Tarng

32 A' Beckett St 
Melbourne, VIC 3000

There’s nothing worse than leaving work only to be pelted with Melbourne rain and gale. It’s a lot easier to bear with when I have Korean stews to look forward to though, and I’m glad I managed to fit in a meal at Tarng before winter ended.

Tarng is a Korean restaurant, but it specialises in stews, with a small collection of typical Korean nibbles to go on the side. Its interior is basic but rather pretty with sunflowers stuck on the walls, and filled up only marginally slower than its pretty and popular neighbour, Darac. 

When fatboo visisted Tarng, he remarked how hard the skinny, slippery chopsticks were to wield, and I have to take a moment here to agree with him. They may be beautifully and delicately engraved, but it was hardly better than eating with skewers. Maybe this is why Korean people are so thin??

Banchan

Whilst waiting for our stews, we munched on our rice and complimentary Banchan. This was the smallest serve of banchan I’ve ever had, and I can be sure of this because I have never had a plate teeny enough to be easily photographed by my camera’s annoyingly narrow field of view. At any rate, the Kimchi, Sprouts, and Bean Curd Strips were all very tasty, especially the crunchy and fresh pieces of kimchi. 

Special Tarng ($14.8)

The Special Tarng ($14.8) seemed a bit bare, the spicy soup consisting of nothing but three large pork bones, a couple chunks of potatoes, and some Chinese cabbage, but it was a lovely case of quality over quantity in this case. The rich braise left the pork falling off the bone, and the potatoes fluffy and soaked through with stew. And really, I’m just being greedy; there’s more than enough for one person here. 

Beef Bulgogi Tarng ($12.8)

The Beef Bulgogi Tarng ($12.8) shone a little less in comparison to the Special Tarng. The light soup was much too sweet, and not as hearty or complex. But there was a generous tumble of beef slices and vegetables, as well as my favourite slippery sweet potato noodles, so we gobbled this up happily enough.

Tarng probably doesn’t have the best Korean food in Melbourne, and they don’t do BBQ. But if it’s stews that you’re after then Tarng most likely has the biggest selection to choose from, and it is definitely not a bad place to eat overall.

Rating: 13/20 – winter stews.

This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit. And how much I over-eat when I’m stressed.