After the successful opening of the first restaurant in Solaris Mont Kiara about a year ago, Sae Ma Eul, the Korean BBQ restaurant that goes famous with their barbecued rice ball , make their way into PV128, the hectic mall surrounded by Setapak neighbourhood and universities.
Located next to Yu Yan Sang, Sae Ma Eul houses a simple set up for casual dining, bringing out camping like theme- cushioned oil drum stool, stainless steel tables, charcoal grill, camping pit, etc. Menu covers only two pages, where one side highlighting on individual bowl dishes for lunch while another side for BBQ and ala-carte order.
Spicy BBQ Set (RM60.00)
Spicy BBQ set comes with spicy grilled pork belly, grilled baby octopus, garlic, chilli and steamed egg. What we like about this set is, the stone grill is served with egg liquid at the side, and cooked through grilling heat. Once cooked, it is fluffy soft. As the egg continues to get heated, egg crust started to form, delivering a thin, crispy egg bites.
Sae Ma Eul offers only the best quality domestically-grown pork, carefully marinated before putting to grill to result in best flavours possible. Since it is cooked using charcoal grill, make sure to flip the meat frequently and move it around immediately after placing on the grill.
Also, do not cut the meat into small pieces before grilling, as it will lead to the loss of juiciness and tenderness of meat. Once the meat is cut into small pieces, place garlic on grill, mix and flip them around frequently to have the aroma of garlic lightly douse into the meat.
For the BBQ Pork, it is okay to eat after 2 minutes of grilling. Sae Ma Eul mentions that it is safe to eat even a glimpse of blood can be seen on the meat, as their charcoal is burnt to a high heat of 800 to 1000 degree Celsius. Enjoy your meat by dipping into Sae Ma Eul Special Soy sauce, or wrapped them in fresh vegetable together with condiments.
Grilled baby octopus is our favourite, bouncy and chewy but not rubbery at all.
La Galbi (RM50.00)
La Galbi, or beef ribs, is deeply infused with special soy sauce marination. Hence, end product is no doubt succulent, packed with flavours, smoky with minimal charred area.
Kimchi Pancake RM20.00
Doughy soft pancake appears in orange colour, enhanced with a touch of sourness from kimchi but still fall short in taste. Complement the flavour with a dip of sauce concocted from vinegar and soy sauce, the pancake turns alright then.
Kimchi Jigae RM13.00
Bubbling hot Kimchi Jigae that fares a good balance of tanginess and spiciness, brimming with pillow, soft tofu , slices of tender pork belly and well-fermented kimchi. Its appetizing flavours makes you want to douse in a bowl of white rice, soaking up the kimchi goodness. We personally feel that the spiciness can still be level up.
Choirutan Jumoekbab RM20.00
The must have in Sae Ma Eul. Choirutan Jumoekbab is actually rice ball made up of rice, peanuts, spicy sauce and seaweed. The restaurant will serve the dish in a huge bowl, together with gloves. Wear the gloves, fold in all ingredients till well mixed and shape them into ball. Every order can make up to eight rice balls, where each is double the size of Melaka famous chicken rice ball. Of course, you can form a smaller ball depends o. Your liking.
Place the rice ball on grill, move the ball occasionally to get crispy rice crust outside, while fluffiness of rice still remains inside. We find the rice ball very filling, maximum is two for us. Distinct spiciness burst within the munch of rice, with crunchiness of peanuts and seaweed fragrant follow by. In case you can’t take spicy food, do opt for less spicy version.
Enjoy your barbecue session with a bottle of shoji or Korean rice wine, it promotes a clear and chilling taste, best to tone down the heat exudes by grilled meat. In short, a great place to hang out with friends and family. Great thing is, Sae M Eul Korean BBQ opens till 2am. You get another option for late night outing!
Photography: Summerkid
Write Up: Summergirl
Address:
Sae Ma Eul BBQ (새마을 BBQ) Restaurant
G17, PV128,
128 Jalan Genting Klang,
Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.
Business Hours: 3pm- 2am (closes every last Monday of the month)
