Obar Snack (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)

Every university student in Auckland City knows OBar, in fact I discovered this place becuase of my daughter, it is the usual hang out for most Asian students in the city. Obar is quite popular with its dinner service and I was fortunate enough to have tried it three times already, a very inviting place and you will understand why when you pass by Chancery Square at night and see all of those rectangular hot pots boiling on the middle of the Al Fresco table. Obar Snack on the other hand is nothing similar to their dinner service, taking inspiration from the lunch spots in South Korea called Gimbap Chunguk, this place is meant for those who want to grab a delicious and filling quick lunch, so there are no hot spots at lunchtime.

Obar Snack offers three main items for lunch which I like since it reduces the stress of searching endless menus on what to eat, but having said that if you want more or change some elements of the order, it is highly possible as they offer to customize it to your liking and also have some side dishes that you can add. The three items are as simple as Gimbap & Tteokbokki, Gimbap & Ramen and Gimbap & Dumpling & Chicken. From there you can customize what gimbap you want and even choose a spice level, what’s even better is that you don’t have to talk to somebody in doing this as they give you a reusable order sheet to tick items you want. Great system but there is one flaw, if you want two of each then you can’t do it on the same sheet, you will need to ask for another one. Great for individuals or couples but not as a group.

Obviously, we came here for a lunch as Obar Snack is only open during that time, and like Obar you can dine in Al Fresco style. We tried two of their offering the Gimbap & Tteokbokki (NZ$15.50)

and a couple of Gimbap & Dumpling & Chicken (NZ$18.90), for this we grabbed the two different customization options which is the normal fried chicken and the spicy one.

for gimbaps we opted for beef and pork, but they offer it in five different fillings, the others are Spam, ham and tuna. Gimbap for those who haven’t tried it, might think it’s a sushi, well sort of but this is the Korean version, so after one bite you will notice the difference. Instead of a sweet-sour rice of the sushi, this one has sesame notes and no raw fish, instead tasty meats are used.

we also grabbed some Chicken Rice (NZ$14.95), basically similar chicken offered on the Gimbap & Dumpling & Chicken but with rice instead, for this order we grabbed seasoning sauce which is the middle ground of spicy and mild.

Then the extra Rose Tteokbokki (NZ$11.95), basically a Tteokbokki but creamy, so if you are not into spicy food, this is the best thing to order if you want to try these looking sticks that look like sausages which are actually rice cakes which has a very nice chewy texture. Tteokbokki is usually sweet and spicy this one on the other hand is cheesy, creamy, a bit spicy and savoury.

Cheese ball (NZ$5.95)

Kimchi (NZ$1.50)

and Fried Seaweed Glass Noodles (NZ$7.90)

It was a lot of food, in fact with the three main options, one order can serve two people specially that Gimbap & Dumpling & Chicken.

Food was good, chicken was definitely the star, still crispy even though it was slathered with sauce. The gimbap was great, quite tasty as well. Cheese balls was another one of my favourites, a nice entree bite which was gooey inside. But my favourite one was the Rose Tteokbokki, that sauce was stunning, it was so good we dipped everything on it, making the gimbap and chicken even better. The Fried Seaweed Glass Noodles tasted a bit average, not much flavours on it. The let-down was the Normal Tteokbokki which was quite watery and the fried dumplings which tasted like the frozen ones you get from the supermarket.

Overall, it was good, and for a very affordable price, I now understand why this is popular with university students. Service was quick, presentation was nice, and the place was lit!

OBar Snack
Address: 7 Bacons Lane Unit 114B, 15 Chancery Street Auckland, Auckland, CBD 1010, New Zealand
Phone: +649 217 3524
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obarsnackbar