All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ buffet at Se Jong, Sydney CBD

Where is the best all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ in the Sydney CBD? I think we have a winner. Long-time Campsie favourite, Se Jong, now has a restaurant on Castlereagh Street in the city. And it's cheap. Just $35 gets you a two hour window of unlimited wagyu beef, prawns, ox tongue, sushi, fried chicken, jap chae and more. Go ahead. Pinch yourself. This is not a dream.


Wagyu and Angus beef fridge

The dining room isn't huge, probably seating about 40, so bookings are essential. Decorations are minimal but the dining space is bright and clean.

All the prime meats - Angus beef and wagyu - are accessible from the self-serve fridge. Grab as many as you can eat. You're wearing loose pants, right?


Wagyu steaks and marinated LA galbi beef short ribs

The chilled meat cabinet includes pork neck, bulgogi beef slices, marinated LA galbi beef short ribs, prawns, calamari skewers, mussels, chicken and sausages.


Angus beef and wagyu steaks on the barbecue grill

The grills are electric, not charcoal, which is a pity. Staff also insist on placing sheets of waxed paper on your grill, presumably to make cleaning easier. This tends to steam, not char, your meat, especially when they turn the heat knob down to 20%. You can see this happening in the photo above.


LA galbi beef short ribs, bulgogi beef slices, pork belly and ox tongue slices

Instead we surreptitiously cranked the heat up to 100%. Only then will you get caramelisation, which is the whole point of barbecue, in my opinion. Staff will usually persist in turning the heat back down again, and replacing the waxed paper, but well, two can play at the game, right?


Gyeran jjim steamed egg

Complimentary gyeran jiim, a steamed egg that has the fluffiness of souffle, will arrive as a bubbling mass. Eat this while it's hot and relish its cloud-like consistency.


Jajangmyeon black blean sauce noodles

While your meat is cooking on the grill, hit up the hot food station. It's an impressive collection of dishes. And immaculately presented. The metal serving dishes sit on induction hotplates, and all of them are arranged at the exact same angle to satisfy even the most OCD perfectionist.

Here you'll find prawn cutlets, Korean fried chicken, jajangmyeon black bean sauce noodles, pajeon pancakes and fried rice.


Tteokbokki spicy Korean rice cake noodles with fish cake

Got nuts over the tteokbokki spicy Korean rice cake noodles, jap chae sweet potato noodles, corn cobs (throw them on the bbq for extra flavour) and agedashi tofu. Yep, it's not all Korean, which would explain the all-you-can-eat sushi station.


Nigiri sushi and maki sushi

Sushi stations at buffets tend to be pretty average, but the one at Se Jong in the city does more than just half-hearted cucumber maki. Here you can get prawn nigiri and salmon nigiri plus uramaki inside-out sushi rolls with tuna, prawn and California roll fillings.

To the right of this station you'll find plain rice and miso soup.


Unlimited kimchi and pickles 

And don't forget to load up on all-you-can-eat kimchi and pickles. You'll want lots of these to cut through the fattiness of the meat. Pile on the cabbage kimchi, yangpa jangajji pickled onions,
kongnamul muchin soybean sprouts and pa muchim scallion salad.

Grab a heap of enoki and king brown mushrooms for the grill too. And a scoop of salad. Add a handful of lettuce leaves for wrapping up your cooked meat and stop by the sauce station for gochujang, sesame oil, salt, pepper and more.


Candied sweet potato, tteokbokki, prawn cutlets and sushi

They have all your classic beers, like Cass, Asahi, Tsingtao, Singha, Corona and Hite. We may have hit the flavoured soju (peach, green grape or apple) hard.

And if there's one golden rule at Korean bbq, it's to make sure that everyone helps out with the cooking.


Fresh watermelon and oranges, cake squares and candied sweet potato

For dessert you can have as much cheap vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce as you like. The mini cakes weren't that great either but the candied sweet potato - coated in a thin layer of hard toffee - was definitely addictive.

We attacked the fresh watermelon and oranges. And you know what? It was the palate cleanser we needed to start eating all over again.





Se Jong Korean Restaurant
270 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8964 0133

Opening hours
Daily 5pm-10.30pm

Also at:
Se Jong Campsie, 8 London Street, Tel: +61 (02) 9787 7126
Se Jong Carlingford, 821 Pennant Hills Road, Tel: +61 (02) 9872 8868


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