First Look at EASY BOY! brings Morks memories back to life
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For Benn and Mork Ratanakosol, opening a new family-friendly Vietnamese restaurant in Scullin is something of a homecoming.
Before the doors even properly swung open last night, EASY BOY! had a waiting list for bookings. Indeed, in the days since we revealed that the team behind Morks and Mínima was heading to Belconnen, the reaction has been instant, affectionate and a little bit breathless: What will it be like? Will it feel like Morks? How soon can we get a table?
For Benn, that warmth has been moving and reassuring. After building the reputation of Mínima in Yarralumla, the decision to branch back into Belconnen, where his parents ran the original Morks beween 2008-2013, has carried a hopeful question: would people remember? As it turns out, they do. They remembered family dinners in Florey, and the thrill of discovering something special tucked into a local shopping strip.
“People still remember really fondly going to Morks, either with their parents or with people who still live in the area,” Benn says. “They’ve grown up with us over time. I’m really stoked that we’re back in the Belco area.”
Taking over the former Muku Ramen Bar site at Scullin Shops, beside another beloved local name, Sweet Bones, the light, bright, corner space has expansive windows on two sides, creating an enticing view of the bonhomie inside. Décor is fun – from EASY BOY! poster art, ink-dipped curtains dividing the room and kitchen and large globe lights dangling from the rafters.
All week, people have been walking past, knocking on the door and stepping inside to say how excited they are that something new is coming to the area.
“There’s a lot of community to be found in the suburbs,” Benn says. “It’s especially strong here.”
Having had the honour of a seat at the table for opening night, HerCanberra can attest that the menu is well worth the cruise down Belconnen Way. It is mostly Vietnamese, with the broader Southeast Asian inflections and playful confidence that have made the brothers’ restaurants so memorable. The tasting menu features small dishes of pork nem nuróng spring rolls, mini bánh xèo pancake with scallop and chive, taro croquette with sesame and hot sauce, and chicken wings with fish sauce and caramel.
Chicken wings with fish sauce and caramel
Slightly larger dishes arrive of kingfish ceviche with pineapple salsa and bacon and a spicy seafood noodle salad with peanut and grapefruit and pork crackling, before mains of hot-and-sour South Coast snapper, and beef short rib with young chilli relish are set down alongside jasmine rice.
We finish with a gently fragrant dessert of lychee jelly with chia seed and coconut cream.
Kingfish ceviche with pineapple salsa
Each dish is balanced, interesting and delicious, particularly the hot-and-sour snapper and the caramel chicken wings – which disappeared within minutes.
Benn says the à la carte menu will offer between 10 to 12 smaller dishes—alongside a handful of larger plates and rotating specials. The focus is on sharing, grazing and enjoying one of their bespoke cocktails or a wine from their mainly Australian-based wine list.
Bookings, Benn says, are already “really healthy” – so healthy on some nights that the team has had to close them off to make sure the kitchen can deliver the quality it wants. His message is simple: if you cannot get in straight away, give it a moment. EASY BOY! is not going anywhere.
Taro croquettes with sesame and hot sauce
The brothers are determined to deliver something special (when have they not?) and are clearly revelling in the pleasure of being recognised by a community that never quite forgot them.
