Chae

While a lot of the anju you see in Melbourne is things like sticky soy garlic-glazed fried chicken wings or thin strips of beef sizzling away on a Korean barbecue, tiny Brunswick eatery Chae is here to highlight a different side to Korean cuisine. Jung Chae, the owner and chef, accepts reservations for up to six people in her small apartment, where she serves five courses of homestyle Korean food on a seasonal menu. Her balcony is home to slabs of soybean and hanging cobs of corn, while her kitchen and small dining room accommodate her guests – along with rows and rows of housemade ferments.

Glass noodles are interwoven with enoki, shimeji, king oyster and wood ear mushrooms and little strips of lightly charred wagyu beef, still rare and blushing, the smoky flavours balancing perfectly with the nutty sesame oil and Chae’s savoury housemade soy sauce. There, bugak, or deep-fried vegetables come wafer-thin in the form of potato, lotus, carrot and beetroot crisps and are topped by a cloud of deep-fried seaweed paper that owes its appearance to the reaction of hot oil coming into contact with its coating of glutinous rice paste. It’s crisp and served with the owner and chef Jung Chae’s very own fermented watermelon makgeolli, or rice wine, which is slightly pungent, sweet and milky – the ideal light accompaniment to a deep-fried snack.

Location: 288 Albert Street, Brunswick Victoria 3056

Website: https://www.chae.com.au