Balaclava's Jymmanuel fries popcorn chicken, Taiwanese-style

A family plays cards at a corner table. A canoodly couple detangle noodles. A laughing girl takes photos of the wheeled robot ferrying snacks to her table.

And I sit at a table in the middle of all this cosy interaction feeling incredibly good about neighbourhood restaurants.

Jymmanuel is a please-all-comers Taiwanese eatery: casual, welcoming and good quality.

Chef and owner Jay Huang opened in December 2020 with two ambitions.

The first was to give the Taiwanese food fans serviced by his Port Melbourne ghost kitchen a place to dine.

The second was to introduce the food of his birthplace to a broader audience – and why not start with Jewish-leaning Balaclava? In fact, the restaurant's name is a mash-up of Jay and "Emmanuel", a nice Old Testament name.

Taiwan is a melting pot, with culinary influences from Hakka, Japanese and Chinese cuisines. The extensive menu reflects this broad span while foregrounding proudly Taiwanese specialties.

Key flavours include salt, pepper (black and white), five spice, garlic, Thai basil and soy. Chef Huang is from the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung and his food expresses the slightly sweeter tendencies of his homeland's south.

Essential snacks include crispy popcorn chicken: nuggets marinated in garlic, soy and sesame oil, battered with coarse tapioca flour, deep-fried, salt-and-pepper-sprinkled and tossed with Thai basil and garlic. Every crunch is a vote of approval.

Three-cup dishes mean meat (chicken on the bone is my preference) is braised in "three cups" of soy, rice wine and sesame oil to create a sticky glaze.

Taiwanese black pepper beef has butter in the sauce, making it rich, thick and glossy.

Oyster mee sua sees wheat vermicelli braised in bonito to form a thick, slippery broth that's then plumped with oysters. In its simple, soupy comfort it mirrors Jymmanuel's spirit and warmth.

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