In my mind, if it's not authentic, then it's fusion. In New York, I noticed that they tend to have a good mix of the authentic and the adventurous and it's apparent here in Danji. In Melbourne, it's difficult to find a nice balance to create a modern take on Korean food. There are a lot of Korean bbq houses but I wanted to try something different.
Danji's interior is very much like the casual to fine dining restaurants that I've been to in the Melbourne CBD area. It's posh but very sleek yet it has a casual feel to it.
To make our lives easy, we opted for the degustation menu so that they will just select the most popular dishes from the menu.
First up, the spicy yellowtail sashimi with wild pacific hamachi, cucumber, red onion, chive, cho jang, jalapeño. I actually enjoyed this one. I liked the combination of the fresh and the spice. A nice take on the combining Japanese and Korean flavours and maybe some Mexican too because of the jalapeño peppers.
bossam - braised pork belly, scallion, dehydrated daikon kimchi, cabbage wrap
That night we had a cucumber wrap instead of cabbage wrap but it was still very nice. The pork was very very tender but still held itself together well. I enjoyed the spicy veggie on the side that accompanied it. It's a good balance of sweet and spicy but I think it geared towards more of the sweet side.
The bulgogi sliders below were, in my opinion, the worst dish of the night. I was actually looking forward to them because they were very much idolized in other food blogs and these were highly recommended. Sorry to say but it did not pass my test or my taste buds. The pulled beef was very very sweet and the cucumber on top did nothing to balance out the flavours. The sauce was overpowering and sickening to the point that I was not able to take another bite. Very unsatisfying.
The tofu with ginger scallion dressing was another one of my favourite dishes. That's because I love agedashi tofu so I'm a bit biased. The dish was light and flavourful. I love the crunch of the soft tofu too with the punchy ginger scallion dressing.
Danji's interior is very much like the casual to fine dining restaurants that I've been to in the Melbourne CBD area. It's posh but very sleek yet it has a casual feel to it.To make our lives easy, we opted for the degustation menu so that they will just select the most popular dishes from the menu.
First up, the spicy yellowtail sashimi with wild pacific hamachi, cucumber, red onion, chive, cho jang, jalapeño. I actually enjoyed this one. I liked the combination of the fresh and the spice. A nice take on the combining Japanese and Korean flavours and maybe some Mexican too because of the jalapeño peppers.
bossam - braised pork belly, scallion, dehydrated daikon kimchi, cabbage wrap
That night we had a cucumber wrap instead of cabbage wrap but it was still very nice. The pork was very very tender but still held itself together well. I enjoyed the spicy veggie on the side that accompanied it. It's a good balance of sweet and spicy but I think it geared towards more of the sweet side.
We were almost close to the end of the meal and we were served the tofu stew, beef with daikon. This dish was very salty and overly sweet, you really need the rice to eat with this meal. I liked the daikon and the fish was tender but the sauce was too sweet for my taste.
The korean chicken wings was comparable to Kong's BBQ but honestly, I think Kong's was better. This had a kick to them though and the crunch was there but I believe other places can do this dish better..
The bulgogi sliders below were, in my opinion, the worst dish of the night. I was actually looking forward to them because they were very much idolized in other food blogs and these were highly recommended. Sorry to say but it did not pass my test or my taste buds. The pulled beef was very very sweet and the cucumber on top did nothing to balance out the flavours. The sauce was overpowering and sickening to the point that I was not able to take another bite. Very unsatisfying.
The tofu with ginger scallion dressing was another one of my favourite dishes. That's because I love agedashi tofu so I'm a bit biased. The dish was light and flavourful. I love the crunch of the soft tofu too with the punchy ginger scallion dressing.
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