A crispy rice patty with fresh nori seaweed instead of a burger bun? It might sound strange but this is possibly one of the best burgers I've ever had. Period. Not just the best rice burger but the best burger, and I love my burgers too :)
First impressions + menu
Gojima is at the base of The Star which is the main casino in Sydney. It is right at the entrance and sits opposite the Japanese fine dining establishment called Sokyo who's head chef is the genius behind Gojima! Pretty convenient to be able to run two restaurants when they're right opposite each other and they're both extremely successful.
Gojima is simply designed inside but with a cute menu. I like it when things are kept simple and sweet and Gojima is exactly that. They're also licensed so can serve alcohol and I saw quite a few people order Japanese beer to go with their burger, something I'm keen to try next time.
What did we order?
Erm...what didn't we order?! We went with my sis and her BF so with the 4 of us we had:
1x Gojima double
1x Gojima cheeseburger
1x Kingfish w/ sweet mustard
1x large fries with umami salt
2x green tea thick shakes (THE BEST)
4x pieces of JFC (Japanese Fried Chicken)
We've been here a few times before and by far the Gojima cheeseburger is the best but Mr. Phamished was feeling very Phamished indeed and asked for the Gojima double which is a double beef and cheese patty with pickles, lettuce housed inside a crisp but chew rice patty and covered in fresh nori seaweed.
I also had some JFC (Japanese Fried Chicken) which was freshly cooked (you could tell because as soon as you bit into it the hot juices are likely to fling onto your face, watch out! Hazard's of eating nice food ;)
You'd think we were full after all that right? But literally after 5 minutes of devouring the double, Mr. Phamished announces "I'm going to get another burger". Huh?!
Anyway, wonders will never cease, he came back within 10 minutes with a more moderate serving i.e the Gojima cheeseburger (just a single patty this time!).
In conclusion...
If you guys live in Sydney and haven't tried this or aren't in Sydney you should definitely make the trip. It's very unique but not a gimmick and uses high quality ingredients - you can tell because I've been here about 5-6 times now and the consistency is something I have noticed is always there.
Back to home-cooking for me for the next post, keep an eye out it's something sweet, pun intended!!
@phamished xx
Just beautiful. I would only need to replace the seaweed but wow, those are incredible!!
Oh really you aren’t a fan of seaweed? If it makes a difference you really can’t taste it at all! All the flavours meld together to create a wonderful cohesion of deliciousness 😋😋
Now I want to go. That fried chicken looks pretty damn good, and I would have to try that green tea thickshake
You definitely should! Anytime we’re in the area we go - actually we’ve made trips to Pyrmont specifically just to eat this too haha.
The fried chicken has more spices than the fried chicken of Korean culture so it could be overpowering at first but the chicken is cooked beautifully. Definitely recommend getting a piece or two and the Gojima Cheeseburger + green tea thickshake! It’s the dream combination :)
I really want to like rice burgers, but I've had a few now and every time they lose structural integrity before the burger is finished. The nori wrap might be a savior for that a bit, spreading the pressure from the hold, as well as removing any moisture from fingers. The lettuce on the inside will help as a barrier on one side internally too.
I'm yet to get over to star since I've been in Sydney, so I should at some point, and Gojima is certainly on my list of places (as is Sokyo, but money...)