Ume Hana

398 Elizabeth St 
Melbourne, VIC 3000

I’ve spent approximately 9 out of the last 48 hours sleeping, and I can barely string together a coherent sentence, so here’s a short, quick one about a quiet dinner we had at Ume Hana.

I’ve always been vaguely interested in this humble little eatery on Elizabeth Street. I first set eyes on it 9 years ago, and if it’s still here now, it must be doing something right. Coincidentally, plans of dumplings fell through, so Chris and I found ourselves here instead for a quick feed. 

Kimchi Pancake ($10)

Kimchi Pancake ($10)

I coerced kimchi-hating Chris into ordering the Kimchi Pancake ($10), and he ended up liking it a lot. It’s not hard to like a fluffy pancake with a crisp, browned exterior, studded with sour kimchi and various other vegetables. It was so very comforting. 

Banchan

Because it was dinner time, we got some Banchan as well. The kimchi was limp and not fantastically flavoursome, but the rest were good. Crunchy vegetables pickled in spicy bean paste, a mouthful of chewy sweet potato noodles, and two fluffy chunks of potato glazed with honey. 

Seoulleoungtang ($13)

And a bubbling stone pot of Seoulleoungtang ($13) – a creamy beef stew that smelt as rich and beefy as it tasted. It was a hearty brew filled with thick slices of beef, and more of those deliciously toothsome sweet potato noodles. It was literally unsalted, but it came with salt and pepper on the side so we could adjust the soup to our own preferences – a little unusual, but welcome.

So the food is decent, and whilst the service was pretty much nonexistent, everything still got done, so no complaints there. I’m tired.

Rating: 12/20 – k is for korean. and komforting.

The rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit.