Chung Gi Wa 청기와, Gandaria City, Jakarta

Talking about Korean restaurants in Jakarta, one easily mention about Chung Gi Wa as it has been one of the most popular ones in town. I used to go to the Kebayoran’s outlet very often because it is close from home, the price is very reasonable, and the food served are simple but authentic. And up to this second, surprisingly my review about Chung Gi Wa in 2011 still remains to be one of most popular posts of Food Escape. The photos in that post were quite embarrassing, and although I visited Chung Gi Wa again and again, I haven’t posted any other review yet after that one. Now I finally visited the outlet in Gandaria City for the first time and well, hopefully you’ll agree with me that the photos are better this time!

Same with the earlier outlet, Chung Gi Wa in Gandaria City always seems to be crowded everytime I pass by. My visit this time was around lunch hour on Saturday, so clearly it was fully packed. Luckily we got a table for our group (about 10 person) in no time and since there were kids and even babies, we decided to skip the grilling part and ordered simpler dishes instead. 

Uniquely, Chung Gi Wa has its own organic vegetable farm in Sukabumi, so rest assured, the vegetables that are served on our tables are fresh! 

One of the very reasons why we love going to Korean restaurants is the complimentary appetizers that are usually served for like, the whole village, LOL! Although most all of them are vegetables, but with different seasonings and making methods, the appetizers are quite colorful and interesting. The better part is, we can actually ask for “refills” if we need more, say, kimchi. What a treat, right?

A must-order dish in any Korean restaurants, especially for spicy lovers. Basically a shredded beef spicy soup, it is cooked with egg, vegetables and glass noodle; resulting in a very tasty, rich flavored soup which is so good enjoyed with a smoking hot white rice (rice included). While in other restaurants, the yuk gae jang is served on a medium bowl, here it was served on a relatively big one. Never a failure!

Bean Paste and Tofu Stew. Didn’t expect it to be this good! The bean paste was strong enough but didn’t overkill the whole taste. Tofu were cut nicely and served with sliced beef. Yummy!

It is one of most familiar Korean food, at least for me, but until now, Chung Gi Wa‘s version still remains to be the best in Jakarta. With nice sharing portion, well-cooked and seasoned noodle, it basically always puts a smile on my face whenever I eat it. Love everything that is cooked together with the noodle: the beef, eggs, veggies, you name it. A must try item even if you’re a newbie 🙂

Korean Beef Knucklebone Soup. Although it was a bit too bland, especially because some other food that we ordered were quite tasty and spicy; the noodle was nice and the soup broth was quite tasty and had rich flavor of beef stock. Probably not something that I personally will recommend, but it’s a nice dish to warm up and we can even introduce to younger kids.

This Korean mixed rice is one of my fave Korean food ever, and I always love CGW version, period.

The soup was full of beef stock, cooked nicely with eggs. The galbi were not much but the meat were very tender and fragrant. 

Or spicy stir-fried squid. Wasn’t as good as expected, but acceptable. The squid weren’t much, but the sauce was so generously poured. Loved the side noodle as well. Not in my recommended list, but a nice dish to share if you happen to come with large company. The sauce tasted really good with rice.