Newkor - Te Aro

First time here and ordered bibimbap with beef. Having tried this dish at other places in town can tell for this price this one is very average. About 2-3 tablespoons of beef! Not coming back

BBQ beef and shrimp is what I ordered. It's juicy, mild, and mouth-watering. Good selection of their serving beef. 45 nzd for the large set. Served with a small plate of Kimchi, bean sprouts, fishball, steamed potatoes. A dish of rice to eat with those thing is served, too. Don't forget to try Soju - a Korean alcoholic drink. The owners are really friendly and have service mind in running this lovely restaurant business.

We had a blast that evening in the Newkor karaoke bar restaurant. The place offers a great karaoke setup room, where you can enjoy a great evening with friends and family. I really recommend this place to visit and enjoy your time. Cheers

It can sometimes be hard to review a place that you went to on a night out. There's often the alcohol factor, which can distort your perceptions and judgement. Let's give it a go anyway. You might start with a bottle of wine (Newkor is BYO), chatting amongst yourselves. It was my mate's birthday and he wanted to come here. Some of the guests had never been to a Korean BBQ before (including myself). Korean food, for uninitiated, is an eclectic mix of East Asian and American influences. Currently the most famous Korean Fried Chicken. This is not to be confused with the other KFC, which will always hold a dear place in our hearts, but a different beast entirely. Anyway, we order this as a starter and it is magnificent. Tender and moist, the chicken is cooked to perfection while still retaining an amazing crunch. The batter is light and crispy, with a moreish, savoury bready taste/mouthfeel. A couple of glasses of wine disappear as we demolish the chicken. We then move on to deciding the mains. As I was saying, the main event of Korean BBQ is literally a miniature barbeque set-up, brought right to your table where you cook it yourself. Don't think Western style BBQ though - it's not ribs, chops, and sausages. You order a set dish - and everything is piled on top - vegetables, condiments, and meat slices of your choice (chicken, beef, seafood, etc). Everything is pre-seasoned with sauces and such to suit. Anyway, the waiter will place the whole show in front of you and light her up. I should note at this point - these things are big, and suit decent sized groups where you can order a few of them (1 dish for every 2 people is a good ratio) - that way you can share and sample different stuff between your pals. This is exactly what we did. Now, by the time we finished the meal, some of us were already a bottle of wine deep. Maybe it was the wine talking, but the food was mighty tasty. The sauces were packed with flavour - umami with a subtle hint of sweetness and chilli heat. The little rice dumpling things were chewy and delicious. I realised that BBQ was a misnomer, and it was really more DIY stir fry. You're each served bowls of rice, which you eat with the main course and is the standard Asian way of doing things for those who weren't aware. Having smashed the meal, and starting to feel a little smashed ourselves. it was time for the post-mains Main Event - sochu and karaoke. You go to the front counter (settling your dinner tab if you wish) and book a private room. The booths are gaudy in a reasonably tasteful way, with plenty of room for your group to spread out on long pleather couches as your mates gingerly hack their way through the songs of your childhood. From there, the night just melts away, typically devolving into the last man standing belting out several rounds of Snow Patrol's "Cars" on repeat. I shouldn't neglect to mention - all these shenanigans can be heartily lubricated by the aforementioned sochu. It's a Korean rice wine, served in cute little bottles that merrily announce fun, fruity flavours like plum or peach. Be warned however - this is no bottle of vitamin water. Incredibly easy to drink, they are not quite as potent as a spirit but pack a heft more punch than European wine or beer. They are served with small glasses so you can measure out tipples to share. I suggest you use them. If you know, you know. If you didn't, now you do. To sum up Newkor specifically - the wait staff are great, the food is fantastic, and the atmosphere on a busy night is electric. Anyway, keep the sochu coming, enjoy them responsibly and a good time will be had by all. There's nothing quite like voluntarily tearing your vocal chords out under the pleasant buzz of Korean devil juice in the company of good peeps, all in the shame-obliterating privacy of a private booth. Highly recommended experience.

Would give it a 0star rating if it was possible. Quantity of food is the bare minimum and over priced and I won’t even talk about the the quality. Couldn’t even finish the food because it was so bad. They also tried to scam us with the meal price :) Really do not recommend going here

First visit here. Dumplings were good. Bulgari was a tasteless sloppy stew. Had to order rice and kimchi as extras. Would not go here again.

Nice food, nice ambience. Japche is a must try for starter because the taste is very solid. In the other hand, my spicy bbq is not really attractive at all, quite salty and lack of the bbq flavour that I love. And if anyone is a fan of fry chicken then please don't even hesitate for once. It is absolutely stunning from the taste of the sauce and the chicken is so so crispy. Coming back is a yes.

Jjampong tasted amazing. Definitely will go back to have that again. Unfortunately the fried chickens were VERY oily, the oil even flooded the bottom of the bowl. Had to soak all the oil with lots of tissue.