Arirang…

You probably will never guess where my friends took us for dinner on our second night in Auckland, New Zealand – they took us to this Korean restaurant…

…in the CBD in the city. I understand it is very popular and  famous, having had people like the NZ Prime Minister, John Keys, dining there before.

It’s a very nice place, no doubt…

…with its traditional Korean table setting and sitting…

…and looking at the number of people there that night, there is no doubt that it is the favourite of many…

We have a Korean restaurant in Sibu and it has been around for many years. I do not dare say how authentic it really is and it has been many many years since we last dropped by. What I remember clearly is that after eating there, our clothes would stink quite terribly…and they did serve kimchi there – just that I tried a bit but I did not like it, not at all. That was so long ago, and I wonder if Melissa can still remember ever going there to eat – she probably was still very young then. Well, she certainly looked very happy…

…to be able to try some authentic Korean food at this restaurant that night.

We were served these for starters…

…and whatever they were, they were all very nice and we all loved them a lot!

All these were served as the sides…

…that came together with the mains. I particularly loved the one in the middle – the one that looked like something made using tung hoon ( glass noodles).

I don’t know what dressing they used but I loved the salad they had on the left…

…so much so that I kept eating and eating it until my friend asked me to stop in case I would be too full as the best was yet to come.

They had some dip that looked like sambal belacan…

…but of course, that was not what it was. I did try a bit but no, thank you. I think I would stick to our good ol’ sambal belacan anytime. Hehehehehehe!!!!!

I think this soup came with the rest of the sides too…

…but if you asked me, I would just say it was different – pretty ok, not bad…but different and not something that would see me going back for more.

We did order the bibimbap, beef, as well…

 I liked it very much – it was pretty good and a complete meal by itself actually.

My friend ordered a whole lot of things for us to enjoy that night but I can’t for the dear life of me remember any of the names as they were all in Korean. All I know would be that we had beef…

…and chicken…

…and even pork…

…marinated in different ways, including one at least that was very spicy. All of them were good – everything tasted great but I simply cannot put my finger on one to say this was the best! I enjoyed them all…

For one thing, they had these huge exhaust pumps right above the grills…

…so all the smoke and the smell would be sucked out during the process of the grilling and that was why our clothes did not stink of the food by the time we finished dinner and were about the leave the place.

Other than that, they had this pretty Korean girl to do all the grilling and serving at our table…

…so all we had to do was to sit back, relax and enjoy ourselves eating all the very delicious Korean fare.

Unfortunately, though I know it is the favourite of many and many would be shocked  to hear it, I’m afraid I still have not changed my mind about this –  the kim chi…

Sorry, my friend, but I just can’t get myself to like it…and I don’t foresee ever acquiring the taste for it and liking it ever. Well, at least Melissa and the mum loved it so as Meatloaf would sing, two out of three ain’t bad…and the fact that it did not go down too well with me would not change the fact that it was, without doubt, a delightful evening and we had a wonderful never-before authentic Korean experience and truly felt that the dinner, as a whole, was absolutely great – a zillion thanks.