Food Blog | Busan Zip | Desa Sri Hartamas | Mont Kiara
Being someone who lives in the Mont Kiara area, I can’t help but always stare at this restaurant and its endless queue and wonder - is this worth the hype? Over the weekend, I finally had a chance to try it, and here’s what I thought of it!
Context: Came here for dinner with a friend - I would say portion-wise, this is filling for two, so I would say you can even ditch the fried rice.
Tuna Kimchi Jjigae
Is it Halal
For all those concerned: Busan Zip, at time of writing, is not Halal certified. So just in case you’re a bit concerned on that front, stay away from here (not me reducing the queue of Busan Zip XD). No pork, no lard, but they do serve alcohol here, and I don’t really see anything online about where they source their other meats from, so do stay away if you’re looking for some halal food.
Where it Is
It is located in Desa Sri Hartamas - in that square where it’s super busy all the time. The easiest way for me to describe where it is would be to direct you to Jin Xuan (the Dim Sum place located on the main road) and find the entrance. Follow along that row to the end and you’ll find an area with lots of people queueing and waiting for a seat inside. You’ll know you’re at the right place!
Address: 23-G, Jalan 26/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Operating Hours:
Daily: 11 - 3pm, 5 - 11pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
I’ve generally seen it a bit more empty for lunchtimes - I guess in part because maybe you don’t get the same kick out of having Korean food for lunch, but if you want to avoid the hour-long queues, then that’s what I would suggest.
For example, in my case, I got there at 5.15 pm on a Sunday and we were seated at around 5.45 pm ish (which I would say is shorter than what would be the normal waiting time, as waiting times can get up to 1 hour as it is pretty small inside).
What it Costs
Unfortunately, didn’t get a copy of the receipt, but just giving you a rough guide about prices, so I believe these should be the prices, or the thereabouts of the dishes that we had among two. A few things to note regarding ordering:
You can only order once. You won’t be able to add anything on top once you’ve ordered the first time, so I guess the tendency is to overorder when you’re here (especially when normally you would have queued for an hour).
You need to order 2 portions if you’re two people for the octopus dishes
My thoughts are that this is unnecessarily pricey. You’re talking about RM90 per person essentially with the additional caveat that they want you out by 90 minutes. (yes, they will ask you to leave within 90 minutes to cater to their queue, so if you’re here to chit-chat, this isn’t the right place).
Here’s what we had:
Fried Spicy Webfoot Octopus (2 Pax): RM49 x 2 portions - RM98
Fried Rice: RM15
Tuna Kimchi Jjigae : RM29
Two Soft Drinks: RM6 x 2 - RM12
Forms of Taxes (16%) RM24.65
Total: RM178.65
I would say that RM90 per person is what roughly you would spend here given the more popular octopus dish is the one with Beef Intestines, or Daechang (which is RM70 per portion), but I would say you can skip on the fried rice as I would say that actually it is filling enough without it. I’m just there to try it because it’s a 1-hour queue. The fried rice isn’t anything too special. I didn’t get the one with beef intestines because my friend doesn’t eat beef, but order away, I’ve heard great reviews about it too.
BUT… if you ARE ordering fried rice, you kinda need the octopus dish as well, as it is one of the ways they flavor the fried rice. I would imagine it would be pretty bland if you didn’t order the octopus dish beforehand.
How it Tastes
Fundamentally, they will wait for you to finish the octopus first / move it to a different plate once you’re kinda halfway through, to make room for the fried rice.
Fried Spicy Webfoot Octopus (Pre-cooking)
Starting off with the octopus dish. Think of it as lots of octopus (actually I would say they’re pretty generous with the amount of octopus) and a kind of teokpokki dish. That is basically the sauce for the dish with some small teokpokki pieces and a small assortment of vegetables to complete the dish.
Accompaniments for the Squid
They’ll give you some perilla leaves, lettuce, radish, kimchi, seaweed, raw vegetables, sauces, fish roe, and garlic/chili. This is all to accompany that octopus dish - and of course, you can refill them - they’re quite proactive about refilling them. I would say, if you haven’t tried perilla leaf before, try the lettuce first before you ruin your tastebuds by trying it with the perilla leaf because admittedly, it is an acquired taste. I think my friend said that she would have ranked the squid dish on top of the kimchi jjigae if she hadn’t tried it with the perilla leaf first - so you get the idea.
I liked it with the seaweed! Lots of flavours, squid is delicious and this is what you come here and order - whether or not you get it with the beef intestines - of course, depending on your preference regarding beef intestines.
Side Dishes @ Busan Zip - this cold dish is actually super appetizing!
The choice of side dishes is pretty good. Normally, I would be a bit let down - in the sense that there were only really two side dishes (I don’t count the lettuce/kimchi/dish accompaniments for the squid dish) - and both are vegetable side dishes, but it looks a conscious choice to choose side dishes that cool you down. Again, all refillable.
Kimchi Jjigae with Tuna
I would say the Kimchi Jjigae with tuna is nice too. The main reason is that it is rich in flavour - from what I feel is the tuna. It is sort of more ‘gao’ or thick than your typical Kimchi Jjigae, which for me is exactly what I want. Lots of ‘liao’ or vegetables/tofu inside as well, so I would recommend getting that too.
Fried Rice with Cheese (Pre--cooking)
I would say the fried rice is cheap enough for you to just get just for the amusement - especially considering you likely waited 1 hour in line, so I guess the main appeal is the crunchy cheese component which they torch in front of you. Nothing too special there, clearly the weakest dish among the three, but it also is the cheapest dish among the three, and its main purpose is really to fill you up if you aren’t full already.
Fried Rice with Cheese
Star Rating
6.5/10. Really tricky to give a rating. Just because it’s somewhere I will almost never intentionally go again, but I think it’s nice to go once. Really not worth the money, but worth the amusement of trying once. The food is actually decent, I just don’t think it is worth the queue or the price. Again, it is a place that you will go once and never go again, but it is nice to try. I guess that really doesn’t help your decision whether or not to try it XD.
Would recommend you just ditch the fried rice and go get Aftermeal (another overhyped place that I would probably recommend you don’t queue for if the queue is long) / Binq / Ice Cream Bar for dessert nearby afterward.