Momoko
If you’ve dined at any number of the city’s esteemed Asian-inspired eateries, it’s likely you’re familiar with the name Jon Hizola. Over the years, Jon has popped up in kitchens across the city, before bunkering down and opening Chevron Island’s Mr Kojima and Burleigh’s Masu Izakaya with his wife Eileen. Momoko is envisioned as the convivial neighbourhood noshery where you can bring a date for a casual beer and a bite, have a family dinner without blowing a month’s food budget and swing by on the nights you don’t feel like cooking and grab takeaway. It’s fast casual, as Jon puts it. In terms of the menu, it’s approachable with traditional elements, think kingfish carpaccio with yuzu soy, pickled fennel and chilli, Momoko-style hand rolls with salmon, prawns or tuna, crispy popcorn prawns smothered in spicy aioli, gyoza and skewers.