Dae Jang Geum, Melbourne, Victoria

i'd built up a fortnight of anticipation leading up to dinner at this new restaurant in chinatown. most of you who have heard of the korean series 'Da Chang Jing' will know that it is a story of this chick who worked in the imperial palace as a chef cooking for the korean emperor and that each and every dish shown on the series is just so delectable and as they say 'fit for an emperor'. now i'm not sure about the korean restaurants elsewhere in the world, but the ones i have been to here in melb all serve up the standard fare of bulgogi, kim chi, mini side dishes, bbq and hotpot with a few variations - nothing like what i saw on Da Chang Jing. so imagine my excitement when i stumbled upon this restaurant named 'Da Chang Jing'; finally a place where i can order a serve of everything Dae Jang Geum created for the emperor!

anyway, my much anticipated wait culminated into disappointment not long after i sat down at our table. as i flipped through the menu offerings from the first page to the last, i realised that this was Just Another Korean Restaurant. with their main focus being hotpot and bbq meats; y'know the kinda place where you'd order plates of raw beef/chicken/pork/whatever and cook it yourself on your table. and this is where my excitement came to an end - have you seen at any point in the show where the emperor had to cook his own food?!!? (not to mention having smoky stinky hair and clothes after a meal)






we ordered the egg soup, beef rib soup, kim chi pancake, egg roll (which is really just a fried egg omelette which they served up with tomato ketchup), raw scotch fillet, raw beef bugolgi, raw pork belly, raw king prawns, all of which we mere subjects had the 'privilege' of cooking ourselves.
overall, it was okay for a first try if only because of the restaurant's misleading name but i'll take my korean dining dollar elsewhere next time. -mi!