TL;DR: Get a group of people together, round them up to here, and prepare for something which might make me want to forgo the Colonel for good. That is how tasty this fried chicken is, improving upon something which is good enough as is. Momos has a dynamic atmosphere, the food is plentiful and downright tasty and all of it is done quite well, especially the way the service is set up. If there was anything which defined casual social, this is it.
With this place getting enough buzz for many foodies in Brisbane to talk about it, then a second location to be opening later on within the city center, word has to be good about this place. It is practically one of the social hubs around here, and we are talking about a small pocket of town which already has its fair share of them. In fact, my dining buddy had heard about it and from seeing and hearing about it, he was convinced that giving it a go was on the table. So that meant one Sunday following on, and it turned out to be a worthy outing.
This outing was a combination of two plans (or maybe more) which melded together as they went along. Having been around here for a previous review, something that my dining buddy and I do is look around and start taking notes of new places to put on the list to give a visit. What was noted was this place in Runcorn Plaza, and to pull the story forward this was planned for one Sunday upcoming. Add onto that, my elder sister being in town with her husband and daughter and called up to see if I was available or anything for meeting up. Well, it worked well into this - perfect as this is near the pinnacle of a place to go as part of a group. So with the usual plan going ahead, it was meeting at the restaurant to enjoy a good meal.
Taking advantage of being at the far end of the plaza, the interior is pretty spacious. In many ways, the vibe is a lot like a pub. K-pop videos play on a television, a few toys are in the corner for kids to play with while waiting, and heaps of space is there for kids to have a bit of play - which is something that my niece was doing a lot of. It is a bit on the bland side for the most part, mostly having the wooden walls and all that, but to me I think they take advantage of it and keep the whole ordeal simple. You're here for visceral eating, not the ambiance.
With the way that the service is set up, like a lot of the modern Korean restaurants, it is all done by pushing the button on the table to alert a waitress. I have come around to liking this idea (especially if you need a refill of water), and for the kind of place Momo's is presenting itself as, it works very well to its advantage. Well, to get the seating part out of the way, all of that is done promptly and like clockwork - they immediately get the cutlery, get the chopsticks, the water, and the plates. These are to prepare for when the ordering occurs. Upon pressing that button and placing the orders, the speed of them being brought out is swift, and the best part is they are all piping hot. With that high turnaround, it works in favour for bigger groups if they want to order some more items. The presentation is polite, and the whole endeavour has been made streamlined for a smooth dining experience.
The cuisine of the menu is Korean, with a lot of the focus being on - of course - none other than fried chicken. There are several varieties of it, where it can also be gotten boneless (perfect for kids), and half-half plates are viable to get bang for the buck. Getting beyond the fried chicken, there are many other meals which are available. It is still a running theme that they are based around chicken, with plenty of noodle dishes, stews and soups on offer among many others. They still keep a pretty Korean flavour and aroma to them, with perhaps some Japanese thrown in. Lastly, just to beef it up a bit more, the meals can be finished with a number of sides thrown in. This is a small selection, and represents a combination of pub grub and more daring food. The menu is completed with a selection beers from Korea, both on tap and bottled.
Well, without any doubts, after all of this hype it had to only be one thing on the menu to get out of the way. None other than their signature fried chicken. So a couple of plates were gotten, with the aforementioned half-half option being selected, where there was the regular pieces with original and spicy marinade, and the boneless chicken with a marinated and soy flavours. All of these plates come with a side of their chips, which were a lot like crisps. While I had the idea of getting the boneless pieces just in case the little girl might have a bite, instead it was some chicken soy noodles that her mother ordered. As one final touch to the meal, as I reckon it is one of the stand-outs in Korean cuisine, I also ordered a kim chi pancake on the side. This one was okay, and I will admit that it has an acquired taste to it - particularly with the dipping sauce presented in the middle.
After all of this time, and constant insistence, it was finally down to chowing on the chicken. And I got to say this is among the best fried chicken that I have ever eaten. All four of the different flavours were tasty enough, and there is enough flavour and taste in O.G. recipe to thoroughly recommend it on its own. The sentiment from my dining buddy and brother-in-law was apparent that it was the favoured one of the lot. Across the board, each one had some of the tastiest, crunchiest, most well put together coating that I have ever had with fried chicken. It sealed a lot of the flavour in, retained its form with the delicious, thick sauces, and the meat was succulent and tender. What made it better was the bits of chicken were huge, and that there was a big pile of them. Whether it was bone-in, or boneless, the pieces were absolutely delicious nonetheless. The marinade flavour was fruity, the spicy marinade had a good kick to it, and the soy was also quite good and distinctive. On the side, those crisps were delicious being crunchy, heavily salted and soaking up a lot of the sauce on the side. Heck, those boneless bits I bet were made primarily so people could constantly pop them in their mouth, and order some more before the first lot of beers were finished; heaven knows I couldn't stop.
I managed to get a taste of the soy noodles as well, and they were pretty nice as well. Obviously fresher than the rest of what was ordered, the noodle were well steamed, and the mixture of vegetables in it was crunchy and well-cooked. With the odd bit of chicken there, and a good seasoning mixture, it made the array of flavours subtle, though the aroma was definitely there. Credit where it is due, this was a well put together meal from the bit I tried.
Last - and this time least - was the kim chi pancake. That is not to say it was bad, though some of the guests with me might disagree, but compared to the other items that were ordered it certainly took a backseat. This is probably because kim chi is a bit of an acquired taste, with it being sour and all that. And come to think of it, I have had better pancakes elsewhere. A little bit doughy for my tastes, it was still delicious and a decent serving size. It was big, and clients could rip small bits off with their chopsticks. Okay as a side, but not really anything that much to recommend. Perhaps seafood would have been better.
It is safe to say that I fully enjoyed the time out that I had here. It was a long time coming, but I was looking forward to it whenever it came. Sometimes the real charm of the place is not about checking off the boxes, or making sure it is an experience to remember, but it is all about the vibe. This was it, with the casual, easy-going walk-in being encouraged and swift, quick service. Feeling hungry? Well, the bits of food here are big, hot and tasty and will be arriving to your table before you know it.
Best of all, after all of this time, after trying to twist his ear about it, I finally got around to convincing my house mate/dining buddy to get around to giving Korean a second chance. The best way around it was urging him how the fried chicken was very good, and it worked very well. This was more or less the perfect arrangement, most of which fell into line with all the planning being on the fly. A place like MoMos commands you to get a group of people together for sharing and trying a whole range of items, plus the way it was set up with service and atmosphere makes it even more suited to that. It has fantastic grub, a good vibe, and I full on enjoyed it. This place is a must do across the board, and it is apparent why it has gotten another outlet in the city center.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes