street as the car park can get busy.

i’m both concerned and confused. thewagyuin the fridges are great, but why are thewagyuon consumer tables very average. i know my wagyu, i’m concerned that they only serve the good ones to people they know or koreans.......i rather go to a honest place. crows nest japanesewagyu“yakiniku” on falcon street

such an authentic korean bbq experience. a great range of different meats and cuts, and 4 signaturewagyudishes. the soy marinated skirt and short ribs were also a hit. the seafood pancake was also amazing. great night out, big restaurant with a great atmosphere as well.

i had a draft review written but then zomato deleted it :”( so here’s a summary:

- gluten free meat since it’s given to you raw and you just cook it yourself. dipping sauces (except salt and maybe the chilli one) + side dishes (eg seafood pancake, kimchi) may have gluten and i avoided most of the non-raw food

- good service, even with the pull out chimney you’ll still get the smell of bbq on you

- beefwagyuwas the best. pork is a definite miss for me and not worth getting. cost around $240 for 6 ppl = $40/pp

overall: 3.5/5
gluten free options: 3.5/5
food taste: 4/5
ambience: 3.5/5
customer service: 3.5/5
pricing vs quality: 3/5

this venue offers a large variety of korean food, either for bbq or made-to-order dishes.
with large seating area, it can easily accommodate large groups.
favourite dishes: korean style pancake, bibimbap, spicy seafood ramen, cold buckwheat noodle,wagyushort rib (bbq) and more from the bbq meat choices.

678 is a korean bbq restaurant with two chains, in eastwood and in chinatown. they are known for having a selection of fresh premium meats such aswagyubeef, pork and chicken as well as noodles and rice dishes. we came here for lunch on a saturday keen to get our bbq on. to start off with, we ordered thewagyuoyster blade and chuck tail flap. these were their most premium cuts ofwagyuand so tender and delicious once cooked. the meat was heavily marbled and melted in your mouth.

korean bbq feast we always love to come back...

out of all korean bbq restaurant we've tried, so far theirwagyubeef is the best and we really like their pancakes and dumplings too.... sah recommended! 😆👍🏼

and you gotta try the one at eastwood as we've heard the one in the city branch doesn't have the same bbq grilled egg on the side of your meat... 😁👍🏼

😍🤤🐮 // 🇰🇷 @678sydney #eastwood
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happy tummy meter: 4 out of 5
happy wallet meter: 4 out of 5

after seeing 678 all over instagram, i decided it was finally time that i gave them a go! went on sunday night and was impressed that there was an insane amount of parking around (and there is even a carpark attached to the restaurant). upon walking in, it is extremely well lit (which i love because it means good food photos haha) and as you continue walking in, you see how large this restaurant actually is. we got a table straight away which was great considering we were starving. upon sitting down, we were given one menu (for three people), and one ordering card (which made sense).

we originally ordered 8 dumplings, the squid, the seafood pancake, the marinatedwagyubeef inside skirt, the thinly sliced beef brisket, the prime fresh cut of pork belly, the soy marinated short ribs and the chilled spicy buckwheat noodles but we were quickly advised that there was no more squid or dumplings which really disappointed us considering we were actually really looking forward to them. we ordered extra meat and another pancake instead. the food came out extremely fast which was excellent and i was very pleased. the majority of the meat was very tasty, but (this could be a common practice, but i've never been told about it before in other korean bbq restaurants) they did not allow us to cook the pork on the same grill as the beef. so we had to cook our beef first and then cook the pork. towards the end, the meat started to have a funny taste which was unfortunate, but overall it was quite nice. the pancake had a little bit too much going on for my liking, but i still liked it. definitely wasn't a fan of the chilled noodles though... none of us ended up eating them. overall, would recommend trying them out. i wouldn't personally rush back (mainly because i personally prefer the buffet style korean bbq's) but if i was in the area, i would go again

great atmosphere with friendly staff. quick and great customer service! when asked for their recommendations on servings they were very helpful in helping us order the appropriate amount. thewagyucuts were fragrant and tender. we loved the corn and cheese, egg on the side of the bbq as well! overall a great environment with plenty of space between tables making for a comfortable dining experience!

i've been here a few times and it is always packed. their main drawcard is the freshwagyubeef and pork used for korean bbq - although the meat is rather pricey for the amount that they serve ($20+ for each serving), staff are rather tentative in regularly changing the racks. however, i have found that service does vary from time to time.

relatives have deemed this place the best korean restaurant in eastwood at this moment.

in short, currently this place is easily the best place for korean bbq in sydney. the quality of meat used is the stand out, they have the meat on display in a fridge and you can see them cutting it up. they use real high mbswagyuhere unlike many korean bbqs who show marbled meat in menu photos and then serve meat with barely any marbling in it. their prices may seem abit steeper than average, but is definitely justified by the quality of meat. in fact when compared to most yakiniku restaurants it is both cheaper and superior. as for their other dishes, they are actually quite pricey, although their stone pot bibimbap is very authentic.

the restaurant is spacious and clean, even more so than their city branch. exhaust fans work extremely well and they have the egg and corn+cheese rings which are used in korea. a huge plus here is that they use only coal in their bbqs, with no added gas flame. this gives the optimal temperature for cooking as well as a proper smoked flavour. it's always surprised me why korean restaurants in sydney skimp on this, as briquettes are not expensive at all. they also added more coal in during our meal when the heat got low, which was much appreciated.

before coming here i read many numerous reviews saying the service here was bad, but ignored them as service at korean restaurants is virtually non existent. the service was indeed pretty crap, but they did what was required and it can be easily overlooked.

a very nice and clean restaurant given that it gets booked out every evening. it does get busy from 6-8pm and the waiting time would be approximately 10-25 minutes without a booking. the staff did respond to the buzzer promptly even with an extremely busy environment. it was satisfying to see complimentary corn cheese and omelette (not pictured) for all bbqs. meat quality was really good, but quite pricey. the side dishes were great with generous servings of their salads. definitely try theirwagyurange if you visit!

now one of our favourite korean bbq joints, this place has the goods!

service is so quick and efficient, and meat is top quality!

our favourite was thewagyusteak & the bibimbap!

definitely give the pork jowl a try!

comparing this to the city branch, i think i prefer this one hands down! free parking, free egg soup, free corn and onion dipping sauce! & don't forget the quality wagyu! win! this is now my favourite korean bbq.

the side dishes have more variety here, free of charge of course and unlimited top ups. not all thewagyuwas on offer, they were apparently sold out of the top 2wagyuoptions on tuesday night. this could indicate they had a busy lunch service or perhaps they didn't order enough. the ones we did order,wagyusteaks (not the off cuts like other kbbq joints), just melted in your mouth. didn't even need sauce, delicious. however the dipping sauce they give you has onions it in! i love onions! its delicious in its own right!

the restaurant is brightly lit and very clean. it was half full for a tuesday night. the wait staff were very attentive, some even helped cook and cut meat for you to eat at your table.

a little disappointed to see no egg soup on the menu but you'll understand why. when the grill plate arrives there is this canal round the edge of the grill plate split into 3 parts. 1 part was filled with corn. the 2nd part we used to place cooked meat there - not sure if that was the purpose but that's what we did. the 3rd part the waiter poured this egg like mixture in. and he explained it was egg soup. i have never been to any korean bbq with a grill plate that looked like that. i was intrigued. once cooked, the corn was cheesy and the egg soup was soft and fluffy. and these were also free of charge! i was sold!

however the seafood pancake, which in other places is not spicy, came out extremely spicy with chilli everywhere. that's prob the only bad thing i have, however the corn totally replaces this negative.