After teasing us with some of the delicious delights from the pop up at Rue & Co, Kong BBQ is opening this Friday night at 599 Church Street, Richmond.
The much anticpated restaurant is brought to you by Chris Lucas, the mastermind behind the fabulous restaurants Chin Chin and Baby Cafe Pizzeria. Kong will be an oriental pit barbeque restaurant that draws on age-old Asian barbeque and smoking techniques, with “pit master” Dan Briggs, Chin Chin’s sous chef, presiding over the kitchen. The executive chef will be Chin Chin’s Benjamin Cooper.
The menu will offer a selection of meat, seafood and vegetables cooked over coals and in traditional smoking ovens, served with Asian sides – salads, tofu dishes and, of course, kimchi.
The fit out has been done by designers Eades and Bergman who have made the restaurant feel like a corner Tokyo barbeque with an emphasis on casual dining and takeaway.
Chris Lucas, who lived in Japan for three years in the 90s is keen to bring Korean food to Melbourne, “we’ve only seen a sliver in terms of what Japanese and Korean food can represent,” he says. “The cornerstone of both of those cultures has been cooking over hot coals and slow cooking.”
Kong also gives Lucas an opportunity to take a little bit of Chin Chin to another part of Melbourne. “One of the most popular sections of Chin Chin has been our barbeque items. To me it’s a natural extension to take part of the Chin Chin world into a more specialised eating style, in this case oriental barbeque,” he says.
So watch out world. Kong has arrived and it’s arrived with Psy.
Check out Kongnam style Psy x Kong BBQ http://vimeo.com/94927797
Kong BBQ
599 Church Street, Richmond 3121
Open daily 11am to late.
Images courtesy of Lucas Group
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