01/11/2026
A Month of Japanese Cuisine,
Culinary adventurers in our Chef’s Choice program ( Fridays ), who have spent the past month travelling through Japan without the inconvenience of finding their passports.
For just $5 each Friday, our budding chefs rolled up their sleeves, sharpened their kitchen skills and discovered that international cuisine is considerably more enjoyable when you get to eat the homework.
Our Japanese month served up quite the menu.
First up, the entrée: Karaage Chicken, which quickly became the crowd favourite. Crispy, delicious and apparently capable of making a room go suspiciously quiet while everyone concentrated on their plate. Then came the gyoza. Now, we believe strongly in developing cooking skills and independence, but we also believe in knowing when to call in reinforcements. These ones were store-bought. After all, you can’t do everything from scratch.
For the main event, things became considerably more serious with Buldak Carbonara ramen, steak and a fried egg. A dish with enough flavor, heat and did I say flavor to make an ordinary Friday feel like a small festival.
Dessert brought the sweet stuff: fluffy soufflé pancakes topped with strawberries, followed by Tanghulu, those glossy fruit skewers that look innocent enough until the sugar gets involved.
And because every great culinary journey deserves a proper finale, the group finished the month with a restaurant outing to Miori in Umina.
The verdict?
10/10.
Of course, no great day out is truly complete without a quick stop at McDonald’s afterwards for a sundae. As you do. Fancy dress Spoo-oo-oo-ky!
For anyone keen to try a new restaurant, consider that a recommendation from a group of people who have spent the month eating their way through Japanese cuisine.
Chef’s Choice is about much more than food. It’s about building confidence, independence and practical skills, trying new things and, of course, discovering that the best part of cooking is often sitting down together afterwards and seeing what everyone thinks.
A new month means a new culinary adventure.
And judging by the evidence so far, our chefs are only just getting warmed up.
Who knows where our tastebuds will be travelling next?
