It's 2025, no more alfalfa sprouts
Also in this week's Table for One: A charcoal chicken joint in the surburbs and soup heaven at a Korean restaurant with five tables
This week, I ate at a charcoal chicken joint in a dated shopping centre, a Korean soup house that could cure anything short of heartbreak and a city cafe that’s been feeding Brisbane’s health-conscious since before “plant-based” became a buzzword. From smoky chicken brushed with lemon and herbs to a bubbling ttukbaegi of pork soup and a potato cutlet that missed the mark, it’s been a week of hits, near misses and very good toum. Read ahead for three honest reviews.
Bori
My mother rarely goes out to eat mostly because she is a fantastic cook. I can’t recall any distinctive memories of her praising restaurant food ever — she’s like Anton Ego from Ratatouille (pre-ratatouille) but small and Chinese.
Thus I almost fell off my chair when she said, “You should try Bori. The food is really good.”
Bori only seats 15 in a simple, undecorated space smaller than my living room. From my experience, they are busy from the moment they open. Fortunately, Asians are serious about eating — we eat fast and don’t talk that much — which means you won’t be waiting more than 45 minutes like other places with queues.
Soup is to Bori like Michael Jordan is to basketball, Thomas Keller is to French food, Tchaikovsky is to classical music. There are seven different types of soup ranging from clear, hearty broths to the spicy and savoury. They are served in ttukbaegis (traditional earthenware pot) steaming and still bubbling from the heat.
The pork intestine soup is the best intro to Korean soup (don’t be afraid of the word ‘intestine’, it is very approachable and meat is meat, after all. If you’re really weird about it just order the beef brisket, it’s very similar).
This broth could heal a cold, the deadliest hangover, polio even. There’s a generous amount of sliced fatty pork and strips of intestine, a handful of scallions and a constellation of black garlic to cut through the richness. It comes with multigrain rice, gochujang and saeujeot (salted shrimp condiment) and house made banchan (cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi), all complimentary. It’s an entire meal, expertly made with the touch of a Korean amma.
A bonus: After soup, get to Nanaya a few doors down for gelato that’s better than Messina. The houjicha and matcha flavours are so concentrated (just look at the colour) and the texture is silky and stretchy like it should be. The flavour ‘tropical’ (mango pineapple?) goes down superbly on a hot Brisbane day.
Bori: 12/17 Barrett St, Robertson
Nanaya: 8/17 Barrett St, Robertson
Sizzling Birds
The last place I ever expected to find a decent charcoal chicken was at Civic Fair Shopping Centre, an old school shopping centre in Mount Gravatt. At Civic Fair, a handful of food businesses have popped up over the years. There’s now Italian takeaway, an Indian restaurant, a bakery and a Filipino grocer. Among these, a charcoal chicken spot with Middle Eastern embellishments rounds out the list nicely. That’s more culture in a single 200m radius than several suburbs combined. (I won't name names…)
The charcoal chicken is cooked in rotisserie racks over coals. The skin was likely brushed with lemon, herbs and seasoning after the chicken came off the grill — crispy, well-seasoned and smoky. The leg meat was perfectly cooked and juicy but the breast meat was a bit dry. Unfortunately, the only way to remedy this is to cook the legs and breast separately but that’s unrealistic and inefficient for most businesses. Fortunately, a bit of dry chicken breast is the least tragic thing in the world — especially if you have some very good toum to eat with it.
The wings were nicely dressed in a tangy, savoury, slightly spicy buffalo sauce. In a very un-restaurant-critic way, I LOVE ranch and the combination of good wing + lots of ranch = happy days.
The coleslaw was fresh and not too mayo-y (the worst!). The pickles were mostly salty and needed more acid. Toum is non-negotiable here — order more than you think you’ll eat, it goes great with eggs the next day.
(So you’re thinking, what kind of freak doesn’t order chips with their chicken? I promise I intended to and even thought I, as the kids say, “secured the bag”. But when I unboxed my treasures a 20-minute drive later, I found out I didn’t ask for them out loud. Very important, very sad.)
280 Newnham Rd, Mount Gravatt East
Felix for Goodness
Felix for Goodness was one of the first plant-based, “health conscious” cafes to open in Brisbane. Tucked away in Burnett Lane, you could walk past without knowing if it weren’t for the sound of chatter and often queues spilling out onto the street. It’s been a popular choice for as long as it’s been open, and it makes some sense why.
The split-level space is half the joy of the experience. The lower level has a large communal table (more of these in Brisbane!) and seating along the street-facing windows where light pours in. The rest of the cafe is on the “upper” level where it’s still cosy.
Perhaps it’s an innate aversion to breakfast or my unrealistic expectations for cafe creativity but ultimately, Felix’s menu didn’t excite me. Run of the mill items included avocado on toast, folded omelette (what makes a folded omelette more interesting than one sans modifier?), frittata and a green bowl. They also had a panna cotta… something I haven’t seen on a menu since 2016. What I was most disappointed by was the lack of hash brown add-on. What possible reason would there be to omit the unanimously-decided Best Breakfast Item of All Time?
The potato and chorizo cutlet was golden brown and the chorizo added a warm, savoury flavour. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to distract from the gummy interior of classically overworked potato. The herby yogurt and sauteed veg were suitable accompaniments to cut through the richness of the potato cake. Finally, I can’t sleep peacefully without airing my sprout garnish hatred to the world. Why are we still putting things on the plate that don’t add any flavour or texture????
I had a decent cinnamon crumble cake to finish. It was served with a side of fresh milk which is thoughtful, especially if you know the cake you’ve made is a bit dry. I should also mention the matcha at Felix has my seal of approval.
50 Burnett Ln, Brisbane City
Becca Wang is a freelance writer and food and drink columnist. She has by-lines in Broadsheet, Boothby, Gourmet Traveller, RUSSH and others. She is also the founding editor of Hawker Magazine, a food and culture publication. You can keep up with her at @supper.partying.