Tag / Korean
December 6, 2010
Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant is probably no stranger to most who loves Korean food. My first visit to this chain was the USJ Taipan main branch at least 4-5 years ago. I went there again last week when the worms in my gut was starving for some Galbi.
Daorae Korean BBQ Garden at USJ Taipan
I’m not quite sure if this is the very first branch of Daorae, they have branches now at Hartamas, Penang Bayan Point, Kota Damansara, Kepong, Puchong Bandar Puteri, and another new one in PJ (the NZX branch has since closed). When we were there, there was an friendly old Korean guy who looked very much like the owner, and he explained that “Daorae” means many people, which translate to good business.
I must say they chose the right name. Daorae for Korean food is much like the Superdining chains for Japanese food (Rakuzen, Sushi Zanmai, Pasta Zanmai, Kura)
banchan – kimchi, salad, chives, cockles and more!
The one thing I always love about korean food is all the banchan (small dishes). Other than the standard kimchi, you almost always get something different on each visit. On this trip there were cockles, steamed egg in hot pot, salad, chives, fish cake, and more. I think we had some 10 different varieties. You can usually ask for refill too.
galbi (marinated beef), 3 layer pork
For the two of us, I ordered a portion of galbi (marinated beef short ribs) and 3 layer pork for the grill.
As usual, the expertly trained servers did the whole grilling right in front of us. Galbi’s best served with the ssamjang sauce (fermented bean paste & pepper) and wrapped in fresh lettuce. I like to add a piece of grilled garlic too.
The samgyeopsal (three layer pork) was lovely too. Grilled and usually goes either with the same ssamjang or gireumjang sauce (sesame oil and salt). Nothing like some pork to fill the stomach.
kimchi jiggae, Haze
Other than the two grilled meat and those free banchan, I also ordered a portion of kimchi jiggae – a stew with kimchi, tofu, pork, scallion, onion and such. This is typically served with a bowl of fragrant Korean rice, which I like.
It was as usual, a satisfying meal at Daorae, though one that isn’t exactly economical (RM 140) for the two of us, otherwise I’d do it more often. Galllbiiiiiiiii
Address:
Daorae Korean BBQ Restuarant
No.8C, Top Speed Business Center,
Jalan USJ 10/1J,
47620 UEP Subang Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.048045, 101.585987
Tel: 03-8024-2616
March 6, 2009
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! 
October 24, 2007
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
May 4, 2007
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
May 30, 2006
The area right besides the 3rd floor escalator in Isetan KLCC often has special festivals or fairs around the year, some months ago there was the Hokkaido fest, and this afternoon when I was there, the Korean Food Fair was at full swing, running from 26th of May till 13th June.
Korean food fair with lotsa crap to spend money on
They have alot of food stuff for sale. You can get the instant Ginseng Chicken soup with the whole chicken come in the pack (I think Jogoya serves this too), Korean instant noodle, fresh kimchi, Korean green tea, confectionaries, drinks, and so forth. As do most things from Isetan, the price isn’t cheap, but most of the items do look great.
this stuff is good
At the fresh food section, they were offering dumplings (5 for 8 bucks), and glass noodle. Since I was planning to ‘tarpao’ lunch anyway, I paid RM 9 for the glass noodle. Pretty pricey, but just to try once, what the heck.. I remember the glass noodle I had at the Ampang Korean BBQ was really good.
The glass noodle itself is imported from Korea, tastes slightly different from the local variety, thicker in texture and somewhat firmer, but you’ll still recognise it as glass noodle. The ingredients were red and yellow bell pepper, carrot, imitation crab meat, onion, green onion, and two types of mushroom.
I must say that the flavor was pretty good, however, 9 bucks is a bit too steep. Maybe I’ll get some instant noodle from there to stock up my food drawer in the office.
GPS: 3.157581, 101.712102
