Korean Invasion

Heh, that is what I feel sometimes, with us being constantly assaulted with all thing Korean. Korean shows, korean music, korean dramas, media updates of K-pop starts, hell even MTV has bowed to the power the Korean Craze. Honestly, the last thing I would have expected was the resurgence of boy/girl bands to come from humble old Asia.

Guess I know nuts about this region. Truth be told, there is so much of Korea nowadays its gotten out of hand methinks. No one is spared the insidious grip of Korean marketing especially of the giant KBS World group. My mum would be the prime poster child of how one can get so enamoured with their soapy dramas. Granted, some of the shows are indeed very very good, albeit on the melodramatic side (and I should know  melodrama when I see it!) - Winter Sonata (a monster hit K-soap), Autumn In My Heart (yet another massive hit) and fairly recently the biopic-ish drama on Korea's most famous artisan - Hwang Ji Ni (if nothing else, it prompted me to google her).

Japan even, apparently still is conducting K-Pop start tours, where fan ladies can visit the places where their heartthrobs kill time. Life size standees of their fave stars would be postioned at these places, where one can buys clothes in their style or eat the the stuff their stars gobble. All the time Oooh-ing and Aaah-ing with their in-tow cameras furiously snapping and flashing. The level of devotion these people have is incredible and these are middle aged women mind you! Lets not even talk about the throngs of teenyboppers shrieking at the mere mention of Super Junior or Wondergirls et al. Bila Malaysia nak mulakan these tours ye?

Look around you in Malaysia, in the true spirit of Malaysia Boleh, our own stars are emulating the fashion sense (or sense-less, if you wanna see it that way), parading the Emo-floppy hairdos the stars adore too much. Or the fact that one can buy, ahem,  "Authentic" korean kimchi made by some local company. Traditionally kimchi is made in the tail end of autumn and the marinated veges are stored outside the blistering cold of winter to ferment and develop. Where in malaysia does one get winter? In Shah Alam's Four Season house at Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam? Don't think so.

It is said that korean parents are actually coughing up hard earned money for their daughters to get their image plasticized - nose job, eye lid tuck, etc (name your plastic surgery poison here), as soon as they reach the legal operable age! This cant be for real! What message are they sending their kids - "You look like shit, here's a wad of dough to get your mug fixed?". I am all for doing what ones's heart desires but is all this necessary?

I must also admit the fact that not all things Korean is bad, hell, their food is a welcome change from the mild clean tones of Japanese food (something that is not so much THE rage anymore), I personally feel that korean food, with its chilli laden dishes offer something different yet still give us that burning heat of chilli that we so crave as Malaysians. Korean eateries are literally sprouting everywhere offering all manner of Halal and Non-halal variants of munch. Words like Bulgogi, Bi-bimbab, Kimchi, Nam yeol, and others are practically inducted into our tongues.

It amazes me that we Malaysians love food so much that we welcome any form of these yummies and quickly add them to our list of to eat things. Case in point, my own self! About a few months back, I stumbled upon this smallish eatery in 1Utama, called Seoul Garden offering Korean Food, Bulgogi Style, with a mix of some more local tastes (although I would argue that you will find Korean food has similarities with our own) done Buffet style (All You Can Eat - a sure fire way to capture the hearts and bellies of us M'sians). Tried it there and then and I am hooked. Of course the all- you-can-eat part certainly has something to do with my loyalty!

Mine! All Mine!

Searing food to high heaven. On the road to deliciousness!

Mounds of marinated (in kimchi, korean marinades, tomyam?, curry, etc..) meats - lamb, beef, chicken and seafood are served alongside the ubiquitous yong tow foo styled stuffed veges that you cook at your table (This restaurant actually makes us pay them to cook our own food! Go figure!) and an assortment of raw vegetables to have with your choice of 6 soups (Korean Kimchi and Chicken soups among the more, cough cough, authentic styles available. A separate table of dips, sauces and kimchi allows us to test our chilli resistance.

Assortment of Kimchi

Wonder if 1Malaysia is being practiced? Come and see us when we eat! The clientele of this place is truly majmuk. Malays, Indians and Chinese are all equally adept at deftly manouvering the buffets and chopsticks. Weaving in and out of the human traffic and the smorgasbord, just like the way we drive! There are food stockpilers - plates upon plates of delectables assembled at their spot before war, and there are the repeated buffet grazers, nipping off bits and at every visit to the spread (I fall within this group, you?).

As a chef, I must say that the food, at best, only warrants a Good rating on account of its dodgy shellfish (their cephalopods and prawns are fine and fresh though, just stay away from their Lala, Mussels and Crab) but their multitudinous dips and sauces are a joy and most surely make up for the shortcomings . And  the bustling activity and sizzling sounds of meat against searing metal is captivating. Their staff, although mostly unobstrusive and busy replenishing the buffets and clearing empty plates, are attentive enough. It is a self serve environment anyways.

Smattering of Sotong Kembang, Sliced Fish and Some marinated beef that looked for all intents like alien innards!

Clockwise from top - Korean Style Beef, Pepper Squid, Curry Chicken and Soy Sauce & Spring Onion Chicken

Oh, try not to wear Whites or Pales to this place. All that spittering and spattering food is bad for your clothes! And only go if you don't mind ending up smelling like grilled daging- lah. The smell just adheres I tell you.

Mahal? Not really, Lunch, solo (alone), will set you back no more than RM40 with drinks (Drinks cost a few RMs additional) and Dinner is slightly below RM50, as the dinner buffet costs a tad more on account of a wider meat selection (ada more lamb and beef).

Grungy pan-char! All gloopy bits turned burnt side of cripsy!

Nak Kenyang? This would be the place I recommend. Spend hours and test your buffet warfare strategy!