DaoRae Showdown : Tanjung Tokong vs. I-Avenue

Had 2 separate chances to sample DaoRae @ Tanjung Tokong back in Dec and DaoRae @ I-Avenue last night, and though they looked almost the same in terms of deco (being a chain restaurant), somehow the experience and food quality varied.

@ Tanjung Tokong






This was the newer addition to DaoRae family after the pioneer @ I-Avenue and didi and I were among the first few batches of customer here




We ordered 2 types of BBQ meat - pork and beef



Both the meat tasted good and was cooked to perfection by the staff... not overly well done

... and a KimChi Soup


First, we were served with what seems like a Starter Soup (note the shellfish within)


Next the ingredients to go with the BBQ meat


The array of appetizers


After a while, a complimentary Steamed Egg came:-


Steamed egg was pretty bland...

Not sure when this appeared on our table...


And one of the staff actually demo-ed this on my plate just to show me How It's Done - the Proper Way

And it tasted good actually, coz a few strands of those spicy vegetables complimented the bbq meat, garlic and onion very well

I actually took a picture of didi chowing down his bbq wrap in one mouthful but I won't share it here coz the pic will definitely do him injustice. Why? because he can actually do every bbq wrap in one go, not just one wrap :-P

Half way eating, someone who looks like the outlet manager came and asked if we wanted to order pancake - and we politely declined as there were just too much to finish already... and after a while, he brought a Pancake to our table :S We immediately informed the staff that we did not order this but was told 'free... free...' and down the pancake laid on our table.


That's when I told didi : 'So now we know how it works... whenever asked if we wanted to order any additional items, always say no and they will give it for free!' What a joke of the day

To end the meal (yeah it has not ended just yet!), we were served a Korean cooling dessert/drink and watermelon slices.



And this was how it looked like after we painstakingly struggled in an attempt to finish everything


Only these were leftovers that we couldn't finish


@ I-Avenue
Had dinner with honey and PChoon here last night and it was our first visit (except PChoon)


Deco looks similar




The starter soup - missing shellfish - soup was not hot enough


Appetizer dishes



Complimentary steamed egg


Our orders:-

Yook-gae-jang (RM 19)
lean beef, fresh vegetables in a bowl of spicy beef broth, served with rice




I liked this a lot - it was well-flavored with the right level of spiciness - just the way I like it

Jab-chae (RM 30)
Glass noodle pan-fried with thin slices of marinated pork and assorted seasoned vegetables in a sesame oil sauce


This tasted special and had a nice aroma to it - well done

Hanbang Samkyup-Sal (RM 30)
Thin slices of belly pork marinated in special Korean Ginseng and herbs extract




Most parts of the pork were fatty but I guess that's the point of ordering this? One point to note, however, was the disappointing fact that both our bbq meat was over-cooked and they became dry and hard

The spicy vegetable again...


Complimentary pancake - no need to ask this time


Special Pork (RM 30?)
We couldn't decide the 2nd bbq meat to order - this was recommended by the staff after PChoon asked him to


Same problem of meat over-cook

Korean dessert/drink


And lastly - watermelon slices which I didn't take picture of - they all just look-alike

In all, I'd say DaoRae @ Tanjung Tokong wins in this showdown, simply coz they cook better BBQ meat - which is a crucial aspect; and of course, it's location is nearer to my house compared to I-Avenue:)

But I still like Korea Palace which is more flexible to accomodate customer needs e.g. cooking for us inside the kitchen rather than at our table if we requested them to. And they make great BBQ meat as well!