Ah Ssak

Great authentic korean food near our hotel at the Cordis. We shared a doslot bimbimbap, small fried chicken, pork bone soup and everything was delicious! I love the banchan side dishes, so refeshing and hearty after a long day sightseeing! Would be preferred if there was a childseat.

I have been coming to this restaurant for well over 10 years, i always look forward to coming back. Very casual and family style environment, food is fresh and it comes out quick. It will always be a must visit location when i am back in NZ. Number 1 Korean food!

The taste is average. To be honest, there are other Korean restaurants nearby, and I would recommend those more highly. Also, the chairs were soaked with water, which made for a really unpleasant experience. If I had to add one more thing, the staff don't seem particularly suited for customer service.

I loved the food here… it’s seriously underrated. The pork bone soup was amazing. I would definitely come here again.

I ordered the largest of the garlic chicken because the picture they have on display for the meal shows chicken tenders which cost $47 i have received my meal and walked home and realised it was wings drenched in sauce when the picture on the menu shows dry fried chicken tenders but i received wings soaked in sauce. I will not be going back here and I recommend anyone going there to ask to see a cook meal of what you want because you will most likely receive something completely different to want you order

A nice cosy Korean restaurant. Foods were tasty. Friendly service. By 7pm, the restaurant was almost full. Big portion of serving, ordered for 2 and needed to pack back. The restaurant not able to provide receipt.

Our family favourite Korean restaurant on Upper Queen Street. Been here many times for a long time, and always enjoyed the range of authentic and delicious Korean food. The food never disappoints, even our kids have their own favourites to order from. Side dishes to complement and must try their Korean Kimchi 👍 We will be back

Good hearty Korean food - the lady serving us had a ‘mom’ vibe, you feel like you are in her front room and she is looking after you in a caring yet understated, quiet way. The little extras that come with the food are really great - them gooey chewy potatoes! The atmosphere is noisy, cluttered and not at all chic, but for a quick, warming meal this is the spot. Most dishes have heavy sauces, fatty meats and deep fried fare, but it’s good old comfort food. The service can be VERY slow, but the family vibes make up for it.

This place is cash only and it doesn't have a sign on the front. Also the food is just okay. Honestly they know there are a ton of tourists in Auckland, you should probably put a sign that says cash only if you expect people to only pay cash. Would I recommend you to come here? Only if you're desperate like we were for late night food. And you best have NZD cash -_-. Who doesn't take card now a days? You get 1 star for the lack of convenience of the modern world.

THIS PLACE HAS THE WORST SERVICE. We were on vacation in auckland from the united states. The lady that served us barely even looked us in the face, didnt ask anything barely checked up on us and was just overall rude. We got the jelly tofu soup and 2 types of fried chicken (spicy and garlic/soy boneless). The tofu soup LITERALLY only had tofu and egg. Thats it. Idk are we spoiled in california that I expected there to be like vegetables (zucchini/enoki/etc) and meat in our tofu soup? Pretty basic and bland. The spicy chicken was alright. Nothign special. tasted okay. The garlic/soy was honestly terrrriblee. I really did not like it. It did not taste like anything and it left a bad after taste in my mouth. This place had quite a few ppl in it and koreans too that were speaking korean to each other! I really expected more. BUT HERES WHAT MADE IT ALLL THE WORSE. When we went up to pay, the sign at the REGISTER said CASH ONLY. No where, and I mean NO WHERE in the store did it ever say CASH ONLY. EXCEPT this tiny little sign in the back of the restaurant where the register was. Our bill came out to be 86NZD, and becasue we did not know this place was cash only, we only ahd 80NZD. So I told our server (that was already terrible) that we only had 80NZD. and she just kept saying NO DISCOUNT 86, NO DISCOUNT. LIKE YES. I UNDERSTAND. I am not asking for a discount, I am telling you that I only have 80NZD. Then I also told her that we have 100USD and we can pay with that if she gave us change. So she goes back and talks to someone in korean, and comes back out and says 86 NO DISCOUNT. .. .. .. SO, please tell me WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU GO BACK THERE TO SAY? All you did was come back out and tell me the exact same thing. I am not trying get a DAMN DISCOUNT. =.= So we go over the same information AGIAN. i only have 80NZD and 100USD, how do you want me to pay. So she ONCE AGAIN goes back and talks to them again in korean, and comes back out. So I ask, can you give me change for my USD, and she finally waves me away and says its fine. ALL THAT. FOR SIX FKIN BUCKS. PLEASE TELL ME UR CASH ONLY BEFORE I WALK INTO YOUR RESTAURANT.

This place is definitely not catered to korean taste. We ordered the fish cake soup and the yukhyejang. My beef soup was sweet and didn't taste authentic at all, plus it was more soup than anything; barely any vegetables. The prices were a little steep for the food you get. I'm Korea when you eat at a restaurant like this you typically get more side dishes and food.

Open from 5pm till 2am every day, Ah Ssak attracts both the diner looking for their stomachs to be replenished and the jovial drinker, eager for the taste of Korean wine and spirits. As such, the menu offers both light dishes such as fried pancakes and dumplings to absorb the soju as well as large hotpot sets (that numbered the few items over $20), which can serve three or four people. Being a brazen carnivore who admires the Korean penchant for barbecuing at any time of the year, I was disappointed to hear Ah Ssak was out of charcoal. Instead I settled for the next best thing, the perennial bulgogi (sliced barbecued pork with rice $13) whilst Kevin ordered the fried flounder with rice ($14). We also ordered the kimchi and seafood pancake ($20) for the table. The bulgogi was a surprisingly large serving of meltingly tender pork fried on a cast iron dish with a mildly spicy red sauce that was moreish and tasty. Although intended to be a single serving, I couldn't imagine one person managing to finish this alone. Kevin's dish was an impressive sight, a whole flounder that had met the deep fryer and come out crispy but not over-cooked. Our two mains came accompanied by two sets of banchan (side dishes). These consisted of kimchi (a traditional spicy, pickled and fermented cabbage that I can't get enough of), a vegetable-filled pancake dressed with a green onion and chilli dressing, pickled chilli cucumber and braised flounder with potato. They were all delicious in their own right, and paired with the barbecued pork, the two more than make a meal. The kimchi and seafood pancake arrived piping hot with crispy bits around the edges; orange in colour and filled with chopped squid, it was a well executed fritter made all the more delicious by the tangy soy and chilli dipping sauce. Our final and without a doubt best dish of the evening came in the form of fresh raw fish with vinegared vegetables and red pepper paste ($30). A specialty of Ah Ssak, the salad was a splendid mound of some of the freshest fish I've ever had, thinly sliced and tossed with shredded pear, cucumber, lettuce, cabbage, spring onion and roasted seaweed and topped with sesame seeds and a properly Korean-hot dressing that doused the salad a warm red colour.The dish was also laced with a mysterious pungent herb I had never tasted before, of which its identity evaded even the Koreans at the table. So utterly delicious was this salad that it converted Mark, a previous fish-avoider who ironically works in the seafood department of a supermarket, from no to go as far as raw fish is concerned. "That's delicious!" he cried, "It doesn't taste like fish at all!" as he went in for a second taste of this game-changing dish. Ah Ssak is a versatile restaurant with something for everyone, bridging the gap between good food and a budget.

Ah Sak I love this Korean restaurant! My girlfriend and I used to come here regularly when we lived in the apartments nearby. When you walk up Queen Street, just after Real Groovy, you enter what I can only describe as Korean town. Seriously there is like eight Korean restaurants in a row here and although I haven't been to all of them, I have been to a few, and Ah Ssak must be one of the best. I don't know how these places can compete with each other, but they seem to be doing just fine as there are always people dining in around here. Anyway this place has the best Korean style barbeque dishes, my personal favourite being the beef. Very good prices too, especially for the amount of food that you receive. The elderly lady here never looks all that impressed to serve me, but maybe she's just sick of seeing my face all the time.

Pork bone soup was really flavorful and the pork bone was huge. Can't go wrong here! It's quiet busy so the service may be slow but we'll worth it.

Best Korean food I've had since living in Korea for a year 15 years ago. Full Five stars! There are many Asian restaurants in this area, but this one is the best. Note: limited English, but spoken well enough to get by and they serve Soju ;-) Enjoy!

Awesome bbq pork and chicken. Best kimchi I've had. All condiments delicious. Very busy but well worth it.

Friendly staff and delicious Korean food! Will definitely be coming back.

Recommend the bibimbap and soondooboo. I personally liked the bimbimbap more. I felt that the soondooboo could be further enhanced by adding a greater variety of ingredients such as more exotic vegetables. My soup felt a tad limited in that the primary ingredient felt a tad limited to tofu. I liked that the flavor tasted very authentic. I felt the location was in a relatively hip part of town and easily accessibly by pedestrians. Our waitress delivered kim chee dishes which were also tasty too. Service was good in that she refilled our favorites without much prompting. Overall, I give this restaurant a thumbs up as we saw locals and tourists here.

The BEST fried chicken in Auckland. So good that I have dreams about their fried chicken. A half chicken order of the regular fried chicken and a half order of the spicy fried chicken is the perfect amount for three hungry people (or two very hungry people).