Korean on the East Coast

I discovered this quaint little restaurant on East Coast Road some one and a half years ago. It took me awhile to find it even with the address, but found it I did. I brought a friend there to celebrate his birthday, and have been going back there frequently since.

It is a small place, seating capacity of about 40 pax, and it is usually quite packed, even for an early lunch on a Saturday. I was there again yesterday with the family and this is what we had.

The side dishes which include kimchi, pickled seaweed and crispy anchovies are replenishable and comes complimentary with our meal. The kimchi is quite good and I love the anchovies with the fried peanuts.

Another of my favourite dishes is the fried eggs with oysters.

The oysters are huge and juicy. Each piece of fried egg wraps its own individual oyster, the size of which is slightly bigger than a human thumb. It comes with a soya sauce dip that has sesame seeds and wasabi included. The combination titillates your taste buds and is absolutely delicious.

The beef bulgogi which comes with fresh lettuce, sliced garlic, green chilli and a choice of sauces is another of my favourites. The beef is tender and fragrant. Wrapped in the lettuce leaves with garlic and the sauces, it tastes heavenly.

Naturally every Korean meal cannot do without the ginseng chicken soup. Here the soup is tasty with just a hint of ginseng taste, not too strong like some others, and the chicken is tender and other ingredients include red dates, chestnuts, leek and glutinous rice.

This time we ordered something we had never tried before, feeling a bit adventurous, and it turned out to be a great choice.

The pig trotters was simply fabulous. Soft, juicy and tender and the sliced pork tasted so good with the spicy pickled radish. The tendons were not tough at all, simply melting away in your mouth, and the skin was easily chewable. My mother loved the dish.

The sticky rice was also well steamed and pearly white. A good accompaniment to the whole meal. Then the ice cold geumgyul drink was very refreshing and washed the meal down splendidly.

This restaurant is called Doong Ji at 222 East Cost Road. I strongly recommend it to anyone who loves Korean food.

       

Pig Organ Soup King

Yesterday, I suddenly had a craving for Pig Organ Soup, so we went to my favourite place at the junction of Foch Road and Beatty Lane (behind Eminent Plaza in the Jalan Besar area) for dinner.

This old corner coffeeshop house the Cheng Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup "King" with tables in the surrounding corridor. They have also taken over the shop next door to provide air-conditioned seating.

I was first introduced to this place by a good friend some 10 years back. Since then I have brought friends and family to try their delicious Pig Organ Soup. It was no exception yesterday. We had a very enjoyable and filling dinner.

The soup is tasty without being too salty. The ingredients which includes meat ball, pig intestine, liver and stomach, salted vegetable and plain tauhu is soft and tender and cooked just right. The chilli sauce dip also goes very well with the dish, not too spicy but still had bite.

One of my favourite side dishes is the Pig Trotters stewed with ginger and black vinegar. Normally this dish is eaten during the confinement period after childbirth. However, it is now quite readily available in many eateries. The dish here is not too bad although I would have liked the gravy to be thicker and the taste of ginger to be stronger. Nevertheless, the meat is tender and vinegar is not too sour.

Another of my favourite side dishes is the steamed chestnuts sprinkled with pork floss. The small chestnuts are steamed to perfection, soft and sweet, and tends to melt in the mouth. My son's favourite too.

We truly enjoyed the dinner and it was well worth the trip.