First Look: With Kim’s Korean Deli, Darlinghurst Scores Hefty K-Barbeque Salad Bowls

“This is so good,” comes the chorus from the next table. Four bowls heaving with grilled meat and fresh vegetables are quickly vanishing, with praise given between chews. It’s just past noon on opening day, and friends, office workers and Darlo neighbours are drifting in to scope out Janice and Kevin Kim’s first foray into running a restaurant.

The husband-and-wife duo have tens of thousands of fans from documenting their life and travels. And if the feedback and queues are anything to go by, they’re about to gain a lot more.

“We had always thought about having a restaurant one day, but we weren’t sure if we could do it,” Janice says. “Especially because we didn’t have any experience.” The concept is simple: flame-grilled Korean barbequed meats (or tofu) in a seasonal salad bowl.

Before Kim’s Korean Deli, they had a short run selling “K-barbeque in a bowl” at Marrickville Markets. Kevin’s father Chang Sub Kim was in the pop-up kitchen, while Janice looked after their newborn daughter Gabi. It was a raging success. So Kevin quit his job and they went all-in.

On Darlinghurst’s Burton Street, you pick your base (brown rice, cabbage or half-and-half) then choose your bowl.

Chang’s in the kitchen here, too, with everything prepped to family recipes. Pork belly, chicken and Wagyu options see the meat marinated for two days in a combination of soy, garlic, ginger, sugar and either apple or pear, then flame-grilled. “I have memories of my mum making this when I was growing up,” Janice says. “When [we’d] meet family, we would just have Korean barbeque all the time.”

For the vegos, there’s a crispy tofu riff on dubu jorim, and each of the bowls has its own dressing and mix of veggies. The OG is available with pork belly or chicken – we went for the pork belly, which tastes like you grabbed it straight off the grill and made your own ssam. The ssamjang dressing is light, sweet and surprisingly creamy. The Wagyu bulgogi is a hit too, with an expert blend of sweet, savoury and umami balanced by a zippy whole grain mustard vinaigrette.

Coffee beans come from Ona and there’s a tidy range of teas – plus two house-made sodas. These are refreshing, sweet and a little bit pulpy, using seasonal fruit and veggies – currently, there’s a nectarine and ginger, and a cucumber, lime and mint.

The shop serves jaffles until 10am – there’s a bulgogi cheese option, and a ham and cheese number featuring a crunchy family-recipe kimchi with plenty of zing. Chang’s partner Annie cuts napa cabbage, salts it overnight, then marinates it in gochugaru, fish paste and radishes for anywhere between one day and two weeks, depending on the weather.

This familial theme runs throughout the operation – the whole family’s involved in the shop and three photos of the Kim clan, at different stages of life, adorn the walls. “Hopefully this is the start of something for our family,” Janice says. “It would be nice to have Gabi grow up while we’re working at the shop, and just become part of the community.”

Considering the deli’s been selling out every day since it opened, that dream’s looking likely.

Kim’s Korean Deli
112b Burton Street, Darlinghurst

Hours:
Daily 7am–3pm

@kimskoreandeli