Mia's Review: Andong Zzimdak [Media Tasting]

Thanks to OYHZ, the bloggers gathered again for another media tasting, this time at the newly opened Korean braised chicken restaurant, Andong Zzimdak, brought in all the way from Korea. If you've visited Myeongdong in Seoul, you might have came across the restaurant there, too. 

A shot of the crazy queue just to show off how popular Andong Zzimdak is on a Friday night. They even had to stop the queue at just 8 plus because they're almost out of chicken. 

The restaurant is pretty small and cozy, and would be perfect for a small gathering of friends to enjoy some yummy braised chicken. 

As the name of the restaurant suggest, this place is famous for their Andong Jjimdak, which literally translate into steamed chicken of Andong, for jjim means steamed or braised and dak means chicken in Korean.
The name Andong Jjimdak came about as the dish originated in the city of Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and is made with chicken and various vegetables (such as potatoes and carrots) marinated in a ganjang (Korean soy sauce) based sauce. It is usually served spicy but Andong Zzimdak has toned down the spiciness and 'localised' the flavour a little to better suit a Singaporean's taste buds.

Hot Citron Tea - $2.50

If you're dining at a Korean restaurant, it definitely has to be either criton tea or barley tea, right? And I'm definitely team citron. Very reasonably priced at just $2.50 for a standard mug sized, the tea wasn't overly sweet or thick but brewed just nice with the right amount of yuzu peel bits for those who loves to munch of them. 

And there was so much food for 6 of us, I can't even....

Chicken Karaage - $9.90

Well, who says you can't make yummy fried chicken when you're supposed to be selling jjimdak? These fried chicken bites, although a little 'off' because they're Japanese (karaage, yeah?), were still worth my tummy space. Fragrant with a slight savoury taste, the battered skin was fried still crisp while the insides still tender. How can one possibly resist a piece of piping hot, boneless fried chicken? 

 Spicy Dokboki - $9.90

Although the tteok wasn't the softest and chewiest I can find, it was still quite enjoyable as the gravy was indeed spicy enough, as compared to some other places which serve the gravy sweet. It would be perfect if the tteok was cooked softer, which I reckon can be done easily by just leaving it to cook for just a tad longer before serving. 

Mini Seafood Pancake - $9.90

Chewy and packed full of seafood (I tasted shrimps and squids), I like how it comes in very manageable (almost) bite size and each bite gives you as much seafood as the pancake batter itself. 

Boneless Jjimdak (Large) - $59.90 [Medium at $49.90]

Even though there is a chili icon next to the dish (as compared to 3 chili for Mayak Jjimdak, the supposedly spicy one) and there's this huge piece of red chili staring at you in the picture, I find this not spicy at all, just a comfortable savoury braised flavour. Will definitely return to try the Mayak Jjimdak another day. 

The chicken bits are served boneless with skin and pretty tender and well braised. My first try of the glass noodles was an NG as it wasn't well mixed in the gravy, hence extremely chewy, like rubber. After mixing it well into the gravy and giving it ample time to soak up the moisture (and flavour) of the gravy, it became so much softer while still retaining its QQ (chewy) texture. 

So a small note to everyone, remember to mix the glass noodles into the gravy before you eat them! 

Seafood Jjimdak (Medium) - $52.90 [Large at $65.90]

Similar to the boneless jjimdak but with prawns, mussles, squids and boney chicken parts. I find that the chicken in this jjimdak is significantly less tender than those in the boneless chicken, most probably due to the chicken parts. The mussels (my favourite shellfish), though on the small side, were still pretty fresh and chewy. The prawns were also pretty big and fresh, but peeling them when they're drenched in gravy is really not something enjoyable and nobody went for them until M took it upon himself to peel all the prawns for us. 

Thanks, M! :)

And the night ended with us trying to decipher what's Andong Zzimdak's logo all about, thanks to M who threw the question at the table. Somehow the answer we got became "Chicken God" as you can obviously see the Korean letter for God (Shin) in the middle of the logo and in the background I can vaguely see a chicken head... Two, in fact, for there's a mirror image. But of course, that's just mere guesses. 

If you know what exactly the logo is about, do let me know in the comment box below. 

Andong Zzimdak is located at Raffles City Shopping Centre, B1.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo