Da Ohn Da Korean Cuisine, Ipoh

Da Ohn Da has been in business for more than 2 years in an “ripe-for-harvest” environment whereby Korean cuisine is now accepted and gaining much popularity after all foundation works laid by Korean dramas and K-pop culture, not to mention the boom in the tourism industry.  While they have just opened their branch in the mainland of Penang, yours truly only sampled this place just last weekend after getting some positive comments from a friend or two.

The Bibimbap (RM17) comes with a well fried egg on top, unlike most version whereby a raw egg is broken on top of the steaming content beneath. So for those who went to Korea, I guess the raw egg “Cabonara-like” version seems to be the authentic one which requires one to mix it well before eating. Could the fully fried egg dished on top upon serving is improvised to cater to local taste buds which cannot accept the raw egg version? At Da Ohn Da, you are provided with the soya sauce and also the sweetish Bibimbap chilli sauce to add it according to your own preferred taste. Oh ya, there have the one with meat (chicken, beef or pork)at RM19 which I would recommend it. the meat sauce with gravy do enhance the overall dish a bit. Imagine the minced meat topping like u find in Hakka noodles.

There are six variants of banchans offered here. And from the photos posted on Facebook by other customers, it seems that they do not rotate their side dishes selection. You have the iconic kimchi, pickled zucchini, pickled beansprouts, fried anchovies, fried beancurd skin and spinach. The spinach and beansprout side dish is similar ingredients found inside your bowl of bibimbap

Same like the rules of most Korean BBQ chains around the neighbourhood, the minimum order for the BBQ meat on the grill is 2 portions. Here at Da Ohn Da, they tweaked the menu a little by displaying the price of 400g (which is already two portions). For RM56, one can choose or mix and match from the pork neck, pork belly, soya sauce marinaded pork belly and spicy chicken fillets. Lamb and beef are also available at a different price tag. 

They are using an electric grill just like most Korean BBQ in Ipoh. Unlike other places which use those thick 'stone' grill, the one here uses a thin grill plate there are open vents on the grill resulting into slightly charred and aromatic bits from the direct heat of the heating element. For the record, only Daorae is using a charcoal pit to barbecue the meat which gives it distinctive aroma. Overall, I find the dining experience acceptable, especially knowing the fact that it does not impose GST or service charge. And just like how a proper Korean restaurant operates, the rice tea is free flow and so are the side dishes. The bill comes up to RM75 for all these above and its good to feed 3 adults for lunch. And I will definitely come back to try their other stuffs :)