ATTO Korean Cuisine

If you needed another sign that the Northern Gold Coast is levelling up its restaurant scene, the opening of ATTO Korean Cuisine is certainly it. Located in Chirn Park, this pocket-sized modern Korean joint might be small but its culinary offerings are mighty. 

Translating to ‘gift’ in Korean, ATTO is the handiwork of talented chef Yongsul Lee, also known as Stefano. Stefano has cut his teeth working in some of Sydney and Queensland’s most highly regarded restaurants, including Apollo, hôntô, Rick Shores and Etsu Izakaya. So yes, his resume is impressive. 

Stefano’s skill and passion for showcasing traditional Korean cuisine shine through in the creative menu. It’s a bold fusion of tradition and modernity—call it an ode to Stefano’s childhood growing up in Korea; or perhaps a nod to his mother’s traditional recipes, many of which feature on the menu.

Swing by for lunch and you can take your pick from four set lunch menus; wok-fried intercostal beef, salmon with Doenjang glaze (Korean soybean paste), spicy sizzling pan-fried chicken with mozzarella or wok-fried baby king brown mushrooms. 

All of the lunch set menus are loaded up with a main, three side dishes—radish kimchi, baked egg and fried silken tofu—and soup and rice. We promise it’s worth saving room for the impressive Mango Bingsu dessert, which is a tantalising combination of shave icecream, dulce de leche, mango and toasted lime meringue. It’s almost like an innovative twist on a mango Weis Bar, and we can confirm it’s damn delicious.

The dinner menu is all about the unexpected—creative takes on traditional Korean dishes you thought you knew, but with an ATTO twist. The Yookhwe with Black Angus skirt raw beef, Korean pear, cucumber, perilla leaf and crispy quinoa is as beautiful as it is delicious and the fried eggplant with grapefruit and spring onion is unlike any fried eggplant we’ve encountered. Read: order the eggplant.

Other dinner stars include the Saengseon Gui-l Grilled Fish with charcoal-grilled half-filleted baby snapper, the Bossam with braised pork belly, the charcoal-grilled Moreton Bay bug and the Sundubu jjigae—a Korean spicy soft tofu stew loaded with beef and enoki mushrooms. 

ATTO is fully licensed with a carefully curated beverage list to complement the dishes—wines, beers and traditional Korean beverages are all on the cards. The handmade sparkling fruit juice is also not to be missed.

Consider this your sign to pull up a chair at ATTO Korean Cuisine, stat. Book here.

Image Credit: ATTO Korean Cuisine | Instagram