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
Tel: 03-4251 2598

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

Posted by KY | 15 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
Phone: 03-7873 0031

Find this word on Sunday Star, 4 March 2007….

• Flip to Page S60.
• Nails come to mind.
• 3rd Column, 2nd line.
• The word is just before full stop.

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

Posted by KY | 5 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.

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)

Tags:  banchan,  cuisine,  Eats,  Hae-Mul-Soon,  hartamas,  kimchi,  korean-food,  ky,  Mu-Gong-He,  seafood

Posted by KY | 10 Comments »

I read about Haeun Khon restaurant on wAntAn productions a little while back and thought it’d be a place worth trying out. Despite staying relatively close to Amcorp Mall, I have only been to that place a couple times, one of which was for watching Ju On, they have the best cinemas for that sort of movie (atmosphere wise), but that’s another story for another day.

simple deco, nice illustrated menu

The restaurant is rather smallish and has a simplistic no-frill decoration of some korean flags, out-of-date posters, and some fake plan cherry plants to give you an impression that they tried to care about creating an atmosphere, but not quite entirely impressive. Then again, it is in line with the whole old school look of Amcorp Mall, and I really do care alot more about the food rather than the deco, which is why I was there anyway.

We ordered the recommended beef bulgogi set and the Samkyeh Tang (gingseng chicken soup) set for dinner. The sets came with four sides, including kimchi, tofu, some marinated mango, and some vege. The beef bulgogi came with rice and soup, too.

Samkyeh Tang and beef bulgogi

Both the meals were very good, the beef was marinated to perfection and not over cooked, leaving it tender and full of juicy flavor. The half a small-size chicken in samkyeh tang was very soft and the soap taste strongly of Korean ginseng. I devoured the half a ginseng completely, too (didn’t seem to help my stimana on the Hantu Bola futsal yet, however).

The side dishes were very good too, I am usually not a kimchi person, but the kimchi served was not too overly sour or spicy, I finished it, and throughly enjoyed. The dinner only cost RM 34.44 with the two set dinners and drinks. Bulgogi was RM 13.90 and Samkyeh Tang RM 14.90. There’s a 5% government tax, as usual, but to my delight, no 10% service charge.

leave no prisoner!

Amcorp Mall is pretty accessible, located next to the Taman Jaya lake, you can get there either via the LRT or well, you could drive. The parking is RM 2 per entry after 6pm on weekday, pretty reasonable. Give it a try, I myself will definately go there again.

map to Amcorp mall, neat huh?

Address:
Lot 336 & 363, Amcorp Mall,
No. 18, Persiaran Barat,
Off Jalan Timur
46050 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-79572181

Tags:  amcorp-mall,  kimchi,  korean-food,  ky-eats

Posted by KY | 17 Comments »