Food and road tests come naturally when one has a friend like Sharon Lee. Her new sporty Myvi brought us up to Awana Genting Highlands enveloped in a cloud of new car smell, making all of us hungry for lunch. I was so glad to find that the Korean restaurant still existed. I have history in this place. As a kid, my dad treated us to dinner here when foreign food was still exotic and expensive; and when being situated in Genting was reason enough for restaurants to hike up their food prices a hundred percent.
As a young adult, I felt that I had come into my own, when I vacationed at Awana and dined at this same restaurant with another good friend, Poh Gaik. Now, with Kit and Sharon, it feels like the circle is complete.
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| Enter and Bee Won over. |
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| The decor has not changed in decades! |
The restaurant, which used to seem so posh and intimidating, now seems a little dingy and rough around the edges. And yet, there is still the lovely skylight which throws warm rays of sunshine on the tables; and the peaceful Zen garden behind.
Most importantly. it seems that prices have gone down. Either that, or I have grown up. Whatever the case, Sharon and I were both very happy with the food and the prices. We opted not to have the naturally expensive barbecue, so ordered ala carte.
The side dishes were slow in coming, but they were good, if a bit sameish. Nearly all the vegetables were done in kimchi style; but since they were yummy, there was not much to complain about.
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| All the side dishes. |
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| Sweet potato leaves, kimchi style. |
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| Original cabbage kimchi. |
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| Kangkong kimchi. |
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| Plump, succulent cockles. |
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| Sweet, fried anchovies. |
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| Kimchi kyuri. |
The kimchi pancake with seafood (kim chi jun) was excellent - crisp around the edges, moist but not soggy in the centre. The seafood was tender, and the flavour was very well-balanced. A meal by itself for RM20.
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| The ultimate kimchi pancake! |
I am not into spring chicken or little eating birds, and so found the ginseng soup with spring chicken to be more of a hassle than a luxury, but the broth was good, and Sharon enjoyed the pick-me-up. Half a portion of sam kye tang was RM20.
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| Soup's up, at least for one person! |
The sizzling chicken (bulgogi ji sik) was yummy. Tender fillets of chicken marinaded in sweet chili oil and bean paste, sprinkled with sesame and served on a hot plate, just made our day, and was worth the RM30.
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| Chicken at its best! |
The dol sot bimbab (rice is stone bowl) was our token carbohydrate, but was far from an also-ran. In fact, it was fluffy, flavourful and so healthy that I almost think I should undertake cooking this at home. Another great one-pot meal for RM25.
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| A bowl of comfort! |
Our meal for three came to RM110.20. It was unusual that we were served water instead of that toasty Korean tea I love, but oh well. I also wish they had offered to replenish the sides, but I guess that is their prerogative. I left with a warm feeling, and a craving for more Korean. That's what good food should do!
Bee Won Restaurant
Awana Genting Highlands
8th Mile Genting Highlands
69000 Genting Highlands
Pahang, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 6436 3010
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