One of the foreseeable results of the flood of Korean BBQ restaurants in 2025 was inevitability the fact that the less popular establishments that were unable to compete with the shiny new options eventually had to close. One such example was unfortunately Midam, which I had been frequenting since high school. In it's place Park Bong Sook opened their first Queensland branch. Originating in Sydney, they've now opened stores across Victoria and South Australia. As a fairly established chain across Australia, I was very keen to try them out.
Opting for a quick weeknight dinner, I made enquiries about booking, as I heard they were a bit busy but apparently they don't take bookings and it's a walk in basis only. Arriving at 7pm on a Tuesday, it was fairly packed but we were seated in 20 minutes.
As with most modern restaurants there were no paper menus provided. All ordering was done via the QR code, with the option to either pay online (with extra surcharge) or at the counter. The menu was fairly standard Korean fare, with a selection of soups, rice, noodles and fried chicken. Prices were a bit more expensive than average but not to the point of being unreasonable.
My point about the price was soon addressed when a huge selection of banchan arrived on our table. Highlights for us included the japchae, crab salad and quail eggs which we really liked. The others were of fairly average quality, but the variety and the unlimited option to refill was very impressive.
Having asked some friends who visited recently for recommendations, I was told to get the seafood pancake. It's not usually a pick of mine but I took the leap of faith and ordered it and I was not disappointed. It was more of a deep fried pancake than a pan fried pancake and this was reflected in how crispy it was. It was also very generous in how much seafood was in the pancake. Usually seafood pancake is still flour heavy and with only a small amount of seafood mix. This was instead an assortment of fish, calamari, prawns and some veggies, bound together in a light tempura batter, making it definitely superior in terms of pancakes.
Comparatively, the Beef Rib Soup was not as attractive. I think Itaewon and Queen's Bapsang have set the bar really high for me but this was a very average rendition. The soup was beefy but not as much as the others and the beef rib was still a little more chewy than I would have liked it. The size of the rib was also definitely not comparable to the ones offered at Queens Bapsang. I probably wouldn't order this again on a return visit.
Our last dish was a full size serve of Korean Fried Chicken. We opted for original flavour as I'm not a huge fan of saucy chicken. The plate was massive and it was served with a side of dipping sauce and coleslaw. It was crispy but also on the harder side and the chicken wasn't as seasoned as I would have liked. It wasn't bad but definitely not a stand out Korean Fried Chicken.
I didn't mind the experience at PBS. All the dishes were solid and although not everything stood out as the best in its field, it was still delicious and I would definitely be interested in a return visit to try the other dishes.
Price Range: $25 - $35pp
Taste: 8/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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