Auckland Restaurant Review: At Jami In Wairau Park, Find A Bounty Of Korean Barbecue

JAMI

Cuisine: Korean

Address: Unit 9/20 Link Drive, Wairau Park

Phone: (09) 444 9987

Reservations: Accepted

Drinks: Fully licensed

From the menu: Barbecue combo platter for four $178, vegetarian bibimbap $24

Rating: 17/20

Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.

In Mumbai, a team of dabbawalas delivers meals across the city in iconic metal tiffin boxes; they don’t use Slack, or email or a shared Google Doc to work out who’s doing what — just a highly organised, mostly flat structure with exceptional culture and plenty of safeguards. It works so well the firms responsible have “Six Sigma” certification, guaranteeing less than one mistake per 16 million meals delivered.

It’s an India thing. Though you can enjoy the theatre of the stacked tiffin system in Auckland if you know where to look. KOL chef Vicky Shah is doing Tuesday deliveries of exceptional Indian food, dabbawala-style, under the brand Home Spice — I got a sample last week and it is the real deal (two meals fed four of us). And if you’re near enough to Hungrry-La you could try theirs too — a little cheaper and based in Mount Roskill.

I ate this week at Jami, where they have that same phenomenon of flawless service despite the apparent odds. It’s a Korean barbecue restaurant where pretty much every person in the room (about 50 of us on an early Sunday evening service) requires cutlery and a range of seasonings (salt, radish, raw garlic, dipping sauce), and each table needs a tray of condiments (kimchi, seaweed, Korean vermicelli) plus periodically replenishable lettuce leaves for wrapping, and drinks and, of course, the main event — pork and beef cuts of your choice, which you grill and turn over the bowl of hot coals that forms the centrepiece of the table (Korean families probably already know not to wear shorts to this sort of meal but I learned the hard way when my knee nudged up against the bottom of the barbecue).

Of course it’s possible most dining groups don’t need quite as much assistance with the meat as we did. I was happy turning pork belly with the tongs but wasn’t brave enough to try out the sharp kitchen snips, which one of the staff eventually picked up and used to cut the belly into chewable pieces.

Another politely re-grilled the meat I’d removed too early (“Wait until it looks like this on both sides,” he advised, trying not to make it sound like crucial medical advice) while a third quietly lifted up and replaced the metal mesh I’d inadvertently scorched by leaving the food on too long.

All of which is to say that if this sort of restaurant experience is new for you and you’re worried about making a dick of yourself, you needn’t — the staff have seen it all before, are delighted to advise you on any aspects of the meal you’re not sure about, and radiate at least as much warmth as that bucket of glowing coals.

The hospitality is led from the top by Jin Kyung Youn, whose origin story was told beautifully by the Herald’s Lincoln Tan a few years ago.

It’s a lovely way of eating, even if the pace takes a bit of getting used to. Instead of having a plate of food that you work your way through, the pieces of (unadorned, then marinated) meat are handed around as they’re cooked so it’s wrap-and-eat, pause, wrap-and-eat.

This also makes it hard to work out how full you are, and what I thought was an insurmountable stack of butchery turned out to be manageable after all (rice isn’t a standard part of barbecue — instead you can order it part way through if you think you’re going to need the carbs).

The delicious combination of fresh leaves, pickled goodies, fermented vege and sizzling meat, topped with as much Korean chilli dipping sauce as you fancy is a very appealing way to fill your mouth, and it’s a lovely communal, social event too with a family or group of friends.

And while it’s not the most modern environment (it opened in 2015 and the decor must have been 30 years out of fashion even then) there is a timeless quality to the experience itself.

Could we call it destination dining? Well, it certainly takes some finding — even your maps apps might struggle with the letters and slashes in the address but will (eventually, hopefully) deliver you to the back of a car park in the Wairau Park industrial estate, off a road — Link Drive — which even has a name like you’re only supposed to be here on your way to somewhere else.

Still, as with the barbecue tongs, you’ll only struggle with directions the first time — after that you’ll know exactly what to do. This is the sort of exciting food that makes you feel lucky to live in Auckland. Visit one lazy Sunday and enjoy a taste of one of the great cultures of the world.

More Korean Restaurants In Auckland

From a Milford must-visit to a noodle nexus in Ponsonby.

Korean Noodle Nirvana On Ponsonby Rd. At this welcome new addition to Ponsonby Rd, no tastebud bell was left unrung.

Big Flavours At Korean Destination Gochu. Jesse Mulligan dines at Commercial Bay’s new Korean eatery.

The Crowd-Pleasing Plates Of Gganbu. The Korean restaurant serves dishes of moreish, super-sized proportions.

Tokki’s Refined-But-Comforting Sweet Spot. Find sensational flavours and a room full of rabbits at this Milford newcomer.

The Thriving Pizzazz Of Pocha. The Korean eatery was alive from the moment I walked in.