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MELBOURNE | Jan Chi Korean Feast is a casual contemporary Korean restaurant in Richmond that aims to showcase a different side of Korean cuisine to Melburnians. That is, the kind of food that’s popular in trendy restaurants in Korea today, that goes beyond the traditional Korean BBQ, bulgogi, and fried chicken that most of us are familiar with. I was recently invited to try the food at Jan Chi and, being a huge fan of Korean food, I was interested to see their take on things.
The space is small and narrow, with exposed brick, textured concrete, and high timber benches and stools. A long bar with more stools takes up the right hand side of the venue, and there’s a few seats and table out the front on the footpath.
Jan Chi means (“to feast”) in Korean, and you can definitely feast well here. Between owners Steven Ryu (chef) and SJ Min (front of house), they’ve worked in places like MASA and Momofuku Ssam in NYC, and Lucy Lui and Chin Chin in Melbourne. And this pedigree comes through in their food.
We let Ryu bring out an assortment of dishes that he thinks best exemplify what Jan Chi is about, and were impressed with everything that we tried. Yes there’s fried chicken and bao, both delicious, but we recommend trying something new. A highlight is Ryu’s take on tteokbokki, which really exemplifies the food philosophy at Jan Chi. It’s pan fried tubular rice cake, kind of like gnocchi, with spicy gochujang, Tuscan kale, shredded cheese, sliced red chillies, and crispy shallots. It’s sweet, spicy, savoury, and salty all at once with a wonderful mix of textures and flavours. Another highlight is the Hwayo cured Tasmanian salmon with traditional Chojang sauce, Yuja vinaigrette, pickled cucumber, freeze-dried mandarin, and oven-popped rice. A lot going on, and all very well balanced.
For share plates, go for the mandu (dumplings) filled with prawn, pork, kimchi, and soy chili vinegar sauce. Also try the moreish arancini filled with pork, kimchi, mozzarella, spicy aioli, Gochujang onion jam, and Gim. For a bigger options, try the fall off the bone tender 12 hour braised Angus beef short rib served with Fuji apple and Nashi pear soy sauce, and Fuji apple coleslaw. It’s a real delight.
The drinks menu features an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks like Korean beer and soju, sake, local craft beer, wine, cocktails, mocktails, Korean soft drinks, and tea. We recommend trying one of Jan Chi’s signature cocktails, inspired by Korean spirits and flavours. A highlight is the mojito, which twists the classic by using Soju Hwayo 41° instead of rum, and swapping out mint leaves for shiso leaves. It’s a refreshing cocktail with flavours that really work well together.
Jan Chi Korean Feast
362 Bridge Road
Melbourne
Victoria 3121
Australia
Telephone: 0490 118 144
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Tue – Wed: 5:30pm to 10:00pm
Thu – Sat: 11:30am to 3:00pm; 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Sun: 11:30am to 3:00pm; 5:30pm to 10:00pm