Korean BBQ in Style
Korean
cuisine has taken our dining scene by storm. Many have sprouted all over our
nation and now Korean cuisine is gearing up to be as popular as Japanese
cuisine. The Koreans are indeed famous for their Kimchi. You’ll either love it
or hate it. Glad to say, most Malaysians do love it as well as their other
signatures like Korean BBQ and stews. Even my family admits to indulging Korean
cuisine at least 3 times a month.
One
of the latest Korean restaurant in Petaling Jaya is Mido, located at the bustling SS2 area. Mido is the brilliant brainchild of young Korean business owner Mr.
Joseph Lee and his partners. After arriving in Malaysia, Joseph has decided to
pursue his F&B interest to add on to his other businesses. The young entrepreneur
opened Mido in July this year,
serving up lots of Korean classics of BBQ, stews and even Korean Fried Chicken.
The
restaurant’s front is designed to look just a like a Korean house with big
heavy wooden doors. There are two windows on each side and unlike most
restaurants, one cannot see the dining unless the windows are open. Walking
into Mido, diners are immediately
transported to warm and vibrant interior filled with lots of wood. We were told
that Mido’s interior is actually
designed and finished by Joseph and his team as well. Vibrant warm walls,
sectioned panels giving diners privacy, Korean Hahoe masks, paper lanterns and
more earthy elements summed up the gorgeous interior. Mido also has private rooms with seating on the floor.
Dining
at Mido certainly feels like I was
transported elsewhere, without any trace of the bustling SS2 traffic outside
since the whole restaurant is closed up. Another plus point for Mido, they use the underground
ventilation system which is better as it prevents the usual BBQ smoke from
seeping into our clothes and hair.
Let’s
eat! Korean meal is never without Banchan.
These side dishes are always such a treat and most restaurants allow
refills in moderate quantity. Mido serves less Banchan than other restaurants I
know but they have more types of sauces and plenty of fresh lettuce, seasoned
lettuce together with the fresh cut garlic and green chilies. Their Kimchi is
really yummy and we kept having refills of this gladly. Mido serves four sauces
– Sesame Oil with Salt, Ssamjang, Basil
and Peanut sauce. Though classics are
good, I really enjoyed the Basil and Peanut sauces as they really perked up the
BBQ meats in flavours.
Mido’s menu has limited options of the various cuts of meat
but I personally think the ones they have are sufficient for me. The Korean BBQ meats available are Chicken BBQ (RM28 for 200gm), Pork Collar (RM30 for 200gm) Marinated Pork (RM33 for 200gm), Chili Paste Pork (RM33 for 200gm) and Marinated Beef Rib (RM65 for 280gm).
The
meats here are cut thicker than most other places I have had and I certainly didn’t
mind this at all. The wait staff helps to grill the meat for you so you just
need to enjoy them. Once grilled under the hot coals, these meat are
deliciously tasty, moist and so irresistible with the sauces and lettuce. I was
particularly fond of the Pork Collar
and Marinated Pork because of their
tasty flavours and tender texture.
While
man cannot live alone on BBQ (or maybe they could!), we also had other goodies.
A bowl of Pumpkin Soup came complimentary and this was a good bowl to settle our tummies. It had a good balance of sweetness and savory notes.
Besides
the pumpkin soup, we had an order of Doenjang
Soup (RM22). A Korean favorite, this bean paste soup has seafood and fresh
tofu. It is quite nutty and pungent with a saltish edge but it goes really well
with rice.
I
love Korean pancakes. We had both of the Seafood
Pancake (RM25) and Kimchi Pancake (RM25). Crispy edges,
tender doughy inside filled with lots of seafood bits and spring onions, the
Seafood Pancake was a big hit among us that evening. The Kimchi Pancake didn’t fall
too far behind and had solid kimchi flavours. Look how lovely and crisp the
Kimchi Pancake is…
Talk
about having a secret weapon at Mido,
they serve this wicked dish of Spicy
Pork Skin (RM20). Pork skin has loads of collagen so enjoying these are
bound to give one some lovely doses of beauty benefits. The gelatinous pork
skin is cooked with a good hit of heat and is served with bean powder on the
side. We attached this with so much gusto and had a reorder of the dish!
Ok
so fried chicken wings are not seen at Korean BBQ places but Korean Fried
Chicken are getting quite the attention these days. Mido has two styles of one non spicy and the other spicy. The Korean Fried Chicken Wings (RM25) were
decent with a nice balance of savory sweetness while the Spicy Korean Fried Chicken Wings (RM25) had a spicy sweet heavy
note.
It
was unanimous that we all enjoyed the Tofu
Kimchi Casserole (RM45). A big iron pot filled with lots of ingredients
such as kimchi, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, Korean vermicelli, rice cakes,
sausages and more sat in a pool of kimchi based soup. As the stew boils, the
soup intensify in flavours and the ingredient are gently cook to absorb the
pungent and spicy kimchi flavours. It’s very comforting in many ways or maybe I
just happen to be a big kimchi lover… yum!
We
also had their Bulgogi Casserole
(RM48). Bulgogi is a classic favorite dish in Korea. Here the beef is marinated
in the classic sweet flavours of Bulgogi and is accompanied by lots of
vegetables, mushrooms and Korean vermicelli noodles in a beefy sweet broth. It
was slightly a tad too sweet for my preference but that’s how Bulgogi taste and
so there’s really nothing to fault here but my own taste bud. Others didn’t seemed
to mind and enjoy the beefy sweet stew happily.
Don’t
forget to order Makkoli (RM28), a
Korean rice wine that went so well with the BBQ meats, Spicy Pork Skin and Korean
Fried Chicken Wings. I love how it was served in a big clay bowl to be ladled
on smaller bowls to be sipped slowly.
Mido serves solid authentic Korean BBQ and
stews. Their plus points are the gorgeous ambience to enjoy a hearty meal of
Korean BBQ and stews. Highlights includes Spicy
Pork Skin, Korean BBQ, Seafood Pancake and Tofu Kimchi Casserole. Oh… and don’t forget to order the Makkoli for extra happiness…
MIDO
KOREAN BBQ RESTAURANT
11-G, Jalan SS2/64,
47300 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7865-9779
Facebook: www.facebook.com/midokoreanbbq
Business Hours:
Mon to Fri – 11.30am to
3.00pm (Lunch) / 5.30pm to 11.00pm (Dinner)
Sat to Sun & Public
Holidays – 11.30am to 11.00pm
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