With huge influx of international students each year taking advantage of some of the region’s best education system, Melbourne CBD is a place that is heavily influenced by what these students demand. When it comes to food, you can find almost as many Japanese, Korean, and Chinese food as you can with Western/Australian establishments.

Oriental Spoon, Korean Cuisine

Oriental Spoon, located just right across Melbourne Central on La Trobe, is one such places. Though labeled Korean Cuisine, like many Asian restaurants around the city, this place has assimilated to the demands of Australian and Asian alike.

What you get is not exactly authentic Korean food, the portions are huge, the kimchi less strong tasting, lesser variety of banchan, and generally tastes that are more “mainstream”. This isn’t something you’ll ever find in Korea, or even the little Korea in Ampang.

banchan, beef casserole, spicy pork bulgogi

While the purists might argue that it is a waste of time visiting a place that served heavily localized (some might even go to the extend of using the word bastardized) food, I prefer to leave the verdict after tasting the food. If Mellissa and friends like this place, it should mean something.

Even though it was a weekday night, Oriental Spoon was already packed when we got there. Customers consist of probably 60% Asian at this place. We waited for some 15 minutes before securing a table.

a big pot of boiling beef casserole, best for winter weather

Like most Korean restaurants, they offer a variety of grilled meats such as a few choices of beef, pork belly, and even seafood. There’s also your standard bulgogi, kimchi soup, bibimbap (mixed meal) and so forth.

Even though there was only two of us, we ordered a beef casserole ($30+) and a spicy pork bulgogi ($18 or so) to go with some steamed rice.

There were four types of banchan served, and seriously speaking, none of them worth a mention. The kimchi was especially disappointing.

best served with Korean steamed rice

The spicy pork bulgogi though, was absolutely marvelous. Generous portion of fatty stripes of pork soaked in spicy oil with some sesame, onion, and other seasoning makes the dish very rich and succulent but also come with a kick. It was very sinful yet irresistible. The pork went very well with rice.

The beef casserole is a rather huge pot of raw beef, mushroom, vegetable, glass noodle, and other ingredients stewed in a broth right on the table. The soup gets better and better with time and at the tail end of the dinner we had a very sweet and rather tasty broth to go with plenty of beef. It was very good, but it was also a bit too much especially for only 2 person.

Oriental Spoon is located right across Melbourne Central

We ended up having to bag some of the leftovers despite getting ourselves stuffed silly. It was a good meal and decently priced too. However, I think this place is best for a group of 4 and above.

Oriental Spoon is also not for you if you’re interested in really authentic Korean food, but if you want something different but yet still within most people’s comfort zone. This place is worth visiting.

Address:
Oriental Spoon
254 La Trobe St,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia‎
GPS: -37.810017,144.961467
Tel: 03-9654 9930‎

Tags:  bulgogi,  korean-food,  melbourne,  mellissa,  pork

Posted by KY | 17 Comments »

Seoul Garden at Sunrise Tower is probably one of the very first Korean restaurants in Penang. I remember the restaurant being there as far back as my memory could remember.

In the back of my mind, I had always thought that dining at this type of place would be rather expensive, and at the time, something that my RM 2.20/hr McDonald’s job would never allow me to afford. I was just look at people going in and out while I was flipping burger in the same building.

plenty of banchan (side dishes) as usual

I made it a point that I would visit this place eventually, but little did I know that it actually took over one and a half decade before that happened. Together with Mellissa and my family last weekend, we had dinner at Seoul Garden.

As it turned out, Seoul Garden is just like most of the Korean restaurants I’ve visited in KL. A stove in the middle for grilling meat, a menu that includes all the usual suspects like beef bulgogi, kalbi, sam gye tang (ginseng chicken soup), kimchi soup, pork belly, and so on.

ox tongue, pork belly, and pork bulgogi

My brother and sister are both pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but tragically, my mom is a bit too conservative in the same department. Since this is the first time mom stepped into a Korean restaurant, I ordered something that would be a bit more familiar for her, sam giap sal (pork belly, RM 22), pork bulgogi (RM 25), and sam gye tang (ginseng chicken soup). I also ordered so hyeo gui (ox tongue RM 35) for good measure.

Korean ginseng chicken soup

There were about 6-7 types of banchan (side dishes) served with the main dishes we ordered. There was the customary kimchi which was rather potent and tasted pretty good, bean sprouts, vegetable, jelly thingy, green chili, and radish. I thought the banchan tasted just alright, nothing spectacular, but not bad either.

Our first grilled item was the ox tongue. Thinly sliced (about a dozen slices) without any marinate, the grilled ox tasted wonderful. The slight springy texture and the unaltered taste goes very well with just a touch of oil and salt. The pork belly was not overly fatty and came in 5 big slices, I think we had slightly overcooked it as it was a bit too dry by the time we hauled the pieces out of the grilled. Could have been tastier otherwise.

mom, brother, KY, Mell, sister, niece (Ryan, you have a challenger)

Pork bulgogi was pretty good, flavorful though a little salty. However, it does go very well with steamed rice. I always love Korean rice with it’s stickier texture and stronger aroma. The ginseng chicken soup too was a very good dish, the soup had a very strong ginseng taste and the chicken meat cooked to a very soft and tender texture. Mom liked the soup quite a bit.

Total bill came to about RM 160. Pretty good deal for 5 adults and a little girl (whom is cute enough to steal some lime light from suan’s nephew – Ryan), say hello to Taasha! The same meal in KL would easily cost twice as much, though the portion might be 30-40% bigger.

Address:
Seoul Garden
1st Floor, Sunrise Tower,
Gurney Drive
Penang, Malaysia

GPS: 5.439805,100.30815
Tel: 04-229 8705

Tags:  banchan,  bulgogi,  korean-food,  mellissa,  ox tongue,  sister,  taasha

Posted by KY | 25 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 »

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 »