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100 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
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I don’t have any scientific evidence, but I’m pretty sure that Asian people have a genetic predisposition to fried chicken. I know I do. One of my secret shames when my better half goes interstate for work is to head straight down to the local Colonel Sanders’ for a 3-piece feed of the “dirty bird”. I don’t know what it is that makes fried chicken so irresistible to me. I guess it’s deep fried for starters, which makes even sponge taste good. Plus it’s salty, MSG-laden and fatty – all the ingredients for umami good times.
I love it that many countries have their own version of fried chicken: from the well-known southern fried chicken from the US and Japan’s Tori No Kaarage, to Italy’s Pollo Fritto and Cantonese crispy skin chicken. Hell, even Australia has her Chicken Parma. Korean is another cuisine that has an excellent version of fried chicken, and there are many eateries in Melbourne town that offers KFC (Korean Fried Chicken).
Gami is a one such new place at the quiet end of Little Lonsdale Street, in the space that was formerly Pik-a-Pasta. What I love is the sign out front that says Chicken and Beer, a clear and simple proclamation of their specialty. And yes, I did nearly come in my pants when I first saw it 
The place is quite small and still looked a lot like the old Pik-a-Pasta, with a fresh coat of paint. A glass encased section allowed views of the deep fryers at work. When we first arrived, it was completely empty but filled up very quickly; all patrons were Asian. They also did a brisk takeaway trade, with a few people popping in and leaving with their box of deep fried goodness.
Korean bottled beers are available, as well as two beers on tap – Blue Tongue and the house Korean beer, which is also called Gami. On arrival, we were given complimentary bowls of prawn cracker twisties and cubed pickled radish. The small beer-friendly menu does offer items other than fried chicken, like tteokbokki, but the KFC takes the bill of fare, with several variations available, including original, doused in garlic and chilli sauce, and even deep fried chicken gizzards.
We started with some cheese and corn. Arriving in a pan resembling a saganaki, how can you go wrong with sweet canned corn layered with melted commercial cheese? It was very tasty!
Then came the piece de resistance. For $27, I didn’t count how many pieces we got but it looked like the whole chicken to me. With the first bite, I was in deep fried heaven. The batter was crispy and crunchy, and the meat was juicy and moist underneath – so delicious! I would describe the texture as being like KFC Hot & Spicy, but without the spiciness. In fact, don’t expect any 11 herbs and spices with the original flavour. The chicken actually lacked no seasoning whatsoever, which you then augment to taste by dipping into salt, sweet chilli sauce or hot sauce. I like this method of customisation, instead of the salt/MSG overload of other fried chickens. Another impressive thing was the way the pieces were cut; all of them had the appropriate proportion of meat and bone. The chicken was accompanied by a plate of raw cabbage dressed with tomato sauce and thousand island dressing (!).
There were a few quirks though, including smaltzy K-Pop blaring over the speakers, and a bottle of Listerine in the toilets, perhaps for cleansing one’s breath after eating the chicken with the garlicky marinade?
Despite this, I highly recommend Gami. Super fried chicken, accompanied by beers – it’s the perfect combination!
Nah…don’t worry, this isn’t another post from my travels in Japan. In fact, this is about a little market stall selling snacky Japanese pancakes in our very own Melbourne! Just to refresh your memory, imagawayaki are small Japanese pancakes stuffed with a variety of fillings, such as red bean paste or custard. You can read about my imagawayaki love in Japan here.
I first heard about JS Taikayaki at the Mornington Racecourse Market over at Tori Eats. After tweeting my excitement, I recruited the likes of @ElegantGourmand and @essjayeff from essjayeats into a trip to check it out. As a side note, I was quite impressed with the market at Mornington. It was part craft market, part farmers market, part foodie market. Lots of interesting things to tempt the wallet (and waistline).
Anyway, here is the imagawayaki maker, doing things a little differently to what I saw in Japan. Yes, he is using a piping bag! But with a selection of both sweet and savoury imagawayaki, there is surely something to satisfy. Personally, the thought of a tuna imagawayaki just does my head in, so I’m pleased to report there is a good variety of the sweet stuff.
ElegantGourmand and I couldn’t resist the green tea and red bean imagawayaki, and @essjayeff chose strawberries and cream. Here they are in their little baggie, hot and crunchy from the grill.
And here is the drool shot. A fragrant maccha batter stuffed with honest-to-goodness sweetened red bean paste. Oishisoo!
6/340 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Phone (03) 9670 7113
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We all know about Don Too, the slicker more grown up sibling of the grungy Don Don. Don Too does a roaring lunch trade, but many a time I have lamented the fact that it’s not open for dinner, particularly when Japanese cravings ensue. To utilise such a wasted opportunity, Mellie and I have often thought what a great idea it would be to hire Don Too out and put on renegade ramen nights. I mean, it’s got the perfect set up: a big modern kitchen and funky noodle-friendly interior.
Well, Don Too’s owners must be telepathic, for they have indeed now opened for dinner, and in a somewhat brave move are serving only ramen. Yes folks, imagine my reaction when I first saw the sign on their window. I damn near came in my pants!
As ramen tragics, we just had to try it out ASAP. There was trepidation when we walked into the completely empty cafe with bebop jazz blaring a little too loudly on the stereo. The spider sense was tingling even further when we spied Laksa Ramen on the menu. Laksa Ramen? Surely a travesty! Nevertheless we persisted, and was very glad we did.
We started with some very nice gyoza – nicely grilled parcels of garlicky and gingery pork filling with a beautiful caramelised bottom. Dipped into the vinegar soy, they were so delicious, especially when washed down with a $5 Asahi.
Then came the piece de resistance. Our first impressions were: wow, look at the egg with a googly soft centre! An essential element of Japanese ramen, the googly egg is almost never done right in Japanese restaurants in Melbourne, who tend to hard boil the crap out of the egg. Big brownie points to Don Too for the egg.
One slurp of my charshu ramen revealed a tasty broth that was quite delicate but with a very nice depth of flavour. Not as fatty as I would have liked it, but neverthless a fine broth redolent with a slight hint of garlic. The noodles were absolutely superb, and the highlight of the dish for me. They were not overcooked, retained a great bite and were eminently slurpable. The generous slices of charshu were very tasty but again, not fatty enough for my liking. Mellie loved the charshu though. The egg was salty and superb, well cooked and seemingly braised in the same liquor as the charshu. The crispy bean sprouts and broccoli were a nice healthy touch.
They also serve the ramen with a little ball of bum-searingly hot chilli (well, we’ll know tomorrow won’t we), that I think is part red miso, part dried chilli flakes. A great addition to heat up the stock base.
Mellie had the miso ramen and I must confess, she had the winning broth. I really love the unctious miso flavour that was more robust than the charshu ramen. Mellie has actually declared that it’s her best ramen in Melbourne! Being a discriminating ramen eater, that’s quite a compliment.
Is it the best ramen in town for me? It certainly comes very very close. I love the fact that they only serve ramen, and have come up with a version that’s tasty, flavoursome and cooked with care. It’s not as authentic as the ramen in Japan, but it’s certainly a winner for me, and especially when they’re right on our block!
275 Exhibition Street, Melbourne
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Looky at what Trunk has gone and done. Some bright spark had the idea of using the space that is otherwise the lets-get-tanked-outdoors drinking area, and turn it into a hipsterdooferish American Diner. That’s right, coffee and pastries, salads and baguettes, burgers and beers, in a plastic curtain clad, heated…er…car port. But it is a superdooper car port with light features and a few wooden crates for designer effect!
Jesting aside, it does have a touch of ubercool about it, and I must give props to the sign writer. Love his work.
Anyway, here is where it gets interesting. This is the wagyu burger ($10) – a tightly packed puck of juicy flame-grilled beef on a toasted brioche bun, with cos lettuce, tomato, onion and house made pickled zucchini. I chose to pimp my ride with a slice of gruyere ($1.50), and a side of fries ($3), although other pimps include a variety of cheeses, grilled onions, jalapeno or crispy bacon. I like the way they plate it up too, paying homage to “diner” fare of old; instead of a metal tray with a plastic chips basket, you get a lacquered wooden tray with palm leaf bio platter. Must give props to the zucchini pickle too – it was awesome and I want the recipe.
A range of condiments awaits your saucing pleasure; brown barbecue, tomato ketchup (and a thick one at that), and two types of habanero chilli sauce, red and green. We watched in horror as the guy at the next table squirted the incendiary-hot green chilli sauce all over his chips like it was ketchup!
Trunk Diner is open for brekky and lunch, and I’m looking forward to trying out a few more of their dishes, especially the breakfast waffles with grilled bananas, hazelnuts and maple syrup. The also have a neat range of naffy snacks at the counter, such as caramel corn, juicy raspberries jellies and Junior Mints. Ooh, this is all sounding rather fun!
I’ll be back.
This post is wholly inspired by the lovely @essjayeff, who over at her blog essjayeats, threw out a challenge to delve into the depths of ones freezer to see what treasures can be found (that were perhaps forgotten).
So troops, what can I make out of this?
1. 1lt anchovy and soy bean stock (made by EG’s Mum)
2. 2 x fish cakes
3. 10 x fish balls
4. 2 x kingfish fillets
5. 6 slices of brioche (I’m thinking some fried breakfast brioche, @HardwareSociete style)
6. 3 x Milawa Chicken Thighs, skin on
7. 300ml chicken stock (made by @essjayeff)
8. About half a tin of leftover organic tinned tomatoes
9. Frozen durian
10. 1 whole smoked trout
11. Half a loaf of multigrain sourdough
12. 300g prepared turtle beans (made by me, Mexican style)
13. 250ml red wine
14. “Gypsy Pig” pinenut and rocket pork sausages
15. 200ml coconut cream
16. Udon noodles
17. Bean curd puffs
18. Dried shrimp (about a cup)
19. Ginger
20. Kaffir Lime Leaves
21. 2 x parmesan rinds
22. Spring onions, diced
23. Red chillies
Ahem. A rather mixed bag of Italian and Singaporean ingredients, huh?
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