Kong BBQ in Richmond, VICTORIA

Whenever my friend and I wanted to try a restaurant which is known to be a queue-magnet, our “tactic” was to go at non-peak hours. Uhm, duh Emily!

Usually I would prefer to go at the start of the trading hours. Yes I am not afraid to admit I am one of the early birds who waited eagerly, peeking through the window and doors in anticipation of hearing the tantalising sound of door unlocking. Boy I am such a weirdo! As for my friend, he prefers between 3pm to 4pm when it should have been scones and tea time. Talk about the ~~silly~~ things we do to try a trendy restaurant without having to wait in line eh?

I’ve been told that Kong is a queue-magnet. When I received such information about a restaurant, subconsciously, my expectation on the quality of the food was elevated. After trying a couple of the dishes below, I am happy to report that the quality of the food in Kong didn’t fall far from his elder brother.

It was a very hot day and naturally, a thirst quencher was very much needed! This super girly looking lavender iced tea pretty much hit the spot. Very refreshing and if I have to scale 1 to 10 on how strong was the lavender flavour, I would give it 4.5.

When there’s crispy soft shell crab on the menu, I’ve it found unbelievably hard not to order it. So here is the soft shell crab with salted duck egg relish and coriander cushioned in the fluffy steam bun. It’s a shame that it only lasted three bites long for me ha!

Chicken roti roll with barbecue chicken, lemon, gochujang and kimchi – I thought this would pack a punch to the tastebuds considering there’s gochujang and kimchi, it was surprisingly a mildly flavoured dish in terms of the spiciness. This is of course, coming from someone who goes for “Hot” or sometimes “VERY HOT” on the Peri-ometer. Yeah, that’s the measurement my friends and I use to ascertain the level of spiciness in a dish ha!

Oh my friends, these Korean Fried Wings with garlic, honey and sesame were truly finger licking good! You’ve got to like some sweetness in your savoury food in order to appreciate this dish. Note to self: NEED TO REPLICATE THIS RECIPE SOON!

We’ve got carried away with other meaty and seafood dishes that we’ve realised there’s a lack of plant dishes in our order ha! I was intrigued by the idea of miso butter so say hello to the only plant dish on the table: bbq corn with chilli salt and miso butter. Here’s the thing, I’ve realised you can’t really go wrong with ordering charred sweet corn. While we couldn’t pick out the taste of the miso butter, I still enjoyed the sweet corn very much and would definitely re-order this again.

Wood roasted barramundi with wakame and kombu salsa – crispy skinned and fresh! I love an uncomplicated seafood dish and this really fit the bill.

By the time we’ve reached the time for dessert, we’re so stuffed! However, I never decline the opportunity to look at dessert menu. It is said there’s always room for dessert and my friends, I am a firm believer! *wink* Due to insufficient tummy space, we decided to share a dessert and that means we had to pick one dessert wisely. The chosen ONE was coconut sago with passionfruit and pineapple trifle. It was visually a beautiful dessert and I love how the tartness of passionfruit and pineapple mellowed the otherwise very rich and decadent coconut sago. Bravo, Kong for such a spectacular modern twist of an Asian dessert!

Kong BBQ

599 Church Street

Richmond, MELBOURNE 3121

(03) 9427 1307

www.kongbbq.com.au/