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 [...]]]> 100 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
( Show on map )

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!

I love finding great food served in bizarre and hidden away restaurants, and they don’t come any more bizarre or hidden away than Han Guuk Guan Korean/Chinese Restaurant. The official address is 13a Victoria Street (near Exhibition) but it’s not easy [...]]]> 13a Victoria Street, Melbourne
Phone (03) 9639 1747

I love finding great food served in bizarre and hidden away restaurants, and they don’t come any more bizarre or hidden away than Han Guuk Guan Korean/Chinese Restaurant. The official address is 13a Victoria Street (near Exhibition) but it’s not easy to spot from the street, as it’s wedged in an alcove in between office buildings and a carpark. Their takeaway menu offered the following helpful instructions: “Opposite the Anti Cancer Council, and diagonally opposite from the royal exhibition gardens!” I’ve passed this place many times and have been meaning to try it. We finally decided to take the plunge today for lunch after reading blogs that raved about their specialty, Ja Jung Meon (black bean noodles).

The building that the Han is housed in is an attractive teal coloured structure that looked as if it could have been a pub in a previous guise. We walked into a flourescent-lit space dominated by lashings of pinewood, with tables set-up for the requisite Korean BBQ. The bizarreness continued with a barbershop-style sterilizer box, complete with blue light, that housed coffee/tea cups. Stairs led up to presumably another dining area, and a pinewood wall concealed the kitchen, where some intent vegetable chopping could be heard above the blaring K-Pop. A modern space this ain’t; Han was more like a Korean-style greasey spoon.

There was nothing bizarre at all about the menu, which listed authentic sounding Korean/Chinese dishes which we later found out were generous in serving size and uncompromising in flavour. Prices for lunch were also ridiculously cheap at around the $8 mark. The a la carte was extensive, and for a limited time, BBQ was apparently half-price on Mondays.

We shared some Guhn Mahn Du: deep fried dumplings served with a special sauce ($8 for 8). The half moon-shaped dumplings were very tasty. The filling was an interesting combination of pork, veg and some (maybe) mung bean threads, which resembled the insides of a tauntaun when Han (this time Solo) sliced one open in the opening scenes of The Empire Strikes Back. The dumplings were delicious, especially when dipped into the spicy, garlicky soy sauce that came with it.

Mel’s Bib Bim Bub ($8) was a hearty bowl of plain rice topped with shredded beef, fresh cucumber, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, fried egg and, unusually, konnyaku. Unfortunately a dolsot version was not available – so no crunchy rice bits to be had here – but it was nevertheless tasty, especially when the piquant Bub sauce was mooshed into the rice.

I had to try the Ja Jung Meon (you guessed it: $8), which was very popular, as many of the predominantly Asian student patrons were also ordering it. Thin boiled white wheat flour noodles were topped with julienned cucumber and a dark, salty and smokey black bean sauce filled with finely diced veggies, pork and diced potato. The sauce was rich and smokey, with almost a wok hei flavour. It was a huge serve and difficult to eat with the blasted metal chopsticks, but it was also bloody tasty! Apparently Ja Jung Meon is one of the national foods of South Korea, which makes me want to learn more about this cuisine that remains such a relatively unknown quantity here in Melbourne.

As per usual, the meal was accompanied by kim chi and pickles. The kim chi was fiery and garlicky, and we also loved the braised potato and konyaku.

Han Guuk Guan seems to be quite an authentic Korean eatery. It’s certainly good value, and we’ll definitely be back to try more Korean goodness from this quirky little spot.

Melbourne Hwaro Korean Barbecue is a very likeable dining experience.  Sitting on Little Bourke St down the Spencer side of town, it is all subdued lighting, dark timbers and industrialness. But it is also relaxed, buzzy, and filled with a [...]]]> 562 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
Phone 03 9642 5696

Melbourne Hwaro Korean Barbecue is a very likeable dining experience.  Sitting on Little Bourke St down the Spencer side of town, it is all subdued lighting, dark timbers and industrialness. But it is also relaxed, buzzy, and filled with a healthy dose of barbecue smoke.

One cannot commence a Korean feast without the obligatory kimchi. Apparently the Kimchi Museum (yes, there is one) has documented around 187 different types of kimchi!

We started with some blanched bean sprouts heady with sesame and salt, squares of eggy omelette, and fermented baechu (cabbage) not shy on the chilli.

This banchan (side dish) is a particular favourite of mine, although I’m not really sure what it’s called.  The beans are rather firm to the tooth, and slathered with a sweet, sticky soy sauce.

Sliced spring onions dressed with a little chilli. This is used later with cups of iceberg lettuce to wrap cooked slices of meat before eating.

And the meat.  To the left, chicken thigh marinated in chilli, a light soy and lots of sesame oil.  To the right, a big slab of marbeled beef.

And this is how you cook it – on a grate right over hot coals.  An extraction fan sits about twenty centimetres from the cooking area to suck up all the smokiness, hence the big black shadow in the middle of the meat.

A variety of dipping sauces are also used.  My favourite – sesame oil with salt flakes.  Mmm.

We also shared a seafood pancake/omelette – prawns, squid tentacles and mussles.  A light salty dipping sauce helped to cut through the oil.

Then to dessert – black sesame ice-cream, hundreds and thousands, and salty savoy crackers. I’m not joshing – the combination actually works!

Vora Cafe is an unusual little Korean place that sits quietly and without much fuss on Hardware Street. EG and I had walked past it many times but had never felt drawn in. To be honest, if often looked [...]]]> 120 Hardware Street, Melbourne
Phone 03 9670 2008

***THIS CAFE HAS NOW CLOSED***

Vora Cafe is an unusual little Korean place that sits quietly and without much fuss on Hardware Street. EG and I had walked past it many times but had never felt drawn in. To be honest, if often looked quite dead. From the street you look through the front door to a darkened kitchen, and to the right in even more subdued lighting was a dining area that occasionally supported a smattering of economising Korean students. Nonetheless, it was a place that intrigued us, and after many months, we decided to try it out.

We kicked off the meal with some passably good gyoza – pan fried dumplings filled with minced pork and vegetables that came with a lightish dipping sauce. They were a teeny bit on the oily side.

I chose the dolsot bibimbap – rice served in a hot stone bowl with a selection of vegeables and kim chi (pickles), topped with a sunny side up egg. All the ingredients were wonderfully fresh, and the kim chi straddled the sweet / sour / hot balance quite nicely.

EG chose the seafood kimchi soup – a hot pot of viciously red liquid packed full of cabbage chards of and seafood mix. It was not overly spicy, but still very flavoursome. The seafood was well cooked and the dish came with a bowl of steamed rice.

Service was friendly enough; you order at the counter before taking a seat and they bring out the food to you. The dining room too is not so bad when you sit down, although there is still something a little unsettling about the chi of the place. It more feels like a place to be fed (ie. an eat and run), as opposed to a place to kick back and relax for a good meal with mates. But it’s cheap and offers passable Korean fare.

Sake Bar Kura is quirky little hidey-hole restaurant located at the end of a derelict laneway (Malthouse) which runs off another lane (Flinders). The industrial/rustic Japanese entrance, complete with sauna-like cladding and kooky sake barrel, seems kind of surprising in the environment. Which I guess [...]]]> 1 Malthouse Lane, Melbourne
Phone (03) 9654 7454

Sake Bar Kura is quirky little hidey-hole restaurant located at the end of a derelict laneway (Malthouse) which runs off another lane (Flinders). The industrial/rustic Japanese entrance, complete with sauna-like cladding and kooky sake barrel, seems kind of surprising in the environment. Which I guess is one of the reasons this eatery is quite popular with the white collar lunch brigade.

The lunch set menu ($15) consists of pickled vegetables, entree of the day, grilled or fried fish, miso soup, main dish (13 to choose from) and fruit. I think that $15 is a reasonable price to pay for such a selection, but perhaps it is just a tad over what I would normally spend for lunch on a regular work day (I usually aim in the $6 to $10 bracket).

The venue itself is rather funky. The timber cladding on the outside follows inside to some very rustic (and extremely heavy) tables and bench seats. A certain amount of design has been influenced by Japanese aesthetic, partnering clean lines with natural elements such as a faux slate walls and bamboo featurettes. A little technosavvy device on the table will alert staff when you need them, which I initially thought was rather neat, yet felt reluctant to exercise. Call me old fashioned, but I like the game of catching the waiters eye when they wizz past.

But let’s get down to it – the food. Today the lunch set included pickled zucchini and daikon, a meat ball with braised fennel, and deep fried fish/prawn ball. Of the three, the deep fried fish/prawn ball was probably my favourite, but then that old adage of “deep frying leading to goodness” is never far wrong. Personally, I think the pickled veg could have had more pickle about them – the flavour just vaguely dabbled in sweet and sour.

I chose the Katsudon for my main – a panko crumbed pork fillet served with a demiglass (sic) sauce on cabbage and rice. The pork itself was wonderfully tender and juicy, but what really added interest was the demi-glace. Past experience of katsudon sauce has been a dark brown worcestershire-like brew. But this one was full of the taste of tomato and was very very picquant (vinegary?). It really was quite interesting. I don’t know how traditional it is (and to be perfectly honest, this sauce was far from being demi-glace as I know it), though I have read that the Okayama version of the dish uses this style of sauce.

EG went the attractively plated Sashimi don – slices of fresh salmon, tuna and kingfish with wasabi, ginger and soy on rice. As you can see it was attractively plated (…though I still think you can’t beat the ridiculously cheap sashi don at Don Don), and the fish was wonderfully fresh. The warmth of the rice beneath went to warming the raw fish on top.

To finish, we were given a quarter of an orange. Yup. One quarter. Obviously $15 doesn’t allow for much more than that . Oh, and another puzzling thing. We ordered green tea and were given two western style cups with a green tea bag in it. What the?!? This just didn’t make sense. Once again, call me old fashioned, but what the heck happened to teapots?

So whilst the food was somewhat interesting, I think it misses the mark in some areas. It would do well to foster the location with some more interesting, inventive and value for money food. And teapots. Yeah. That would do it.