Tuesday, 17 June 2025

The Charcoal BBQ House - Runcorn


The Charcoal BBQ House was one of those low key but good KBBQ restaurants that I would enjoy every couple of years but never really made much of an effort to come back to. Although the offerings were always solid, my attentions were always distracted by other places like Yido, Maru or more recently Bornga. This has clearly been a point of contention with the opening of lots of competitors in Brisbane and in the southside generally which has lead to a recent refurbishment and an adjustment to their market placement. Having seen quite a few ads for it online, I took the opportunity to visit with Dr L on a Monday night after he had a particularly long day at work. 


Originally, I had other plans for dinner, so I didn't end up making a booking thinking that it would be fine to show up at 6.30pm on a Monday, given the time of the week and the ongoing cost of living crisis. I turned out to be wrong and we ended up having to wait 15 mins for a table to be available, a true testament to their popularity. Their renovations were also excellent with a very refined vibe, in spite of being in the middle of suburbia.

 

The menu was not overly complicated with half a page of meats for BBQ and half a page of cooked food to order a la carte. Drinks were on the back and notably a tad more expensive than other places. I already knew before I sat down what I wanted to order though, so it didn't take long at all.


The charcoal grill was set on the tabletop with an exhaust above. For some reason the ventilation was miraculously well done to a point where we did not leave smelling like meat and charcoal for the rest of the night.


Whenever Saero is on the menu at KBBQ, I default to it as my drink of choice, given its sugar free qualities and my trying to reduce sugar where I can.

 

Ordering a fortune set to share, the menu didn't actually list out what it came with other than 820g of wagyu. I was pleased to be served some seaweed salad and corn to start off with. The seaweed salad was novel to me, utilising deep fried seaweed coated in delectable sesame oil, it was moreish and appetising. The cheese corn was good but could have been more cheesy and stringy.



Similar to Bornga, their sides were available on a self serve basis and you could top up as much as you want. The kimchi was particularly tasty and different from store-bought varieties. I also really enjoyed the umami of the seaweed salad. All the others were fairly ordinary especially now I've started making my own kelp salad at home.


This beef, mushroom miso soup was part of our set. It contained a generous amount of tender beef and was rich and warming. It was a good portion for two but probably not enough to share between more people.


Further to the set was also a serve of their unique sauce trios including chimichurri, kimchi jam and squid relish. Between the two of us, we both enjoyed the squid relish the most, Dr L particularly enjoying its rich tomato flavours and chewy squid. I didn't mind the kimchi jam and chimichurri either. They were interesting to try but probably not worth the $21 it would have cost to order separately.




Our main event arrived last. The fortune platter was fairly epic, comprising of various types of wagyu including rib, oyster blade, tongue among other parts. I would have liked it a lot more if staff had named each part when setting the platter down, given the more refined experience they were aiming for. Anyway, the beef was absolutely fantastic. My favourites would have had to been the oyster blade and the tongue filled with spring onion. Both were tender and flavoursome without being too oily. The rib cuts were definitely on the fattier side and it was hard to eat more of them. There were also a few pieces in the back of the platter that were very thick, chunky and had a bit of tendons in them. 

After our meal, I did have a fairly robust discussion with Dr L about whether Bornga is better or The Charcoal BBQ House. Both are priced at roughly $100pp for an up market KBBQ experience. Dr L preferences Bornga more because he finds the sides to be better quality and although at the same price at Bornga, you're not guaranteed the same level of fatty wagyu, the reduced oiliness meant that he could enjoy a more fullsome meal. As for myself, I consider the sheer value proposition of the fortune platter at The Charcoal BBQ house to be better priced than Bornga (and doesn't come with the drama of finding paid parking), although the lack of wrapping lettuce and perilla was definitely a letdown for me. Having said that, we'd come back for the meat quality alone.

Price Range: $100 - $110pp

Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10

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