OKO OKO has opened at Eat Street Northshore on MacArthur Avenue in Hamilton, debuting what its founders describe as the world’s first wagyu kare pan: a deep-fried Japanese curry bun built around Darling Downs wagyu, eighteen months in the making.
The kare pan, Japan’s beloved panko-crusted curry bun invented in Tokyo in 1927, has never been built around wagyu until now.
OKO OKO’s version is filled with Queensland wagyu sourced from Sandalwood Feedlot on the Darling Downs, one of Australia’s oldest and most awarded producers, combined with a cheesy curry filling, panko-crusted and fried to order behind a Shinjuku-styled pagoda facade unlike anything else in the precinct.
Founder Michael Otway says the dish took six months of development on its own. “The dough, the curry, the wagyu, the cheese, the fry,” he said. “Queensland wagyu changes the dish. No kitchen in Japan or anywhere else has done it this way. What comes out of the fryer at OKO OKO is something Brisbane hasn’t tasted before.”
A dish with a serious backstory
Kare pan has a devoted following in Japan, with its own annual national grand prix and a 50,000-member association. It is one of Japan’s most loved everyday foods, widely available from bakeries across the country. What no kitchen in Japan or anywhere else had done, according to OKO OKO, was make wagyu the centrepiece.
The chef behind the menu brings serious credentials to that claim. OKO OKO’s global head chef previously worked at Nobu London and Yoko Brisbane. The full OKO OKO menu extends well beyond the kare pan into okonomiyaki, yakisoba, yakisoba pan and other Japanese street food classics, all built to the same elevated standard.
The Shinjuku-styled pagoda that frames OKO OKO’s space at Eat Street is described by the founders as a physical expression of the menu itself: respected traditions, modern elevation.
Getting to Eat Street Northshore
Eat Street Northshore at 221D MacArthur Avenue, Hamilton is open Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 10pm and Sunday from 4pm to 9pm. Entry is $6 per person. The precinct is accessible by CityCat to the Northshore Hamilton terminal, a 250-metre walk from the entrance, or by car with 1,400-plus free parks on site.
Published 12-June-2026
