“Using our knowledge of Korean culinary history and traditional techniques we use the best-sourced ingredients to make food that tastes as authentic as possible.”

Seasonal namul plate of wild greens & weeds – broadleaf plantain, sowthistle, dockweed, mallow; chargrilled secondary cuts of sustainable beef (short plate, inside skirt, outside flat) with assorted ssam leaves including broadbean leaves, wild lettuce, French sorrel, soy pickled vegetables and ssamjang; and cured line-caught silver trevally with chrysanthemum, perilla, karkalla dressed with cho-gochujang.

Shik is a trip into the exciting rabbit hole of Korean cuisine. Melbourne has yet to completely come to grips with the mysteries of its ferments and complexities of its gochujang. Luckily, Shik is here not only to guide the way, but to do so in a way that embraces recycling, sustainable farming practices and minimalist-intervention wine. Korea is a nation of zero-wasters, and Shik’s kimchi plate might include persimmon, beetroot, watercress, fennel and native river mint. Native Australian ingredients assert themselves, with fried saltbush seasoning dry-aged beef tartare tossed with soy and ginger – sustainable seafood includes wild Goolwa pipis getting down with water parsley and soybean sprouts. Consider it Korean, Melbourne-style.

"This is food that has taken great thought and an intense amount of research, and then been put through a filter of creative, modern Australian sensibilities. It is utterly fascinating, and delicious to boot ... It is traditional and modern, Korean and Australian, challenging and comforting. It is confoundingly different. Most true evolutions are."

–Besha Rodell, The New York Times