Il Mee

It was a cold, rainy evening. Night was fast settling in when we entered Il Mee at the top of Queen street. It’s a cute wee restaurant with wallpaper covered in little Korean characters, ornamental window frames, and a range of little pictures and plants (including a couple of random All Blacks posters).

The menus were easy to digest and we found our way around them easily. Pictures are a great helper for this.

There were a few other diners which made the place feel lovely and the TV in the background echoed the New Zealand music charts. Would have been more authentic if it were K-Pop, though it was still a good vibe.

We ordered a Spicy pork and kimchi dish, and something we’ve never got before at a Korean restaurant – fried shrimp.

The side dishes came out fast with our beer and soju which was great. The kimchi was huge, like massive, fat pieces! However the taste wasn’t amazing and pretty much just tasted like bland cabbage covered in a bit of sauce.

Giant kimichi cabbage pieces

The main dishes arrived shortly after and were delicious. The kimchi dish came with some large lumps of tofu on the side which Anna particularly enjoyed.

Lovely tofu pieces adorn the dish

Then came our fried shrimps. These were fried in breadcrumbs and came with a side of soy sauce. They tasted nice but we’re nothing special and were not at all Korean but quite nice for a change.

Fried shrimp was a first for us

Modest price for what we ordered.