Managing director Jun Jang and chef Guno Chung are going big and bold at the new location. Photo: Sophia Brady.
What started as a popular stall at Verity Lane Market has grown into a permanent restaurant in the Canberra Centre, with 38 Katsu taking over the former Gami Chicken site on Bunda Street. For managing director Jun Jang and chef Guno Chung, the move marks the next step for a business that found a loyal Canberra audience almost from day one.
“Verity Lane was very successful for us. Canberra really embraced us, and we are so thankful for that,” said Jun.
“There was limited space there. Now we have a full restaurant, a cool room where we can age meat and do more experimental tasty things.”
The extra space has allowed them to evolve the menu and play with different ingredients and techniques. At the centre of it all, however, is the same philosophy that made the Verity Lane operation successful in the first place.
“38 Katsu is all about fast-paced casual food,” said Jun.
“Japanese comfort food is at the heart of what we do, sprinkled with Korean sensibilities that reflect our backgrounds, and we use Western influences picked up over years working in five-star establishments across Australia, Europe and the UAE.”
As you step off Bunda Street, the restaurant feels energetic and welcoming. K-pop and J-pop provide the soundtrack while a large mural stretches across one wall.
Jun explains it pays homage to the number 38 in their name; it references a traditional Japanese card game, and the sprawling artwork represents the full deck of cards. The fit-out itself is simple, with timber tables and QR ordering keeping the spotlight firmly on the food and fast service.
The menu is broader than the Verity Lane version, but one thing becomes obvious very quickly: pork is the main event here. That’s a smart move considering chicken is already well represented next door with Fricken.
To coax the maximum flavour out of the pork, chef Guno ages it in shio koji (a fermented rice and salt seasoning) for 48 hours before preparing it for katsu. The restaurant also uses wet panko crumbs, creating a coating that is noticeably different from your average breaded schnitzel. The result is a rustic crust built around the perfect crunch.
Beyond katsu, there are also soba, udon and yakisoba dishes, along with a selection of smaller bites. Photo: Sophia Brady.
There are plenty of other dishes competing for attention.
Doriya, a Japanese-style baked rice gratin topped with cheese and house-made white sauce, is not something I see often in Canberra, and it is available with seafood, chicken or vegetables. There are also udon, soba and yakisoba dishes, along with a selection of smaller bites.
I particularly like that every main arrives as a complete set on a tray with rice, miso soup, pickles and cabbage salad. Combined with the generous portions, it does feel like proper comfort food.
Around our table, we dive into the different cuts of pork, and there is a robust argument about whose dish is better and which cut is the superior option. The table is divided between the Rosu loin and the leaner Hire tenderloin.
Next, the debate moves to how katsu is best enjoyed: with curry or without curry? Everyone feels very passionately about their choices and is happy as a pig in mud with what they have in front of them.
The debate, however, becomes irrelevant when the 38 Signature Pork Katsu dish arrives.
38 Signature Pork Katsu dish is a showstopper. Photo: Sophia Brady.
The pork is thin, beautifully tender beneath a crisp golden coating, but what really makes the dish memorable is everything piled on top.
Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano sits over the cutlet alongside a rich house sauce that Jun jokes contains about 38 ingredients. It is a blend of bechamel and tonkatsu that forms a perfect gravy. Packed with savoury, salty and sweet goodness, it turns an already excellent pork katsu into a showstopper. It is also available with chicken katsu or cheese katsu.
If you like chicken parmi, this is its cooler, funkier (tastier!) Japanese cousin.
38 Katsu is located on the ground floor of the Canberra Centre at 148 Bunda St. They are open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week, and they will soon be serving Japanese beer, sake and a selection of wine to complement the food. Follow 38 Katsu on Instagram.
Original Article published by Sophia Brady on Region Canberra.
