Towoo Korean Charcoal BBQ

Sensational food, brilliant service. Welcoming staff who made sure everyone had a fantastic time.

Great spot for some Korean BBQ! Every dish served was perfectly cooked and so packed with flavour! The meat was all very tender and the marinades were delicious.

The staff were very lovely and attentive, we went during off-peak hours and the staff were diligent with checking on our table.

The restaurant seems to have changed owner and menu since the last time we came at least 5+ years ago. The BBQ is now a gas stove one side and they don’t help you cook either. To be honest, the stove is not hot enough to give that searing and smokiness to the meat even if your meat is of a decent quality.

We ordered a Premium Wagyu set, KFC and a stone pot bibimbap. The prices are on the expensive side. The set (for 2-3px) came with a nice salad (but with reaaaaaaally ugly dressing squeezed on top but tasted fine), a plate of entrees including tempura prawn, lotus root chips, takoyaki (without sauce) and 2 pieces of fried chicken but no rice? !? ! The meat was decent quality but for the price I could have gotten better elsewhere. The stone pot bibimbap was actually a bit disappointing because the taste is ok but they didn’t cut the vegetables small enough and the egg was a totally raw egg instead of a fried egg. The stone pot was not hot enough to cook the egg so it was soggy after mixed in.

I don’t think they are authentic Koreans anymore because the experience and food is very different. The waitress was nice but the old lady really needs to learn to smile. If you are just looking for a place nearby and don’t mind the cost, you will get a decent meal. But if you want something nice, there are definitely better choices.

Date/time of visit: 11 February 2023 at 6: 45pm

This was an unpleasant dining experience. If I was rating the food, yes, 5 stars BUT there was a terrible atmosphere that ruined the enjoyment of the food. We couldn't even talk to each other due to the disruptive issues. The main problem was a terrible disruptive table of at least 4 children and 4 adults. The children were yelling and then started running around (for the entire duration of our visit) and the parents didn't do anything to control them. We did ask to move to another table but the venue was booked out (which we knew would be the case because we have tried to book on previous occasions and knew of its popularity). This was our second visit to Toowoo, with our first experience being a very enjoyable intimate dinner at a Korean BBQ. The venue is a dark, cosy and, previously, with an intimate atmosphere. We had two severs, the younger server was very good and was sincerely apologeric when we left (apologising for the disruptive table). The other server always seemed confused and not terribly interested. Also, two of our menu items never arrived but they tried to charge us for them. We had to tell them to look at the table to see they weren't present. Because of the severe disruption we decided to leave as soon as we finished our meal and get dessert elsewhere. Watching the room, otherr diners also seemed to be affected by the disruptive table. For ourselves, during the drive home, we decided we won't be returning. There are new Korean BBQs in Box Hill that we'll be checking out. And we have other established Korean BBQs that we will return to (many of which definitely cater easily fior children but never that disruptive). It will be difficult for Toowoo to guarantee such disruption won't occur again, and an apology reply to this reply won't help especially if trying to move blame elsewhere. For the price we can get excellent quality elsewhere.

Restaurant says charcoal but uses a burner. We were the only one upstairs, and service is appalling. Waiter needs to undergo more training. Keeps looking at home. Missed my order. Overpriced item. Overall experience is bad, will not return:)

The meat is superb and thats exactly what Korean BBQ is all about, attentive staff great atmosphere and somehow they made the seating to seem very private, will go again for sure

I guess we were forgotten when we dined. The table nxt to us who arrived later were already almost done with their meal when I decided to ask if our order was still coming. I had to ask the nice waiter twice sadly. Food arrived after asking the second time but I already lost my appetite. It was supposed to be a celebration.

High end Korean BBQ experience. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and seating. The serving was small for the price but the quality of the meats were good. The pork belly trio was quite delicious and standout from the menu.
Overall a good experience

Even though we booked a table, we had to wait 30 mins. The service was absurd and they wanted to make us pay for something we did not order. Staff kept arguing and insisting that customers was wrong.

Do not go here! I’m so disgusted with the service. We had a booking about a week in advance for 7pm, arrived at 7pm and they made us wait over half an hour for our table. Served other people behind us, ignored us fir the whole time we were waiting. No apologies, no sincerity, more just annoyance that we were taking up space while waiting.

Once we finally got seated at the table, it took them ages to take our order as if they were avoiding us. The food we ordered wasn’t bad, although half the side dishes on our friends plate weren’t there. A person in our party ordered a beer and it was completely frozen, so they replaced it but tried to charge us for the frozen beer on the way out. We spent 15 minutes arguing with the manager (?) who was a rude aggressive lady, and more servers kept coming to help argue with us. When we pointed out not only was the beer frozen, but we had been waiting for over 30 minutes prior with no apologies, the young server chimed in claiming it had nothing to do with that. Yes it does, it’s the principle. They never took responsibility for their poor service, inability to organise the most basic of bookings, or their lack of proper customer service. Don’t bother going here, there’s better places with better service in Melbourne.

We had a booking at 7pm for a Mother's Day celebration and there was no table for us when we arrived as well as we were ignored at the door, in the end we were waiting for 30minutes to be seated, It was a very horrible experience. In my opinion they were just greedy to make more money on mother's Day and forgot the principle of hospitality. However the food was nice.

Well maybe there wasn't enough staff because of covid but the service was pretty bad.
We had a party of 4 so in this case you order the set menu for 2-3 and then extra meat for the 4th person.
We ordered drinks - they didn't come, then we were supposed to get an entree but no - they started cooking the main.
We asked for the entree and it came but note - two of everything!
So 2 x Prawns, 2 x kfc etc
I suppose the entree is for 2-3 people?
But even then- Do they fight over a piece of chicken?
If there is 4 people - well you get the idea.
The main meat - beef, wagyu beef, pork and pork belly was great, nice sides, pickled veg, kimchi and sauces.
But 1 x piece of corn for 4 people?
I mean 1 x round cut if a cob 2cm wide.
1 x bowl of rice - approx 2 cups for 4 people?
For the price approx $80 each -you would expect more.

Came here for the first time a year or so ago and was really good and had great quality food. Went recently and was a tad disappointed with the meat quality, maybe changed suppliers after covid? The service was still good though and menu options are great. I hope that the next time I visit will be awesome like the first time

Everything is tasty here. We have been a few times now and usually get one of the bbq sets. The beef ones are a highlight although the pork belly is very good. All the meats are juicy but still lean. The staff are attentive and take care of most of the cooking for you, so you can sit back, relax and drink soju out of a frozen pineapple

No longer charcoal.only gas. It's changed.the meat used to melt in my mouth. Still pricey. I'm wasting my money on high grade meat only to cook it poorly.

Used to be very good Korean BBQ as there weren't many options in the area or in neighbouring suburbs but now with the plethora of KBBQ options available within 15-20 minutes drive, one has to wonder if it's worth the higher prices comparatively.however, that being said, still good for the occasional kbbq meal.

A lovely first time experience at this restaurant. The food was tasty though the set menu option was a little pricey. Service was good although we were served by a trainee who consulted with his supervisor when he couldn't answer our questions about the food.

Delicious food and great ambience. Well priced for the food quality. Side dishes were amazing and unlimited. Staff are very friendly.

Only downside was staff require more attention to detail. On multiple occasions we were delivered food / drinks from other customers.

Way too expensive.for. KBBQ. Have to.pay for the lettuce which.should be included, have to pay for the soup which most give for free, and to top it off they have no cold original soju. We won't be back.

Have been here a couple of times now. The quality of the food is top notch. This is a place where traditional korean style bbq meets contemporary korean dishes.

The beef is awesome and it's so tender it just melts in your mouth. The marinade is not so sweet and has wonderful balance. The black sesame salad is sensational and refreshing. I am never disappointed with he quality of food and service received.