Was in Tawa for some after-work drinks. We decided to leave, but it was a Friday, and I could not be bothered cooking something for dinner, so I decided to head north and try Karaage Kid in Porirua. 

It’s been getting some good mentions on Instagram that I thought I would try. What I didn’t know was that the kitchen was in a container, and you could eat next door at Abandoned brewery, which had seating inside and outside seating available. 

I decided to order a Wasabi Bonsai bowl and a K-pop. Inside the Wasabi bowl were: Chicken Karaage bites, steamed rice, lettuce, pink pickled ginger, tonkatsu sauce, wasabi mayo & toasted sesame and the K-pop side was; Chicken Karaage bites tossed in gochujang butter topped w kewpie mayo & fresh coriander. When I went to pick them up, I was surprised to see the serving size. I feel they were very generous, and in Wellington, you would maybe get 20% less food. 

In both dishes, the chicken was nicely cooked and seemed like they used only dark meat of the chicken. (Real win!) The wasabi bowl was packed, and I had to eat some chicken before getting to the rice. The flavours all worked in this bowl. I loved how spicy the wasabi mayo was. No compromise on diluting the flavours. It gave you a good punch but quickly left. The lettuce was a good element. One picky thing was I did feel the rice was slightly a bit too moist, and too much water was used when cooking it. 

The K-pop was also really good, and again, no compromise on spice here. The flavours were all very good and tasted like Korean fried chicken. The only difference was the chicken, as it is karaage chicken, not double-fried Korean chicken. So if you are expecting Korean fried chicken, it is not going to be that. 

Overall well worth a visit if you are in Porirua. Good Kai here, and I will be back.

Address: 20 Parumoana Street, Porirua City Centre, Porirua 5022

Website: The Karaage Kid