Cheap eats: Black Dog Gallery
RAMEN is king at this small but satisfying Greenhill Rd diner, writes Jessica Galletly.
AS I’m typing this, I can feel the elastic in my skirt stretching over my ramen-filled belly after lunch at Japanese diner Black Dog.
Ramen is its thing, but there are a number of other dishes on the menu as traditional as fermented soybeans, and as Western as the smoked salmon bagel. You’d be a fool to go for the latter.
Chef Jun Abe and his wife Maki, who moved to SA from the Japanese city of Yokohama 10 years ago, opened Black Dog Gallery (named after their kelpie, Kuro) about 18 months ago. And they’re melding traditional and Western techniques to serve “everyday” Japanese food to local diners.
That means no tepenyaki or sushi, but “grandma food”, as chef Jun describes. And he’s cleverly designed the menu so that unfamiliar words are not so intimidating to novices.
The Black Dog Plates are just the kind of grandma food Jun talks about. In the traditional version ($10.50), a small bowl of rice comes with three pungent accompaniments that would challenge many. The fermented soybeans, natto, are sticky little suckers — try spooning a few from the bowl and a stringy substance floats in the air like spun sugar. It’s an acquired taste, which Jun describes as the Japanese equivalent to Vegemite.
It took me 18 years to stomach Vegemite.
Alongside the beans is a more palatable dish of pickled cucumber, which is cooked twice in a sweet and salty sauce. Finally, two tiny umeboshi — pickled plums, are super tangy but still have sweetness.
The idea is to flavour the rice, and wash it down with the small bowl of miso soup alongside, which isn’t salty and has plenty of fresh soft tofu and silky seaweed.
A more contemporary crowd- pleaser is the green tea soba noodle salad ($14), a refreshing, light option for lunch.
The buckwheat noodles, infused with matcha to give them a grassy green tinge, are imported from Japan and cooked until tender, chilled and tossed with loads of fresh baby spinach, cucumber, sweet cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.
Those ’shrooms, marinated in olive oil and seasoned, taste like they belong next to my morning eggs, but still I don’t mind them in there. The addition of tofu for $2 makes for a more satisfying meal on its own, or you can share.
If you come for just one thing, make it the ramen. Anyone who’s watched US chef David Chang on Netflix doco The Mind of Chef will empathise with my craving for the noodles since watching it.
The world of ramen can be overwhelming but Black Dog has simplified the ordering process.
The simplest route is to choose between the soy-based Tokyo Syo-yu, Sapporo Miso, or sea-salt-based Hakodate Shio. They’re all topped with char-sui pork, a half salted egg (aji-tama) and spring onion, and cost $14.
You can then pimp your ramen with a range of extra toppings, or go for one of the suggested flavour combos.
We’re recommended the spicy ramen ($18.80), but get the chilli paste on the side.
The syo-yu, cooked for about nine hours, is a soothing medley of soy, sesame and pork, while the spicy negi — like spring onion — and kimchi add chilli heat. A hefty slice of roast pork is oh-so tender, cooked for so long even the layer of fat breaks down, and the egg yolk is just-set.
My lunch date is a chilli fiend and adds some of that paste — but I prefer without. The egg noodles come from Sydney and are desirably chewy. Slurp them up if you’ve developed the skill.
For sweets, Jun’s cotton cheesecake is a must-try — not too sweet, the texture between a baked cheesecake and sponge, topped with a jammy slice of orange.
Otherwise, the yuzu and lemon curd tart hits the right balance of sweet and tangy in a golden, short crust.
Thank goodness I’m wearing something stretchy.
BLACK DOG GALLERY
WHERE: 4/455 Greenhill Rd, Tusmore
OWNERS: Jun and Maki Abe
CHEF: Jun Abe
FOOD: Contemporary Japanese
PRICE: $9-$19
DRINKS: Specialty iced teas and hot drinks
OPEN: Tues-Wed & Sun 10am-4pm, Thurs-Sat 10am-8.30pm
ATMOSPHERE: Neighbourhood drop-in
CROWD: East and west
TRY: Char-siu ramen
TIP: Add wakame
SCORE: 7.5/10