Chef Jung Eun Chae’s six-seater Korean restaurant at her Brunswick apartment became so popular after opening in 2019, it amassed a waitlist thousands of people long.

Chae now operates in a much larger, leafier, location in suburban Cockatoo – with the same concept and ferment bent. The new-look experience includes guided tours of the property and garden, kitchen demos and menu tastings.

A monthly-changing menu may start with a warming jujube date and artichoke tea, boozy cheongju (Korean sake) or a nip of sparkling pumpkin makgeolli (rice wine) with a syrupy mouthfeel and tingly backbeat of vinegar acidity.

The sweet potato and rice spring roll may win you over, swiped in homemade soy sauce, which can also be poured over a umami-loaded soup made from tofu broth and sweet prawn meat. 

Everything that passes your lips is made from scratch by Chae or her family, including her mum’s fermented salted Murray cod fish eggs, kimchi and that sweet-fermented pumpkin and rice punch bobbing with seasonal fruits to end. Chae’s homely cooking is authentically simple, the experience intimate and loaded with love.

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