What kind of martial arts does a little wannabe chef do? 🐼 Kung food! 🤩
Kung Fu is a type of Chinese flighting style that I have personally tried... and sucked 😂
It actually takes a lot to learn the form, have proper power and at the same time gracious flow and gesture structure! And while I might not be a little ninja yet, I sure can relate to the Kung Fu Panda and it’s love for Chinese food!
And combining Asian ingredients and Chinese cooking techniques, in a burger?! Something that is not a bun or a Bao?! WOW! That’s admirable! 👏
The Kung Fu Master, after mindful studying ingredients, countless trial and error and learning experience, tasting sessions (and what I would assume not that awesome palette flavours too 😂), have created unique Asian Burgers, representing the Kung Fu discipline so well! Yes, these guys have studied well and their patience has definitely be worth it, bringing to us one of the best Asian fusions I’ve tried, combining Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai cuisines!
The place is located in the heart of South Yarra and if you’re passing by and take a glance to the inside, it’s hard not to feel invited to get in! Besides being having a logo right at the front and a slogan saying ‘burgers are life’, the whole place inspires vibes of a little wood Japanese shelter🏯 it also has an incredible board like most burger places have these days, illustrating the thematic place and Jung Fu ethos. But they actually take things a bit further here and have board games on some tables and some more that you can ask to make your Asian experience even more peculiar!
They gave several seats inside in a straight row on the right and a couple outside in the much busy street of South Yarra - seriously, it couldn’t be more perfectly located near Prahran market! Went I arrived there were just 2 people inside but during the time I was there, there were many in and out!
In terms if menu itself, I found quite challenging to choose as they had not only the usual proteins of beef, chicken thigh and pork but also seafood options of tempura soft-shell crab and shrimps, as well as several vegetarian and vegan options! Plus, the menu item names are very theme appropriate and they are allergen friendly, making every burger you want according to your dietary preferences. Besides vegan cheese the dark charcoal buns are vegan too and even the sauces are very importantly chosen here as they don’t really use average tomato or mustard, and instead they have come with house-made relishes inspired by Chinese sweet-and-sour sauces, as well as Korean chilli, Thai herbs with lemongrass and ginger, and a yuzu-and-lime mayo. They even have a display right at the front with the different options!
Plus not only is the burger menu already a step ahead of most burger places, but they actually also features Japanese snacks that I obviously had to try too! Here’s what I decided to try:
- Beyond The Ultimate - it’s a little beast for sure! It has so many flavours that you will certainly get lost in it 😂 from the size and and the ingredients! It comes in a black charcoal bun as all the vegan burgers do that I personally loved and found it soft and delicious. They even toast it slightly to give it that crunchy taste 👌they use two patties here: one from beyondmeat and a tofu patty. In terms of the size of the patties they are both impressive and give the burger a little massive size to it and the portions are very generous. I personally love beyondmeat and I found the combination of it with the tofu was impressive. Yes, I was actually surprised as I am quite picky with tofu and the flavour because not every place knows how to cook tofu, but here they absolutely nailed it👏 on top and bottom of that you can also find some Kung fu sauce and above the patties it comes with some mushrooms, a double slice of vegan cheese, Japanese mayo, some lettuce, tomato, a pickle and... slices of beetroot and pineapple! (Uuuuuf, that was long 😂). In terms of those toppings I was happy with most of them and I am even not a huge fan of pickles but found they suited perfectly here. I wouldn’t personally add the beetroot but I guess it brings a slight difference of ingredients to the item (although I found that it wasn’t really needed as it has so many distinct things already that then it’s difficult to identity the flavours!). Overall, not the best vegan burger I’ve had but it was definitely an interesting one, and possibly one of the most ‘complex’ ones I’ve tried, packed with endless flavours.
- Flaming Prawn - from the two burgers, this was a favourite! This one I definitely recommend for its unique way of presentation and for the ingredients and way it is built! It is a sautéed king prawn omelette that has some cooked prawns involved in a omelete made right on the spot that dairy free doesn’t contain any milk at all! And surprisingly the best taste is REALLY creamy, soft and good! I’m actually taking that idea for my own cooking as I found that having the prawns involved inside that egg mix creates such an incredible combo of flavours - yum! 👌 it also comes with some Singapore chilli sauce that we opted to take out as I am not the hugest spicy fan and I would prefer to see what the actual taste of the omelette-prawn would be and it comes with some Japanese mayo and the usual tomato and lettuce. I found very interesting the Asian herbs they used and that it came sprinkled with (incredibly tasty!) and the curiously they used some crackers too on top of the omelette 🤭 LOVED IT. Not only it gives a crunchy element to it but the taste is REALLY good and I personally wished it had come with some more so that it could not only look more impressive in terms of size (for more picture purposes 😂) and also because it is actually a really good item!
- Octopus Ball - I also decided to try some of their snacks available that are different than most burger places that only have onion rings, the usual simple or loaded fries (that they also have) or even some new healthy based snacks like eggplant chips. This was the first time that I saw in a burger place Takoyaki - the famous ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. It came with Takoyaki sauce, loads of Japanese mayo (waaaaaay too much in my opinion- usually it only comes with a slight pour of mayo but here the bottle they use to pour is BIG and it comes with a lot). I would definitely prefer to have less of it as it takes away the protagonism of the octopus balls and I think it would be a good option to pour less on top and have a side of it for those ones that want more. It also comes with way too many bonito flakes 😂 everything topping wise seems excessive actually and I think things would work much better with less so that you can actually enjoy the Takoyaki itself.
- Vegetarian Spring Rolls - spring rolls are something that it is quite interesting to evaluate because they can tell a lot of about the quality of food provided. There are many versions of Japanese spring rolls too and I personally always feel more attracted towards the vegetarian ones! So I decided to try them and I can definitely attest that they are GOOD. I liked the fact they weren’t oily again and that had such a crispy outside 👌👏 the filling is very enjoyable too and they have a peculiar mix of vegetables that it’s very popular to see but I definitely approve! (I actually am not sure what is inside but it sure tasted different than others I’ve tried!). It comes in a portion of 3 and with a sweet and sour sauce that I wasn’t much of a fan. You cannot go wrong with that crunchy deliciousness, you just can’t 😍
- Purple Sweet Potato Croquette - LOVED IT. But again, I have to be honest and say that I’m biased as I am a huge sweet potato lover and I absolutely love these Japanese snacks 😂 So it’s basically a crumpled croquette that is very crunchy from the outside and not greasy or oily - in fact that is why I loved it so much -   and it comes with a soft mashed purple sweet potato filling that was mouthwatering. My friend wasn’t the hugest fan of it as she found the outside quiet starchy and a bit difficult to actually make it enjoyable to chew it but I personally had no issues and I absolutely loved it. I have tried several versions of the sweet potato item and I must say that I really liked this version although I agree that if it was slightly less starchy and instead just a bit more crumbly it might have been even more pleasant ☺️ but overall portion size is good and the size of the croquettes are good too - would recommend!

- Nutella and Oreo Milkshake - my friend had this milkshake and I have to say that I really wanted to try because it looked impressive (but avoided it just due to the lactose content of the icecream they use to make it and I personally know I react to it). And it looked impressive not only from the size of it but the actual taste as she said to me was impressive and ‘you just can’t go wrong with Nutella and Oreo’. It actually comes with Oreo crumbles pieces inside and woooooow 😍 if you feel like dessert or a little sweet you can definitely go for this one or also what we had below 🤭
- Classic Banana Fritter with Matcha Icecream - I just couldn’t resist having the typical fried banana Japanese snack with the one and only iconic matcha in this case in form of an icecream. The fried banana is made right in the spot and they basically cut a large banana into big slices and they deep fry and plate it. The matcha icecream is a soft serve they have and comes in a glass cup - not a massive portion but it suits perfectly with the amount of banana. I found the banana to be a lovely crispy treat,l and it was actually very warm on the inside (so be careful and don’t get too excited putting everything in your mouth like I did with the excitement 😂). We added some syrup drizzled all over it (getting that pouring shot 👌) and I definitely almost recommend drenching it in it 😂 actually amazing amazing combo and the fried banana pairs perfectly with the sweet syrup. My friend also absolutely loved the matcha ice cream and found it quite soft and with a gently matcha taste. Overall even though the icecream portion could be bigger, this is not an icecream alone and they have that option seperately and you have to think of this as a combo snack so I think it’s a very well served dessert and would certainly have again!
I unconditionally loved this places and its creativity! The whole menu and details are very well thought and showed that they care about stepping up the usual burger game and coming up with innovative ways of presentation and distinct menu options and I rate it as a 5 mostly because of that. The dessert is quite unique too and even though there are some other Japanese restaurants that have them, I haven’t seen any other burger place that features it either. Worth definitely paying a visit!
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