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2012-07-25
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Restaurant: Apgujeong Tent BarCuisine: KoreanMeal: DinnerEating with: 4 peopleMy friend has recommended me this Korean restaurant over and over again and although I am never very fond of Korean food, I'm glad I checked this place out.************************Environment / Surrounding******************************The restaurant is quite well decorated in wood and in a traditional sense, with many TVs playing Korean channels and other host of things that made the place full of Korean spirit.It is m
Cuisine: Korean
Meal: Dinner
Eating with: 4 people
My friend has recommended me this Korean restaurant over and over again and although I am never very fond of Korean food, I'm glad I checked this place out.
************************Environment / Surrounding******************************
The restaurant is quite well decorated in wood and in a traditional sense, with many TVs playing Korean channels and other host of things that made the place full of Korean spirit.
It is much nicer/cleaner than most Korean restaurants I have been to, and I don't find much of Chinese interpretation of a Korean restaurant here. This was the real deal. I was greeted by a Korean waitress who could speak Cantonese upon arrival.
Rating: 7.8/10
**********************Food******************************
Rating Scale from 1-5
I realise I am quite harsh on these, but for something to reach a 5 it has to be absolutely perfect. A 5 means la crème de la crème of its type and category; my point of view is that there is no such thing as perfect in texture, taste, presentation, smell etc and a 5 is virtually impossible.
0-1: Horrific, inedible
1-2: Will not order it again, and it's below average
2-3: Average joe food. Many places can replicate or make this.
3-4: Quite good and tasty. The higher end of 3 represents that the dish is identifiable to the restaurant and has its own distinctive taste and I will consider ordering again.
4-4.9: Very very tasty and the flavours of the dish is unique to the restaurant. In particular in the mid to higher ends to the 4, the food is almost proprietor-level good.
5: Pure bliss and so perfect that it's inexpressible.
Main Course 1: Fried Chicken Wings covered in sauce (3.9/5)
The wings are firstly fried in their thin batter, then covered in their red sauce (I asked for less-spicy).Turns out the sauce was sweet and salty and not at all spicey.
The meat of the wings were tender and succulent, and you mix it with a light batter fry with sauce they were delicious. The batter was not too thick to the point where it covers the texture of the chicken as you eat them together, and it was fried extremely well, not overdone. I couldn't stop eating them after the first and the second one. There were about 20 wings or more in there!
Main Course 2: Beef tendon pot in sweet soy sauce (4.1/5)
I have eaten this dish in other Korean restaurants before, and what makes this dish stand out from the rest is the quality of the beef tendon. The blend of fat, tendon and meat was perfect on most pieces. The ratio of the 3 textures give you is everything you can ask for. The meat is textured enough that it could still melt in your mouth. Every bite Main Course 3: Pork Belly with lettuce wrap (3.85/5)
The pork belly here had a good mixture of both fat and lean meat. Served cold, add some korean sauce sweet sauce with salt, this pork wrapped with lettuce was very very tasty indeed. Everything blends in well together. There was nothing too unique about it, however, since this dish can be easily replicated. I would still highly recommend it though.Main Course 4: Seafood Pancake (3.5/5)
Seafood pancake is traditionally Korean; you will find this in most Korean restaurants. The pancake was not overly floury, nor was it too thick or thin. The texture is what you would expect out of the Korean pancakes, but nothing in particular stands out. It was more of a fill in your stomach type of food. If you're not particularly craving for this, you should order something better as I'm sure many other dishes are more unique or tasty. Otherwise, this is still a solid selection to your Korean meal. Dessert : Bing soo (Shaved Ice with condensed milk and fruits) (3.45/5)
At this point, I was absolutely stuffed with all the food we had. We ordered this to wash down everything and finish our meal with something delightful as a closing. This is yet another solid dish. The condensed milk was a good choice to close the gap of the bland taste of ice. As always, fruits especially strawberries always go well with condensed milk. The ice had no funny taste or smell to it which is a good sign as a lot of restaurants use dirty watered ice.
**********************Service******************************
The service was overall okay. There weren't any particularly bad waiters or waitress, but sometimes we had communication barriers when we ask the waiters more in depth how the food was cooked or what the food consisted of. This was understandable since the waiters are mostly Koreans.
One lady in particular was able to explain to us very well what each dish consisted of and recommended several dishes off from the menu. All in all, she done a great job. I had a lovely meal here.
**********************Conclusion******************************
This is a great Korean restaurant and don't be thrown off by the low rating!. I've had several Korean restaurants in HK and many places elsewhere (though I admit I'm not the person who eats the most Korean food) and this is one of the few Korean restaurants I would definitely return to.
This is important because there are so many restaurants in Hong Kong, that you won't return to a restaurant again unless it impresses you or give you a good fond memory one way or another. For me, this restaurant had a good impression on me because of the delicious food as well as the fun times I had with my good friends.
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