Faro

Overview

Parked up next to Nuffield St's Hansan is Korean BBQ joint Faro, which, along with its flagship branch on Lorne St, serves the best Korean food in town. Choose from tables sunk into heated cavities in the ground (for larger groups) or more private booth seating complete with a button on the side for summoning your waiter - grand idea - a grill, and an industrial-looking pipe that hangs above your grill/sways gently in front of the face of your dining companion.

There is one decision you're asked to make straight away: to BBQ or not to BBQ. Go for the former, and select from a range of tasty raw meat dishes (the waitress tells us that the most popular options are marinated chicken thighs and pork belly) to cook up yourself and some veges and sides for padding.

We went for the $20 table set, which includes a range of entrees such as kimchi, cashew jelly (it tastes better than it sounds), shredded pancake, green salad, crunchy seaweed and radish. It's fresh and tasty and keeps you occupied while your meat is grilling.

The set-up here cooks the meat remarkably quickly, and it's easy for the uninitiated to overdo. Make sure you have your gas on high heat and frequently flip the meat to get the skin nice and charred and keep the flesh tender. Its far easier than figuring out a backyard BBQ, and the staff are happy to help you out. When done right, meat grilled in this way tastes better than barbecued too.

The only gripes are a lack of dipping sauces and the price for meat, which is $20-$25 for a very small portion that leaves you wanting more. Instead of ordering individual items off the menu, the $40 banquet - which features the table set, a range of meat dishes, Korean fried rice/bimimbap and dessert - is far better value.

For a fun and hands-on dining experience - especially for my fellow meat fiends out there - Faro is hard to beat.