Mamame

Mamame is a Korean/​Japanese place on Church Street near the corner of Swan which was recommended by a work friend for Saturday lunch. I was early and as I hadn’t had breakfast yet I ordered a couple of crab sliders and a bottle of Sapporo to line my stomach — good value at $ 15. One of my lunch dates arrived as soon as the buns hit the table, but luckily she’s gluten intolerant so I didn’t have to share :)
The lunch menu was a little limited but after checking with the kitchen our waiter returned with the dinner menu which has a lot more options. By now our second friend had arrived and the grazing commenced.
We started with a selection of entrees. First to arrive were tacos. These come in two flavours; beef bulgogi with ginger and shallots, and spicy chicken. I had the beef which was sensational. Next up were seared scallops served with creamed cauliflower, soy shitake, a little piece of rice cracker and crispy bacon. Delish. Final offering was baked prawns stuffed with Tobiko mayo sprinkled with flying fish roe. Also delish.
A couple of shared mains followed; rockling and wagyu beef. The fish fillet was steamed and served on a pool of light, tasty miso sauce with pickled radish, edamame, garlic chips & squid noodles. I’m not a huge fan of white fish but this won me over. The beef was even better; strips of tender rare rump steak with a bowl of spicy diced cucumber, daikon and a hot sauce and lettuce leaves to wrap it all up in.
We were still a little peckish so my friends ordered another round of tacos while I opted for a plate a cured king fish. This came with wasabi pea purée, chili pickled daikon and compressed cucumber.
How long has this place been here and why haven’t I heard about it until now? Even better question: why were there only two other people besides us enjoying this fabulous food?