The Gaya - Modern Korean Restaurant

I got a lovely surprise in my Urbanspoon inbox last week. It was from Deokhoon Cho or "Leo", the owner and head chef, inviting me and bf to the opening launch of his new restaurant in Ardoss/Applecross area - The Gaya. The restaurant is on the cafe strip in Applecross/Ardoss area on Kearns Crescent on the opposite end of the arcade where Gelare's ice creamery is located.

The Gaya, just opened 2 months ago and  Leo explained to me that his vision is to create traditional Korean dishes with a modern flair and to fuse Korean with his Italian culinary experience. I must say I was a little hesitant with fusion restaurants, because it can either be amazing if done correctly or a mess, however, Gaya has got the right stuff! Leo's knowledge of traditional Korean dishes with his experience and training in Italian cuisines resulted in the perfect marriage of a fusion, modern Korean restaurant that will appeal to lovers of Korean food and those with a more modernized palate. 

Head Chef of The Gaya - Deokhoon Cho "Leo"

The restaurant is really quaint with a lovely zen garden at the back corner, wooden table and chairs that reflects its Asian heritage. The lighting were like little lanterns and on the counter there is even a "gold crown" with a explanation on a particular Korean history that the restaurant is named after, the Gaya (part of the Three Kingdoms of Korea). It was cosy, cute and homely.

We started off the night with an appetizer, which was a traditional Korean snack made of glutenous rice, oats, sesame seeds and honey. 

The little cube of appetizer was sticky, sweet, and the oats and sesame gave it a crunchy texture. It started off the night rather nicely.

The entrees were hard to chose. There was a variety, each sounding as delicious and yummy as the next. It took as a while to decide which ones bf and I wanted. 

We ended up with the beef cream roll - asparagus, inoki mushroom, capsicum, cucumber and cream cheese wrapped in thinly sliced beef and barbecued. The dish was drizzled with traditional Korean bbq sauce. The beef was sliced so thin that it acted like a wanton wrap/rice paper wrap highlighting the delicious vegetable produce, which was bbq-ed to perfection. It was such a nice twist to a what would be a traditional bulgogi beef dish.

Beef cream roll ($14)

We also opted for a more traditional Korean dish, the fish jijimi, which is a fish pancake. It was so light, fluffy and the fish fillet was beautifully silky. The batter wasn't thick either, it didn't overpower the fish fillet, the batter was thin highlighting the silky beautiful fish fillet. It was the preferred dish for both bf and I. Dip the fish jijimi into the soy mayo sauce and it's such perfect.

Fish Jijimi ($12)

The entree was followed complimentary, almost palate cleanser dish. There was the kimichi tomato, soy potato and pickled radish. Sweet, tangy, salty flavours prepared our palate for mains.

Like the entrees, bf and I had such difficulty choosing a main to eat, because there was a few that sounded absolutely delicious. After much indecisiveness we chose two dishes that were very much fusion, modern Korean. It is here that you can really taste Leo's expertise in Korean dishes with his understanding, respect and prior experience of Italian foods, because both the mains we chose were the perfect marriage of the two cuisines.

Bf ordered one of The Gaya's most popular dishes, the 36 hour Pork. The pork belly is cooked for at least 36 hours and was placed on top of creamy sweet potato puree paired with a side of tangy, slighly spicy Korean chives salad, glazed apple and soybean paste sauce. This really was modern Korean dish, with flavours of spicy, tangy of Korean, balanced perfect with the sweetness of the glazed apple. The pork belly itself was tender, beautifully cooked and in the words of my bf (who loves his pork belly and loves it with crackle and crispy - for him to say this is a big deal!) "This is second best pork belly dish... The first best being made by me!". I was lucky enough to get a taste test of this and it really was beautiful. I especially loved the chives salad eaten with the pork belly.

36 hour Pork Belly ($30)

I opted for the Beef Short Rib; traditional Korean-style beef short ribs simmered for 24 hours in a beautiful broth consisting of red dates with hearty vegetables of potato and carrot topped with parsnip chips. O.M.G this dish was absolutely heavenly. It was hearty, meaty, extremely tender, it melted in your mouth. The vegetables were also cooked really well. The only disappointment was that I had to leave all the yummy gravy behind because there wasn't anything I can soak it up with! It was also little salty for me, but then I have a low salt tolerance. But this dish is fabulous. It would be even more lovely in winter.

Beef Short Ribs ($30)

After mains, comes the best part of the night... DESSERTS! I really wanted the homemade Red Misu, but bf couldn't really eat any of the other dishes on the menu due to the contents of nuts and anyway he wanted it so I tried something else. 

Red Misu ($8)

The Red Misu was presented as a little pot plant topped with chocolate milo-like soil, chocolate egg-like rocks and mint. It's called a Red Misu because it is tiramisu (biscuits was well soaked in lovely espresso!) mixed through with red bean. It was lovely and I wouldn't mind having it more than just a couple of spoons next time.

My dessert was based on a traditional Korean street food/ho-tuck (snack food). Traditionally it is a warm pancake/brioche-like snack food in Korea. Leo's Gaya Ho-Tuck provides this traditional Korean dish with a modern twist by drizzling it with honey, chocolate with fruits and nuts on the side. The dessert is perfect in winter as it comes out warm. I really enjoyed it and I haven't had anything like this before. Definitely will be getting this again! Not too sweet and not too rich but still makes you feel warm and fuzzy, like you got a big cuddle! The only disappointing thing was the caramel pieces of shards which were burnt! 

Gaya Ho-Tuck ($8)

The Gaya - Modern Korean Restaurant is a little gem of a restaurant and such a good find! Chef Leo's experience in a wealth of restaurants around the world has created modern Korean dishes that are well executed with punches of flavours. There are so many dishes on the menu that I want to try. Bf and I are thinking of bringing back our friends to check out more of the menu. So if you are after a unique Korean experience then head to the Gaya. 

In the meantime I want to thank Leo and his lovely staff for the invitation to try your lovely restaurant. I was such a pleasure to meet you all and WOW to the menu! You will be seeing me again soon!

Beethoven

My bf's family doesn't live in Perth which makes it really hard for me to catch up with them. Although they do frequently drive up to Perth for appointments, it's usually always on weeknights! I'm ever so busy on weeknights with having to do assignments, or going to the gym and busy with my exercise regimens and training and having finished a busy day at work I have no energy nor the desire to go anywhere but be at home in my trackies and watch my favourite shows on telly or go through my photos or read a book.

Fortunately, they happen to come up on a Friday night one week and I was free (for a change and not have appointments booked - which is another troublesome thing, I really need to get a good quality diary) and my bf was nice enough to tell me almost a week in advance and not a few days beforehand. He booked a family dinner at this German restaurant, Beethoven - we went to a few years back and he hasn't really gotten the memory of the size of the servings of this place nor quality of the meats since then and have been trying to go back, so a family dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Beethoven is located in Applecross opposite Maccas, and is located behind Jetts gym, just off Canning Hwy.  A family ran restaurant specializing in German cuisine with a few European dishes thrown in for good measure. It's a casual restaurant that radiates warmth and friendliness with a little outdated decor with a twist of European flare. They have soft classical music playing in the background, not necessary just Beethoven symphonies, but also the likes of Mozart, Chopin and many other greats.

As for the food? Well, the place mainly being German in flavour, you have to and can expect hearty, big, German dishes, especially your meats. The dishes are massive in size, rather generous, cooked well, salted and flavoured with condiments like sauerkruat, bavarian dumpling, potatoes, braised sweet red cabbage, and vegetables.

Bf ordered his usual favourite - pork with crackling, in this case it was the pork shank. An oven roasted pork shank (a massive one at that.. I had to take the photo from a bird's eye view to get the whole dish into the photo!) with crispy crackle (which was yum! although some bits weren't 100% crackled but for the size, which you can feed at least 2-3 people, it's pretty good that 95% of the crackle was, well crispy!). It also came with sauerkruat, roasted potatoes and apple mousse. It can be shared or can be for one extremely hungry person.

Pork shank with sauerkruat, roasted potatoes and apple mousse

Bf's dad and his brother on the other hand got the whole lamb rack. Again,a massive dish. At least 8 pieces of lamb cutlets still held together (not chopped up) cooked the way it was bought from the butchers, served with goose fat baked potatoes, red cabbage and a minted pesto jus. The lamb was cooked to perfection, ever slightly pink and juicy. I can tell you that the boys couldn't stop raving about how good it was and what a decent size it is. Worth the price at $41.

Whole Lamb Rack

Bf's mum opted for something the safe option (and smaller portion size) of beef fillet with creamy garlic prawns (surf and turf styling but a little on the European side more than the Australian way) served with mash potato, asparagus spears and shiraz jus.  

Beef fillet with creamy garlic prawns

Despite it being very surf and turf like, the fillet was juicy and cooked to a slight pink with a nice creamy garlic, almost broth like sauce of the prawns. I thought it was also visually pleasing.

As for me? I couldn't take a lot of red meat, in fact I wasn't in the mood and I decided to take a chance on chicken. I hardly ever order chicken because well, I eat a lot of chicken dishes at home, and secondaly, chicken in restaurants tend to be on the dry over cooked side. However, apart from a pasta, a chicken dish was pretty much the smallest portioned sized meal on the menu. 

Pan-fried chicken breast wrapped in ham stuffed with camembert on a bed of spinach and sundried tomato risotto

So I ordered myself a pan-fried chicken breast wrapped in ham stuffed with camembert, served on spinach and sundried tomato risotto drizzled with roast garlic sauce. It looked and smelled divine. It tasted just as wonderful. The chicken wasn't dry at all. The risotto was lovely, although a little salty for my ever sensitive salt taste buds. But the one thing I was a little disappointed that the "stuffed with camembert" to me means the chicken breast I have is somehow stuffed with the lovely soft cheese, so when you cut into the breast you have the cheese in the middle. Alas this was not the case, in fact it was more the cheese was attempted to be stuffed by making a tiny finger mound at the top of the chicken a small amount of cheese was pushed into this said mound. So basically NOT "stuffed with camembert". A little disappointed because I really craved and wanted cheesie-goodness! But overall, I did enjoy the dish. 

Even with the largest of dishes somehow we managed to get desserts into us. Crazy I know. Overeating, for sure. Unhealthy. Most definitely! And one I do not recommend you do often!

Bf's brother and I got ourselves a hot apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. The strudel was definitely homemade and it would have been wonderful if it wasn't for the fact that the pastry was tough. It didn't flake and they have burnt the underside of the strudel. But I did love the cinnamon and apple smells and taste of it. 

Homemade apple strudel

Bf's dad got the chocolate overload (which bf really wanted but unfortunately the brownie in the chocolate overload had nuts in it). The chocolate overload came with a chocolate brownie, coffee infused chocolate mousse, with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. He polished of the plate and seemed to have enjoyed it and said that the brownie was nice and fluffy.

Chocolate overload

Vanilla creme brulee wild berry compote and lemon sorbet

Bf's dessert was suppose to a sweet and sour concoction. A balance of sweet with the sour. But unfortunately it was a little bit of a fail. The brulee itself had the nice crack through the carmelisation, but other than that it was little eggy, and felt more like eating custard. Proportions of the ingredients slightly wrong. The berry compote was sour and in a shot glass, it caused a little confusion as to what to eat it with and how to eat it. By itself it was too tangy and with the brulee, it didn't go. The lemon sorbet was lovely on it's own but again, with the other elements on the dish, it was questionable. A disappointing dessert for my boy.

Overall, Beethoven is a warm, casual and hearty German restaurant with beers on tap (and German beers are also available), along with assorted wines. The service can be a little careless, but they try and you can see them try. The food is big in portion so wear your stretch pants and bring your appetite. The prices are reasonable for what you get and with it being on the entertainment card it's a win. 

Will I go back? Well, I'm sure bf will drag me back but I will have to bring someone else along to share the dishes with.

The Gala Restaurant

You know you are in good hands when one of the owners' Hans Lang, and a master chef (nothing like the tv series) hailing from Germany comes to your table to prepare the dessert - this restaurant does everything to perfection - except maybe the lack of views - but that's forgiven seeing as Perth's scenary is not crash hot.

Let me introduce you to a hidden gem that resides on the Southern end of the Narrows Bridge, in Applecross - The Gala Restaurant. Where I took one of my best girlfriends as a birthday celebration, along with two of my guy friends.

The entrance of the restaurant is a skip, hop and stroll along its drive-way where wall-climbing plants are planted nicely along the covers - reminding me of vineyards and cosy cottages - which is exactly where you end up - stepping into a romantic era styled housing interior - in a NICE wooden floor-ed charming restaurant - where classics meet modern times - where time slows down. The friendly waiter will take you to the set, smile, laugh and keep you amused, without invading your space or your company. Prestine service. Never had such service - We even tipped!

Lets get the exciting bits shall we? - We had a 3 course meal - where the four of us shared 2 entrees and 1 dessert and each of us with a main dish. We also had 2 side dishes and a complementary pre-entree bread (which may I add is no ordinary bread - it's pastry goodness!).

please be aware most of the photos do not have a flash on - because when you are in a fine dining area it's just plane rude to have flash on!

The menu was HUGE and very nicely presented - at the time we were there they were having an asparagus special/week and the last time I checked their website they were still having it (which was checked about 2 weeks ago) - should try it out!

 Pre-entree bread - it's cheesy warm and the better it came with had some spices in it too!

Entree # 1 - Salmon Carpaccio in Truffle Ponzu Dressing

truffle marshmallow and ponzu caviar
aka salmon with mashmallow truffle (yes, you guessed it the white fluffy things are the mashmallow truffles!)

The entree would have been brilliant if the salmon wasn't so drenched in soy sauce - I think the chief accidently split too much soy.

Entree # 2 - Tiger Prawns and Pork Belly with Granny Smith Apple Cloud - tiger prawns filled with shredded honey glazed pork belly, spicy plum sauce - one of their signature dishes

Absolutely heavenly!

The Side dishes - - steamned vegetables and Potato Gratin prepared with Tasmanian Royal Blue Potatoes - potatoe cheesy goodness ^_^

The potatoe was so yummy. Creamy, cheesy in just the right amounts.

and the vegetables made you feel slightly healthy for a change - somewhat.

Oven baked Barramundi a la Café de Paris

with king oyster mushrooms and smoked potato puree

According to M the fish was delictable!

Trio of Duck - pan-fried duck breast with orange salt - brioche filled duck neck in duck jus

and drumstick glazed with cumquat jam

I had a taste of one of the trio and I must say it is juicy sculent and perfect - When I come back and this dish is on the menu I'll be ordering it along with the Tiger prawns entree.

White Asparagus and Veal Medallion

shallot sauce, iced roquefort brule and quince jelly

S loved the dish - and I loved the asparagus - it was crunchy and NOT stringy.

Venison Loin Medallion with blueberry sauce

The blueberry sauce made the dish interesting in a good way - slightly sweet and yet a hint of blueberry-ness and the venison was cooked to perfection.

And the dessert - their signature crepes, especially prepared by the masterchef and one-half owner of Gala restaurant - Han Lang

Crepes with ice-cream, strawberrys and cramalised toffee cage!

There was two of the crepes - for us to share. PURE HAVEN! and it was fun watching him make it - he went through all the steps and why each step must be done and how it brings out the flavour. it's pure goodness.

Will I be coming back -- YES! when? I don't know, someone take me!! ^_^