New opening Gui brings Korean barbecue, A5 wagyu and plenty of personality to Newmarket.
The woman I once described as Auckland’s loveliest waitress is currently Auckland’s busiest waitress, having taken on a managerial role at this new Korean restaurant and vastly underestimating how popular it would be. I visited on
a Tuesday and it was dang near full, forcing her to rush from table to table with the help of her partner, who she’d bullied into helping out.
Gui is a sister restaurant to Olle, a jewel in the North Shore culinary crown. What is the difference between this Newmarket crowd and her customers back in Milford?
“These guys don’t drink as much,” she said. My thanks again to the people of the Shore for selflessly supporting New Zealand’s struggling liquor industry.
Gui is a new Korean restaurant in Newmarket. Photo / Babiche Martens
I once met someone high up at the Newmarket Business Association and complained that there was nowhere decent to eat.
“What?!” he said. “Newmarket has more than 50 restaurants!”
“Sure,” I said. “But would you take a date to any of them?”
I watched his face as he decided whether to make a case for the romantic possibilities of the Westfield food court before he admitted, “Well, they’re mostly at the lower end”.
Things have changed (slowly) since then and I would now take a date to any one of a handful of places, including Mama and Arte Della Pasta, both reviewed earlier this year. And though it’s only been open a few weeks, I’m very happy to add Gui to the list of Serious Newmarket Restaurants. It is beautiful, it is fun, and the food is delicious. No wonder it’s full.
The cuisine is described as Korean BBQ but the manager was keen to point out that it isn’t authentic Korean BBQ.
“We’re thinking of putting a sign outside to let people know,” she said, though you’d have to be pretty hardcore to complain.
The daily special meat (A5 Wagyu) at Gui. Photo / Babiche Martens
Chef Kevin Choi’s take includes most of the familiar elements – meat, glowing coals, side dishes, extractor fans – but the sides are apparently less numerous than the real thing, and the meat comes unadorned rather than traditionally soaked in marinade.
“Kevin wants people to really taste the meat,” the manager said, and who can blame him.
Though many of the dishes were deliciously complex, the thing I loved most about Gui was the quality of the produce. Their exacting standards were summed up by a green side salad: a simple handful of mizuna leaves that tasted like they’d been picked about five minutes ago, dressed in a light vinaigrette. A tiny dish of grated carrot was memorable too – perfectly seasoned and flavoured, it was the first thing I finished from the delightful array of condiments that came with my meat.
I’d ordered the daily special: 120g of A5 wagyu that had so much fat it looked like strips of raw snapper. The barbecue coals hadn’t long been lit so my first attempt at grilling it left me with something glistening but grey, however I got the hang of it quite quickly and by the third or fourth strip of beef I was barbecuing like a pro.
Gui’s popcorn chicken. Photo / Babiche Martens
Once cooked, your meat can be dipped in a range of options which change daily. I had curry salt, wasabi chimichurri and Japanese barbecue sauce and, though I did my best to treat them with equal love, you inevitably find a favourite you return to. This was the barbecue sauce which I swiped as much as possible of with my beef, then tipped the delicious remnants over my bowl of rice.
That rice is optional, and you can opt for a bowl of Korean cold noodles instead if you want. It’s a substantial dish in its own right, mixed up with sesame, nashi pear and kimchi, but I was probably overloaded with gochujang at that point, having already gulped down a bowl of kimchi with nori and “water chestnut jelly”, a fun kitchen innovation that looked like wobbly Jenga blocks.
Popcorn chicken was a perfect execution of the genre: the outside crunchy, the thigh beautifully tender, and each piece glazed in a little maple for sweetness. It’s served with a jalapeno aioli and I literally couldn’t stop eating it.
Gui in Newmarket. Photo / Babiche Martens
Photo / Babiche Martens
Perhaps one of the nicest aspects of Gui is the fit-out – industrial in nature but with lots of timber for warmth. The booths are set up for tables of four and I almost can’t think of anywhere I’d prefer to send you and a few friends right now. There are wines available, but I think beer is probably the best match for this sort of food – I appreciated not having to think about what was in my glass with so much else to cook, dip, wrap and chew.
My only hesitation in commending Gui to you is that the manager and her staff are already barely keeping up. Book in before she gets any busier.
Address: 41 Nuffield St, Newmarket
Contact: 027 301 0290, gui92nz.com, @gui.newmarket
From the menu: popcorn chicken $22, chilled kim chi broth $18, A5 Wagyu Beef $40, Korean cold noodles $18, apple pancake $15
Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.
According to Dining Out editor Jesse Mulligan.
Dining and Cooking