Chung Gi Wa, Jakarta, Indonesia

January 15, 2017

There aren't many Korean restaurants that offer good quality meat for Korean BBQ as well as classic and popular Korean dishes. Having a few different branches allow more exposure to diners especially being popular both with locals and expats and it seems that they seem to always be quite crowded especially during peak hours. Being unique, they have their own vegetable farm in Sukabumi allowing a strong and close connection with the farmers and producers and serving fresh vegetables from farm to table.

The theme for the restaurant's interior is wood with wooden tables and chairs with kitchen smoke suction hoods on every table so when having BBQ, the smoke will be sucked by the hood leaving you without that strong smell on your clothes or hair.

(from top left to right): Pickled salad, Kimchi, Shallot Pancake (from bottom left to right): White radish, pickled onions, Daikon

What's great when dining in Korean restaurants is that wherever you go, you are always given complimentary side dishes that are usually served in seperate bowls with a wide variety from kimchi to pickled onions, from white radish to shallot pancake. Each of the side dishes has its own distinct flavour to support the dishes you order and when you're waiting for a long time for your main dish to come, you may just eat with your bowl of rice. Usually the Daikon is roughly chopped and simply placed in the white bowl but these were thinly sliced and in a perfectly round shape.

'Haemul Pajeon' (IDR85k ~= AUD$8.5) is a seafood Korean pancake with various seafood and green onion. Served on a hot plate already cut in slices of eight and a simple dipping sauce placed on top. Having the pancake already sliced when it comes to your table has its negatives and positive. The positive would be for us as diners not having to cut it ourselves, convenience basically. However, the negative would probably making the pancake cool quicker than usual.

The dipping sauce was rather simple with a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil and thin slices of chives. When eating the pancake, you were able to taste the thick cuts of seafood such as squid and prawns as well as the many red and green pepper. Having grilling marks on top gives a slight smoky flavour which brings out the true flavour of the pancake.

'Kimchi Jeongol' (IDR165k ~= AUD$16.5) is one of their hotpot options on their menu with Kimchi as a base element of the hotpot. It consisted of spicy kimchi, pork, tofu, onion, red and green pepper with a choice to change the meat to beef.

Serving portions were said to be for 2-3 people which is roughly a good estimate as the two of us were full to the max trying to finish it all. Having the never ending Kimchi as well as the thick cuts of tofu and various vegetables in the hotpot made it seem like it was the best choice we made especially if it was on a chilly rainy day outside. The amount of pork slices were quite thin and seemed to have been cooked previously placed int the hotpot. Remember to mix thoroughly everything that is in the hotpot before scooping up and placing it into your own bowls.