Two stalls at A Foodie's Nest @ The Starling have since closed, namely the chicken rice stall and the seafood noodle stall (can't remember the name).
In their place are two new stalls, Seoul Station and Ramen Express. Ramen Xpress opened much earlier and I will write about it later.
First I will cover Seoul Station because I love Korean food. There are two Korean ladies manning this stall. But they are not there all the time.
Let's look at the menu.
They've got ramen and udon....
...rice dishes....
...noodles and pancake...
...fried chicken and soups.
On my first visit I had the Bibim Bap (chicken).
It is served in a light metallic bowl with soup and kimchi.
I was somewhat disappointed that the chicken looked like that - minced ground chicken, all crumbly and dryish. I mixed everything up to eat and the taste was unmemorable.
But special mention to the kimchi (sourish and pungent, somehow I found it agreeable and threw it in together with the Bibim Bap)) and the ordinary looking soup (which tasted great).
But special mention to the kimchi (sourish and pungent, somehow I found it agreeable and threw it in together with the Bibim Bap)) and the ordinary looking soup (which tasted great).
Next I had something I was curious about - Jajang Myeon which is noodles in black bean sauce.
I'm afraid that I found this noodle dish unremarkable.
It was flat and bland to me with no distinctive flavor. In fact this is my second Jajang Myeon, and I had this just to confirm how I felt about the first Jajang Myeon I ate at Oiso recently.
This one at Oiso did not wow me either. Since they both tasted the same, I can safely conclude that I don't like Jajang Myeon and Korean black bean sauce does not taste like the Chinese version (which I prefer). So Jajang Myeon is struck off my list.
On my latest visit, I had to try the Kimchi Fried Rice (normal) and Dak Gang Jeong (fried chicken).
That is a lot of food for the average person, I know. But me, I can eat heh..heh..
The Kimchi Fried Rice was just all right.
It was no where near the awesomeness of the one I had here.
Because the fried rice was not so awesome, I mixed it with the awesome kimchi and that improved the taste.
As for the Dak Gang Jeong, you can't go wrong with fried chicken. It was good though I did not like the dressing on the raw cabbage.
If I do return to Seoul Station, I will only stick to the fried chicken. I have another one to try - the Yang Nyeom Chicken. Overall, the food here just does not cut it for me. Perhaps other customers think differently and enjoy what they dish out here.
I passed this place last night but ended up eating Japanese at Level 2 which was superb.
ReplyDeleteI will go to this Seoul Station next time to try the Jajang Myeon which is supposed to be my favourite when I was a student in States and lived with Koreans. I had them from their instant noodle packets and the Jajang turned out good & memorable of the long Winter days being holed up at home.
You are smart to mix the side dishes to improve the taste. I never thought of that as the Koreans don't eat like that. They would stuff into their mouths instead of mix into the bowls. Now AirAsia is so desperate that they are offering return KL-Seoul tickets for just RM172!!!! This offer is so tempting but deadly. I better forget it. Haha.
Japanese at Level 2, that must be Mitsuyado-Seimen. I must revisit one day.
DeleteYes, yes, please go and eat the Jajang Myeon and let me know if it is the same taste that you like. I thought it was quite bland and flat tasting.
So cheap the flight ticket but better don't take the risk.
Seems like their kimchi is the one thing that js good so they should have an option for plain rice and kimchi only at a budget Price.
ReplyDeletePerhaps as I understand that Koreans love kimchi so much that they can even just eat kimchi on its own with rice!
DeleteI also love to eat kimchi on its own with rice only.
DeleteJajang myeon is not authentic k food in my opinion because it is the k version of our local taocu bean paste dry noodles.
ReplyDeleteThey have adapted many Chinese dishes I think.
Deleteyummy and hearty Korean meal...I like the kimchi fried rice with egg topping...and yea it paired well with fried chicken....I can finish that in one setting too.
ReplyDeleteI know you can eat just like me! LOL!
DeleteI would go for the kimchi fried rice with egg and fried chicken, as i like kimchi, egg and fried chicken. I would enjoy this happily as i am a rice person.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that you also can finish up everything in one sitting like me! hee..hee..
DeleteLook like the food is not to your expectation. I dont fancy Korean food but I like their steel cutleries. I bought sone steel soup bowl, soup spoons and chopsticks when I visited Korea 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI also like their steel chopsticks but I did not buy since I hardly use chopsticks at home.
DeleteEkkkkkkk!!!! Kim chi!!! Nothing for me here! Sobssss!!!
ReplyDeleteI am sure the fried chicken is OK with you :)
DeleteIt has been a number of years since I tried anything Korean in Ipoh, not really a fan but I like the ones in my sister's place which is so many thousands of miles away from here. She is a great fan of Korean food, maybe due to watching too much K-dramas!
ReplyDeleteThe one is USA? That one is likely authentic and cooked by the Korean chef. The ones here are cooked by foreign workers.
DeleteI think I have only tried Korean food once.
ReplyDeleteOh! Maybe it is not to your liking or there are not many Korean restaurants in Ipoh.
DeleteI never have Korean Jajang Myeon although I've seen numerous times of Korean having this in K-dramas :P
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteMy Korean colleague said after arriving in Malaysia and tasted the jajang myeon here, he can never enjoy it when he go back to Korea for vacation anymore. Maybe the original version is even worse to our palate? :/
ReplyDeleteI wish your friend had elaborated why hah..hah... If I can find a jajang myen which a Korean says is delicious, I won't mind trying it again.
Deleteooo, in the battle between bibimbap and chicken rice (the previous stall here), i'd probably still choose chicken rice - though bibimbap is very comforting too :D
ReplyDeleteMuch as I enjoy Korean, in this particular instance, I will have to agree with you!
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