Juan Bowl & Tea
Japanese rice bowls - not to be mistaken with Hawaiian poke bowls, which has a Japanese influence - are something I have been wanting to try ever since I first heard about Juan, a tiny Japanese eatery with a strangely Spanish-seeming name.
I knew Juan would be great the minute I saw its simple, focused menu. I have often found that the best restaurants do not have a PhD thesis-length menu (unless, of course, we're talking about a Hong Kong style tea house), but rather know exactly what they want to serve and how to serve it well. That is certainly the case at Juan - the menu consists of 5 bowls with suggested tea pairing, and one single dessert option.
The wagyu bowl consists of a mound of white rice covered by thin, beautifully pink slices of wagyu beef. You would be forgiven to think this is rare wagyu, but that is not the case. Despite its lovely pink appearance, what you see here is actually 2 hour slow-cooked wagyu roast. This impressive mountain is topped with an onsen egg (literally translates to hot-spring egg, which I take means a form of sous vide cooking), crispy lotus root, snow pea sprouts and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. It comes with a sweet onion sauce which ties the flavours together in the most umami way.
The most hearty and filling item on the menu is definitely this pork katsu bowl. This time, we swapped out the regular white rice with half white, half brown rice for an extra dollar. It is well worth the spend - the brown rice, still with the skin attached, gives a slightly gritty, chewy texture that really adds to the experience. The panko crumb of the katsu is deliciously crunchy an golden. The meat is two-toned: lean and fatty in one slice. Despite the fattiness of the meat, it is not oily or greasy - just melt in the mouth delicious. The luscious, gooey soft scrambled eggs is the highlight of the dish for me, as it is just beautiful mixed in with the rice. The palette gets a clean hit with lightly roasted tomatoes and purple cabbage slaw.
There is only one dessert item on the menu - a $12 dessert of the day. From all that I have read about Juan online, it seems like the dessert of any day is this matcha tiramisu. It is clear that the quality of matcha powder used for this soft, almost foam-like dessert is of good quality: it is freshly green in pigment, with a lingering matcha bitterness. As far as tiramisu goes, this one is on the airy side. There is no heavy cream, no grease, only delicacy. Even the sponge layer is thin and with large bubbles. On the other hand, it is a very small dessert and not very satisfying, despite the beauty of its flavour.
Score: 4.5 / 5
Price: on the pricier side, but the quality explains its price point so it is well worth it.
Address: 95 Redfern St, Redfern
I knew Juan would be great the minute I saw its simple, focused menu. I have often found that the best restaurants do not have a PhD thesis-length menu (unless, of course, we're talking about a Hong Kong style tea house), but rather know exactly what they want to serve and how to serve it well. That is certainly the case at Juan - the menu consists of 5 bowls with suggested tea pairing, and one single dessert option.
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| Wagyu Bowl, $24 |
The wagyu bowl consists of a mound of white rice covered by thin, beautifully pink slices of wagyu beef. You would be forgiven to think this is rare wagyu, but that is not the case. Despite its lovely pink appearance, what you see here is actually 2 hour slow-cooked wagyu roast. This impressive mountain is topped with an onsen egg (literally translates to hot-spring egg, which I take means a form of sous vide cooking), crispy lotus root, snow pea sprouts and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. It comes with a sweet onion sauce which ties the flavours together in the most umami way.
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| Pork Katsu bowl, $23 (+$1) |
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| Matcha tiramisu, $12 |
Score: 4.5 / 5
Price: on the pricier side, but the quality explains its price point so it is well worth it.
Address: 95 Redfern St, Redfern
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