Gojima opened a second branch in the food court at the top of Market City in late March making rice burgers far more accessible to their masses than their Pyrmont location. The store fit out carried through with their geometric theme in the seating and walls.
Having already their salmon miso and kingfish sweet mustard sushi burgers at their Pyrmont store, this is the remaining Spicy Tuna ($14.90) with yellow fin tuna, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, pickled radish, scallions and Gojima spicy mayo.
The Spicy Tuna differs from the other sushi burgers as the fish is minced rather than sliced like sashimi, which is disappointing as the chilli blended into the tuna mince masks the usual meaty flavour of tuna while delivering only a gentle tingle of heat. As with the other sushi burgers, I’m not convinced by the use of cheese as the boldness of the flavour also overwhelms the delicate flavours of the fish. The fish aside, the pickled radish, cucumber and lettuce brought a welcoming fresh relief from the richness of the cheese, while the rice ‘buns’ and seaweed provided good structure for the burger.
This is N’s Gojima Chicken Burger ($12.90.) with crispy chicken, cheese (ordered without), tomato, pickles, lettuce and Gojima miso sauce.
While N enjoyed the rice ‘buns’ and the crispness of the juicy chicken, she found the chicken salty with too much chicken skin for her liking, although the salad did go some way to cutting through. That said, a colleague did like the flavour and I like chicken skin so I may enjoy this burger.
Having tried all their sushi burgers (salmon, kingfish and tuna) and before trying the beef burgers, I enjoyed this Gojima Mushroom Burger ($12.90) with crispy katsu mushroom, cheese, tomato, pickles, lettuce & special sauce.
This crispy panko coating on the softer, juicy mushroom gave the ‘patty’ an incredibly moreish flavour that complements savoury cheese and the freshness of the tomato and lettuce. The size of the mushroom is generous, but not so big that it makes eating it as burger a challenge. Indeed, this may well be my favourite burger from Gojima so far.
These Fries (regular, $3.90) are shoestring fries with Gojima umami salt. The portion is generous — we received the fries tumbling out of the container — with an enjoyable crispy outside and soft inside. The salt wasn’t distributed evenly but we enjoyed the mellow seaweed flavour.
Finally, this Chocolate Miso Sesame Swirl ($9.90) is one of their newer menu items (also available in Green Tea Azuki Tiramisu and Strawberry & Watermelon Pavlova). It’s described as ‘house-made chocolate miso frozen custard with butter cookies, chocolate brownies, vanilla whipped cream, black sesame paste and white sesame praline’.
The dessert has a giant hole in the center, meaning the frozen custard covers only the edges of the cup. A few sprinkles of praline — small pieces, like rock salt — filled the base of the hole but no where near justifying the gaping hole. Presentation issues aside, I did enjoy the soft and moist cubes of brownie, the intense black sesame sauce and the crispness of the white sesame praline (of which we needed far more!). The chocolate miso frozen custard, though, was intensely salty almost to the point of bitterness. Together with the ungodly amount of whipped cream, we wouldn’t have ordered if we’d known.
We enjoy the more convenient location for Gojima and we’d stick with their burgers and fried chicken.
Gojima is located at Level 3, 1909 Dining Precinct, Market City, 9 – 13 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000.