影片
更多
2014-07-11
4941 瀏覽
I'm regularly on Gough St. for vegetable shopping, and I've been wanting to try this place since it opened. By calling early on Thursday I was able to snag some Friday night reservations. I don't recommend trying to walk-in.I'm no fan of bloody marys, but I had to try the kimchi bloody mary. It did have kimchi in it, but there wasn't much of a kimchi flavor. Mostly just a bloody mary with bits of cabbage that sometimes got stuck in your straw. Not recommended unelss you like bloody marys.(Here's
I'm no fan of bloody marys, but I had to try the kimchi bloody mary. It did have kimchi in it, but there wasn't much of a kimchi flavor. Mostly just a bloody mary with bits of cabbage that sometimes got stuck in your straw. Not recommended unelss you like bloody marys.
(Here's the cabbage at the bottom.)
This is the only Korean place I've been to in HK, Korea, or the US (or Singapore or anywhere else I've ever eaten Korean food) where you have to pay for the kimchi. OK, scratch that, there's also Hungry Korean here in HK. It's $25 (we had to order two for 4 people) and it is very good, though I've photographed the portion next to my drink to emphasize its petiteness. A+ on flavor, but D on price.
"Octopus, yuzu, ponzu, salad" ($188) according to the menu. Easily the worst dish of the night. I love octopus, but it's gotta be tender. This was chewy. Not horribly chewy, certainly not the worst, but chewy. The octopus wasn't very flavorful by itself. Yuzu is a citrus and ponzu is citrus vinegar. The sauce tasted a little like sesame. Alright: C
"Bulgogi sauce, salad" ($198). The short ribs were great. Thin sliced, perfectly cooked, delicious marinade. 6-8 thin slices. Really good: B+
"Spring roll pastry, minced beef, bulgogi sauce, mozzarella cheese" ($158). My friend remarked that he was wary of mixing cheese with Korean food, but that he was won over by this dish. I had some cheesy things on my last trip to Seoul, so it didn't really take me aback. I was more worried about the sauce on top: I forgot the menu said 'bulgogi sauce' and I thought it would be something overly sweet. But no, it was perfect and judiciously applied. The meat wasn't "minced" so much as cut up into less-than-bitesize pieces (which I prefer). The spring roll tortilla, if I may, was crisp and light. Everyone really liked it. B+
"Mungbean, kimchi, leak, grean bean sprouts. Since I was a fan of the kimchi, I'm not surprised I also liked the kimchi pancake. It was nice and crisp; not soggy but not dry either, and with some mild yet noticeable spice. I sort of prefer the taste and texture when the vegetables are not so finely chopped up, but I still liked this. Great A-
"Green pepper, minced beef, bulgogi sauce" ($138). In Gangnam recently I had a version of this dish-- at a highly regarded chicken shack-- that was much inferior. The meat was just sort of bland and the peppers didn't show through. I liked this version: the breading was light and crisp; the meat was marinated in bulgogi sauce (I'm guessing it's what's in the quesadilla) and the peppers were thick enough that you could really taste them. I'm going to go and say this was my favorite, after the kimchi. A-
"Pork belly, leek" ($138). There's a choice of dipping sauce, but since the barbequed meat is sufficiently flavored for me, I didn't even realize what kind we got. I found it unremarkable, other than the fact that at least it wasn't just pigfat. B-
"Soy sauce, garlic, pepper, kochujang sauce" ($128). I had two pieces of the fried chicken and I found them to be with decidedly too much fat and skin. They were tender and juicy and delicious, but I want tender juicy chicken, not tender juicy chickenfat. Definitely recommended the joints on Kimberly Rd for fried chicken. B-
"Hot spicy chilli sauce, chicken, mozzarella cheese" ($168). The menu doesn't say it, but there's definitely some tteokbokki in there too. I was less of a fan of this dish. On the one hand, it had some reasonable kick to it (one of my friends thought it was TOO spicy, but she's from Hong Kong, so go figure). On the other hand, the sauce I thought was a little too sweet (like US sweet BBQ sauce) and too plentiful, and didn't really go with the cheese. Fun to try as something "different," but nothing I'd recommend. Alright, CFurther thoughts:
1. Price: it's steep, but I won't complain. My mom always used to say, "it's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it" and this place seems popular enough. I also don't know what else you'd really expect from high-end Korean fare. I am averse to the egregious price gouging and I really think the kimchi should be free flow.
2. Taste: We had three things with the bulgogi sauce which I rated B+, B+, and A-. You really can't go wrong with bulgogi sauce at this place. The kimchi and kimchi pancake I rated A+ and A- respectively. Sanche nails the basics, and for a cuisine that's relatively limited, that's about all you gotta do. I probably won't eat here again, because I feel like I tried it and nothing blew me away. But I did think it was fundamentally sound.
3. Service: There was always someone around to take an extra drink or food order, and I don't think I waited more than 5 seconds to catch someone's attention. The place is busy. They won't hold dinner reservations past 10 minutes and they mildly pressure you to leave when you've finished (like by asking you three or four times whether everything arrived, whether you want to order more, etc.) I understand, we were there on a Friday night and people were standing outside.
To sum up: I don't regret the money I paid; I thought the food was fundamentally sound; I would recommend it but I wouldn't go back.
張貼
