Run by two Korean-Australian chefs with a passion for Japanese cuisine, Chowon is dishing raw, grilled and fried delicacies on Cotham Road in Kew.
Sanka Amadoru
Korean-Australian chefs Changu Park and Jihwan Lee have combined their love of Japanese cuisine and interstate kitchen experience to create Chowon, a venue where they aim to “give people a fine-dining experience at an affordable price”. Drawing upon engineering expertise in their distant professional pasts, the pair gutted and rebuilt a Kew restaurant space in mid-2025 and now enjoy a following built mainly on word-of-mouth.
Chowon roughly translates from Korean as “open grassland”, and the theme of natural openness is reflected in the comfortable Japandi interior aesthetic as well as the food. As you wipe your hands with the warm towels provided, the dinner menu presents broad options of sushi and sashimi, and grilled and fried meats. Lunch options include udon, donburi and meal sets for one.
Raw fish dishes are handled by Lee, drawing on his experience across fine-dining establishments to inform a traditional approach to ingredients and technique. Whole fish hang in the dry-ageing fridge next to the sushi bar; tuna, kingfish, and salmon sashimi arrive wreathed in dry-ice fog against a sculpted backdrop of cucumber and radish.
The cuts of fish used in the “signature” sushi selection nigiri are full of flavour and melt in the mouth – the gently pickled mackerel dipped in house-made mushroom soy sauce particularly pleasing. A less traditional tuna carpaccio features square slices of aged tuna carefully garnished with flying fish roe, chives and a drop of spiced yuzu mayonnaise. The fish being slightly dry was compensated for by a chive oil-dressed seaweed bechamel.
Park’s remit, meanwhile, is the cooked dishes, where he draws on Nordic and Mediterranean kitchen experience. Charcoal-grilled calamari is complemented by spiced yuzu-kosho, tarragon and brown butter for a savoury, herbaceous and rich result. Broccoli is pleasingly charred without being overcooked, with fried kale atop a sesame emulsion. Its furikake spice mix topping skews somewhat salty (as do the miso soup and edamame). If this is not your preference, request a lighter sprinkle of the seasoning, or consider a sake, wine, beer or highball from the concise drinks list.
For lovers of fried food, the cheese katsu is a must, with a panko-crumbed deep-fried pork loin cradling small lakes of melted cheddar. Battered vegetables in the kakiage dish are also perfectly fried. A lighter option is the ochazuke, which in Japanese means “to submerge in tea”. First sample the grilled and garnished miso-glazed salmon, then gently pour small amounts of genmaicha from the teapot provided onto the bed of steamed rice as you progress through the dish.
Sides are as thoughtfully devised as the mains, and the pickled tomato with spiced yuzu dressing and red shiso garnish a standout. A flavourful kimchi is one of the rare nods on the menu to the chefs’ shared Korean heritage. If you have room for dessert, the hojicha cheesecake with roasted milk powder and candied pecans is an exercise in the artful balance of flavour and texture.
The menu and experience at Chowon are clearly due to a long series of carefully considered choices, drawn from the shared eclecticism of Park’s and Lee’s experiences – reasons to return time and again.
Three more to try for katsu variations
Kaede
Kaede’s menu includes several vegetarian and vegan dishes. Try the chicken katsu in sando form or in the teishoku (meal set) – the exemplary panko-fried portobello mushroom and shredded cabbage sando is a triumph. Matcha and black sesame ice-creams are homemade antidotes to summer heatwaves.
325 Johnston Street, Abbotsford, instagram.com/kaede_abbotsford
Maji Pantry
Japanese pork katsu sandwiches are typically portable and eaten at room temperature. So, a just-fried pork loin cutlet placed atop finely shredded cabbage and shokupan (a delicate milk bread) demands this flawless sandwich be eaten immediately – but who would want to wait, anyway? Onigiri are also available, sharing Japanese and Korean inspiration.
Ground Floor, 51 Langridge Street, Collingwood, instagram.com/maji_melbourne
Kuru
The katsu curry at Kuru is subject to availability by virtue of the pork cuts being cooked sous-vide the day before frying. The resulting pork is incredibly tender and juicy, served with a curry sauce sweetened by tomato and chunks of sauteed onion, steamed rice, and pickled cucumbers.
125 Rosslyn Street, West Melbourne, kurumelbourne.com
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