Saturday, October 3, 2009

百帝圜 (Bai Di Yuan) Korean Restaurant in Shenyang's Koreatown


Bai Di Yuan; Banchan Dishes-Kimchee, Spinach, Nappa Cabbage, Soy Eggs, Basket of Raw Veggies
My friend, BJ, said that the food here is pretty good. However, we encountered ridiculously horrendous service the evening he introduced me to this restaurant.
Exhibit A:

Galbi
The galbi, beef short ribs, came in a teensy weensy portion on what the waitress called "their bigger plate" in an attempt to explain away the unreasonable portion. Ok, well, how about the big-ass bones hiding underneath the 2 tiny slivers of beef and the slices of pumpkin underneath the bones? The couple at the table next to us enjoyed a huge plate of galbi with tiny bones and even had leftovers to spare! We were in an alternate universe, where the customers are always wrong. The manager didn't even apologize! He just said that we just happened to get a "different cut" of the galbi...the part with all the bones?!?!?!?! WTF.
I got over it by thoroughly enjoying our other dishes as BJ humorously continued his galbi battle. It turned out to be an enjoyable evening because of the good company I was in. I could care less about the bad service considering I would likely never come back. But my good friend has great reasons for his continuing fight against bad business practice. He'll be in the city for a longer period, and thus the shadow cast by this restaurant will hang over him that many more days...months... Sorry, BJ!
I ordered the pumpkin soup, fried pumpkin coated in salted egg yolk powder, and seafood pancake. I took great pride in my picks because these dishes rocked! The fried pumpkin was crispy on the outside, and hot, soft, and sweet on the inside. The egg yolk powder was ingenious! It was like magic dust that gave the pumpkin a slight savory flavor. Perfect.


Pumpkin Soup; Fried Pumpkin Coated with Salted Egg Yolk Powder

Seafood Pancake; Grilled Mackerel
Rice Steamed with Ginseng Roots and Beans; Broth for the Rice

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