Authentic Korean BBQ and Traditional Korean Home Cook Jal-Dae-Ji at One Ampang Business Avenue

“안녕하세요 - Aann Yeong Ha Seyo”

When it comes to Korean food in Kuala Lumpur, where should one go for this delicious fares. The first place is of course in One Ampang Business Avenue. There are about 20 plus Korean restaurant serving BBQ and specialty Korean dishes.

We were invited for dinner at Jal-Dae-Ji located at B-41, One Ampang Business Avenue, Jalan Ampang Utama 2/2, Kuala Ampang, Selangor. What does Jal-Dae-Ji means in Korean, it literally translates to Getting Better. So if you meet a Korean friend or associates, the next time they ask how are you doing now? You can reply by saying Jal-Dae-Ji. 

To start off the night, we were shown on the right and proper style to savour our Korean BBQ meal. One of the best things as a food reviewer, is that we are not there just to try out food but to really understand the culture and to gain knowledge about food antics.

As usual, in most Korean BBQ meal, you will be served with green lettuce. Usually this is used to wrap your BBQ food but apparently, as Malaysian, we will eat it at its own, wrap with some side dishes or eggs servings and etc. This is a no no in Korean BBQ eating style.

For Korean BBQ, your first taste of BBQ should be to eat the meat as it is, with no condiments and any sauces. This is to enable you to taste the freshly grill piece of the meat as its best. From this, you will be able to taste the whether the meat is of quality and well marinated.

If you eat with sauces added to it, most of the time the taste is of the sauce and you can’t really savour the taste of the marinated meat.

Your second helping of the meat should be with the lettuce wrapping. Next, will be the meat with the dipping sauce (only for pork) with lettuce wrapping, a slice of garlic and spring onion, parsley salad. This will ensure that you will be able to taste each of the condiments and meats. Note: Another No No is the Korean does not eat their BBQ with rice.

At Jal-Dae-Ji, the proprietor is a Korean and has a strong passion in cooking and serving real authentic Korean fares i.e. he will not compromise to make the dish suited to local taste. Almost all the sauces and marinates are his top secret recipes (jokes aside, even his wife does not know how we made it). That is why, majority of the customers venturing to this restaurant are mainly Korean. To them, this is the next best to home cooked meal.

For BBQ, we started with Yong Yang Galbi (Marinated Fresh Marble Beef)

Daew Ji Galbi (Marinated Pork Spare Ribs) – marinated for 2 days

Dak Gla Bi (Marinated Boneless Chicken) – marinated for 1 day

GoChuJang Samgyoup Sal (Marinated pork Belly in Red Hot Pepper Paste).

The taste of all the meat was juicy and succulent even after grilling it. We had the pleasure of one of the staff to grill for us and making sure it was grill to perfection.

Side dishes are common in mostly Korean restaurant, these side dishes varies on a daily basis i.e. You don’t get to eat the same side dishes everyday except for one or 2 i.e, Kimchi (a must for all Korean food). We were told by the proprietor that they do l prepare about 100kg of Kimchi every week for his restaurant.

Rice is usually eaten with these side dishes which are a little tad salty. These side dishes are cooked without the use of oil. Thus, it is a healthy food.  Now, you know the secrets why majority of Koreans are quite lean. You seldom see many Korean which are extremely obese.

Next, we proceed to the Bulgogi Beef – it is a dish which is served with thinly slices of beef, marinated in with a special sauce and cooked with a variety of vegetables and the familiar soo hoon noodles.

Our next dish is the Kimchi Jiggae, which is a thick stew of Kimchi simmered in Pork. If you love Kimchi, this is the one of the dish for you to try out.

A Korean pancake (Kimchi Jeon) is really a great challenge for many chefs. In the past those that I have tasted was either too soggy, too much batter or somewhat not the right taste. Here at Jal-Dae-Ji, the pancakes was nicely made, it retains the flavors and blended well with the seafood infused into the pancakes. Taste wise, it was perfect especially the fresh squids. A dip of the pancake to the slight spicy dipping sauce was the perfect blend to this dish.

The next dish was none other than the tTeokbokki (similar to Chinese Chee Cheong Fun) but the noodle here is of the harder and tougher type unlike the chee cheong fun which have a smooth and silky texture.

Lastly, we had the Bibim Guksu which is Noodles with vegetable and Red Hot Pepper sauce. For me, this was an average fare, which I find the sauce a little too sourish and the texture of the noodles was not to my liking.

On the whole, the entire meal was very satisfying and I would rate it as one of the best Korean restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. So, the next time you carve for real authentic Korean food, head over to Jal-Dae-Ji, it sure will be “getting better”.

Tips. If you really want your Korean meal to be cooked by the proprietor himself, make way there on every Monday. It is when he will be helming the kitchen. Also if you are going there on a weekend, please make sure you  make a reservation well in advance else you might be left waiting for your place outside the restaurant.

“감사합니다   Gam Sa Ha Bni Da”

Signature KimChi at Jal-Dae-Ji

For more Korean Cuisine review, please click on the link below

Korean Wang BBQ Centre - SS2 Petaling Jaya - A New Korean BBQ Restaurant Review By Best Restaurant

Jang Gun Korean Buffet - Fahrenheit 88 Kuala Lumpur  KL Best Restaurant To Eat

Choi’s Don & Dak @Kuchai Entrepreneur Park Old Klang Road, Korean Teppan  BBQ Table Review

Famous Macao Pork Chop Bun At Tai Lei Loi Kei at Subang Jaya Taipan USJ 10 by Best Restaurant To Eat.

One of the most popular street food in Macao is none other than the Pork Chop Bun. Nowadays, we need not travel all the way to Macao to try out this famous Bun. 

We were invited for a food review session at this newly opened outlet Tai Lei Loi Kei located at 4A Jalan USJ 10/1J (Topspeed Business Centre), 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor. The first outlet was opened at Lot 10 slightly more than a year ago and now have 17 outlet strategically located within the Klang valley.

These days, we Malaysian are very fortunate that many restaurants are bringing in popular foods from around the region i.e. you will have the opportunity to taste these fares at reasonable price.

At Tai Lei Loi Kei, they have a stringent rule to abide, the most important is of course is quality - meaning fresh produce and top quality ingredients. 

The signature buns are bake to reminiscent that of the original taste so baking it to the standard is top priority. Next, the frying of the pork chop is as important as the chef have been trained to ensure that every piece of pork chop are fried to the same intensity. This is to ensure consistency and same taste to the customers.

Before hand, these specially prepared pork chop are marinated in the central kitchen (with more than 10 ingredient) to maintain the quality and sent to each outlet where they will be fried on demand at that precise temperature and timing which I was told was 2 minute 40 seconds.

There are 2 offering of these bun that comes with the juicy and succulent pork chop namely the Signature Bun and the Polo bun. Personally, i preferred the Polo buns (another very popular Macao food) as it has that tangy soft flavor of the pineapple taste. The buns here are served Ala-Dante (no sauce like mayo or black pepper and so forth), so the Pork Chop really have to be good on its own. 

At Tai Lei Loi Kei, you can have your buns, noodles or rice served with add on of Luncheon meat, Ham, Cheese, Fish Ball and Fried Eggs.

Since, I was having buns, I ordered the Ice Macao Coffee to goes with the bun. Well, to me the coffee was rather plain and a little too sweet as I am used to the strong aroma and caffeine in my coffee.

Next, we had a different variation of the Pork chop i.e. Comes with Cantonese noodles (it looks like wantan noodles) but these noodles are made with duck eggs to ensure that it will remain springy and does not become soggy after cooking. 

We were told that they make 2 types of noodles i.e. one type for the soup which will not turn soggy after it is cook and simmered in the soup, while the others is for the dried (kon lou) type. Taste wise, I preferred the dry version as it was added with a special sauce i.e. Pork lard blended with soya sauce (I am feeling guilty now). This proves to be a winning combination and it really enhanced the overall taste.

For the rice wannabees, you don’t have to be disheartened, you can order your Pork chop with rice too. For the rice, the special sauce are sparingly coated over the white rice. 

Next, we tried out one of the side dishes which is the Macao Curry Fish ball . The curry taste was very pungent probably from too much of the curry powder and it was not very spicy. Garlic are used to flavor up the curry. Overall, so so. 

We had another try on the curry noodles instead, as this curry was flavored more for the local market. Yes, this was much much better than the other curry that was served earlier.

For Chicken lovers, you can have Chicken chop serves in the buns, noodles or rice too. 

Another side dish, is the Fried Macao Chicken wings. The chicken are also marinated in the same way as the pork chop, so taste wise, it is quite similar.

For desserts, we were served the Saw Dust Cake. Didn’t know we can eat saw dust too, but the saw dust here are actually biscuit crumbs which are crush to look like saw dust and henceforth it is called saw dust cake.



.To prepare this, the saw dust are put into 3 layers i,e, at the bottom, middle and top layers to provide you with variations and taste at each level. It comes in 2 flavors i.e the chocolate and the milk cream taste.

Famous Hakka Poon Choi at Lee Hong Kee Sg Buloh By Best Restaurant To Eat

This year, somehow there were a lot of restaurant offering this special Hakka Poon Choi Dish. We had an opportunity to feast on this unique dish from a famous restaurant in Sg Buloh which is Restoran Lee Hong Kee located at 3, 5, 7 & 9, Jalan Kati GU 18/G, Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh, 40160 Sungai Buloh.

It is a bit of challenge to find this place, but once you are given the right direction, it should not be a problem. Together with some of my old buddies and family, we headed towards this restaurant. I have known this place for sometime but never really getting to go there to try this dish as it needs at least 10 or more person to finish this dish. So, this time around, we manage to find sufficient number to give it a go.

 Poon Chooi or some called it treasure pot is a combination of more than 13 different type of dishes into it. In a nutshell, for those who have not tried this dish. It is like having a 13 course dinner serve in a pot. Eating it for the first time is a real experience by itself.

Eating Poon Chooi, you start off with the top layer, which is the so-called dried dishes first. Our first attack is on the abalone. The abalone was poached and sautéed with a simple sauce to preserve the natural taste. It was succulent and firm.

Next, we have the fresh scallop served in the bird nest (fried beehoon) lookalike. Once that is done with, the next attack was the poached tiger prawns with white wine which retain the full flavour of the prawn.

After the prawns, the next attack was on the steam kampong chicken. The chicken meat was tender and contains the sweet taste of the succulent chicken meat.

As you move the pot around the next visible dish was the roast duck. Here, we find the roast duck lacking the crisp skin that would have made it ideal. Moreover the meat was quite tough, you have to use your finger to try to tear off the meat.

Round the next bend was the Fried Nam Yue Pork ribs (a little too dry and hard for me) and this was followed by the braised meatball and fish cake cut into long strips.

As we uncovered the following layer, which is the wet (braised) layer, we could see the braised chicken feet and this was followed by the Pork Trotter with chest nut, Braised Siew Yok.

We could also see the braised tau kan, terrapin fin and oysters too. I find this layer, with all the sauces infused at the bottom was a tad salty, you really cannot enjoy the dishes without any rice to go with it. But, if you order the rice, you would not be able to finish all the food in the pot.

Overall it was quite an experience eating this dish for the first time but frankly speaking at RM580.00 ++, you might want to think twice since it might have been better to order it as individual dishes and you can choose which one you like better rather than all serve in a pot, and you probably would have enjoyed it much better too.

Our other Poon Choi review

Poon Choi 2017 Halal Chinese New Year Set Menu At Tung Yuen

Delicious Home Cooked Meal at Frenz Café Plaza Damas Sri Hartamas by Best Restaurant To Eat

These days, there are a lot of claims by restaurant of home cooked dishes. But what exactly does home cooked meals implies i.e. it is really home cooked like cook at home and so forth. To me, home cooked meals are prepared using the same method as you will have cooked it at home. Most important is the use of choice fresh and quality condiments to whip up this dish using passed down recipes.

I had the opportunity to have a dining experience of home cooked meal at the Frenz café located at G-0-1, Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1. The promise of authentic home cooked food salivate my appetite.

Frenz café is a no frill café serving some of the simple one course meals like Ginger Fried Rice, Pan Mee and etc. But, for tonight we will be savouring their special dishes.

We started off ordering some of their special drinks/juices. For me, I like to try something challenging drink i.e. Celery with Bitter Gourd – what a combination. It turns out to be very refreshing and soothing to my throat. The bitterness taste lingers on, which is good for my throat especially when there was some early sign of a sore throat coming around.

The main dish was the Curry Fish Head. The fish head chosen to be cooked in this Malaysian Favourite Curry dish is the Garoupa Fish Head. I fancied this fish head as it has a very firm, smooth and slippery skin which is ideal for curry style cooking.

The curry fish head was cooked without using any santan, which of course is much healthier to be eaten especially for those who have to watch their diet and still carving for this special dish. You will have no worries of the extra calories and so forth. But, for me this have made the dish a little bland as it is not that creamy and does not have that after taste which makes it very fulfilling. Nevertheless for me, it was compensated with the freshness of the fish head.

The chef had also added in generous amount of fresh vegetables like cabbages, ladies fingers, brinjal and etc. This makes it a complete dish in all.

Next, on our main course is the Nyonya Chicken. When the dish arrived, it looks like a very simple dish but upon tasting it, you are instantly jolted by the strong taste of the perfect balance use of the condiments to cook this dish.

It was also very fragrant smell of the serai and bunga kantan. You can’t help, calling a second helping of the white rice to go with it.

For our douse of vegetable, we had the Stir Fried Hong Kong Kai Lan with Beef. I really love Kai Lan cooked in this style as it retains the flavourful and crunchiness of the Kai Lan. With the add-on beef slices, which the chef uses, it was just the right balance, as the meats was well marinated and retain the tenderness of the meat.

Beef slices are a very delicate meat to be served in Chinese meals. The skill of the chef to prepare and cook beefs depends on his experience to ensure whether you will be served a tough meat or a nice tender and juicy meat. Well done dish by the Chef.

The next dish is Chicken with Salted Egg Yolk. The chicken was first fried in a batter and then cooked in the salted egg yolk sauce, which was very well coated into the chicken.

Finally, we had a not in the menu dish – a chef creation and indeed a very simple dish. It is the Steamed Brinjal with Dried Shrimp.

When it was served to us, it looks very tantalizing and simple. Upon tasting the brinjal, the smooth texture and sweetness of the brinjal blended very well with the light soya sauce and the dried shrimp still retain the crunch and flavours. This is another comfort dish for a second helping of white rice.

The final dish to be tasted for tonight is one of the Frenz signature one dish meal i.e. the Fried Ginger Rice. This dish used to be a must dish for ladies in confinement – i.e. as ginger has the properties to relieve wind in the bodies. I was a little surprise that Frenz serves this dish as there aren’t many places is able to serve this dish.

This dish is the special creation of one of the partner mother and was cooked exactly that way. The ginger was perfectly infused into the fried rice. Don’t get me wrong that the taste of ginger will be very strong here, in fact, it just had a tinge of ginger for each spoonful and not too overwhelming. If you love ginger, this might be a good choice for you.