Mr Miyagi

Mr Miyagi has become the talk of town in the last year or so. It popped up a few years ago and first caught my attention at the Night Noodle Markets, I have always been wanting to try the restaurant but due to the wait for a table (think 2 hours) unless you show up at 5.30pm, it has put me off until recently. As of late, I have been working hard and put myself in a vicious cycle of eating the same thing, same place and keep working so it was time to change that.

On a Friday night when D and I weren't all that hungry and was eager to try something different, we finally walked up Chapel Street and put our names down. We got there around 9.00pm (hoping it meant a shorter wait and it worked), at 10.00pm we were finally sitting down on a table. The staff were lovely from the moment we set foot into the place.

As soon as we sat down we were given menus and explained to us how the menu worked. Since it was our first time to Mr Miyagi, they ran through all the favorites and recommended a few more. Since we were starving at this point, we got our orders in quickly.

First up was the Nori Tacos. This was easily my favorite dish of the night. Think tacos but swap the corn shell for a seaweed shell and fill it with rice, salmon belly, spicy napa cabbage (kind of like kimchi), chilli mayo. The result is a mind blowing awesome taco where you just don't want to share. The spicy cabbage with salmon was a great bite then followed with the chilli mayo, it gave just enough creaminess to balance out the spice. If you come here, you must order this.

Second was Kingfish Ceviche. Kingfish cured in grapefruit and cucumber then finished with red sorrel, coconut panna cotta and ginger dressing. Maybe I am getting picky these days (as ceviche is quite a common dish now in fusion restaurant), I just wasn't wow'ed by this dish. The fish was cured perfectly but the cucumber pairing was a bit disappointing for me. I expected something more explosive in terms of flavour.

Third up was the Cracked Corn on Stick. This was a corn cob covered in corn crunch and miso butter. I never realized corned covered in more crunchy corn would be so good. The bbq flavour in the corn crunch mixed in with the miso butter made this quite the snack. I would happily sit in front of the tv with a cob or two of these.

Forth was the Tuna Tataki Pizza. I honestly had no idea what to expect with this one. It came as seared tuna on flat bread with heirloom tomatoes, jalapenos and finished with yuzu Caesar sauce. All those things don't sound like they belong together as a pizza but somehow it worked. The lightness in the fish made the punchy tomato, yuzu caesar sauce work well together, then to finish it off with the pinch of spiciness from the jalapenos.

Fifth was MFC, also known as Miyagi Fried Chicken. This was the main reason that D wanted to come here. Glorious seasoned fried chicken, served with kewpi mayo. The outside was crisp and tasty, inside the chicken was just right. It was damn good is the only way I can sum it up.

Sixth was Black Pig Gyoza. This was black pig filling with a thin skin that was lightly pan-fried and served with ginger soy. It was a bit on the salty side but still enjoyable.

Seventh was Steam Pork Buns. This came deconstrated, there was 12 hour pulled pork,
pickled pumpkin, cucumber and ginger. All that was to go into a soft steamed bun. This was more on the spicy side. I struggled with the heat but D took it find. The elements had an explosion of flavour, if it was less spicy, I would have happily eaten a whole plate to myself.

Lastly dessert, I had no room but the friendly waitress convinced me. We got the Pumpkin Toast, which as the name suggest is pumpkin toast served with white chocolate ganache, large chunks of honeycomb, yoghurt sorbet and spiced pumpkin ice cream. This was one big dessert with heaps to offer. I would suggest you share with someone. There all the elements on the plate, from soft to warm and sticky to creamy.

Overall 17.5/20 I was very impressed with Mr Miyagi, it exceeded my expectations. The nori tacos and MFC left a lasting impression. Coupled with exceptional service it was the perfect night out. If the wait wasn't that long, I would happily make this a regular place to visit.


 

Oppa Kitchen

When I was in NJ, I remember scrolling on instagram and seeing these very interesting Korean dishes serves in wooden bucket bowls and then over the next few days, it popped up a few more times. Being depraved of Korean food and stuck in the cold, those photos made me salivate and I was determined to try this place once I was back in Melbourne. Lucky for me Miss P loves Korean food and when I told R and K about it, they were also interested to try. So Mario, K, R, Miss P, Bear and I set out to a Korean adventure. Oppa is located on Swanston Street so it was easy to find.

We got there around 7.30pm and had to wait for a table for 6, we were told a 15 minute wait, which we didn't mind so we waited. After 20 minutes they called our table and we went upstairs, only to find they had given us a 4 +2 table (on different ends of the room) which was not we wanted, and much to our annoyance we were told in order to sit together we had to wait further  20- 30 minutes. At this point was I fuming already, they have been giving away 2 people and 4 people tables to people who put their name down after us. In the end we had to wait a further 15 minutes before we got a table where we could sit together.

The menu wasn't designed to be shared but it doesn't really stop us. We got fried chicken to share and some small plates to start. We got the boneless original, honey soy and sweet and spicy KFC. The KFC were served with a side of Korean coleslaw and came with pickled cucumber, potato wedges and fried rice cakes. The original KFC was just fried chicken and more on the bland side. It was fried well but it needed more seasoning. 

The sweet and spicy KFC was a typical sweet chilli sauce. I liked this sauce with the fried rice cake. I liked this better than the original KFC as it packed a small kick with the spice level.

The honey soy was the most interesting KFC out of the lot, this was purely due to the fact it was the most saucy KFC. 

There was also gyoza and doppoki. Nothing to comment here, both was average, as you would expect from a Korean fast food restaurant.

Meal buckets was what we came for so we got a few to share so we could try more things. The first meal bucket was the pork belly. Miss P picked this one and it wasn't a bad choice. The grilled pork belly was tender and came well marinated. 

K picked beef bulgogi, this is a classic in Korean food and generally a favourite on the table. Oppa Kitchen's beef bulgogi had the same classic taste but the beef was slightly overcooked and dry. We found that there wasn't quite enough meat to go with the rice either.

I picked the Korean beef meal bucket, this came with sliced beef which was served in a sweet barbecue marinate. Personally I like this the best out of all the meal buckets, the meat was tender and the sauce was just right.

Overall 12/20 I think this place has a novelty appeal with the bucket rice presentation, but overall I think the food is more target to be a fast food place. I think it make good student meals and a good after uni feed.  Taking into account the wait time and service, I don't think it would be a place that I would specifically visit again. Would I visit if I was in the area and there was no wait? YES. Would I specifically go there? Maybe not

Kong BBQ

What do I like to do on a Friday after work? Eat of course! So last Friday was not any different. With my usual dining buddies D and K, we decided to hit up Kong. It was not my first time there but it was definitely going to be a different experience as previous times were for lunch, this time I had the power to order a lot more since there as more people to share it with (yes I eat a lot and lucky for me, so does D and K).

K and I each got a drink. I opted for the coconut slush which had watermelon, apple with refreshing coconut. K got the popcorn tea and said it was very average.

To start we got the mandhu which is a steamed Korean dumpling with waygu and kimchi served with soy vinegar. I had to say, this was disappointing, I felt the dumplings would have been better fried. The skin was lovely and soft and as was everything else, so it was a bit too mushy. The filling flavour was great but it lacked that solid factor or a small  crisp to it.

Next was the nasu miso which was eggplant pieces served on ice berg lettuce with yuzu, sesame and chervil. I like the spiciness to the eggplant but wished the miso flavors were stronger. The way it was served it almost needed something else to it. Something either crunchy or a bit dry. The eggplant was soft along with waterful lettuce it just needed something else to soak it all up. The flavours were excellent just needed an extra texture to it.

For the roti roll, we naturally went with pulled pork D, K and I had our eyes glued to that once we saw the menu for roti rolls. The generous amounts of tender, sweet pork came with slack, kimchi and chilli mayo wrapped in a soft roti bread. The slaw made it feel fresh and the roti was fluffy. Only thing was, as you ate, sauce dripped down your hand. So have a napkin ready when attempting to eat this one.

Buns, we got pork belly, peanut butter salt and pepper tofu and soft shell crab. First to arrive on the table was the soft shell crab bun. It was served with salted egg relish and coriander. I loved the gritty salted egg with the soft shell crab. The sweet bao balanced off the saltiness and the deep fried soft shell crab, gave it that extra flare.

K picked the peanut butter, salt and pepper tofu for her bun. The creamy nature of the peanut butter, along with the tofu was a good pairing. Then with the salt and pepper, it made it feel extra guilty (reminder of calamari).

Final bun was the pork belly with pickled cucumber and chilli. This packed a small kick to the otherwise simple bun.

Finally, when the mains arrived we were already semi full from the all the carbs in our starters, though like any good foodie, we powered on. First main was the baby back ribs with the Kong crazy horse chilli. When we asked if it was really that "crazy" hot and the waiter we got must have really been able to take his spicy sauce because it was "crazy" hot. I would advise getting a drink if you want to try this one. The spice level packs a intense flavour to go with the soft meat that just fell off the bone.

Then there was the Bossam pork belly. This was a delightful pork belly soba noodles that came with nashi and apple soy as well a super crunchy crackling on top.

Like any good Korean fusion eatery, there was kimchi fried rice on the menu. Kong served their version with beef brisket and a egg on top. The rice was very dense as it packed a lot of sauce and meat. This is also on the spicy side so I would not recommend it for the faint hearted. The overall dish was more on the oily side but not so oily that it felt like eating fast food.

To balance out the guilt with all the meat and carbs, we added an order of iceberg lettuce salad. These were baby icebergs dressed with shimichi (Japanese chilli powder) ponzu and parmesan oil. I like the concept and the fusion factors in this dish.

We were completely stuffed at this point but K and I had to try at least one dessert, so we got the coconut sago to share. The layers of passionfruit and pineapple truffle with the sago was just the perfect finish to the meal.

Overall 16/20 Kong does a good play on fusion concepts and mashed up of new flavours from existing known dishes. I walked out unbelievably full and still wanted to try more on the menu (slightly disappointed I didn't have any room for the Korean fried wings and wood roasted pumpkin)

Rue & Co

Rue &Co is located on the Paris end of Collins Street. It is a small area that has been converted into an outdoor eating space with 3 pop up stores. You get the choice of Kong, Jimmy Grants and St Ali.

The Jimmy Grants and St Ali might be quite familiar to most and you might be wondering who is Kong? Kong is Asian inspired fusion eatery created by the team behind Chin Chin.

Since my friends and I were here for dinner, we gave St Ali a miss and went straight for Jimmy Grants and Kong.

At Jimmy Grants we got the grain salad, dim sims, souva, and chips to share. The chips and souva here never fail me. It was the first time I got the grain salad and sadly it didn't do anything for me. Given the other things that we ordered, it felt too heavy for a salad. The lamb souva we divided by 3 but I would've happily chow down and entire one on my own. 

Kong was interesting, I was quite attracted to the menu as their Asian fusion plays on a

combination of popular textures and flavours. We got the Korean fried wings, these sweet honey garlic wings had a bit of a kick in it.

For the Kong Bo Sam we got the roast pork belly with apple slaw option. This came with kim chi, lettuce and chilli jam. The concept is that you put a little bit of each thing on the lettuce and eat it together. It's really just a Korean version of a sang choi bao.

The steamed buns with the brisket and wombok kimchi was my favourite dish of the night. Personally I really like to eat steamed buns so that was already a win for me. The kimchi with the heaviness of the brisket was a very good combination and together with a sweet steamed bun, I could have easily smashed a few of these down by myself.

Overall, 13/20 for Kong, as a new comer and working out of a semi food truck, I was impressed enough, that I would go and visit their store. Jimmy Grant was consistent with what you expect in the store.

ABC Chicken

I have been told by my Korean friend M, many times that this is the best Korean fried chicken in Melbourne. So finally last night I went to try it with a few friends. Located on the west side of the CBD, it was easy to find as it was right on the corner of Queen and Abeckett.

When I walked in, it felt like I was in Seoul again, the layout was a combination of modern, cute cartoon words and a slightly warehouse feeling. I could smell the sweetness of the sauces at the door, this made me pretty excited. As I said in my previous post, Gami is my favorite but I am always up to see if there is better out there.

The menu gave a varitey of options for fried chicken flavors.


We tried the soy garlic and the sweet chilli. Both the chickens came heavily battered with generous amounts of sauce covering it. The soy garlic had a strong garlic flavour with just the right amount of stickiness. The sweet chilli wasn't exactly sweet. It was pretty spicy even though we ordered mild, but I have a feeling that the waitress didn't put the order through as mild, as her English ability was limited.

Corn cheese is always a must for me, when I get KFC. This corn cheese have very little close to no mayo so it's not as sweet. There was a very generous amount of cheese so when it was hot, it was stringy and cheesy. However, the cheese solidified pretty quickly and wasn't as good anymore.

The boneless sweet chilli chicken with cheese was the highlight out of all the dishes for me. Popcorn chicken bite size with generous amounts of cheese.

Seafood pancake was very quite and had heaps of calamari in the centre. 

Overall 14.5/20 I love the innovation and variety offered. Only disappointment was the cheese corn but that's only a small factor that can be easily rectified.

Gami

For those of you who don't know me, I am actually a really big fan of Korean food and in particular, Korean Fried Chicken (KFC). D and I actually went to Seoul a few years back, and searched high and low for the best fried chicken. So, as you can tell, we are quite dedicated. 

Gami was one of the first shops in Melbourne to offer Korean fried chicken and still a place I visit when I get a craving (yes I do get weird cravings). D took me here for date night and I couldn't have been happier (yes, I am all class! Give me fried chicken and I am over the moon!) =P

Gami is a fried chicken and beer shop, so don't come here expecting KBBQ, bibimbap or bulgogi. They have 2 shops on either of the CBD, one on Little Lonsdale towards Spring and another on Healey's Lane near the courts. I generally go to Healey's Lane, as I find it easier to find parking and get a table.


Gami offers a range of different flavours for their fried chicken but my favorite is the sweet soy garlic. The crispy, battered coating is a well balanced garlic soy with just that touch of sweetness. It's finger licking good.

For those who don't like the stickiness, they also offer original which doesn't have a flavoured glaze on top. For others who want something with just a small kick, there is the sweet chilli flavored fried chicken. Though I still think the sweet soy garlic is the best.

Kimchi pancake or seafood pancake: that is something I always struggle choosing. This is a reason why I always try to come as a small group (hehe). This time I went with the kimchi pancake, it wasn't too oily and had ample kimchi in the centre. The only downside was the sauce, far too salty to match the pancake.

Cheese and corn. This is exactly as the name states, CHEESE and CORN..... ok well maybe a bit of mayo too. Something so simple but so good. This is one of the reasons why I always go back to Gami. I have had other cheese corn before but I still think Gami does it the best.

I am normally not a beer drinker but for some reason, when there is KFC, I would reach for beer. However I make it a tad girly by mixing Sprite with it. For those non beer drinkers out there, I would recommend you try the beer/sprite combo with your fried chicken.

Overall 16.5/20 I really like Gami's style and the consistency in their fried chicken. I know some people argue that Kass Kass, ABC and Chimac have better chicken, but Gami has a soft spot in my stomach (heart). I know I will always get what I'm after when I come here, with the crispy chicken and cheese corn to be exactly what I expect it to be. If you haven't tried it before, I definitely recommend it. It's not too expensive and if you grab a few friends, who doesn't like hanging out while feeding on fried chicken and beer?


 

Mrs Kim's Grill

Based on Ktown (Koonang Rd) in Carnegie, Mrs Kim's BBQ is as the name suggest, it's a Korean BBQ restaurant. With a bright yellow sign and big open spaces, this one where you walk out slightly less stinky/smoky.

We got a few sets to share. The Moo set came with galbi beef ribs and skirt steak. The ribs had a beautiful marinate and when it was cooked it fell off the bone. This was my favorite set of the night.

The Oink set came with a choice of chilli/soy pork belly and pork neck fillet. The soy pork belly had a sweet marinate and wasn't too fatty.

The Cluck Cluck set came with chilli/soy marinated chicken. Given it's chicken, it's quite easily overcooked. Chilli marinate wasn't too spicy. Chicken just wasn't very exciting so the one set was more than enough.

We also got salads with the sets and ordered a few extra beef ribs and ox tongue. They have 3 salads to choose from: tomato and avocado salsa; smoked salmon and onion; Ssam greens. Nothing exciting there but it's good to see a salad option at a BBQ place.

All the sets come with soup of the day (ours was miso beef), corn and potato. Corn is always a winner in BBQ but with the potato make sure you take it out of the container and leave it on the BBQ for some time. Each set also comes with 2 servings of rice.

Overall 13.5/20. I really liked the beef ribs and ox tongue. I will definitely come back, it was great service and atmosphere. I like the open plan where there is more ventilation. There was 6 of us and it cost us just under $200 all up. We all got drinks and left feeling full.

Chimac

Located next to the Queen Victoria Market, Chimac is a place you can easily drive by and not notice it. Situated on Peel Street, it's not near the strip of Korean restaurants on the other side of Queen Vic. This is a Korean fried Chicken and Beer place. When you walk in, there is a urban vibe to the place with the run down lay out.

Sadly because I only went with the boy, we could only try a small portion of what Chimac has to offer. When we sat down, there was fried raw spaghetti on the table. A fun concept but I didn't really like the blandness, I prefer the usual prawn crackers to raw spaghetti.


To start we got the tofu on kimchi field which is basically a big block on tofu topped with cheese on a bed of caramelised kim chi with minced pork belly bits. Other reviews I read spoke highly of this but personally I found it very disappointing, it was quite bland and oily. We were initially tossing up between this and the kimchi carnitas basket which is a Korean version of topped chips.... We got food envy when we saw the other table that ordered it.

We also got the seafood pancake to share, this was not too oily which a decent amount of calamari inside. The sauce was a good ratio of soy and vinegar and went with the pancake nicely.
Finally the chicken!! We got the wonder soy flavour because that is suppose to be their signiture dish. We weren't disappointed either! Crispy on the outside with batter laced with sweet soy sauce. The chicken was juicy and moist... I couldn't help but lick my fingers at the end. I will definity go back to try the other flavours but with more people next time!

Overall 13.5/20. Awesome chicken! A bit on the expensive side but the great chicken does make up for it! A very small menu, would've liked to have seen cheese and corn on the menu. The tofu was a let down, if not for tofu and spaghetti, I would've rated this place 15.... Maybe next time I go back and try other things on the menu I would change my mind.... I will keep you updated!