Kong BBQ - king of meat, Korean style

Bringing a new perspective to the barbequed meats trend that's so in right now, Kong BBQ in Melbourne introduces us to Asian barbeque and smoking techniques under a cutesy Japanese-styled panda logo.

Inside Kong BBQ, Church Street, Cremorne, Melbourne

By the same group behind the always popular Chin Chin in the Melbourne CBD, Kong BBQ in the inner Melbourne city suburb of Cremorne was impressively busy for our late lunch drop in, with plenty of couples seated around the open kitchen counter seats and groups contentedly hoeing into meat platters.

Kong house kin chi

We started on the house pickles and kim chi fermented cabbage; the latter full of crunch, squish and chilli heat. I adored the pickled carrot strips alongside interestingly soft walnuts, while daikon white radish rounded out the pickled offerings.

Wood grilled edamame with chilli and salt

Giving the usual edamame soy beans a new wood grilled look and taste, as well as keeping on the barbeque theme, the heavily salted edamame continued to ramp up the meal's spice levels.

Hot wings with gochujang and chipotle

Chicken wings were irresistible given a whole menu section dedicated to the boney cut and we opted for the saucy gochujang Korean chilli paste and chipotle variety.

Deep red and garnished with extra fresh chilli slices, the wings weren't overly spicy and featured some very juicy midwings.

Nasu miso - miso eggplant

I couldn't pass on one of my favourite vegetables, served with a twist on the traditional Japanese nasu dengaku style, in a lettuce leaf in Chinese san choi bao style.

The hunk of soft eggplant, beautifully caramelised and packed with miso flavour, was adorned with sesame seeds, fried strips of something and coriander in a clever fusion offering.

BBQ baby back pork ribs with Kong 'crazy horse' chilli

Our barbequed pork ribs selection seemed to feature the same red chilli sauce as the chicken wings, with the same chilli, spice and all things apparently "crazy horse".

The tender ribs on the bone made for an ideal lip-smacking, finger-licking main dish to share - carbs on the side would be ideal.

Bossam BBQ tray

Continuing on the sharing trend, the bo ssam BBQ tray was definitely the way to go for most groups and even some couples.

Served in the same style as American-style barbeque platters with a selection of meats on a metal tray, the platter arrived with kim chi, pickles, pork crackling and butter lettuce and perilla leaves for wrapping and eating in traditional Korean ssam style.

Bossam BBQ tray

There was smoky chicken breast, pulled pork, pork belly and my favourite, beef brisket - each with a slightly different cooking method, sauce and personality as part of the platter.

Between four of us and all the other dishes, we completely cleaned up the tray of meats.

Spicy cabbage salad with pickled veg and Kewpie mayo

We supplemented our meat-fest with a very well-executed cabbage slaw, with spice, pickle and Kewpie mayonnaise making it one of the more impressive slaw salads of recent times.

Bar and open kitchen

While it's so on-trend that it almost hurts, Kong BBQ is doing its Asian barbeque well with a sense of fun and a modern, casual approach. Meat and the charcoal grill are king at Kong BBQ, and it's so hot right now.