MATKIM

A fire-fuelled Korean crash course with a flair for the dramatic arrives at Matkim,

- TRISTAN LUTZE

Take your spot at one of Matkim’s eight elevated counter seats and you’ll find yourself eye to eye with a fortress of beef, an imposing tower of various raw cuts arranged on a plinth that, along with the roaring ironbark fire behind it, suggests there’s something grandiose on its way.

What follows turns out to be far more intricate than the mountain of meat suggests, though no less dramatic. After an invigorating sip of cool tea brewed from perilla leaves (a Korean shiso variety) and spiked with green mandarin juice, your journey begins with a tight disc of cubed raw scallop and sweet prawn, dressed with zippy gochujang vinegar, dusted with tomato powder and topped with roe. Inspired by mulhoe – a cold, spicy Korean fish soup – it’s a delicate but powerful curtain-raiser to a dining experience that never lets its respect for tradition stand in the way of its inventiveness.