Korean & Kimchi Dinner, 25 Oct 2008

We are planning a Korean dinner this month where, if you know Korean food, you will be confronted by mounds of kimchi, that interesting national dish of Korea which I personally would not touch, let alone eat. So why go to a Korean restaurant? Simply because there are a lot of other interesting dishes which do NOT insist on you eating heaps of kimchi. I was in Korea recently and found interesting dishes there which I would like to share with you all, so if you would like to try an interesting cuisine, then do come along for this dinner event.

The restaurant is called Kim Chi (really!) and the address is Ku'damm 165, so it's really easy to get to. The date is Saturday, 25 October, and please do send me in your bookings by Saturday 18 October. I am not sure how many people they would accept as a group booking so do get your emails in as early as possible so that I can negotiate with them if necessary. The final confirmation emails will be sent out on Monday 20 October. The menu is on the website and it's really not too expensive, and some of the dishes would be quite warming if the weather is cold-ish outside. By the way, apart from kimchi, Koreans love a certain style of chilli paste, which you cannot find anywhere else and which I cannot describe.

If you want to know more, their website is http://www.berlinkimchi.de/ and all I can add is that (a) they don't serve dog or cats and (b) a lot of Korean food can actually be really quite delicious and much better than I had expected!

See you soon!

Chris

How it went on the night...

Korean food is not all about kimchi even though you usually get it at every meal. This is what we have learnt at the Kimchi restaurant, allegedly the oldest Korean restaurant in Berlin. Most of the people went either for the Bolgogi menu or Yong's Special menu. Both menus started with some kind of dim sum dumplings and "Banchan", which means different kind of kimchi in small little bowls. For the main dish the Bolgogi menu had Bologi, which is some sort of marinated beef grilled by the cook and eaten wrapped in a salad leaf with soyabean and pepper sauce. The taste was very interesting as you cannot compare it with any other cuisine. The meat is sweet, tender and a bit fatty and with the sauces and some rice, it was a rather different and refreshing taste. The folks with the Yong Special had another starter which is some beef tartar marinated with sesame oil, onions, garlic and pear. As the main dish they got some grilled marinated beef but served with leek and halibut in a kind of sesame oil sauce. On top of that they had a soup with various vegetables and a strange tasting mushroom. From what I understand, most of the people with the Yong Special enjoyed all the courses except the soup where the taste was somewhat funny (but not in a hahaha way). The Bolgogi menu also came with a different soup with tofu and seafood. I must say that this tasted pretty good and most of the people even went for a second bowl. The dessert was pretty weak - just a few fruits - but it seems that in Korean cuisine the dessert does not play a major role. I can personally say that the food was quiet authentic and different but not really as spicy as in Korea itself. After stuffing our faces with these rich and unusual menus, most of us went to the Universum lounge  around the corner to have a nice digestif. Or two. Or three.

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