Head to newly opened Gu On in Sri Petaling for Korean straw smoked BBQ and bone soup
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — It feels like a new Korean restaurant opens in town every other week, especially those offering Korean style BBQ, an irrepressible favourite across all generations despite the tendency to leave the restaurant smelling like one, too, has been smoked.
Craving a double hit of protein (grilled meat) and carbohydrates (rice, glorious rice!) to fuel our workouts, my gym bro and I decided to visit the latest Korean BBQ hotspot, Gu On in Sri Petaling.
Gu On Korean BBQ specialises in grilled straw smoked meats and bone soup, its “Modern Korean” menu designed by South Korean YouTuber, Gerrard Park Min Hyuk (fondly known as “Striker Chef”).
The provenance of ingredients used is the selling point here, from wet ageing Australian grain-fed beef before smoking the meat twice with straw to the straw themselves, which are sourced from Tanjung Karang, Kuala Selangor.
But how does the food fare in reality?
Upon entering, we are greeted by the clean lines and contemporary ambience of the restaurant’s interior.
One might wonder if it’s too cold and minimalist, but the occasional accents of straw in the décor help bring an almost farmhouse feel to the otherwise sterile surroundings.
The industrial vibes are further encouraged by the glistening exhaust pipes above every table, to pull away extraneous smoke.
The clean lines and contemporary ambience of the restaurant’s interior.
No patina of grease yet, from years of being in operation, something a diehard Korean BBQ connoisseur looks forward to, if only to prove that the establishment has made its bones.
But every eatery has to start somewhere, and the post-pandemic era is as good as any, with cautious optimism on both the part of food entrepreneurs and customers alike.
One thing that strikes us from the very start is how uniformly excellent the service is: Polite, helpful, clear in explanation and discreet (the way the servers would remove empty dishes and refill cups without calling attention to themselves).
Hard to believe that Gu On is still very much in its soft launch stage, having only opened its doors late last month on July 30. A good beginning is half the battle won, no?
We sipped on corn silk tea and sampled some of the restaurant’s housemade banchan while waiting for the cast iron griddle to heat up.
'Banchan' (left). Smoked pork belly 'sot bap' (right).
The accompaniments and dips are a clear highlight, from the icy radish salad sherbet to the moreish salted octopus ssamjang.
Striker Chef’s deft hands in crafting the menu clearly extended to all details, not only the mains.
To warm up our bellies, a bowl of their original pork collagen soup — essentially a 20-hour-simmered pork bone broth — does the trick with its rich, creamy flavour.
Thick enough to coat the lips, which is what you would want from something labelled as “collagen” though the chef could have gone heavier with the salt.
Indeed, flavouring overall is on the milder side, perhaps catered to those with lighter, more delicate palates.
Original pork collagen soup.
No matter; an extra helping of kimchi with every spoonful helps alleviate any under seasoning woes.
Our order of beef boneless short ribs arrived atop a bed of straw; the presentation intended to evoke the process of smoking meats with straw.
This allows for a subtler smoky aroma; though some might find the effect so nuanced as to appear absent.
Personally I am a bigger fan of grilling meat directly over straw. Take for instance, the ancient Japanese technique of warayaki (“wara” means straw in Japanese while “yaki” refers to any food that is grilled), which results in a more robust and intense smoky flavour.
Grilling the beef boneless short ribs.
Here at Gu On, our friendly server takes over the grilling. Perhaps a bit too enthusiastic in his task, we have to remind him to stop before the meat is too well done.
Maybe pleading would have been a more accurate description. Ah well.
Those who enjoy their beef medium to medium rare might wish to take over the task of grilling so they can attain the perfect doneness for their meat. Lesson learned.
For the carbohydrates, one of us opted for Gu On’s original sot bap (which is rice cooked in the pot it is served in) and the smoked pork belly sot bap; the latter with a stunning golden egg yolk resting on a “lawn” of sliced green onions.
The signature 'sot bap' (original pot rice).
Again, you might want to season this liberally before mixing the rice and ingredients together.
Other promising items on Gu On’s menu include their pork lard kimchi fried rice, fruit marinated pork intestine, volcano steamed egg, perilla cold noodles and cream cheese hotteok. The sweet and spicy chicken feet might be captivating if executed masterfully.
Certainly these are dishes to look forward to during our next visit, once the restaurant has had more time to settle in. Truthfully, just visiting for their attentive service alone would make it worth the trek here.
Gu On Korean BBQ
22-G, Jln Radin Bagus 8, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, KL
Open daily 11am-11pm
IG: instagram.com/guon_koreanbbq/
FB: facebook.com/guonkoreanbbq
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