where and what to eat lah?

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Tosokchon is possibly Korea's most famous purveyor of Samgyetang (Chicken Ginseng Soup), a Korean summertime specialty. Located in Chebu-dong, just to the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, this place was a favorite of late president Roh Moo-hyun.

This 30-year-old icon is housed in a sprawling hanok (traditional house), and for many locals – and even ex-president – it's the best in Seoul. Walk straight for 100m from Exit 2, Gyeongbokgung station, turn left at the GS25 convenience store and it's on your left.

Tosokchon features traditional Korean style tables inside small divided rooms. Before entering the dining room, guests first remove their shoes and sit on the ground on padded floor mats while eating. With its warm wood accents and traditional wood low tables, Tosokchon is a cozy spot to build up your appetite.


The soup is served with a small cup of ginseng wine which can be drunk as it is or added to the soup for the extra kick.


Despite the crowds, the samgyetang (KRW 15,000 / RM 41) arrives fast and still bubbling.
It is made of a whole young chicken, stuffed with glutinous rice, a ginseng root, gingko nuts, garlic, jujube and boiled in a ginseng broth prepared with about 30 different ingredients, including medicinal herbs, nuts, grains and ginseng.


The broth was thick, rich and the hearty chicken meat falls off the bone tenderly. The unique taste and aroma were simply intoxicating even for someone like me who doesn't fancy medicinal soup.


We were so hooked to the taste till when we got back to Malaysia, we tried at least 4 different samgyetangs but none of them lived up to the expectations. That really made us appreciate Tosokchon more.


The other specialty dish of Tosokchon is the Ogolgyetang (Black Chicken Ginseng Soup, KRW 22,000 / RM 60). It didn't taste much of a difference but historically, black chicken is eaten by the Chinese as a medicinal cure. It is said to have a positive effect on the yin, blood, lungs and stomach. It may appear bizarre to some, but the nutritional values pack a punch.


Well, Roast Chicken (KRW 14,000 / RM 38) was a mistake in our order. We wanted the ogolgyetang but the waitress mistakenly understood it as roast chicken. Luckily, it wasn't too bad and it had a whiff of ginseng aroma in it. Tipped some salt and pepper together into a small saucer and used it as a dip.


Tosokchon can be crowded with locals and tourists during lunch and dinner hours. You can expect there to be a line to get in and the best time to visit is one hour before or one hour after the peak dining hours.

Verdict: It was expensive but it was well worth it! Definitely the best ginseng chicken soup we've had and must try whenever you are around Gyeongbokgung.


Address:
Seoul-si Jongno-gu,
Chebu-dong 85-1,
Tel: 02-737 7446
Business Hours: Opens daily from 10.00am - 10.00pm
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 37.577744, 126.971593.
Map:

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Off the beaten track, Kin No Uma Japanese Restaurant is located in the Palace of the Golden Horses. Tagged as Asia's most extraordinary hotel, Palace of the Golden Horses is a world-class award winning luxury hotel located within Mines Resort City, Seri Kembangan.


Before stepping into the restaurant, you will walk through a world of wonderment and royalty filled with mythological horse figures located in the hotel grand lobby.


This deluxe and tranquil restaurant is surrounded with traditional decor and truly exudes a warm traditional Japanese setting with light colored wood. It was a true cultural experience with private tatami rooms and waitresses clad in kimonos.


One thing about us, we love Japanese food in all its glory - the simplicity taste, the freshness and the way it is presented. It has become our weekly comfort food.


Once settled, we were introduced to Chef Khair who began his culinary career 24 years ago in Kyoto, Japan. Chef Khair's cheerful presence added a lot to our dining experience whereby he introduced every dish with a flowery turn of phrase. Without further ado, itadakimas!


Maguro Natto / Tuna with Fermented Soybean (RM 24). Few people have heard of maguro natto and for good reason, it may be the slimiest and most repulsive-looking dish in Japanese cuisine. The natto (fermented soybean) has a strong musky odor of lightly rotted nutty flavor and stringiness of sticky glue. Natto lovers praise the health benefits, subtle complexity of taste and texture while some consider it too vile for human consumption. It was an experience!


Sunomono Moriawase / Assorted Seafood, Seaweed and Cucumber in Vinegar Sauce (RM 34), a wonderful light, tangy and refreshing appetizer to start off the meal.


Gyu Tataki / Raw Beef with Ponzu sauce (RM 28), lightly seared tender beef served thinly sliced with ponzu sauce (citrus-based soy sauce) and grated daikon. The freshness of the beef was faultless when paired with the ponzu sauce and the evenly thin sliced texture gave just the right resistance.

Kuruma Ebi Motoyaki / Grilled King Prawn with Mayonnaise Sauce (RM 48), beautifully presented succulent grilled King prawn as one of our luxurious starter.


Kin No Uma Roll (RM 58), deep fried King prawn, lettuce, cucumber, avocado and cheese wrapped with seaweed, sushi rice and topped with fish roe and mayonnaise. A nicely presented signature dish made from the finest ingredients.


Uma Hooseki Tsukuri Moriawase / Deluxe Assortment of Seasonal Raw Fish (RM 165), it had 7 types of seafood with 3 slices each ranging from salmon, tuna, white tuna, red snapper, seabass, octopus to surf clams. The sashimi pieces were cut to the proper thickness which brings out the inherent taste and flavours, and needless to say, all were sparklingly fresh!


Oyster Teppanyaki (RM 46), with half dozen of fresh oyster lightly sauteed in fragrant butter garlic sauce. This well-executed dish was perfectly timed to retain the freshness taste and juiciness of the oyster.


Tanuki Udon Matawa Soba / Buckwheat or Thick Noodles in Hot Broth with Deep-Fried Tempura Fritters (RM 27.50), heart-warming bowl of udon topped with lots of crispy tempura bits. We enjoyed how the way the bits that stick out stayed crispy, while the submerged bits became almost fluffy. Overall, it gave the simple hot broth an added crunchy dimension.


The udon were slippery, with a substantial chew and definitely made for slurping - just the way we liked it to be!


Garlic Fried Rice (RM 17), this version of garlic fried rice was done very well whereby every grains were fragrant without being overly greasy. Served with deep-fried thin and crispy salmon skin, it was the perfect combination and deeply satisfying!


Maruyama Tempura / Deep-Fried Assorted Seafood and Vegetables in Batter (RM 42), it was a beautiful arrangement of lightly coated tempura that weren't too greasy and served with a dipping sauce mixed with freshly grated daikon.


Kin No Uma Bento Dinner Set (RM 89), we were never a fan of bento because we rarely get all the stuffs we like in a single "lunch" box. But this is different, it had all the firepower with any two types of sashimi, one type of sushi, sunomono (vinegared dishes), agemono (deep-fried dishes) and yakimono (grilled dishes).

Within the bento box, we had slices of raw tuna and salmon, unagi sushi, marinated baby octopus and crab meat in vinegar, soft shell crab and vegetables tempura, grilled salmon and scallops in teriyaki sauce. This set also includes a bowl of rice, miso soup, chawan mushi, pickles and fruits.


Sashimi To Tempura Lunch Set (RM 60), with assorted raw fish, deep-fried seafood and vegetables with tempura batter and accompanied with a bowl of rice, salad, chawan mushi, miso soup, pickles and fruits.


This bento set certainly brings the smile for those who preferred their bento less complicating and focused only on the two things, sashimi and tempura.


There are also a wide selection of premium temaki (hand rolls) sushi such as Spider Temaki, California Temaki, Ebi Temaki, Maguro Temaki, Shake Temaki and Unagi Temaki with prices ranging from RM 16 - RM 28 each.


For desserts, we had the Abekawa Mochi / Soft Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Mixed Peanuts (RM 21.50), it tasted similar to our Chinese mua chee except for the price tag! Nevertheless, it was soft and nicely coated with fine grounded peanut powder.


Matcha Aisu Kurimu / Green Tea Ice Cream (RM 17), served with azuki (red beans) to perfectly balance between the subtle bitterness of green tea and the gentle sweetness of sweet red bean paste. We love green tea ice cream, the more bitter, the better it is!


Needless to say, we were all satisfied by the end of the night.

Verdict: As is often the case, the best comes at a premium. The price is generally more expensive than other Japanese restaurants, but for the freshness and grade you received, it is definitely worth trying.


Address:
Palace of the Golden Horses,
Lobby Level,
Jalan Kuda Emas,
Mines Resort City,
43300 Seri Kembangan,
Selangor
Tel: 03-8946 4888
Business Hours: Opens daily from 12pm - 2.30pm and 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.046411, 101.709280
Map:

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The name Siew Yok! quickly caught my attention when I came across their Facebook page. It was newly opened, and it specializes in siew yok (roast pork) - as a pork lover, I had to unleash the pig in me as it can't say no to such food. Restoran Siew Yok! is located at SS23, Taman Sea (nearby Taman Megah), not too far away from Ming Tien food court and Fatty Crab.


When I first arrived, I already began to like this place, everything seems to be done correctly and thought of - e.g. specializes in siew yok, the use Facebook to reach out, the big red Siew Yok! signage that attracts you in, the clean airy restaurant, and the descriptive pamphlets that educate customers about the value and quality of their ingredients. It's good to know that they'd actually put so much special care into preparing these MSG-less foods.


Having siew yok here is like fine-dining steak, instead of choosing medium-rare, medium-well or well-done, you'll get to choose how your siew yok ends up! It comes in 3 skin textures: the Yellow Gold, Black Gold and Melting Gold - the level of crunchiness decreases from left to right with different textures and tastes. This is really something new to me!


According to them, a standard sized pig yields about 5 - 6kg of pork belly out of which, the most premium section, which has a thickness ranging between 2.5cm to 3.5cm is the most suitable siew yok. This premium section has a streaky pattern of alternating layers of fat and meat which yields superior roast meat. Then, each piece of siew yok is cut to a size that allows optimal enjoyment and satisfaction.


The Yellow Gold (RM 13.50), yellowish full bodied crunch for those who like to munch on a thicker crispy skin texture. The skin has a thick tasty crackle roast while retaining the succulent and juiciness of the pork. Yellow Gold is definitely my favorite!


Dark Gold (RM 13.50), a longer roast blackish gold skin that gives a bitter sweet finish to the siew yok.


Melting Gold (RM 13.50), reddish gold with softer crisp and a melting finish. Indeed, the Melting Gold wasn't as crispy as the rest but each roast variation has its own offerings in terms of skin textures and finishing tastes.


Char siew (bbq pork) comes in 3 flavors too - savory sweet (the classic darker look), sweet (with a hint of premium Chinese wine), and spicy (tangy and sweet Thai style). We had the savory sweet (RM 13.50) char siew, it was sweet, juicy and tender. Some might not like such char siew at all, it is different from the usual caramelized charred skin char siew. Nevertheless, it was refreshingly different, you can picked up the slight hint of Chinese wine used.


You'll need some rice or noodle to go along with those delicious siew yoke. The aromatic fragrant rice steamed with shallot oil (RM 2.50) and served with Chinese cabbage. According to them, they used premium fragrant rice and sunflower oil to prepare the shallot, this is to ensure healthier food and not too greasy. To me, the rice was just plain okay. It wasn't steaming warm enough for me and wasn't as tasty as the yellow chicken rice type.


Egg noodles (RM 3), lightly seasoned and made in-house with no preservatives and coloring. According to them again, they don't use any kan sui (lye-water) which many 'egg' noodle makers add to give noodle its yellow color. Kan sui has an alkaline taste which is why regular 'egg' noodles are drowned in thick black soy sauce to mask that taste. Instead, they've stuck to the tradition by using eggs and their egg noodles are made daily and contain no preservatives. Well, it does taste like home-made for sure and it was too plain for my liking. Usually, I don't enjoy plain rice or noodle, but somehow it combines perfectly with the strong tasting siew yok. Maybe it was meant that way, so it'll amplify the siew yok's taste and wouldn't overshadow it.


Green tea infused noodles (RM 4) served with lots of coriander leaves.


It tasted pretty much like the normal egg noodles, the green tea was very mild and hardly tasted any.

The chili sauce for dipping was gooooood! According to them, it contains no vinegar and hence it is not of a watery consistency. Instead, they use lemon juice for that wonderful citrus flavor that goes very well with the siew yok.


Just when I thought the chili sauce was good enough, the boss offered me their special sauce. It was mind blowing! The citrus tangy sauce with the siew yok was a match made in heaven and it was addictive-ly spicy!


Kai lan (RM 8.50), steamed kai lan with oyster sauce and fried garlic.


Mongol ribs (RM 9), pork ribs wrapped in sweet and tangy Mongolian sauce. Even though the ribs wasn't too tender but it was somewhat addictive - the marination sauce was simply awesome!


Apart from siew yok and char siew, they do have other side dishes like braised pork, beef briskets, roast duck and steamed fish.

Verdict: One of the best and professional looking siew yok I've had in a clean comfortable environment. Well, at least you don't have to go all the way down to Pudu, fight for a table, wait for half an hour and pay a premium for good tasting siew yok. I'll definitely be back for these magnificent siew yok!

Oct 2010: In my second visit, I noticed there is a change in their menu with few more added dishes. There is also an improvement in their egg noodles. It is tastier now since they used the braised pork gravy as the noodle sauce.



Jun 2011: Restoran Siew Yok! has moved to Kota Damansara! Hopefully they'll make it there.

Apr 2012: Found out that they are no longer operating in Kota Damansara anymore. Closed? That's sad.


Old Address:
25 (G/F),
Jalan SS23/15, Taman Sea,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
New Address:
27-1, Jalan PJU 5/18,
Dataran Sunway,
Kota Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Tel: 019-212 5866
Business Hours: Opens every Tuesdays - Sundays from 11am - 2pm and 6:30pm - 9.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.116840, 101.613342
Map:

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