Chef Kim, Ampang

 C3-G, Jalan Ampang Utama 1/1,
Ampang Avenue,
68000 Ampang
Tel#016-672 7464

Ampang is known as the Little Korean town in Malaysia and aptly so. It's as though all Koreans congregated in this hood and make it their own. Luckily for me, I'm not a big fan of them so no need to endure the KL traffic to grab some authentic Korean food.

 The nice thing about having a Korean BBQ meal is that most of their things are refillable. Most important one being the water. And it's chilled so that you can just chug some down when the kimchi starts burning down your throat.

 Over the past few years, there have been an explosion of Korean restaurants, thanks to K-drama. To this day, I still don't understand the draw of series about guy falls in love with girl, but can't be together. I already lived that life, no need to watch it on the idiot box.

 All them refillable side dishes. Can you spot the man who's sitting and just waiting to be served? 😒

 Although I've never been to Korea myself, these did taste as Korean as my limited exposure to Korean food goes. Also, if a Korean prepares Korean dishes, it should count as authentic right?

 Funnily enough, neither of us are fans of this spicy pickled cabbage. We may try one or two to taste it but to order it would be no-no. We just don't know how to appreciate it.

 Stuff to go with the BBQ meat. To this day, I still don't know how to do it properly 😪

 So what I would usually do is take a piece of the lettuce and open it as wide as possible. Top it with some spring onion, garlic and chili (I usually opt out of them) and some sauce. Once the meat is ready, put a slice and roll them up. Dip it into the salt sauce. Yes, Korean food is not my thing.

Not sure if it was a special service since we looked like noobs but the chef came over and cooked the meat for us. We ordered the belly because there's nothing better than to sink into juicy fatty crispy pork.

 The thinner version is only slightly thicker than those used for shabu-shabu. You put one of these babies into your veggie roll and prepare for the flavors to burst in your mouth. The savory pork with the crunchy fresh lettuce is remarkable. Almost felt like I was eating healthy with all that greens.

 More pork because pork is life. At least to the Koreans. I think. But when it's done so nicely with a slight crisp, who could resist?