Update 2021: This restaurant is permanently closed.

You know what they say about ‘authentic’ restaurants – they’re the ones serving a customer base made up of that particular cuisine’s ethnic group. So when Grace and I walked into San Nae Deul at One City, USJ, we knew we were in for a good K-BBQ experience. On our left and right were Korean customers jabbering away in their mothertongue as they downed soju and beer with their barbecued meats.

The outlet was spacious and comfy, with wooden chairs and tables each with their own cooking stove. Posters of Korean artists and Korean products abound everywhere. The lady boss is also Korean, but the servers were Indian. We were served by a rather cute looking North Indian guy with really nice honey-coloured eyes. He even understood some Cantonese lol.

I finally got to catch up with Grace after more than a year. She had been working in Singapore for a couple of years, so it was hard for us to meet. Now that she’s back for good, expect more hangouts 🙂

We ordered the BBQ Buffet set for RM40+ per person. They served a variety of banchan (side dishes) and the meat was refillable. My eyes widened when the meat came – it was loaded like a mountain on that plate. There was chicken teriyaki, samgyupsal (pork belly), spicy pork belly, lamb, beef. We didn’t even need to refill anything because the portions were so big. Definitely value for money, especially if you’re a big eater. 

For those who don’t want the buffet, you can order individual meat dishes which are quite pricey (RM30 and above), rice, soup or noodle dishes. I’d recommend getting the buffet because there is a variety of stuff to eat and they’re refillable.

   Beef marinated in a sweet sauce.

So many banchans. Stir-fried long beans, sweet fried anchovies with nuts, potato chunks in a savoury sauce, spicy fish cakes, kimchi and some sort of gourd veggie in chilli sauce.

Guests can opt for rice, but we didn’t because there seemed to be a lot of food on the table already.

They also give you two bowls of gochujang and fragrant sesame oil, which is used for the meat dipping.

Banchans were okay.. I don’t eat kimchi (why am I in a Korean resto?), but the rest were decent. Enjoyed the crispy and crunchy anchovies + nuts, even though they were a tad too sweet. Potatoes were boiled well, and the fish cakes were good too.

All of that would have been enough, but they also dished out a stir-fried glass noodle dish and we didn’t know how to say no .__. This was very good, although the cooking was uneven ie the noodes on the outside were cold (?) while the inside was piping hot. The noodles were bouncy and springy, flavoured well with soy sauce, onions, carrot slices and mushroom.

Our server cooking the meat for us on the built in stove. It is made in such a way that the smoke doesn’t get into your clothes (which is one of the downsides of eating bbq.. you always leave the place smelling like charred meat).

The worst part is waiting.. when you’re practically salivating from the smells and sight of cooking meat 🙂

I reallly liked their chicken, which had a miso flavour to it. Some parts of the pork was overdone and tasteless, but others were marinated well, especially the pork belly which had a nice layering of fat and lean meat. How we eat is by adding a piece of garlic, some gochujang, sesame oil and then wrapping the whole piece in a piece of lettuce before popping it into your mouth. That’s a great way to get me to eat my greens 😛

The bill came up to RM88 for the two of us, which I think is reasonable considering the portions. For big eaters, come here to get a great value for your money!

SAN NAE DEUL 

SkyPark Lot no.B-GF-06, Ground Floor, One City, USJ 25, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Tel:016-315-7239

Just like old times. ❤

This year marks our 12th year of friendship, and I hope, many more to come. 🙂