MELBOURNE | Will Tang has been cooking in some of Victoria’s (plus a stint in Shanghai) top kitchens for 16 years. Places like Vue de Monde, Maze by Gordon Ramsay and Bar Lourinhã. This year, Will opened a venue of his own, Korr Jee Chicken, with a simple idea – to perfect roast chicken. I was recently invited in by Will to take a look.
Korr Jee means roast chicken in Willis home town dialect. At the casual St Kilda diner, Will uses his experience cooking Chinese and Western food to prepare and cook his chickens. A 26 hour process that involves brining in spices and dry ageing before being slow roasted results in a bird that lives up to the claim of some of the best roast chicken in Melbourne.
Will’s aim is to show Melburnians just how good the union of crisp, textural and flavoursome skin with plump, juicy meat can be when every aspect of the process has been carefully laboured over. Based on my visit, I reckon he’s onto a winner.
Beyond the must try roast chicken, which comes with your choice of sauces and condiments, Korr Jee also offers chicken prepared and served a variety of other ways. Think ribs, hot wings, chicken burgers, chicken parma, and in the future things like hearts, liver, and giblets.
The rotating seasonal sides are no afterthought either. The light and packed with flavour grain salad is excellent, as is the creamy, silky, Joël Robuchon-esqe mashed potato.
For drinks, it’s a small selection or beer, wine, spirits and cocktails from independent Aussie producers, along with non alcoholic beverages.
Come for the chicken, stay for the sides. And if you’ve got an event coming up, Will has an upstairs function space and will happily work with you to create a custom menu that shows off all his cooling skills, beyond what’s on offer downstairs.
Korr Jee Chicken
92B Acland Street
St Kilda
Victoria 3182
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9939 9566
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Sun – Thu: 11:30am to 9:00pm
Fri – Sat: 11:30am to 10:00pm