A Steemtastic BBQ Korea Set Deal

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Hello Tasteemers,

Today I would like to introduce to you another Korea cuisine from Sabah, Malaysia. Located 30 minutes drive from Kota Kinabalu City, you will find this restaurant inside 1Borneo Hypermall. It's not hard to find this mall as it is the largest mall in Sabah. Now, let me take you to my Tasteem journey to Kimbab Food Cafe, a Korean restaurant in Sabah.

How did I find this restaurant?
At first, my wife and I didn't expect to find this restaurant or even bother to find any restaurant here because our mission was to make a quick final shopping for Christmas presents. Hours of searching gifts have made us quite hungry and we decided to look for a place to eat. After walking for quite a while, we ended up in front of this Korean restaurant. It never occurred to me to try this restaurant because truthfully I never tried Korean foods.

The front shop displayed various menu to which some I didn't even know because it was written in Korean. Even the name of the shop is quite special Kimbab Korean Food Cafe. My first impression was this food cafe is clean, cosy and welcoming. Thus, I might just give it a try! Everything has its first time right?

Upon entering, we were greeted warmly with the Korean language. I am not so sure how it is spelt, but something like Annyeonghasayo~. You won't believe I Googled this word and pardon me, Korean friends if the spelling is incorrect. The warm spoken language does welcome you inside this restaurant. The best part is, the welcoming speech is spoken by a Malaysian. Everyone can speak Korean now. Hooray!

As soon as I entered the cafe, I can see a lot of Korean culture and tradition displayed around the shop. I saw clothes, glasses, masks, flags and some other which I don't really know what is it for.

Masks were displayed and I don't have any clue what it was for or the story behind the masks. But, I'm liking what I was seeing because it's an opportunity for me to learn about other cultures.

I have only seen these traditional Korean dresses on television, to see reality in front of my eye is totally an eye-opener. The other guests seem to be awed by the displays.

The Menu
Now, let me dive you to the delicacies offered here but since I am no expert in Korean. So, I let you have a look on the menu first.

The menu was only two page, front and back. But there were so many to choose. My eyes rolled up and down looking on the menu not because it was a lot, but because I tried understanding the words. Did I mention it's written in Korean?

Since there were many choices and we couldn't understand almost all except the Drinks, we decided to let the cafe recommends us which is the most famous dish they can offer.

Our Food
Since we left the food selection to the cafe, now we just hoped it's going to be delicious. The only thing we ordered by ourselves is the drinks. It's the only thing we can understand.

This was the first set that was brought to us. Based on their explanation, it's a Korean culture to have this set of food comprises of rice, some Korean Soy Sauce and small varieties of differently cooked vegetables. From my eye, it was just rice and vegetables. I never thought vegetables can be cooked that way.

And the most very famous Korean delicacy, Kimchi. The only time I had ever seen Kimchi was in a supermarket. It smelled quite strong and from then I kinda dislike Kimchi. But, to my own surprise, tasting Kimchi for the first time in my life, I never thought that it's going to be delicious and there was no smell at all! It was a homemade prepared Kimchi no wonder it was different from the ones sold in the supermarket.

Now comes the main set, the BBQ Korean set meal. It was served with a Korean soup, chicken and beef. She prepared the BBQ stove and I was quite impressed by how it was presented. From here, the grizzling sound of barbequed meat really is something nice to hear and appetizing.

They really filled the meat all over and I just can't wait to have a taste of that meat! Who doesn't love grilled meat? Yummy!

We just can't wait for the barbequed meats. They really looked juicy. The vegetables looked really fresh PLUS the kind worker who really made us like it was home!

The owner of the cafe came and cooked for us too. I was so humbled to see how kind she was. She is from Korea and can speak a little bit of Malaysian. She gave us a little tour of Korean food. Now, that's something really valuable! I overheard they call her "Mama", it truly is a unique work culture.

How did the food taste?
Truthfully, for someone who ate my first Korean food, the barbequed meats are juicy and delicious. The soup which uses Korean ingredients is tasty. Eating Kimchi for the first time also has opened a new taste bud for me. Honestly speaking, everything here is delicious. I enjoy my first Korean meal and it will not be last of it! Best of all, there were no oil, salt and MSG used in the entire meal. That means this meal is really healthy!

Was it cheap and fabulous?

We paid MYR62.00 ($248) for the everything. It was so cheap considering it was a BBQ Korean set meal. They even throw in a free soup! How more cheap can this be? The owner told us it was cheap because they are having a promotion whereby the real price was supposed to be more expensive per person. I was star-struck to know this! It was the best deal in town!

The next time you come here, make sure to visit Kimbab Korean Food Cafe. The food is delicious, the restaurant is clean and you will be greeted by a nice warm welcome!