KU-O - Woolloongabba

All my readers will know by now my favourite cuisine is without a doubt Japanese, and one of my favourite hangouts is KU-O, so when I heard that they opened a new branch at the Gabba in the relatively new Trafalgar lane, I made a point to check it out with Queen V as soon as I could. 

Like the Market Square stall, it had a decidedly wooden setup with booths that were almost identical to the original store. 

We also found the umbrellas on the roof super adorable too. I was a little surprised that it was only half full on that Saturday lunch hour. 

The lunch menu consisted of two pages and covered a variety of entrees, sushi, sashimi in addition to the typical rice and noodle dishes. 

We started our meal with a serve of salmon and avocado sushi. They were quite well done with the rice being well seasoned with a good texture that I found not too soft and not too hard, but with a good bounce in each bite. The salmon was quite fresh and the avocado was ripe, which I really appreciated. 

Queen V also ordered a dish of karaage chicken. Stealing a piece as soon as it was set down, I was met with a good scalding in my mouth as it was extremely hot from being freshly fried (I guess that's karma for stealing right?). It was wonderfully crispy and juicy, with a batter of reasonable thickness. What stood out to me the most though was the delicious creamy egg sauce that came on the side, which went a long way to cooling down the hot chicken. 

For my main, I had my standard chirashi. It came topped with salmon, tuna, bonito, kingfish, prawn and tobiko. I liked how the sashimi was thick cut, giving me a bit more substance to bite into. The rice was wonderfully seasoned like the sushi and I enjoyed it immensely. Of the fish, I found salmon to be the best that day, with a smooth and fatty texture that was very delicious. Special mention has to be given though to the bonito, which was very fresh and although still very strong in taste, it was not particularly fishy. 

Queen V opted for that beef sukiyaki rice that day, and it came topped with an egg as well as glass noodles. The egg was cooked perfectly with a reasonably solid white and a runny yolk. The glass noodles were an unexpected element in the dish but they were perfectly chewy and absorbed quite a bit of the delicious so soy broth. The beef had also absorbed quite a bit of broth and was tender albeit on the fatty side.

Price range: $15 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 9/10