Dae Jang Geum Korean Restaurant (A Dramatic Story)

Venue: Dae Jang Geum Korean Restaurant, Section 14, PJ
Occasion: Shaun's birthday celebration
Overall comment: Food was alright; definitely not the best. Service was really lacking & frankly speaking, I was quite disappointed with the overall dining experience. Read below for more information.
Halal: No

Some of us friends just wanted to gather & celebrate Shaun's birthday with a Korean meal since he has never tried Korean food before. I'm glad the "Korean food virgin" was pleased with his meal albeit the few "minus points".

This place was actually a "no-choice" place for us. We didn't really planned to come to this restaurant - have never tried before, plus, I've never heard much about this place either. Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go was closed on that day *sigh* I wasn't too excited,  and to add to the disappointment, after sitting at the table for 20 minutes, I've deducted enough "points" from my "satisfaction book" for this place. I doubt I'll come here again although there are good reviews about this place by other bloggers.

Why would the PerutBesi deduct points from this restaurant?
I'll share with you & hope that the restaurant owner will improve the service of his/her restaurant:

• Ventilation wasn't very good. You walk into a barbecue-smelling restaurant & you'll walk out smelling like a piece of barbecued meat.
• It's either they're running out of plate/sauces, or they're just being stingy. All along, EVERY Korean restaurant that I've been to provides EACH person with their own set of dips & bean sauce for the barbecue meat. This restaurants gave us only 3 sets to be shared by 6 persons....*sweat* I'm too disappointed to further comment.
• The next thing I noticed after ordering the dishes was the dirty & oily barbecue pit!!! EEeeuuuwww....gross! I've never seen any pit so dirty before!! ALL the Korean restaurants that I've been to NEVER had such eeky looking barbecue stoves! Restaurants should make it a point to at least pour away the oil after their patrons leave the table & before the next group arrives. (photo as below)

Oily, uncleaned barbecue stove
I just had to take a photo of this as I've NEVER come across such a sight at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Cleanliness of a restaurant is something I'm quite particular with, especially when it's an air-conditioned one!

• I've always enjoyed Korean meals because of the extensive variety of side dishes, where you can refill WITHOUT any limit. I was pretty much shocked to know that the waiter insisted that we can only refill ONCE! If this is a "high-class"/"fine-dining" Korean restaurant, I would totally understand...but for such a place?? I thought it's the uniqueness of Korean restaurants to have that culture of unlimited side dishes refills. Perhaps I've the wrong understanding of the Korean culture? 

The LIMITED refillable side dishes & our other ala carte dishes

As you can see, we had to share the sauces for our meat & even the portion of lettuce served wasn't enough. We had to "beg" for another plate...okay, I'm exaggerating...but yes, we had to walk out of our little "room without a door" to call the waiter & have it refilled for us.

• Oh, this one was even more shocking. I was so flabbergasted that I was lost for words when the waiter told me that I have to order 2 meat portions instead of 1 since there are 6 of us. I was like "What?? Can't I order just 1 & have other stuff??" Apparently not. With 6 persons, we HAD TO order at least TWO portions of meat. In addition, what's more surprising is that we initially ordered 4 dishes only: 2 meat dishes, 1 bibimbap & 1 chapchae, BUT the waiter told us that we can't do that. We HAD TO order more since we have 6 persons!! *faints* I asked him, "What if we're not very hungry??" I was quite irritated at that time already. SO many restrictions!! His reply was the standard template answer, "No, you only ordered 4 dishes & you have 6 people, so you have to order more..." I gave up. I ordered another dokbokgi & sent him away.

Anyways, let's not be too ruthless towards the restaurant since the food was still acceptable.

Dae Pae Sam Gyeob Sal (RM28.00/serving)

This is like a must-have in a Korean BBQ meal, especially for the "Korean food virgin" ;) It wasn't superb, I have to say. They didn't barbecue it well enough, so it wasn't crispy & fragrant as it should be.

Yang Galbi/Marinated BBQ Lamb (RM30.00/serving)

Looks like a fat lamb. There's not much meat to chew on :( The bones were somewhat large & there were just too much fat although it makes the lamb juicier. It's also a little "sou"/pungent smelling.

Complimentary Steamed Egg

Over-steamed. I rest my case :S

Dol Sot Bibimbap (around RM18.00/bowl)

This one's quite nicely done. The chili paste that came with the bibimbap wasn't too spicy nor too sweet. It gave the mixed rice dish a flavourful touch. This dish was probably the best among all that we ordered.

Chap Chae (around RM25.00/serving)

I find this rather expensive, considering the portion served. It's actually quite nicely done as well. The glass noodles were al dente & for once, they were generous is something: Chinese black mushrooms. It was a tad oily though.

Dokbokgi (around RM15.00/serving?)

I've no idea how much it costs since it wasn't printed in the menu. I was imagining a stir-fried rice cake dish with fish cakes, carrots, cabbage, & hard boiled eggs. This was PURE dokbokgi with Korean sweet-spicy chili paste & some sesame seed + spring onions...er....texture of the rice cake was alright, but the overall of the dish is lacking in fullness of taste. No "umph".

Happy Birthday, Shaun! Cheers!!

Thank God for the lovely company of friends despite the somewhat unpleasant dining experience. We had our share of fun & laughter although I'm sure we could afford more food if not for the prices...hahaha...

Map to Dae Jang Geum Korean Restaurant

View PerutBesi in a larger map

This is just my personal opinion. You may not face the similar/same traumatic experience that I have. It would be good if the restaurant could improve as the food isn't all too bad. It's just that the place looks oily, slightly dodgy, & the customer service wasn't impressive.


Dae Jang Geum Korean Restaurant
20B-2 & 20B-3
Jalan 14/20
Section 14
46100 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia
Tel: (+603) 7957 2613



Ratings:
Presentation: * * *
Price: * * 1/2
Environment: * * 1/2
Taste: * * 1/2
Service: * *


Overall





Disappointed Korean-food-lover,