my name is Food.: Runcorn

Genkotsu Ramen - Runcorn, Brisbane

Asian March 16, 2019

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Cha Kee - Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

Asian February 13, 2019

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Momo Chicken & Beer - Runcorn, Brisbane

Australia January 24, 2019

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Mien Korean Style Chinese Restaurant, Runcorn, Brisbane

Asian August 20, 2017

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Charcoal BBQ House, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

Asian February 08, 2017

Although a few years ago I have been here for their Korean BBQ, I have never been back since it never came across in my mind to be first on my list of KBBQ places to go. So when the time came to catch up with a few friends, we decided that it would be nice to dine here again especially after the refurbishments and renovations and all. It is smaller than how it used to be with now their previous venue has been replaced with other restaurants.

Not long after you have been seated at your table, side dishes are brought out to start off your meal while waiting for your meals which allows you to fill your grumbling tummy that teeny bit more also accompanying your chats with friends or family or your date. 3 various side dishes including pickled onions, cold pasta salad and kimchi.

When you order a BBQ set, which we did, you are given Steamed egg in a hot stone bowl. This is a very popular dish to share when eating though it is something I rarely order to be honest. The flavour was very subtle and could have been seasoned slightly better. The portion was enough to share definitely for 2 or even 5 people around the table. The inside was fluffy and moist, mix it along with your BBQ meat with a bit of warm rice and you got yourself a nice bite.

'BBQ Mixed Set' (AUD$85) consisted of both pork and beef in one set served with a plate of green leaves which would be great if a top up was available as it wasn't enough for the whole meal. A weird way to give vegetables as a part of a set when it only comes with 2 thin slices of mushrooms and 2 slices of raw onion. No greens, nothing. The mixed set had more pork than beef which was quite upsetting as when you buy a mixed set, you do expect a very big portion of meat but sadly, this was not up to the standard of other Korean BBQ places where you would be ordering at a similar price but receiving more meat.

'Ox tongue' (AUD$18) was an add-on that we ordered which seemed to have quite a big portion, maybe even bigger than the BBQ set when compared to the pork belly itself or the beef itself. The ox tongue didn't seem fresh and looked frozen. Ox tongue is always great when grilled in charcoal as it grills very quick and has that smooth texture and can melt in your mouth when grilled right.

Oh, and I nearly forgot. You also do get Fermented Soybean paste stew, a soup that is great for winter season or chilly weather that can warm you up inside. Definitely great when eaten with warm rice.

The only thing that did annoy me was customer service as we were seated at the back corner, it was very hard to call or get the waiter's attention. Either for filling up your water or topping up your side dishes or whatever it may be, they should be more attentive to diners.

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Mien Korean Style Chinese Restaurant, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

Asian October 12, 2016

Having eaten at various Korean restaurant in different cities, sometimes it makes me wonder why there isn't one dedicating to its rice or noodle dishes. Of course, there has always been Korean BBQ and one that is a mixture of everything in between and even more such as the KFC aka. Korean Fried Chicken is getting the hype and many more are opening lately. When we stopped by Runcorn Plaza, opposite of Warrigal Square, we spotted a humble restaurant right at the corner, the closest restaurant to the newly refurbished IGA. What a suprise when most of their menu contained various stir fried dishes as well as rice/noodles bowls.

As usual, side dishes are brought out to your table before every meal and although you may have expected at least two or three different types of side dishes, here they only have one, which is the yellow radish. A refreshing side dish to balance and tone down your buds after every spoonful.

'Japchae-bap' was a combination of stir fried glass noodle with rice. Having always liked Japchae by itself either as an entree or as a main, I tend to usually have it as a main as I do feel that eating on its own can fill you up quite easily having sweet potato noodles as the base with various vegetables such as carrots, onion, spinach and mushrooms served with beef or pork, all combined and having a soy sauce and sesame oil based. A simple but delicious dish to have and when mixed with rice, it becomes a whole new dish, typically saying that it is served with a bed of rice when being served as a main dish. I did feel that it was too oily in terms of the Japchae itself but the amount of vegetables were much more generous than the beef itself as there were only a few which was disappointing.

Served with a bowl of Jjampong soup which is literally a spicy seafood noodle soup, one of the more famous Chinese-Korean dishes that is enjoyed all over Korea. Having some bits of seafood in the soup was a delight but there seems to be a bit too much chilli powder and powdery base at the bottom of the soup.

'Jajjang-myeon' literally means Black Bean sauce noodles, a noodle dish topped with a thick black sauce made out of a salty black bean paste with pork and vegetables. I have tried the other versions such as Taiwanese, Chinese, Hong Kong etc and some have been tasty while some may be abit too salty or bland. It is quite a simple dish to create at home but somehow I feel that when eating it at home and at a Korean restaurant, the feeling is just different. The meat used is usually pork but sometimes some may be just vegetables or other type of meat.

Some people may say that mixing all your food until it becomes a tad ugly may just ruin it for some visually. But those of you who knows that sometimes the yummiest food is always messy to eat while sometimes there will be those food that are just simply too pretty to even look at, more to eat. With this, the goal is to mix it altogether until the noodles has absorbed the black bean sauce and everything is covered. Although the black bean sauce was on point, not too salty but was actually quite good and having the chunks of onions and other vegetables made it have that combination of texture of crunchiness and smoothness. One downturn would be the lack of pork belly.

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Genkotsu Ramen, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

Asian September 17, 2016

Sometimes in life, you may want to eat out at fancy restaurants or maybe the newly opened restaurant that everyone is hyped up on. However, there will always be that comfort food whether it may be a good ol' burger or just your mother's cooking or even just a big bowl of fried food. Now, a big bowl of ramen may not suit everyone but trust me, during winter or rainy days, you would definitely want to put your hands around a hot bowl of ramen filled with goodness. Genkotsu reminds me of the Ramen eateries in Japan, petite but cozy serving up good classic comfort food.

'Shio' (AUD$9.5) was a Ramen with a salty base soup which allows those who aren't a big fan of the Soy Sauce based soup but would still like the original Tonkotsu without all the extras. Served with Pork Chashu and shallots, very simple but I do believe that the salty base soup can be too salty for some. There are also chilli powder and sesame if you would like to add or alter the original soup to your liking.

'Black Garlic' (AUD$11) has a Shoyu (Soy sauce) base soup which combines perfectly as it blends together well. Served in a large black bowl with Chashu pork, bamboo shoots, shallots and the main star of the dish, the black garlic oil. The ramen itself was thin and cooked well, it was chewy and not overcooked until it was soggy. The slow cooked egg had its own flavour as it has absorbed all the goodness it has been cooked in. The soft Pork Chashu melts in your mouth and basically is another highlight of the dish however, I have to say that after mixing the black garlic oil with the soup, it definitely will blow your mind and tastebuds and allow you to experience something different than the normal Ramen you usually eat. The soup was very rich and had a strong depth of flavour which was comforting.

Just a note before you do come in, seats are very limited and there are usually a queue at peak hours with people waiting outside the door. It is a very tiny place with probably only fitting about 20 or so people hence the fact that they have bench seats which sometimes you may just need to share with other diners. The good thing is that the service is fast and after ordering and finding a seat, the next thing you know, your Ramen is ready..