Wednesday 24 July 2013

Gangnam 88 Korean Bistro @ Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

I have been craving for some good Korean food since last night and having had my father and brother down today, we decided to head to a place called Gangnam 88 Korean Bistro which is located in Solaris Mont Kiara for dinner.They have never tried Korean food before and this would be their very first experience. It was mid day and when we arrived here, finding a parking was not so difficult as it might have been at night. 

Restaurant Gangnam 88 located right above Coffee Bean

The Entrance
This is my second visit here and with that being such, I did not have to go around in circles searching for this restaurant like to first time. Since this restaurant is located on the first floor, you would have to use the side entrance just beside Coffee Bean and take the lift to the first floor. Signage's are very well placed and it makes things convenient. 

The Menu

The Menu

My Dad Checking Out The Menu

Interior of the Restaurant

Interior of the Restaurant

Drinking Water On The House

The Menu was very elaborate but it is divided into three different timings and based on these timings, different dishes are served. Lunch is strictly from 1130 to 1700, Dinner from 1700 to 2200 and after that is basically Pub style bites and Korean Beer and Liquor. Even between Lunch and Dinner, they have segregated the offerings and not a single dish is offered for both Lunch and Dinner. After having scanned the menu, we placed our orders and within 25 minutes, food was served.The restaurant had a very cool layout. It was stylish though small. Yet, the ambiance was great with K-Pop music being played on the TV all the while. The owner, a Korean and his staff greet you unanimously once you walk in, of course the greeting was in Korean. The reception given by the owner and the staffs were very warm to the extent that they even help you with adjusting your chairs. The tables were all set with the cutlery and the moment you take your seat, cold water is served first and only then they come up with the menu.


Rice

The rice was interesting as you can see from the above photograph as there were pieces of barley like thing mixed into it. Never really bothered what it was as it did not taste weird. 

Salad Dips
The above are to be eaten along with the Salad. Most Koreans, roll the salad with these ingredients laid inside. 

10 Refillable Side Dishes At No Additional Cost 

Salad
This was a great part of the deal. Along with the above dish, this ten side dishes are included in the set and the best part is that they are refillable at no additional cost. They had Kim-chi Vegetable, Japanese Tofu, Long Beans, Potato, Sliced Fried Eggs, Mixed Vegetables, Sweet & Sour Crab Stick  Sweet Anchovies and Fish Paste. Each of the above had their own merits and definitely good. The both of us had topped up all these dishes three times this evening. What is worth mentioning here is that you do not have to call them to top it up but they continuously observe your table and as one dish depletes, they replenish it even without asking. That is the quality of service that we always look for. I would rate their side dishes at 9/10 .

Kimchi Jjigae @ RM 20.00
This is pretty much Kimchi Vegetable Stew. To ensure that the dish is kept boiling hot for a long period of time, a candle burner is supplied together with this dish. An excellent dish here. It was lovingly spicy and delicious with great amounts of Tofu, Vegetables and Pork in the soup. I would rate this dish at 9.5/10 . By the time we finished our meal, we literally emptied the entire soup as it was delicious to drink.

Spicy BBQ Pork @ RM 33.00
This dish was very good. It was slices of pork stir fried with onions and carrots in a very spicy sauce. It has a tingling sourness which tipped the taste above the spicy sauce. We surely enjoyed this dish very much. Although the price may be slightly on the high side, still it was worth the money. I would rate this dish at 9.4/10 . A good dish to try here.

Korean Steamed Eggs

The above Korean Steamed Eggs were complementary as they are included into the Kimchi Jjigae Set. The salad was definitely very fresh and the Korean Steamed Eggs was delicious. I would rate the Steamed Eggs at 8.5/10 .

Mulgogi Galbi @ RM 25.00

The Dip Sauce
This Grilled Mackerel was fantastically prepared and it is one of the best that I have tried. The skin was crisp, the meat juicy and I can still salivate as I think back. Not many places do this really well and this is one such place that you get great grilled fish. I would strongly recommend this dish here and my rating for this would be a perfect 10/10 .

Korean Style Ice Kacang

Once lunch was done, they waiter came up to us and mentioned that desert was already included in the sets and since we had two sets, the would be two deserts for us. This Korean Style Ice Kacang was nice but a little low in sugar. That is obviously a good thing but as Malaysians, we are used to consuming more sugar and I personally would expect this Ice Kacang to be at least slightly sweeter. However, it was still a good desert. I would rate this at 6/10 .

Cafe Americano


The above coffee was my choice of desert although it does not qualify for to be placed in the desert category. They only had these two options available for the day. Well, being a coffee lover why would I miss this anyway. The coffee was good, definitely better than Starbucks. I would rate this cuppa at 8.8/10 .


Overall, this is a great place to dine. In fact as time went on, the crowd started growing and by the time we left this place at 1400, it was full house. I think there are many reasons why someone would be a repeat customer here like me today. The hospitality, good food, great ambiance and decent prices and some that needs to be mentioned. Cleanliness is another point too. I would definitely come back here for another round soon and to try the other dishes. I also heard their Beer Chicken is pretty good. Don't ask me what it is please as I have not tried it and only saw it on the menu and also from the recommendations from Foursquare but as that many people have mentioned it, I reckon that would surely be on my list of orders the next round here. I tried asking for one since my last visit, I made a mental note of it but they told me for that, I would need to order a day in advance as it takes about an hour to prepare it. Would definitely make it happen the next time.
Address: No. 1-1, Jalan Solaris 3, Solaris Mont Kiara,
                 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: Lunch   1130 - 1700
                              Dinner 1700 - 2200
                              Pub      2200 - 0100
                             Closed 2nd & 4th Monday of the month.

Telephone: +603 6206 5888
                      +6012 320 0785



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