Arisun, Chinatown - Sydney

What's better than having hot pot in winter?

Chilli rice cake and mixed tempura hot pot from Arisun

Having hot pot with Korean fried chicken, I say.

So the cousins and I booked a table for lunch at Arisun; a famous Korean restaurant tucked in the corner of Dixon St. at Chinatown. It was so windy, I couldn't wait to dive in to a bowl of Korean fried chicken that everyone's raving about. The place isn't difficult to find, the decoration outside isn't overdone and rather catchy.

Arisun's exterior and menu

The interior is even better. Dominated with natural colour and wooden furniture, it creates cosy and warm ambiance, which makes it easier for us to prepare ourselves for a feast.

Interior

They didn't give us banchan (side dishes) apart from kimchi, but we weren't complaining because it is so good we didn't need the others.

Kimchi

We have two pregnant ladies in the group, so big portion dishes are a must.

Jap chae (potato noodles) was served hot, much to our pleasure, and it's a huge portion. Packed tightly with sliced vegetables, the dish is very tasty and I love the texture play between the crunchy veggies with the smooth and slippery noodles. One of the best jap chae I've had so far.

Jap chae (potato noodles) - $24

It looks so good even before the cooking process; we all wooed at the marvelous chilli rice cake and mixed tempura hot pot when it touched the table, or touched the portable stove to be exact.

Chilli rice cake and mixed tempura hot pot - $26 (before)

And it even looks better after cooking. Despite the fierce red appearance, it only has tiny bit of chilli kick. The broth, which is so thick I may call it gravy, is full of flavour and will comfort every part of your frozen body. I love every component involved; the slippery and chewy rice cakes, the fried fish cakes, the comforting ramyeon (instant noodles), the two eggs and also the veggies. We dug in like we haven't eaten for a week.

Chilli rice cake and mixed tempura hot pot (after)

Now here's another mind blowing dish: the infamous Sun's fried chicken. After deliberating for a while, we finally decided on the original one without any sauce. Holy moly, I would never look back to the original fast food fried chicken, really. It's amazingly juicy and very crunchy, the batter itself is seasoned very well but they also provided us with salt and pepper. Aigoo, I have developed addiction to these fried chicken now!

Sun's original fried chicken - $30

A warning is that you probably don't want to come alone or just with a date, the dishes are huge and you probably will struggle finishing them. Come with a group and you'll have a blast!

Jjajangmyeon figurine

So tell me, would you prefer eating hot pot or Korean fried chicken in winter? Or maybe both?

Currency: $1 = IDR 9,500


Rating: 4.5/5 (Very recommended)
Great Korean dishes (the fried chicken is a must try), good service, ambiance is cosy, price is reasonable.







Address:

ARISUN

1 Dixon St
Sydney, NSW 2000

Phone: (02) 9264 1588