Oongi Joongi, Kew

The flight of stairs leading up to this first floor restaurant only served to work up our appetite for the set dinner menu awaiting us. We were there to try out a set menu that encompass grilled spicy chicken in cheese fondue; grilled sweet soy pork neck, pork belly, spicy pork neck (all on the hot plate shown below); steamed egg; and fried chicken. Of course, the banchan dishes were also counted in the set menu as well. 

The grilled pork belly, spicy pork neck and sweet soy pork neck came in one sizzling plate. Because the sweet soy pork neck was the only non-spicy meat on the plate, it provided a good contrast to the other meats. For amateurs spicy food eaters, we also appreciated the non-spicy flavour. 

The most interesting dish of the day would have to go to the grilled spicy chicken in a melted pool of mozarella cheese. In Korea, people would have BBQ then dip their freshly grilled meats in cheese fondue. This is similar to that, but for convenience the meat has been grilled, and it is placed on top of the cheese. It is a cheese lover's idea of heaven! The combination is not as weird as you think, with the cheese providing a diluting action to the spiciness of the chicken, but also a richness to a lean meat such as chicken. The sweetness of the chicken also mix well with the cheese. And who doesn't like melted cheese!!

The banchan dishes were several types of kimchi, konjac and potatoes. The steamed eggs are also pictured here. Korean steamed eggs are quite different to the Japanese chawan mushi which uses stock mixed with the egg, and seafood is also used as the filling. The steamed eggs were are simply that - steamed eggs. As a result, the texture is not as smooth as chawan mushi and Chinese style steamed eggs (which uses water mixed with eggs). 

We saw many people order the fried chicken in this restaurant. Little wonder, because who can resist fried chicken? It came to our table piping hot. The batter was very crispy and the best thing is that the chicken pieces were boneless! The batter was like KFC's hot and spicy type batter (except it was unflavoured and definitely not spicy). No complains though because there were enough spicy meats on the menu already.

The service was good and prompt. We did not have to wait too long between each dish, which was wonderful because we were very hungry! But as hungry as we were, the cheese was a little too much and towards the end of the meal had congealed a little so it was difficult to finish it all.

I learnt a new dish from this restaurant, and that is the grilled chicken with cheese fondue. Perhaps I should try to make that at home one day!