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
hello Tasha!
Haha that photo is too cute lah!
RM 160 for 5 pax is indeed a good deal! I spent RM 130 for 2 pax.. seems like I should visit seoul garden liao.
Ah, nice family you got there. 🙂
Seoul-ed out in Seoul Garden eh? Okay, bad pun. :p
suanie,
😀
Mellissa,
Hahaha yah
allie,
ooo, yaa make it happen!
Huai Bin,
Haha something like that. 😀
Korean food…I thought there’s one here in KL also right?
Looks pretty good, haven’t had Korean food for a while….nom nom.
JD,
Well there are a lot of Korean restaurants in KL..
ShaolinTiger,
nom nom nom!
for a more classy experience, you can try Dao Rae Korean BBQ House, Bayan Point (beside i-Avenue), Bayan Lepas.
I’ve never been in there yet, but that placed used to be a parking heaven until that place opened, now it is a parking hell, tells you how many people going there.
And they have a couple of Estimas and a few Cefiros parking outside the restaurant with the company logo, wonder what are those cars for, VIP escort or delivery service
wah so long since i had korean… must try!
RealGunners,
Hahaha parking hell doesn’t sound very fun.
christock,
Make it happen!
your brother doesn’t look like you! Is your niece mixed? She doesn’t look chinese too.. heheh..
your brother quite cute ah~ hahahaha! 😛
wah….can see ur family and melissa met ur family liow….hmmm…something big gonna happen this year or next year ler…hehehe
eh, u r in pg..~ went back there last weekend~
i went there once for the food.
ONLY once..then never return anymore cuz the food was totaly dissapointed on that time~
maybe will try again~
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aik… got sea view?!
eiling,
Yess my niece is mixed 😀
Jade Zheng,
Hahah I’m sure he’ll read this.
vialentino,
Hahah don’t be ridiculous.
taufulou,
oOo interesting.
aeroplane1234,
straining the neck a bit, yes. 😛
eh btw, i think i saw mel’s face in one of the magazine in the salon today…those after makeover one…
JD,
oOoo very interesting, which one? 😀
the niece is Taasha bro..
erm….i think it’s female? sometime october last year….
melisa teoh,
Ops, corrected. 😀
JD,
Ooo thanks. 😀
is it Seoul GArden have Halal Certificate or not?
Ress,
They don’t, they serve pork, it is non halal
are u sure its not halal restoren ? because many muslim going they to have food.
seoul garden is not hahal restoren ????????????? are u sure about that ? because i see a lot muslim go there. dont play with muslim people.
ella: at the time of visit, which was in June, 2009. they served pork. I’m not sure if they are halal now.