Bites: Namoo Korean Barbecue @ Perth

Korean Barbecue.  It is simple, effortless and to any meat eater, almost heavenly.  A new place in town wants to bring that to a whole new level.  Did they?  With an interesting menu and pretty good value set meals, I was there last Thursday for dinner.  After putting in my name and almost 30 minutes of waiting, we were in.  If you see other reviews around, this place looks superb.  Its interiors were stylish and for most parts, very modern.  But I was here for the food as I have been craving for Korean Barbecue for ages now.  When the barbecue hot plate was put on the stove. I was STOKED.  It was the beautiful slanting plate which I will explain further below.  Also, see my trip to Jeju Island where I first saw the concept. 

Jeju Island Part 2

The famous meat here is the rainbow pork which has 8 flavors.Their flavors include Ginseng, Original, Wine, Herb, Garlic, Curry, Miso, and Hot.

Unfortunately, the transition from kitchen to table was bugged.  And I mean VERY VERY troubled.Slant plate barbecue.  Its concept? Simple.  U put the pork belly in the middle and let it sizzle away.  As it crisps, the lard melts downwards to the bean sprouts and kimchee making it extremely fragrant and palatable to eat.  Here at Namoo, the service was SO BAD, that the kimchee and beansprouts were put too early that it burnt even before the meat arrived.  And soon it became too bitter to eat. I was gutted.  How long does it take raw meat to reach the table? =/  I asked the manager and he asked us to keep stirring it around.  Obviously it did not work…

In addition to the pork, we also had a kimchee stew that came with the set meal.It was utterly disappointing.  It felt as if they were not prepared to serve anything else except the seafood stew that was a set meal standard.  It just did not meet our expectation and added to our already mediocre experience.

A few things which pissed me off that night:

1) There were no lettuce to wrap the meat, and there was only just half a teaspoon of sauce to go with the meat.  I asked 2 different people and NONE even bothered after 30 minutes. 

2) We ordered the rainbow pork, kimchee pancake and a marinated beef cube roll.  After 1 hour of eating, we only had the rainbow pork.  Nothing else arrived.  Thank you waitress for not taking our orders on a paper.  And also a big thanks to the manager with a CBF attitude. 

3) Despite the modern interior of the place, there was absolutely no ventilation to get the smoke out.  We were literally choking towards the end of our meal. It definitely could have been better.

But putting all my unhappiness aside with the service and the stew, I was actually very delighted with the pork.  The flavors were very well thought of and it simply worked.  The ginseng and wine pork belly for example had a beautiful fragrance while the curry one simply sizzled with spices.  Garlic and herbs also complemented the pork belly well.  These were the simple joys which would have us extremely elated if it was not for the patchy – sub-quality service we had that night.  While I would typically give more established places a STERN “avoid” reputation, I accept the fact the Namoo Korean Barbecue is no more mature than an embryo.   But I definitely hope to see improvements the next time I come in.

WenY

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Bites: Midori Japanese @ Northbridge

The first time I used the reservation website Dimmi, I ended up at Blackbird, East Perth.  My experience there was OK but far from great.  My second reservation using the website quickly happened, and that developed to an amazing third round at Shiro.  Now, I am at my fourth booking.  This time, at Shiro’s sister restaurant, Midori.  It did not take long for me to feel as if I am now a fully fledged bargain hunter.  Quite far from my typical fine dining routine, but definitely suited to the economy.

 

Midori’s service was good.  Lunch time crowd was quiet and hence, the service was absolutely attentive.  A Korean waitperson got us off to a flying start and we quickly grew acquainted with the menu.  This resulted in 4 appetizers, 5 mains, rice and drinks.  Our first appetizer to hit the table was Popcorn Shrimps.

The starter we ordered was already a cliché in most modern Japanese places but still, crunchy prawns bursting in flavors topped with Chili Mayonnaise swirls made this dish every bit palatable.  Still a big favourite among my friends and I.   $16 bucks for 18 shrimps! Definitely beats the 5 for $15 which I had at Aisuru Sushi.  Still crunchy, the Chili Mayonnaise here had that extra kick in flavor, presumably due to an extra dose of Siracha chili sauce.

 

The chick ‘n’ chips was a playful rendition of the classic Karaage.Boasting 3 types of dips including aioli, chili mayo and ketchup, this was a kid’s wonderland.  The chips despite looking weird, felt right at home.  My big Q here though, is that despite being new and kickass, the flavors of the a classic Kaarage should still be present.  I wanted a juicy inside, crunchy outside Kaarage with the generous flavors coming from the garlic, ginger and sometimes, a little Mirin.  The chicken bits here were crunchy but felt a little dry because they were rather small.  Definitely something that should be improved.

 

Salmon Aburi.  I am a sucker for the blowtorch.  Be it desserts of appetizer or mains, blow torch magic works.  Unless it becomes burnt.The salmon here was faultless and this remind me of the old Shiro.  The caviar here were “El Buli” inspired as the waiter immediately got the hint when I mentioned that restaurant in Spain first wow-ed the world with the apple caviar.  Here it was done three ways with yuzu, balsamic and beetroot.  Some rather unconventional flavors that were nice but with a generous amount of sauce at the bottom, I could not feel the lovely torched flavor of the Aburi. Looking back, it was delicious but I wanted something more.

 

Our next dish on the table was again, something different and quite special.Our twice cooked pork belly came with a good melt on the top paired with a slight crisp.  Its meat though, was not of a similar consistency like my favourite Buta no Kakuni.  This was a little more dense.  Not bad at all.  But definitely not what I expected it to be.  It was served on caramel miso, topped with pickled carrot and radish, micro herbs, ginger salsa as well as spicy mayo.

 

Our next dish was the prime beef tenderloin.High quality beef with an assortment of mustard felt very English. I love mustard with my red meat along with some harissa at some established places like Rockpool.  Not to mention some lovely béarnaise too. OMG, I am a sucker for good sauces @@! But still, the beef itself should always be the here.  IN Midori, it was.  Even by itself, it tasted amazing with good flavor and a decent melt in your mouth feel.  My favourite of the lot was the hot mustard but found that green tea mustard was rather unique too!

 

Below are a few other things which we ordered too.  For most parts it was superbly composed.  I loved the miso tooth fish a lot more than the one I had at Ha-Lu as the one here was flavored well and was very flakey.  Shame that the meat was not as buttery as a black cod. 

 

The hero of them all though was the duck.  Small cut of the breast that more was robust in flavor and went perfectly well with the orange miso.  Very very good. 

 

The treasure island which was a chicken roulade with pistachio was not bad but it somehow felt more modern Australian than Japanese.

Over all the meal at Midori was very enjoyable and it clearly shows that Midori is not all about teppanyaki.  Just as we were about to eat, the waiter introduced to us to their head chef, Chef Luke Lee.  He was very friendly and speaking to him, he was very experienced.  He had been to Dubai, New York, Seoul and now, Perth.  Looking at the food, it was clear that his inspiration was not just classical Japanese, but rather Japanese with modern touch.  With the Dimmi discount the bill came to $150 including drinks.  Definitely a worthy bite. In fact even at full price, having all these to share amongst the 6 of us felt substantial and something worth revisiting. 

 

WenY

South Korea: Pierre Gagnaire @ Seoul

Coming back from our North Korea DMZ trip, we were weary of sad tales and war stories.  Our return point at Lotte Hotel, this means we had a chance to treat ourselves to something lovely.  Here, XL and I avoided the biting frost to enjoy some hot drinks at the Lotte Lounge.  Lucky for us who were rather broke from our Michelin experiences in Hong Kong, we still managed to get some lovely treatment from another Michelin establishment, Pierre Gagnaire Patisserie.  In fact, Pierre is the only Michelin chef restaurant in South Korea.  But we did not know he had a Patisserie too. Needless to say, the pastries here were well thought of with every bit executed to perfection. 

The sesame éclair for example was a fine pastry.  While I have eaten éclairs of many variations, it was hard to tell what a real one should be.  Eating the one at Pierre though, was orgasmic.  The sesame flavored ganache complemented the sweetness of the chocolate.  All on top of a lovely choux pastry.  Airy, with a slight crunchy.  Smashing.

 

Our strawberry tart was nothing less than spectacular.  How do you beat the conventional?  Well, attention to detail helps. The strawberries were arranged beautifully, and the condiments arranged neatly.   The crust was short and the custard was silky smooth.  Michelin certified for sure. After all, a Michelin chef does not put his name on just ANY tart.

 

I cannot quite remember the last one but I think it was an Orange Friand.  Or at least here it looks like one!As this was hers, I cannot even remember how it tasted.  But knowing what Friands are made of, I can quickly judge that this went well with our hot drinks.  Probably nicer with coffee though I have not drank that bitter beverage even once before!

 

Michelin starred experience in Seoul? Checked!

 

WenY