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/

I’m a huge fan of steamboat meals (some call it hotpot, but it’s practically the same thing), but more often than not, the ambiance of the steamboat places are not always comfortable despite of their delicious offerings. Those I usually frequent are mostly located on the roadside, catering to large crowds of diners. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m the sort of person who can’t do street dining, in fact, I love street food and street dining. They’re really fun, but there are times where you want to just just chill and slowly enjoy your steamboat meals with family and friends at a quiet place, without having to raise your voice just to be heard.

I’ve been scouting for some nice quiet place to enjoy a steamboat meal at, and discovered that Resort Seafood Steamboat at Resorts World Genting somehow topped the list.

Resort Seafood Steamboat. Located at 6,000 feet above sea level in Resort Hotel at Resorts World Genting, the restaurant not only offers a dining experience at literally a higher level, but absolute seafood enjoyment as well.

For those who seeks privacy and quiet dining experience with a large group of family and friends, you can request to be seated at one of the private rooms.

Resort Seafood Steamboat offers four private rooms, with the first two offerings two huge dining tables that can cater up to 20 persons.

For those who prefers to choose their own soup and eat at their leisure instead of sharing a large pot, the third and the fourth room offers a space that can not only accomodate 15 and 20 guests respectively but offers individual steamboat pot option as well.

Here’s yours truly and the hosts of the day. We were seated at one of the private rooms.

The restaurant’s current steamboat highlight as of writing is this; Seafood Sauna Layer Pot Set. It comes pre-assembled with seafood items arranged in tiers.

The restaurant offers three different steamboat packages ranging from RM756- RM1,650 to allow diners to make their selection from an array of raw and marinated ingredients, which then can be cooked at their table, but here’s the one that we tried; the Seafood Sauna Layer Pot, a set for 8 pax-10pax (RM688 for Genting Rewards card members and RM758 for non members).

This showcasing of the freshest and luxurious seafood meal is pretty unique. It is supposed to be eaten layer by layer while being steamed. Should you order this set, be sure to inform your dining partners about it and be patient while digging in instead of spreading all the layers on the table and attacking all the seafood items simultaneously like you would do a regular steamboat/hotpot meal. You’ll ruin the real experience and miss all the sauna seafood real enjoyment if you do that. Instead of dumping all the items into the soup base and eating everything all at once like you do the regular steamboat or a hotpot meal, work on eating the seafood items from the top layer to the second and finally savor the Salmon fish head soup base by adding the accompanying platter of steamboat items and the side of spinach before you completely finish off the meal by dumping the fried rice into the leftover soup and make a porridge out of it.The flavours of the seafood on subsequent layers gets better and more distinctive as you go along. This is because the top layer’s seafood juices will drip into the next layer through the pot’s holes bit by bit, showering the concealed bottom pot with juicy seafood goodness.

First layer of seafood galore consists of grass prawns, squids, scallops, green mussels and sweet corns. I cannot comment much on the green mussels and the squids as I was kept busy by the fat grass prawns and scallops. The grass prawns were naturally sweet and absolutely delicious and if I were to have it my way, I would have finish off all the prawns myself, leaving none for others. Yes. The prawns were that good.

Magnificent second layer were made of huge live crabs and sweet corns. Working through this layer of the pot was much more interesting than the first layer. It might only contain just two items, which is just the live crabs and the sweet corns, but it is certainly more flavourful than the previous layer as this layer of items has fully absorbed the seafood juices from the previous layer. I’ve taken a bite of the sweet corns from the first layer of the pot and found it just normal in terms of flavours, but the sweet corns from this layer of the pot was to die for. The sweetness of the corns were truly enhanced by the seafood juices and it actually tasted fruitier. The crabs, needless to say, were satisfyingly flavourful and meaty.

Third layer contains the flavourful Salmon fish head soup; the one that gets better and better as you slowly feast on the top layers of seafood offerings. All the juices from the top layers dripped into this one and the perfect way to enjoy this is by adding in the accompanying platter of steamboat items when you finally finished off the top layers of seafood sauna. It will turn the normal looking Salmon fish head soup base into something entirely different. Once you are done with the platter of steamboat ingredients, crack in some eggs, add in the spinach and the ginger egg fried rice and make a porridge out of the remaining soup base. I promise you that it will be the best tasting porridge you’ll ever tasted, with all the juicy seafood drips enhancing the flavours of the grains.

Here’s the accompanying platter of assorted steamboat items that we dumped into the Salmon fish head soup base to be throroughly cooked: enokitake mushrooms, Shittake mushrooms, King of oyster myshrooms, fuzuk mushroom rolls, unbreaded crabmeats, Teowchew wantans, sui kow dumplings, chilli fishballs, chicken supreme slices and fishballs.

A closer look at the assorted mushrooms on the platter. Spotted suspects: Enokitake mushrooms, Shittake mushrooms, Shimeiji mushrooms and King of oyster myshrooms. I’m a huge fan of mushrooms and therefore I was absolutely delighted when I found these being included in the Seafood Sauna Layer Pot set. Mushrooms has always made the soup more more interesting and in this case, it did help to add more ‘umami’ flavours to the Salmon fish head soup base. A bonus? The meaty mushroom texture is fun to eat too.

Fuzuk mushroom rolls. Filled with mushroomy goodness, these fuzuk mushroom rolls can be quite addictive.

Unbreaded crabmeats. Not having to crack the crab open to enjoy the meat, crab meat fans will definitely love this.

Teowchew wantans. One of the cutely wrapped up items on the plate that packs quite some flavours in it.

Sui kow dumplings. My favourite item whenever my family and I go for a seafood meal. Just don’t ask how many I took during this meal and I’ll tell you no lies. They’re fantastic, but please be sure not to leave them in the soup for too long, or the skin will turn soggy. Sure, they’ll be still nice to eat even when they’re overcooked but you’d want to enjoy it when it’s just nicely cooked.

Chilli fishballs. Not a spicy item despite of it’s name. Just more flavourful, so don’t be afraid to indulge on these. They don’t bite you.

Chicken supreme slices. Neatly rolled up and nicely presented on the platter. I had two slices of these during the meal and thought how good it will be if I can have these at home too, especially for breakfast or in my sandwiches. The chicken supreme slices goes pretty well with the soup base. I wanted more of them after my second slice but unfortunately for me, my tummy barely have space for extras after all the earlier seafood indulgence.

Fishballs, made from real fishes and not just fake and artificial flavourings. I gave this a miss in favour of other items on the platter, so I can’t comment on the taste. Sometimes, I really do wish I have a bigger tummy to fit in more food.

Spinach, our source of fibre of the day. We were so excited with our seafood feast that we nearly forgotten about the spinach that’s sitting on the side sadly. A complete waste should we really overlooked this fresh bundle of green goodness. It’s a refreshing addition after all the seafood that we had.

Last but not least, the Ginger Egg Fried rice. Good on it’s own, but here I wouldn’t really recommend you to eat them the usual way you eat fried rice. Having this at the beginning of the seafood sauna steamboat meal is a no no too as it will take up the space in your tummy before you could even begin to enjoy other seafood. This fried rice makes a great finishing touch to the leftover soup base when you’re almost done with your seafood sauna steamboat meal, so remember to save this for the last. Generously fried with ginger slices and eggs, this Ginger Egg Fried Rice will turn into one of the best porridge you ever tasted when you dumped it in the soup base at the end of the meal. I managed to make mine at the end of my meal, and I am absolutely glad I saved this for the last.

Like most steamboat places, Resort Seafood Steamboat also offers an array of specially made dipping sauces to go with your meal. There are plenty of addictive ones here and in the picture here are just half of the variety of dipping sauces that they have to offer, but if you want to really savor the natural sweetness of the seafood and the soup, just go without the dipping sauce. The seafood are all fresh and they’re already good to be eaten on its own.

Overall, the dining experience here surpassed my high expectation. But despite of the fast service and great hospitality from the service crew in this restaurant, this particular meal is not for those who are busy on a tight schedule or rushing as you will need at least 1 hour to fully enjoy the entire meal. It is also not for those who can’t put away their gadgets at mealtime as well. This steamboat dining concept is created for you to slowly enjoy your food with your dining partners as you chit chat and catch up with each other. Great concept, I must say, considering most of us are married to our gadgets and smartphones and rarely make any face to face interaction anymore, even at dining tables during mealtimes. I highly recommend this Seafood Sauna Layer Pot for any sort of personal or business gatherings.

Should you want to experience all these fantastic food at literally a higher level while fostering togetherness as you do so, go on ahead to Resort Seafood Steamboat Restaurant at Resorts World Genting and order any of the Seafood Sauna Layer Pot set meal on their menu. I can assure you that once is not enough and you’ll be craving for a second experience in no time.

Walk ins is welcomed but bookings and reservations is recommended for large groups. For more information, on current ongoing promos and anything else on the menu, please refer to the information below:

Resort Seafood
Level One Resort Hotel, Resorts World Genting
Genting Highlands 69000, Malaysia
Telephone Number: +60 6036 1011 118

Opening Hours
12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10pm (Daily)

Website: www.rwgenting.com

If you are a traveler holidaying or transiting in Kuala Lumpur and looking for a place that’s conveniently located near a public transport hub to eat, then here’s one place that I can recommend; NU Sentral Kuala Lumpur.

NU Sentral Kuala Lumpur is a large mall located at KL Sentral, Malaysia’s largest transit hub that acted as Kuala Lumpur’s integrated rail transportation centre, offering global connectivity and seamlessly linking to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and key areas within the Multimedia Super Corridor.

Getting to NU Sentral is not a problem as it is directly linked to all the major train services and is basically a transportation hub and is easily reachable via Uber, but deciding what to eat can be quite overwhelming as NU Sentral is a home to more than 20 eateries. Here’s recommending 10 restaurants for you to dine in at NU Sentral:

1. B.bap Korean Food (Outlet location: GF 0.8)

If you are looking for some Korean delicacies with a twist, then B.bap Korean Food is a must visit.

The restaurant can cater to decent amount of crowds and makes quite a great place for small gatherings with family and friends. Below are some of the dishes that I would personally recommend for you to try:

Dolsot Bibimbap Octopus

Kimchi Jiggae Beef

Soon Dubu Jiggae

Teok Bokki

Korean Seafood Pancake

The restaurant is Halal certified and offers quite an impressive option on their menu, so you definitely won’t feel disappointed over here.

2. Dolly Dimsum (Outlet location: LG.43)

Dolly Dimsum is a modern intrepretation of a traditional Chinese teahouse.

It is a contempororized Dim Sum house that offers an all day dim sum grazing experience.

Some of the recommended items on their menu:

Har Gao Dumpling and Yam Croquette

Siew Mai Dumpling and Dolly Mozza Roll

Egg Custard Bun and Salad Prawn Dumpling

Like most Dimsum Restaurants, this restaurant accepts walk ins but a reservation prior visit is recommended if you are heading over in a group or a large crowds.

3. Sushi Tei (Outlet Location: CC.06)

Fancy something Japanese? Then head over to Sushi Tei. They are offering quite an extensive list on their menu for a reasonable price. Below are some of the highlights, recommended and handpicked by Sushi Tei’s staffs:

Kirishima (18pcs), Tan Tan Ramen and
Soft Shell Crab Kani Salad

Kirishima

Tan Tan Ramen

Soft Shell Crab Kani Salad

Should you feel overwhelmed with the menu or have any problems ordering, just ask their staffs for recommendations. They are usually very helpful and will surely help you out.

4. Paddington House of Pancakes (Outlet location: L4.11)

Paddington House of Pancakes offers all sort of pancakes from across the globe. Pancakes are well known for being sweet but here in Paddington House of Pancakes, they have savoury ones as well. Some of the recommended items on their menu are: Wellington, Monaco Savoury Flapjack, Chocolate Fondue and Strawberry New York Cheesecake

Wellington

Monaco Savoury Flapjack

Chocolate Fondue

Strawberry New York Cheesecake

Paddington House of Pancakes provides a first class hospitality and therefore you may find youself being attended by their all smiling staffs who are eager to please you. Great food, wonderful hospitality, the place is a must patronized, especially if you are having a long day. They will certainly make your day better.

5. Manhattan Fishmarket (Outlet Location: L4.06)

Manhattan Fishmarket offers nothing but lip-smacking seafood, from the sea and straight into your plate.

Small Flame Garlic Herb Rice with Chips

Gummy Bear

Considering the hassle of preparing seafood dishes, Manhattan Fishmarket is strangely fast with taking orders and serving the food. Highly recommended place to dine if you are really famish or in a rush.

6. La Juiceria (Outlet location: LG.44)

Need a quick refreshing boost or just wanna cleanse your palate?

Well then, La Juiceria have everything that you need, ranging from quick superfood wraps or energy boosting drinks.

One of the recommended booster juice; the Chlorophyll Water

This cafe is great for those who are eating clean or those who are looking for detox juices.

7. Franco (Outlet location: L3.06.07)

Fancy some casual dining at a laidback place with sumptuous delicacies and jazzy music from the 90s in the background? Franco might just be the place for you. Franco offers fusion food with interesting twist.

Souffle Cheese, Ice Tea with Softie,
Matcha Smoothie and Berries Cheesecake

Souffle Cheese

Ice Tea with Softie and Matcha Smoothie

Berries Cheesecake

Great food and with somewhat relaxing ambiance, Franco is definitely a great dating spot. Highly recommended to couples who wants some quiet dining together.

8. BUILT Custom Burgers (Outlet location: L4.10)

Wanna customize your own burger? BUILT Custom Burger is a must go if you wanna show your wild foodie side.

Serving premium and customizable burgers and burgers- in- a- bowl, BUILT Custom Burgers offers guests the flexibility of creating and customizing their own burgers from hundreds of possible combinations, from the patties to the bun to the toppings and sauces. Below is what we customized during our visit:

Custom Built Beef Burger (Bun), Custom Built Beef Bowl and
Custom Built Chicken Bowl

Custom Built Beef Burger (Bun)

Custom Built Beef Bowl

Custom Built Chicken Bowl

This is a place where foodie can go wild. Not for the traditionalists or the faint hearted.

9. Hoagies Hauz (Outlet location: L5.11)

With a Subway themed interior beside the cinema in Nu Sentral, Hoagies Hauz offers a quick bite for their hungry patrons.

You can choose grab and go or dine in. Their hoagies buns are simply comforting and to die for.

Some of their recommended items on the menu are; Cheezy Melt Steak,
Beefy Patty Melt, Aloha Hawaiian Chicken and The Signature Hoagie.

10. La Cucur (Outlet location: LG.38)

La Cucur offers all time Malaysian favourite tea-time fritters, kuih and more.

Assorted traditional Malay kuih at La Cucur.

La Cucur is great for those who just want to have a comforting, old time favourite teatime snacks.

All these outlets are part of the outlets that’s listed under #NUNomNomNom food trail program hosted by NU Sentral for members of the media in conjunction with their 3rd anniversary celebration. For more information on other dining outlets and current promotions that’d ongoing in NU Sentral, please hop to their Facebook page HERE.

I’m can be quite particular when it comes to food at times, especially burgers. In my youth, I hated all things greens, and therefore any sort of vegetables is a no no no in my burger. But as I grew older, I acquired the taste for more veggies, more cheese and more pickles in my burgers. Problems? Sadly, yes. I don’t always get to choose what to put to put in my burgers unless I make them myself at home.

But lucky me, BUILT Custom Burger in Nu Sentral allow their customers to customize their own burgers, and having heard about that, I knew I must check it out.

BUILT Custom Burger is a must go if you wanna show your wild foodie side.

Serving premium and customizable burgers and burgers- in- a- bowl, BUILT Custom Burgers offers guests the flexibility of creating and customizing their own burgers from hundreds of possible combinations, from the patties to the bun to the toppings and sauces.

Here’s some burgers I customized to my own liking during my most recent visit to the outlet; Custom Built Beef Burger (Bun), Custom Built Beef Bowl and Custom Built Chicken Bowl.

Custom Built Beef Burger (Bun)

Custom Built Beef Bowl

Custom Built Chicken Bowl

The burgers turned out great, of course and I must say that this is a place where foodie can go wild with imaginations. Not for the traditionalists or the faint hearted.

For more information on the restaurant, refer to the information below:

L4.10 Nu Sentral,
201, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia