Seoul Food: Gami Chicken & Beer, Chippendale

It was a wild goose chase for a pop up eatery that we couldn't find that led us to Gami Chicken and Beer in Chippendale. The Melbourne based eatery sells as you can imagine fried chicken but done Korean style with beers and Korean mains. Leave your diet at the door!

When I woke up this morning, I was craving fried chicken. That is not unusual in itself but when Louise and I couldn't find the pop up, we decided to make our way to Gami Chicken and Beer on the lower ground level of Central Park shopping centre. Service is super sweet and lovely.

Gun: Bae Lager 4.5% – 300ml $5.5 Crushed Pear juice $2.80

We grab a table by the window and Henry is plonked into a high chair. Louise orders a Korean beer Gun: Bae Lager which is brewed for Gami while I try a crushed nashi pear juice with pieces of grated nashi pear at the bottom.

Louise had never tried tteok bok ki before so we order a serve of this. I didn't realise that this version didn't have cheese because I've only had it with cheese previously. It's very, very sweet (like a sweet and sour sauce sweet) with stir-fried rice sticks, sliced fish cakes, vegetables and noodles with Korean chili sauce. Cheese really tempers the sweetness of it and really adds to the gooeyness of tteok bok ki.

You call something "potato heaven" and chances are I will order it. It starts with a layer of mashed potato and then a layer of melted cheese and then wedges drizzled with chilli sauce and sour cream or as they call it "layered harmony". It's quite a sweet dish (actually all of the food here is quite sweet) but on a cold winter's day there really is nothing that can beat two types of potato and melted cheese smothered with sour cream.

The only dish I didn't really go for is the spicy chicken. It's chicken strips and chewy rice sticks with vegetables in chef’s special spicy sauce. This was a lunch time special so they tell us that it's a bit smaller than the evening one. But I did like this when combined with the potato heaven above as it really needed rice or something to soak up the sauce.

The last item to arrive is the half chicken. You can get this plain or with a sauce and there are three to choose from - sweet chilli, soy garlic and spicy. I tried the original plain without the sauce and it was actually a bit bland so I definitely recommend a sauce. The sweet chilli and soy garlic are the two most popular so we try the sweet chilli which is sticky and sweet albeit not very hot. All of the chicken comes with sweet daikon pickles which are cooling if you find the chicken too spicy.

Not into chicken? There's mock chicken made using fried soy meat. While it isn't exactly like chicken by itself, once you dip it into the "black sweet sauce" it comes with, it does a fairly good imitation. I adore the black sweet sauce and would order that separately or have my chicken cooked in that if I could. There's a side green salad with a creamy apple dressing that is nicely refreshing.

There's no dessert on the menu but there's a plethora of choice if you want it from neighbouring places!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you always have a plan B when you eat out? Do you have an eating list either in your head or on your phone? And do you like Korean fried chicken?

This meal was independently paid for.

Gami Chicken & Beer

Lower Ground Floor, Central Park Mall, 28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008
Open 7 days 11am–9pm
Phone: (02) 8067 0304
gamichicken.com.au/