Been binging on Kdramas? Can’t help but drool over all the delicious Korean food that has been featured not so subtly in those Kdramas? Desperately need to get a fix for your Korean food cravings? Well, don’t book a flight to Korea just yet. Being a country that is open to global food culture, there are plenty of restaurants in Malaysia that’s offering authentic Korean delicacies which can be as good as the ones you can find in Korea, if not better.
Here’s one of the Korean Restaurant in Malaysia that’s worth mentioning; Hwa Ga.
Located at level 1 in Empire Damansara, Petaling Jaya, this restaurant offers a wide variety of authentic Korean delicacies. The restaurant is also Pork-Free and Muslim friendly.
The restaurant is newly opened and here’s highlighting their Opening Promotion Set- Chicken Unlimited in 3 flavours: Grilled Chicken Breast, Crispy Fried Chicken Breast and Spicy Grilled Chicken.
Adopting an ‘eat all you can’ buffet style dining experience, you may order these as much as you can eat. Basically, it’s like a regular buffet, minus the hassle of having to self serve your food as the serving crews will do it for you. Opening Promotion set is only available til 31 July 2017 with 2 hours dining limit per pax, priced at RM28 (adult) and RM18 (children) during lunch time (11am-3.00pm) and RM30 (adult) and RM18 (children) during dinner time (5.00 pm – 11.00 pm).Children 3 years old and below dines for free.
Each sets comes with 6 plates of Banchan (side dishes) with unlimited refill.
Lettuce for you to wrap the meat items and side dishes with is also provided.
Other delicacies that’s worth trying on their menu is the Korean style fried chicken. The fried chicken platter comes in two flavours, regular and spicy with a side of dipping sauces. The Korean fried chicken is adeply fried and flavourful and the platter is great for sharing as the portion is quite big.
Soon Dubu Jiggae (RM15). Soon Dubu Jjigae is actually Korean style soft tofu stew. The dish is made with freshly curdled soft tofu, kimchi, mushrooms, onion, seafood and gochujang.This Korean kimchi soft tofu soup has a fiery broth that infuses custardy tofu with deep flavors and spices. Slightly spicy, the soup goes well on it’s own or a bowl of piping hot rice.
Deonjang Jiggae (RM15). Doenjang Jjigae, or soybean paste stew, is a staple in Korean traditional meals. The earthy flavor of soybean paste is fused with hearty vegetables like Korean radish and enoki mushrooms. The stew is perfected by robust yet soft tofu. Doenjang Jjigae complements meat and fish dishes such as bulgogi, galbi and grilled fish. It also goes well with plain white rice. Highly recommended for children or those who doesn’t like spicy food.
Chamchi Kimchi Jiggae (RM15). Kimchi stew is one of the most-loved of all the stews in Korean cuisine. It’s a warm, hearty, spicy, savory, delicious dish that pretty much everyone loves. The one we had is kimchi stew with tuna. It’s thick, umami-rich and quite spicy. Highly appetizing and goes well with white rice.
This is not on the ‘all you can eat chicken buffet menu’ but it’s must order dish at Hwa Ga: Nurungji Cheese Buldak (RM 65). It’s one of Hwa Ga’s specialty and chef’s recommended. Like most of the set dishes here in Hwa Ga, this dish came with side dishes as well.
So, what’s Nurungji Cheese Buldak? Simply put, this is actually a whole roasted chicken stuffed with glutinuos rice and topped with cheese and spicy sauce. ‘Nurungji’ refers to a traditional Korean food preparation that involves glutinuos rice with roasted chicken. It consists primarily of a whole chicken filled with glutinous rice, black rice, pumpkin seeds, barley, garlic, ginseng, jujube, ginkgo nut and pine nut. The stuffed chicken is slowly roasted in the rottisserie for a two hours before being cut open and pressed on the grill plate to be served with the saucy toppings and cheese. So is this a yay or nay? Well, after taking a few bites, I must say that although the chicken is stuffed with plenty of herbal ingredients, the herbal taste is not quite overwhelming as the cheesy goodness served as a balancing buffer for it. I didn’t expect to like it but my palate did not disagree with it. In fact, I find myself liking this Nurungji Cheese Buldak very much. Definitely great for those doesn’t fancy herbal food like me, and I’ll be sure to try their other variety of Nurungji Dak dishes on my next visit.
Overall the dining experience here in Hwa Ga is more than pleasant. Friendly staffs, great authentic Korean food and nice ambiance with melodic Korean songs playing in the background makes you feel as if you are in Korea instead of in Malaysia.
For more information on the restaurant, please refer to the information below:
Hwa Ga Damansara Perdana
Restaurant Address: Lot F05 Empire Gallery Heritage Lane No2, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: +603-7732 6151
Pork-free Restaurant
Business Hour: 11am- 11pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HwaGaPorkFree/