Harajuku Gyoza - Brisbane CBD

Having been to Harajuku Gyoza at Fortitude Valley and Southbank, I have yet to go to the most recently opened branch in Albert Lane, outside of Vapiano (despite working in the CBD).  

This being the case, I was most pleased to receive an invite from Zomato to partake in their meetup at Harajuku Gyoza Brisbane CBD to try out their new summer menu which was soon to be released.

Our host soon introduced himself as Erick-San. He was patient and friendly throughout the evening, offering quick service and was exceptionally knowledgeable to the extent where he could provide us detailed commentary on each of the dishes and drinks served.

Decor was consistent with the other stores, offering a wooden base, with chic modern Japanese fittings. 

We started off the evening with refreshing green tea, brewed in-house, served without sugar. My companion found it could have been a little stronger, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely.

Our appetiser was the Lime and Sesame Jumbo Rice Cracker. It had a similar texture to prawn crackers, but was a lot thinner, lighter and didn't have a seafood smell to it. Erick explained to us that this dish was created by Ryan Squire, who runs Esquire. It is made with a piece of rice paper similar to those found in Vietnamese rice paper rolls. The cracker was light, with a slight oiliness to it to allow the lime and sesame to cling to it. 

The next dish we sampled was the Summer Whiting Gyoza, with whiting sourced from the Sunshine coast, and was also created by Ryan Squires. It's different from the other gyoza as it comes with its own specialised lime ponzu dipping sauce. The skin was thin and crispy, whilst the whiting was a little fishy, this was easily rectified by the green onion and dipping sauce which it was fresh and light. 

Our next dish was the Kushikatsu 串カツ, which means deep fried skewered meat cutlet. This evening, we had three selections, being prawn, chicken and shiitake mushrooms. Whilst I usually prefer my crumbed foods to come coated in bigger granules of breadcrumbs, these were still very fresh and crispy. The prawn was particularly nice because it was cooked just right and not overdone and special mention is definitely needed as the prawns were gutted (most restaurants fail to do this), but the favourite across the table was the shiitake mushrooms, which maintained its juiciness and softness despite being fried. It was served with kushikatsu sauce and seasoned salt.

The next on the new menu was the Beef Gyoza with Shiso leaves. At this point, we got to make our own dipping sauce, with the recommended ratios of two parts soy sauce, one part vinegar and then a dash of chili oil. In all honesty, my preference for dumpling fillings is always pork, with chicken as a close second. My concern with beef is always that the texture may be a bit coarse. Having said that, the beef gyoza were actually quite delicious, whilst they were not coarse, it was a definite difference in texture from the usual, and the added shiso added an extra dimension to the dish. 

Next up we got to experience the Sake song and dance routine. Each time a customer orders Sake at Harajuku, all the staff come out to dance and shout Sake Sake Sake, whilst it is being poured, which was definitely a very cheery way to be served a drink.

After that, we sampled some of the Pork Belly Kakuni かくに. It is cut into squares and slowly stewed for many many hours. Although it doesn't have crispy skin, it has a melt in the mouth texture with every bite we took. I was a bit concerned it would be fatty, but being stewed for that many hours actually dissolved most of the fat, so whilst it was very moist, it wasn't oily. The sauce also serves as a popular accompaniment to rice. With this dish, we were also served Espresso Stout to compliment it. It was quite strong tasting, and had a very strong coffee aroma. Interestingly, Hitachino, the brewers were traditionally sake makers, and only recently tried their hand at beers, regardless, I really enjoyed the drink.

The last dish of the night was the Duck Gyoza, which is available on their regular menu, and a crowd favourite (as well as my own personal favourite). The duck was juicy and fragrant, whilst still maintaining its gamey taste. It came with the slushie topped kirin cider. the slushie top is made from kirin cider, and serves to ensure the drink is kept cold, in addition to aesthetic purposes. It was probably my favourite drink of the night, being refreshing and crisp like chilled apple juice.

For dessert we tried the two new dessert gyozas. Whilst they look the same, the plate without the spoon was the Strawberries and Cream Gyoza, whilst the plate with the spoon was the Lime and Coconut Gyoza. The strawberry one was filled with strawberry puree, with cream mixed in, and the lime one was filled with lime puree, which had a very strong coconut fragrance. The gyoza pastry was fried and complimented the smooth vanilla ice cream beautifully. If I had to take a pick though, my favourite would definitely have been the strawberry one, which was particularly flavoursome, and a delicious way to end off the night.

Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Zomato and Harajuku Gyoza, but as always, our opinions are solely our own.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

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

Madtongsan IV - Sunnybank

The fourth in the Madtongsan chain is situated in Sunnybank, in the bustling Market Square. Whilst I don't go there frequently, it is one of the few restaurants that open up until midnight, which means that if I watch a late night movie, I can still enjoy a proper (non fast food) meal afterwards.

The restaurant is relatively clean for Sunnybank standards, well lit and inviting. The menu, whilst very similar to other madtongsan branches, I believe has a few variations, according to my companion. Unlike other Korean restaurants, there were no buttons on the table to get service, so we still had to resort to waving down a waitress to place our order. 

We were provided with three banchan, including spicy kimchi, creamy pasta and preserved sweetened potato. Whilst I didn't particularly enjoy the potato, the kimchi was very appetizing, whilst the creamy pasta served as a good cooling neutraliser for my main.

My companion ordered the Dol Sot Yook Hew, which was rice, veges and raw marinated beef, topped with a raw egg. It was served in a stone hot pot, where you mix the ingredients in yourself to cook the dish. Whilst we would have liked a lot more beef in the dish, the veges were fresh, and the egg glued it together not unlike a sauce. My companion liked it mild (without spicy sauce), but in my opinion, that made it a bit bland. 

My other companion had the Dol Sot Udon, which was Udon Noodle Soup, served in a burning hot stone bowl. As you can see from the photo, it was boiling hot. It contained an ample amount of seafood, namely octopus, calamari, fish and mussels. I found the broth to be light and quite mild, but nevertheless, nourishing.

My main, was the Kimchi Fried Rice. It was served with salad and topped with a fried egg. The rice was generous in portion, and in my opinion, struck a good balance between spiciness whilst maintaining the flavour of the pork and kimchi. The salad was very fresh, and had a light dressing to draw a contrast to the fried rice. I would have liked it if it had a bit more meat to the rice, but otherwise, I found it to be quite delicious.

Price Range:$10 - $20pp

Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10

Double Shot Riverbend - Bulimba

With my not infrequent brunches nowdays, a friend decided to take me out to try Double Shot at Oxford Street, which is conveniently situated opposite Sugo Mi and outside of Riverbend Books, as I had really enjoyed going to their New Farm outlet.

The restaurant was quite full on the day, and we missed out on the last table, so we had to wait for a while to get a seat.

Water and a menu was provided as we waited, which was very appreciated.

We ordered at the counter and were given a number (once we got a table). Surprisingly, the food and drinks took quite a long time to come out.

As usual, my companion ordered his English breakfast, and I my cappuccino. He found the  tea to be a bit smaller than the usual ones, and my coffee was milky, but could be a bit stronger. 

After chasing up on our meals twice, our food finally arrived.

This was the breakfast board, which we chose to have sliced ham (rather than smoked salmon). We found the eggs to be slightly overdone, but the avocado was fresh and ripe, and the bread was crusty but soft on the inside. The crushed parsley oil was the highlight of the meal for me, and it made the toast all the more delightful for us. Again, I found the feta to be too strong too early in the morning, but my companion definitely liked it. 

The reason why we opted to have ham on our breakfast board was because there was smoked salmon on our Double Shot pastry. It was very tall, and so the first thing we did was to dissect it to find out what is inside. It was filled from top to bottom with fluffy scrambled eggs. The pastry was deliciously thin and flakey, and the tomato relish added depth to the dish. We enjoyed the fresh salmon as well, which complemented the taste of the pastry. I would have liked it better though, if there was something more than just scrambled eggs in the pastry to give it an extra dimension.

Price Range:

Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Environment: 8/10

Re PIT - Brisbane CBD

Hidden inside the alleyway that is Elizabeth Arcade, there is a Taiwanese Tea stall that has been branching out to sell full meals and snacks in recent years. Given the rise of the larger tea chains such as ChaTime and Gong Cha, I think it's a real indication of re PIT's following that its been able to not be eclipsed by other tea stalls. 

Being a big fan of Taiwanese Cuisine, my companion and I decided to try it out before watching Spectre (which we did enjoy, despite the cliche storyline). The sign on the door gave a good indication of the types of food on offer, consisting of very traditional Taiwanese meals. By the looks of the patrons, I was pretty sure I found something quite authentic.

The food menu was short, consisting of only one page, as opposed to the three page drinks menu. Seats are very limited, and we were very lucky to get one of the three tables inside.

Between the two of us, we shared two mains and one side. This was the Beef Noodle Soup. It had quite a substantial serving size, but I found it to be quite average in quality. The noodles were store bought (I could see that the purchased the same brand that I eat at home actually), and whilst the beef was nice and tender, the any mild flavours that the soup would have had, was eclipsed by its spiciness. Whilst it was a solid effort in Brisbane, having tasted the authentic dishes in Taiwan, this definitely could not compete.  

The other main my companion and I shared was the pork chop noodle. I was quite surprised when it was brought out, as I was expecting pork chop noodles soup. After revising the menu, I realised that it made not mention of soup. I really liked the pork, which was thinly cut and thinly battered so that I would get a good appreciation of the texture and taste of the pork. The noodles though, were like the beef noodles and were the type I had at home. The sauce wasn't too strong, and had a sweet and sour taste. The addition of pork mince added quite a bit of depth to the dish.

We also ordered a large chicken fillet to share between the two of us. Whilst it was similar, it was definitely far inferior to the chicken at hot star. The batter was also potato starch, but the fillet itself was merely a thigh fillet. In my opinion it could have been flattened a bit more, to have a bit better meat to batter ratio. Other than that, the seasoning was tasty, and the chicken was hot and crunchy.

Price Range: $10 - $20 per person

Taste: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10