#aucklandeats: For When You Need a Posh Family K-Dinner

Jami 

9/20 Link Drive, Wairau Valley, Auckland 0627

I don’t know about you but to me, healthy, yummy, and pretty always equal to Korean cuisine. In Wairau Valley there are so many Korean restaurants such as Jung Dam, Jang Teo, Harimgak, Ogane, and more and more! Out of all, Jami is the fancy K-restaurant if you want a treat for yourself. This is the place where all Koreans in the North Shore go to for important meetings, and to take their parents for an authentic “han-jeong-shik” meal.

NZ Herald

In Korea when you visit high-class restaurants, they have single dishes and share dishes, but also “han-jeong-shik.” Han-jeong-shik can be translated to “Korean Table d'hote” or “Korean traditional full course meal.” These would include an array of side dishes, a bowl of rice, soup, and the main dish. These would be served to you all together to leave your whole table filled with colourful and scrumptious looking food. Jami is a place where you can find these set menus, and expect them to be served looking flash. 

Zomato | Jami

One thing I’m regretting hard right now is that I didn’t take any photos on the day of my visit 🤦🏻‍♀️ Don’t blame me too much. I was way too hungry and the dishes were all so good looking! Our family ordered five different menus for each of us: “Charcoal marinated beef”, “Charcoal marinated beef rib”, “Charcoal grilled spicy pork belly”, “Charcoal grilled spicy chicken thigh”, and “Grilled spicy seafood”. The spice level of Jami’s dishes is very low. My brother who is a hopeless weakling when it comes to spice didn’t sweat a drop from a bite of my spicy pork. So even if you’re no good with spicy Korean food, it’ll be worth a try at Jami. Everything we ordered was great, but I couldn’t stop myself from being jealous of my sister’s sweet, savoury, juicy and tender beef rib. MUST ORDER THE BEEF RIB WHEN YOU GO TO JAMI! Korean beef ribs are always best when cooked on charcoal, giving the ribs a smoky scent - and Jami does this perfectly. The side dishes were delightful as well (especially the kumara salad and the japchae,) but the soup of the day, seaweed soup, was an average for me. 

Zomato | Jami

I also found Jami’s food presentation fascinating cause of the little charcoal brazier they give you with your main dish. The food is served in a ceramic dish, which is placed on a ceramic brazier with a wax-like solid fuel inside that the waiter lights up for you. That way your food is sizzling hot during the whole meal!

Zomato | Jami

As you saw on the menu, Jami’s prices aren’t the cheapest but the experience is pretty high quality. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyday meals with friends, but definitely for those days when you want to dress smart and eat out with your parents. Especially if your parents have never tried a Korean meal before, and you want them to have a good first impression 👌 Overall, considering the food, presentation, experience, and the service, I would gladly give Jami a 9/10.