A couple of weeks ago a couple friends and I were in Mid Valley Gardens looking for a quick dinner. We stopped by Canton-i, Sushi Zanmai, and Fong Lye Taiwanese restaurant, they were all absolutely full inside, and with people waiting outside as well.

Time was of essence, so we stepped into this GoGung Korean Restaurant at third floor.

GoGung Korean Restaurant

Normally I love to have my grilled meat at Korean places, but since time is of the essence (Mell was waiting and it was the day before she’s was to fly off to Melbourne), we decided to forgo that luxury and go for something faster.

Unlike most other places, they serve no dinner sets, we ordered two Kimchi Jigge (kimchi soup) and a Kimchi Bo Kum Bab (kimchi fried rice) for RM 25 each, and 3 hot green tea. The food didn’t take too long to arrive, and to be frank, they taste ok. Not great, but not particularly bad either.

After hastily finished off our food, we asked for the bill. It came to RM 108.90. It kinda got me curious, I thought RM 75 plus whatever taxes and maybe a minimal amount for the tea bagged green tea we ordered shouldn’t amount to more than RM 100.

3 green tea for RM 24, what do you think?

Then, on closer inspection, I saw what they charged us for the drinks. RM 8 per tea bag of green tea (well you do get unlimited hot water refill!). Frankly speaking I find that very excessive for something most Japanese and some Korean restaurants serve for free.

I will never go back to this GoGung Korean restaurant again. If you plan to head there, I suggest you might want to check if plain water is free.

P/S: I’ve been questioned on why almost all food places written on this blog are good, the reason is that for those I usually don’t write about food I deem not worthy of recommendation (even if it was an invited review). But here is one of the few bad reviews, cheers!

Tags:  bad-food,  expensive,  kimchi,  Korean

Posted by KY | 54 Comments »

For whatever reason, it has taken me this long to write about Kangsane Korean Restaurant in Ampang despite having been there numerous times since more than a year ago. In fact, this is the Korean restaurant I most frequent in recent times, and there is a reason for it: simply the best Galbi (marinated beef ribs) anywhere!

nice ambiance, illustrated menu

Kangsane Korean Restaurant is situated right in the middle of Little Korea at Ampang, that interesting commercial square where you can find dozens of Korean restaurants, grocery stores, and even optical shops. This place is to Korean like Brickfields is to Indian. Parking is usually not an issue here.

kimchi jjigae (soup), samgyeopsal (pork belly), and Galbi (marinated beef ribs)

Just like most other Korean BBQ restaurants, Kangsane serves various BBQ meat, stews, bulgogi, and of course, all these comes with plenty of Banchan (side dishes) that is the signature of Korean food. The must-order dish here would be the Galbi, I just couldn’t get enough of the succulent and perfectly flavored beef ribs.

I suggest that you always give them a call to make sure that the supply of Galbi is ample before heading there. We had to go for pork galbi on the last visit as the beef version ran out of stock, while it was still very good, the beef ribs is simply irreplaceable.

the many banchan (side dishes)

The other commendable dish is the samgyeopsal (pork belly), do start with this dish first if you also order galbi as the pork carries a more subtle taste that might be overpowered by the beef if you reverse the order.

Of course, a good Korean restaurant must also serve good banchan (side dishes), and the good thing about Kangsane is that they always have different banchan every time we go there. From anchovies to tofu, kimchi to some funny looking vegetables, they are always very delicious and accompanies the main dish very well. I also absolutely love their kimchi jjigae (kimchi soup)

good food is to be enjoyed with friends: Kim, Kelvin, Pinkpau, ST, Kenneth

Price wise, this place is pretty much in par with similar Korean restaurants. Some BBQ meat dishes, stews, and maybe some dumplings will usually cost around RM 40-50 per person for a table of 4-5. Very worth it though.

Kangsane is situated in the Little Korea at Ampang, KL

Address:
C5 Jalan Ampang Utama 1/1
One Ampang Avenue
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.155283, 101.751364
Tel: 03-4251 2598

Tags:  Ampang,  dining,  kimchi,  Korean-BBQ,  korean-food,  little-korea,  restaurant

Posted by KY | 19 Comments »

In an attempt to eat healthy for once, we decided to head to this Korean Porridge place, Bonjuk at Desa Sri Hartamas. I had thought that the parking situation would be pretty shitty on a weekend, it was. After a round of unfruitful hunt, I decided to just pay for it at the commercial car park just a block away for RM 3.00 that was totally worth it.

some seriously healthy food

Like most franchise, Bonjuk does not offer a very wide variety of dishes in their menu. There are, however, over a dozen types of porridge, and an equal amount of Bibimbobs (mixed meal), as well as some Korean pancakes to choose from. The pancakes aside, all the dishes were not fried nor BBQ, so far so healthy.

After scanning the offerings, I decided to go for the mid size seafood combination porridge. Since the porridge is cook to order, it did take a while before I get to start satisfying the stomach, luckily, the wait was worth it.

now you see it, now you don’t

The porridge was cooked with squid, shrimp, mussels, dried oyster, and octopus. It was actually very good, the taste of the seafood mixture blends into the porridge very well, if only some dried scallop were used as well, it would have been perfect. Then again, that ingredient would drive the price up by quite a bit.

Free flow kimchi and a plate of marinated beef came with the dish, a salty and slightly spicy chili paste accompanied the porridge too. The kimchi and beef were pretty good, I had like 4 plates of kimchi as it was just at the right level of rottenness for me. However, I gave a pass to the cold soup, that thing tasted like a mixture of vitagen and vegetable soup served cold, not exactly to my taste.

Bonjuk is just opposite Breakers and Soda

The porridge was an economical RM 14.95, and if I remember correctly, no government nor service charge added. I’ll definitely go there again, and I think you should give it a try too. The young and friendly Korean guy who run the place scored an A+ for customer PR skills as well.

Address:
No. 18, Ground Floor, Jalan 25/70A
Desa Sri Hartamas 50480 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162584, 101.650164
Tel: 03-2300 2302

Tags:  banchan,  beef,  hartamas,  kimchi,  KL,  Korean,  porridge,  seafood

Posted by KY | 12 Comments »

Korean house is one of the newest restaurants at the very competitive diner’s district that is PJ SS2. I drove past the restaurant quite a number of times before decided to head in and have a look just a while ago. After all, the place does look pretty busy, and a busy restaurant is usually not bad.

very nice and clean indoor/outdoor set up

Now, there are 2 ways you can have Korean food, the cheap way (like at Mu Gong He, Haeun Khon) or you can have a feast with the Korean specialty, the BBQ. Fresh meat don’t come cheap, but sometimes the urge on my taste buds overcome my financial brain cells. Like this particular meal.

BBQ beef and pork, Kimchi stew

For 2 person, we ordered a serving of Joomooluck (marinated beef, similar to Galbi) and a serving of Samgyeopsal (pork belly), Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi Stew), and some rice. Of course, the Banchan (side dishes, 9 types in this case) comes free. On top of that, we got a corn on hotplate and an egg dish on the house. Plenty of food for two fellas.

egg, corn, kimchi, and tofu

Service at this place, and in fact as most other Korean restaurants I have been, was pretty good. The servers were attentive and they grilled the meat for you, so you don’t have to worry about getting your hands dirty. Though the portion of the meat dishes were actually slightly smaller than other places, the taste was good, and the variety of Banchan makes up for it.

The side dishes too, were of decent standard. We were given kimchi, tofu, clams, bean spouts, vegetables, potato salad, anchovies, and a few other things i can’t name. As with many other Korean restaurants, Korean House serves free wheat tea (cold), the taste is a cross of wheat and tea (what else), a bit strange at first, but I actually enjoy it.

Korean House is located at the far side of SS2, away from LDP

This rather lavish meal costs around RM 100 for the two of us, including 5% government tax and another 5% service charge. Price wise this is in line with most Korean restaurants.

Address:
185, Jalan SS2/24
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.116916, 101.622763
Phone: 03-7873 0031

Tags:  kimchi,  Korean-BBQ,  korean-food,  SS2 SS3 SS4,  stew

Posted by KY | 9 Comments »

After driving around PJ not knowing what to have for dinner, we somehow ended up at Sri Hartamas. Since the density of Korean restaurants at this area is probably only second to Ampang, we decided to include Kimchi for dinner.

note: this place is no longer in operation

quiet little place just above 7-11

After scouring around for a parking spot, we finally deposited the vehicle next to the 7-11 convenient store. Since there is a little Korean restaurant situated right above this place, we decided to give it a try instead of going to some of the bigger and more lavished competitors.

Mu Gong He is just like many other Korean restaurants, offering numerous grilled meat dishes but not a whole lot of other stuff that does not use the burner. The interior decoration is simple and actually a little dated. Since it was a weekday evening, the restaurant was rather quiet too.

the soup and side dishes

We ordered 2 soups, a Kimchi jjigae (Kimchi soup), and a Hae Mul Soon Dubu (Seafood tofu soup). The two soups (more like stew) came with banchan (side dishes) that is typical of Korean food. Two metal bowls of steamed rice were served too.

The two stews were surprisingly good, the Kimchi stew very strong in taste and packed with quite a lot of kimchi, as well as meat, tofu, and other ingredients. The kimchi served here were more fermented and thus more flavorful. Just the way I like it. The seafood soup though, was even better, generous amount of shellfish, squid, and prawn gives the soup a good base. The tofu used was very smooth and tasted awesome soaking in the spicy soup. There was even a half boiled egg, just perfect.

situated in Sri Hartamas, pretty easy to find

It was a very satisfying meal, 10 different dishes with rice. The banchan comes free and the soups each cost RM 15. Including tax, the two of us only needed to shell out RM 16.50 for a very satisfying meal. This place is a little underrated, but I would happily go there again.

Address:
Jalan 23/70A
Sri Hartamas
(above 7-11)
GPS: 3.161674, 101.649756

Tags:  banchan,  cuisine,  hartamas,  kimchi,  korean-food,  seafood

Posted by KY | 16 Comments »