Ranajit Dam
MY experience with Shenzhen and its restaurants in my two-and-a-half years or so has led me to> Such a fate is, I fear, looking increasingly likely for Gwangyang Bulgogi, which opened a matter of months ago in the spanking-new Central Walk mall. Already beset by rumored management problems, the Korean barbecue restaurant is doing itself no favors by offering passable fare at prices that do border> The restaurant takes its name from the city of Gwangyang in South Korea's South Jeolla Province, famous for its Gwangyang Steel Works - the largest steel facility in the world - its Chunnam Dragons K-League soccer team, and its bulgogi. While hailed as the "pride of South Korea" by exuberant local Chinese media, the Shenzhen restaurant seems to hardly warrant such fulsome praise, particularly with the food-served vis-a-vis the prices.
A beef roast fillet set costing 198 yuan (US $ 26.5) is said to be enough for two people; in reality, however, portions are rather tiny and require the ordering of other items to make a properly filling meal. We went for the three color pork belly set (72 yuan), which is passable at best. The meat is served cooked, instead of offering diners the chance to barbecue the meat themselves which, in a way, takes the fun out of eating at a Korean barbecue restaurant. To supplement this we ordered a kimchi pancake (52 yuan) and, apart from costing twice what we thought it was worth, became too soggy too soon.
Our colleague ordered a plate of octopus vegetable bibimbap, or stone-pot rice costing 58 yuan (48 yuan at lunchtime) but he claimed he had eaten a far better version at a street restaurant in OCT. Unsurprisingly, the bibimbap portion at Gwangyang was far too little for the price.
With the coming of the Korean wave, not to mention the wave of Korean expats, to Shenzhen, the city has seen a spurt in its number of high-quality Korean restaurants. Friends of mine from South Korea already have a number of favorites among these restaurants: Sorabol at the CITIC Plaza, Jingangshan at Coco Park and, possibly the best-loved of them all, Pang Pang in Huaqiangbei. Against such competition, newer entrants into the market must shape up or face being shipped out. Given its excellent location, Gwangyang Bulgogi might have a chance to stick around for a little longer, but if it keeps serving such food at such prices,>