Kampungkayell

Food, life, and fun in my "kampung,"(village), KL (Kuala Lumpur). Did I mention "food?"


Bonjuk & Opera

By Allan Yap & Nigel A. Skelchy

Had a "date" with Cel and on an impulse, having retrieved from the depths of my memory, this Korean restaurant that wmw went to on one of her many food adventures, decided to grab my big baby, my Nikon D70 and try that on food.

Bonjuk is situated opposite the Lotte Supermarket in Desa Sri Hartamas and up till then I was absolutely clueless as to how large the Korean community is in KL. As we approached Bonjuk, there were Koreans walking about speaking Korean and Lotte, it turns out, supplies the local Korean community in this neck of the woods. There's a larger enclave of them in Ampang.

Anyway, I digress.

We take out seats in Bonjuk and we find out that they serve traditional Korean fast food. Sort of like the equivalent of Japanese Bento. But much spicier and instead of everything being separated, it's all thrown into the rice. The other thing was the porridge. Rice porridge. If you guessed that the "juk" in "Bonjuk" is "chook" then you're pretty much on the right track.

Having absolutey no idea what to order we asked the waitress for help whereupon this young gent calmly sidles up and takes the ordering pad and says "I'll handle this." And so we meet Andrew Kim. The owner. Who gave me the impression he was no more than 19. After some pleasantries I finally get around to asking his age (you can't just blurt out, "omigod you look young enough to be my son") and it turns out he's still a young 28. With rather large ambitions. Another Bonjuk is opening up in 1 Utama later in the year and he has plans to open in Singapore by year end. Did I mention he's 28? In any case, we ordered 2 kimchee laced dishes (a bibimbap, a hot casseroled rice and juk) and they turned out to be delightful. Not too heavy but intensely flavoured with the sweet fermented sourness and spicyness of Kimchee. There was a generous portion of beef in the rice and octopus in the "chook."

I heartily recommend the place. Not least of which is the fact that you have a great young guy taking the world balls on. I thoroughly admire his guts, his savvy, and his intelligence. If you look around the place there are pictures of him meeting Colin Powell and George Bush snr. (The more intelligent one). ;-) Obviously someone to watch.

Replete with dinner, Cel and I head over to "Romanza" a concert by my voice coach, Cha Seng Tiang and his friend Cecilia Yap who is also a vocal teacher. Both were in fine voice and I must admit it was lovely being able to take in some culture. They sang a varied selection of music from Arias, to folk songs and art songs. The thing which never ceases to amaze me is the fact that the Chinese speaking chinese community is so big into classical voice. The whole theatre was filled with people speaking mandarin.
That did not detract from the stellar performance however, and it was all in all, a lovely evening. Good food, good company, and good entertainment. What more could you ask for?

17 Comments

Read & salivated at others' comments (wmw, ll, pp, boo) when they posted this place. Not food. Andrew. Yoohoo! Finally a pic here. TQ so very muchie!

Oooo!

..and i know what u meant about Anita Wardell after the performance. Good stuff, beautiful note pitch control... not bad audience interaction (she made us sing beebop with her), but somehow missing a little bit of soul...

Aiyooo.....he look more handsome in photo! Droolzz!

Whoa. Cel looks hottie.

Haha...no comments on food, on Andrew and Cel...haha! Precious Pea, you'll still so taken in by Andrew, eh?

tummy; he's really cool and nice. Thoroughly admire him...in a strictly platonic sort of way might I add! Since all the females here are so hormonal I have to qualify. ;-)

Sneexe; Yeah...Great jazz technician. But left me a little cold.

precious; I tell ya...all these females... ;-)

savante; you get lumped with the rest! ;-)

wmw; YA! Blardy hell. HELLO. FOOD. FOCUS! ;-)

I also wanna wink like that next time :D

sigh this is about the next talked about thing.. n i havent had the chance.. i heard about how suave andrew is..now the last weapon to persuade my gf to go is his pic haha!

Joe; risky...what if she goes and keeps wanting to return because of OTHER REASONS! GASP!

Wah, Cel is freaking hawt. :P

i'm confused. who's who? are those two your two dishes laced with kimchi?

sam; cel's a cool dude :-) And very nice too. Very screwed on right.

fbb; The rice is the bibimbap and the porridgy looking thing is the 'chook.' If you think I'm being obtuse, yes, it's deliberate! ;-)

hmmm it is indeed risky eh?? haha but does that mean any guys out there who doesnt hav the heart to break up with their gfs can bring them there?? hahaha

Joe ah; Aiyo, you sneaky bugger. Poor Andrew. ;-) Though to be the centre of so much female attn should warm the cockles of his heart. Let alone anything else ;-) hehe

aiyoo... so difficult to reach allan wan....

would like a cake for my wedding :)... 2 layers... something simple...

hey zewt; he has your number? will ask him to call you... :-)

Hi Nigel! You have been tagged by me...Fave Food, check out my latest post.

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