Burn City Smokers Goes “Texakaya-Style” At Grand Hyatt Melbourne

Melbourne’s favourite winter pop-up has returned to Grand Hyatt Melbourne but with a tantalising new twist. World-class barbecue connoisseurs, Burn City Smokers, are towing in their custom-built smoker to deliver a fusion of their famous Southern-American flavours with Japanese cuisine to bring you Texakaya (Texas x Izakaya).

Working closely with Grand Hyatt Melbourne’s Chef de Cuisine Chef Amit Chitnis, the team have created an extensive offering of dishes, specially crafted to satisfy both meat-lovers and vegetarians all winter long.

We loved tasting our way through the Texakaya menu.

To start we loved the gyoza from the small bites selection which boasted juicy, smoked pork fillings. The tempura vegetables were similarly delicious, featuring an assortment of vegetables and served with Texas bourbon dashi. The tempura batter was ethereally light and crispy. The ingredients inside the batter were fresh and pleasing.

The octopus skewers were yet another must have - incredibly tender while retaining a robust structure courtesy of being expertly cooked on the grill.

For the main affair the fried salt and pepper flounder served whole with vibrant pepper berry dressing was a stunner. A seafood lover’s dream, the fish was wonderfully fresh, boasting a beautiful natural sweetness and was cooked to absolute perfection.

For those craving Burn City Smokers old school favourites, the beef short rib is for you. This dish is particularly noteworthy for its fragrant and complex beefy flavours which have been enhanced by being marinated for many hours prior to being smoked. The short rib was both soft and delicate - Tender, falling off the bone, juicy and packed with flavour. Prepared in the Southern tradition using dry spices only, the ribs were served with a Japanese twist – yuzu and shiso chimichurri.

Dessert time continued to showcased the kitchen’s versatility. The Japanese-style baked cheesecake served with mixed berry compote was a stunning melt-in-your-mouth combination of creamy cheesecake and airy soufflé. We loved the light pillowy soft texture.

The caramelised pecan pie served with Japanese bourbon ice cream was everything you would want from a pecan pie, making wonderful use of America’s native nut. We loved the rich crumbliness and complementary nuttiness of the pastry which perfectly contrasted its gooey richness.

This Texakaya menu is a three-month special only, so get in early and be one of the first to try this new barbecue fusion.

Texakaya by Burn City Pop-Up will be at Collins Kitchen until the end of August 2019 with its menu available for lunch and dinner Monday - Friday and for dinner only on Saturday and Sunday. Find out more here.