Weekend Grub: Can Market satisfy our craving for Korean cuisine?

I love Asian food but my biggest qualm with most Asian restaurants here are that they are too inauthentic and predictable, and that makes it boring.

Sure, I do occasionally crave chowmein or szechuan chicken (I still can't say it right though) but there comes a point where you want new flavours.

The latest restaurant to open up is Market - Modern Asian Kitchen. Or you can just call it Market... without laughing please.

I think it was the name that peaked my interest the most, because why would a restaurant be named Market? Its really vague and very misleading and... rather intriguing. Good going there.

Market promises food fusion like no other and we decided to give it a go.

Where to go

Market is located on Lane 5 at Bukhari commercial. The restaurant is adjacent to Manakeesh and is easy to spot with its back-lit sign.

The interior of Market is spacious and spread over two floors. The restaurant is modern yet sticks to the 'market' theme by having numerous framed pictures of markets from different locations in Asia.

When to go

Currently, Market is open from 7pm to 12am but they hope to open for lunch soon as well.

What to order

Market has an amazing range of dishes, all inspired from Asian cooking one way or another. We decided to get in touch with the owners, siblings Farah and Asad Vayani to help us out with what we must have.

We also wanted to try many items from the menu so we asked the two if we could have smaller portions of the dishes. The two were more than happy to help us out with appetizers, mains and desserts. And we loved that even with serving smaller portions, they did not skimp on the presentation at all.

Market makes their kimchi inhouse so we had to get our hands on the kimchi fries, even though I was a little uncertain about eating kimchi on fries. But they actually tasted pretty good, with the right balance of tang and spice. The fries were loaded generously with the topping and can be quite heavy.

The Korean wings are for anyone who love the sweet and sour taste. I personally wasn't a fan of them because I was hoping for a more spicy flavour rather than the sweet aftertaste.

The crab rangoon was a hit at our table. The fried dim sum served with sweet chili dip was full of flavour and tasted as good as it looked.

The hit among the appetizers, however, was the beef tataki. I had to immediately give a shout out to the sibling duo for how good it was. Thin, juicy strips of beef seasoned well and topped with crisped garlic had me already planning a second trip to the restaurant for more! The beef was tender and soft and so well made that even after it got slightly cold, it still maintained its texture. I may be slightly obsessed with the beef tataki. Okay, very obsessed. I swear I have a life.

Before moving on to mains, I noticed Korean fried chicken on the menu and immediately asked for it. The dish was actually Korean fried chicken sliders but considering how there's barely any place serving Korean fried chicken, this is the closest thing to it we can get.

The Korean chicken tasted authentic and got me stuck in nostalgia! Mind you, these are small sliders and yet they are rather heavy. But the crisp chicken full of flavour is worth it. Especially if you've been craving that specific taste.

The Korean BBQ beef bowl is a popular choice at Market and I can understand why. The dish is pretty popular in Karachi in general, so we decided to check it out.

The beef bowl is perfect comfort food. The bowl is huge and Market switches it up by serving the beef with kimchi fried rice. The fried egg adds to the homey feel. We had asked for smaller portions of the dishes but this was still a huge serving!

The charred filet of beef with Japanese mustard sauce was my favourite among the mains. Cooked medium, that too perfectly, we loved the seasoning of the beef and the sesame seeds really added to the texture. The mustard sauce itself was also really good, we loved that it didn't have that bitter tang that processed mustard sauces usually have but was a subtle taste.

The steak is served with roasted sesame potatoes and we love that the sides weren't the typical mashed potatoes. Heck, even the fries we got on the side were 'spiced fries' sprinkled with an almost 5 spice like blend.

The Thai grilled prawns are definitely not for the faint of taste! One bite into the prawn was like a punch of flavours. In a good way though... But I'm guessing for many, the Thai chili taste would be too strong. In fact, the spice was overpowering the coconut flavour the sauce claimed to have.

Market has its own blend of drinks which cater to the seasonal fruits. We tried the watermelon cooler and the coconut and lychee cooler. While we loved both, we were impressed by the cooler. Who'd have thought coconut and lychee would go so well together!

With food this good, we decided to venture into the dessert menu.

The coconut creme brulee was a nice Thai twist to the French dessert. The coconut cream base went well with the traditional layer of caramelised sugar. I do wish the creme brulee itself wasn't as pudding-like as it was but at least it wasn't soggy like most places.

The matchamisu was the least favourite dish of ours at Market. While we do love the matcha flavour, it didn't do it for us here. The vanilla spongecake and matcha cream just didn't gel, and I was left with a strong tangy taste which was too overpowering. The texture was more like trifle than tiramisu. Kudos on the presentation though!

The Chinese doughnuts are very reminiscent of Whoops donuts but we're not complaining. They were soft with a crispy exterior and we loved the the cinnamon sugar coating. The doughnuts are served with a caramel dip and a dark chocolate dip. I wanted to take that dark chocolate dip home. TMI? Don't care.

Damage to the pocket

Market is priced like the average cafe, even though its a proper restaurant. Dishes range from Rs.600 to Rs.1200. The desserts range from 480-540 and are big enough to share. For the portions, it doesn't seem too high-end and you can easily visit it at least once. I know I'll be going again to get that beef tataki.