The HWKR food centre in the CBD is a great spot to sample some of the best Asian street style food from around Melbourne. The area is large, cutely decorated and clean. The Modern Eatery have some delicious bao with thir own personalised stamp on the steamed buns.
The service is extremely quick and efficient in this cafeteria style set up. You order at individual counters and then you pick up your food when it's ready. These bao are exactly what you expect. Soft fluffy buns with spicy fillings, tender meat and freshly made. We were completely happy with the service and food.
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Price: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I quite like eating here, I felt very comfortable and the food was tasty and fresh.
The food: I ordered a teriyaki salmon don which was cold and I suppose the idea is to eat cold and I kind liked it. The dish was harmonious and taste good! I also ordered a beef bao, which is regular, very similar to others that I’ve tried before.
The service: soo, the good think about HWKR is that they are a group of restaurants and you can order food from different places, but the bad thing is that they don’t have jug with tap water for you and also the payment only can be done by card (which is a problem if you usually don’t bring a card with yourself)
The price: Is more expensive then other places around the city, the main dish I paid $16 and the bao I paid 2 for $12.
A wide selection of dishes are available here with the lovely ambiance at HWKR.
Ordered the deep fried sushi which was fried on the edges. The filling was filled with salmon, cream cheese and drizzled with sweet chilli mayo and teriyaki.
Expecting the fries to be small portioned, this came on a large plate. Fries have minimal oil and crispy with bbq seasoning dusted on top and served with a side of Kitty Ks aioli.
Nice yakiniku beef and Katsu Sando. Miso soup ($2 meal deal) was fine, but quite small size and watery.
Yakiniku was definitely catering to the Asian fusion crowd with a large portion of salad and not much beef.
Katsu Sando was nice and crispy, but crumb was borderline burnt and tasted a bit bitter. The bread was a bit dry and there was an uneven spread of tonkatsu sauce. I liked that it had cabbage which is not always included (see Saint Dreux).
I was standing in front of the stall for quite a few minutes waiting for the only staff member to stop frying things in the back, despite making eye contact. Would've been nicer to be acknowledged sooner. There was also some confusion around ingredients on the fries - I asked if there was seaweed and she said no, but then when I asked what it was, she said seaweed...
Will come back for:
+ Katsu Sando
Tried the Katsu Sando as a bite for lunch and was impressed by the way these guys cooked their Katsu. The outside was fried well, but the inside remains succulent and the flavours well balanced. They could cut off the bread crust, to make this a little more “special”; the Katsu just feels a bit cheap sandwich in 2 pieces of white bread. The sandwich can also be a bit dry, and I was glad to have the miso soup (an addition), to accompany the bite. Service was super quick and friendly. Will be back to try out some of the other options.
Delicious fried sushi, big salmon poke bowls with fresh ingredients and pork baos with lots of filling. All food is so good and service is very quick, we loved it.
I love Modern Eatery - so going to their HWKR stall was basically non-negotiable. My favourite dishes (definitely worth a try!) are the salmon oshi (can't really pass on that), the aburi poke bowl and the fry me to the moon.
I would usually come here to get my sushi fix.The salmon oishi is amazing,the aburi salmon is made perfectly.Tried their baos and they were quite nice too.Thw wagyu beef bao was my favourite
Wagyu Beef Bao : 😁 Great
Wagyu Curry : 😍 Amazing
Aburi Poke Bowl : 😁 Great
Delicious Japanese food that deserves to be praised. Wagyu Beef Bao was delicious. Pair that with the wagyu curry which was epic. The Aburi Poke Bowl was also very yummy. Servings are actually quite big so be prepared.
Fav place to eat in the HWKR food court for me. The amburi salmon and veges were held together by a nice mayo.
The wagyu bao was small and simple.
The wagyu curry was nice and peppery and not too sweet, which is how I like it, but I would have loved more potato and carrots.
Perhaps they used to be good. This place is now overrated, with no real signature dish. Everything is mediocre. Being said that, the service staff were courteous, and the ambiance around this area is nice. If you want more authentic Asian flavors, there is a lot around this area that will put this joint to shame.
Taste: ***
Environment: *****
Service: ****
Thoroughly enjoyed myself here! Definitely a new and awesome concept than just being a hawker hall. What a fun environment, decor on point and great upbeat tunes playing in the background. Greeted when walking in and also was explained how the ordering service works which deserves a big tick! Plenty of different Asian cuisines to choose from and dishes came out in great time too! Quality of dishes were good too! So happen to be there on the change over of new restaurant pop ups and when paying for a meal, we were asked for feedback which was great! Heads up that this place doesn’t take cash and uses only eftpos. It works when you don’t need to figure out how to split the bill! Cute outdoor area in the front for pups. Will be back when the next changeover happens in 3-4 months time!
Restaurant set up as a food court style where you can order from various counters serving different foods. Idea is great as our table enjoyed a good mix of foods.
Food taste, portions and price are average.
Service was great as there were people assisting us with orders at the table.
Love their indome pop up. Very innovative menu. Chicken coated with indome. Curry puff contains indome. Fried rice with indome flavors. The most important is their indome dry noodles where noodles cooked just the right texture. Also included fried whole egg and indome chicken. Bonus gift indome key ring free when purchase over $20. The best ever pop up in HKWR. Plenty of tables. Situable for big groups. Recommend booking to avoid disappointment. This place have few pop-ups, can be very busy. Very convenient with public transport. Car parking available nearby too.
Came here for a friend's birthday.
Didn't expect much as it's a hawker.
But I got to say the staffs are the friendliest I've seen in a while. Everyone seems to be happy working there together and it just makes the atmosphere a great place.
Food came quite quick and I think the portion was pretty decent for the price point; although I finished my plate as I'm quite a big eater, my other four friends didn't quite finish.
My mi goreng gokil was $13.50 if I recall correctly and the other plates were similar in price - no more than $15.
I would recommend this restaurant for something casual as it's quiet and spacious and very easy for a group to communicate with each other.
I ordered a cocktail for my friend and the bartender was more than helpful.
I would come here again.
edited: added more photos of dessert on my second visit. the two bowls came to a total of $27~ so roughly $14 each.
Great concept. Great good. Great vibe.
An excellent addition to Melbourne's food scene. Rotating restaurants means you'll never be bored. Whether it's a work lunch, dinner with mates, meal on your way home.... there's something for you.
Dangerous that I work across the road from HWKR. So lucky to have an awesome place to grab a bite so close to work. The menus there are always excellent. Staff are friendly. I haven't had a disappointing meal there yet. Serving size from some of the eateries could increase slightly.
Make a reservation
Order online
Find the best restaurant in Melbourne
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes