Dinner at Chez Kimchi was my first taste of Korean Fried Chicken (KFC). I’ve had Japanese-style variants, but this was my first authentic experience. We were very excited to explore the broad-ranging menu. We ordered the kimchi pancake, the vegetable bibimbap and the “Incredible” fried chicken, and I started out with a cup of apricot tea served hot – it was beautifully sweet and warming. We sampled the five complementary appetiser dishes – kimchi, seaweed salad, potato in a sweet sauce, pickled cabbage and a bean sprout salad – then got stuck into the kimchi pancake, which seemed a bit more like an onion pancake with kimchi sauce in the batter. There were a couple of pieces of kimchi but it wasn’t quite as kimchi-flavoured as I expected, although the portion size was generous. The KFC was next – coated in an unctuous, soy-ginger sauce, the wings were nicely battered and had plenty of meat on them. This was definitely the highlight of the meal. We thought we’d left the bibimbap long enough to make the rice go crunchy on the bottom but it hadn’t quite – this dish needed the red sauce served with it to stop it being dry, but the veggies included were a good mix. A new favourite for sure.
Chez Kimchi, Shop 11, 70-86 Bunda Street Civic, ACT, no website
