Sydney’s love affair with Korean BBQ has been going strong for a while and shows no sign of abating. Butchers Buffet has just opened Australia’s largest Korean BBQ and Buffet in Chinatown. As the name suggests, it is geared towards meat enthusiasts who happily queue at the door for their 90 minute session to fire up the hotplate. With my meat loving brother and dessert aficionado 8 year old niece visiting me in Sydney, this is the perfect option as there will be something for everyone on a busy Saturday night.

As soon as we go up the stairs and walk past the queue, we are met with a riot of disco lights, busy food stations, quick changing hot plates and K-Pop music and videos – suffice to say, things move FAST! Butchers Buffet is not the venue for a relaxed catchup or romantic date…. It is for those who are serious about good Korean food, like the shared experience of cooking their own meat and noisily enjoying the fun of it all with family and friends.

We start off with a mixed selection from the Buffet, including the sensational Tempura King Prawns, Korean Fried Cheese Chicken bites, Pork and vegetable dumplings, Fried Rice, Noodles and their truly outstanding Pork Ribs. You can partner these with homemade sauces such as BBQ, Spicy Mayo and Tomato along with Korean salad selections.

From there, it’s time to load up the plates with raw meat options to cook on the hotplate in the centre of the table. The team at Butchers Buffet don’t skimp on quality as they are aware that this is where they stand out in the popular Korean BBQ space. For the first round, we get a selection of Smoked Duck, deliciously Spicy marinated Chicken, whole King Prawns in their shell and LA Pork Ribs as we find our feet with the whole cooking experience. The meat cooks quickly, is beautifully marinated and tender and we enjoy trying things we haven’t had before like LA style ribs. For the next round, we home in on the Wagyu Beef Chuck Roll, Angus Beef Oyster Blade and Scotch Fillet, frozen Angus Beef Belly rolls, Soy Marinated Pork and frozen Prime Pork Belly rolls. Now we have got the hang of the cooking process, it’s a lot of fun loading up the sizzling hotplate.

Drinks options are limited given the focus is on the all-you-can-eat food, but we enjoyed trying Cass, the Korean brand of beer along with the more familiar Japanese Asahi. The friendly staff are prompt, efficient with plates cleared and hotplates replaced on a frequent basis whilst the exhaust fans directly above every hotplate immediately sucks up the smoke.

We manage to save room for dessert and everyone enjoys the Glazed mochi chewy doughnut and a Fried Tortilla with sugar sprinkle. The chocolate brownie gets the double thumbs up from my niece as being the best chocolate brownie she has ever had. High praise indeed! And we can’t leave without trying the curious ice creams in the freezer: the Watermelon one looks exactly like a conical shaped Watermelon – but actually tastes like banana and bubblegum. The Jewel ice cream looks pretty and tastes like a mix of lemonade and Turkish Delight. A slightly confusing (but very enjoyable) end to a fast paced and fun evening together.

There is so much going on it can be almost a bit overwhelming the first time whilst sussing out how it all works and watching what the more experienced tables are doing. But once we get going, before we know it, the 90 minutes are up – with plenty more options to try out next time the fam visit Sydney!

Butchers Buffet 8/363 Sussex St, Sydney 2000
Opening hours: Sunday -Thursday 1130am – 1000pm, Friday – Saturday 1130am -1100pm