Take a bow at Gung

Out of 7000 plus restaurants across NCR there are not even 1 percent restaurants which rely heavily on reservation as compared to walk-ins, Even though people are quiet sure of where they are headed to but they still have a feeling, that somehow they would find a place when they reach there and not to disappoint, they mostly do. Gung the palace, located at Ashirwad complex in green park is one such family dine in spot that works mostly by reservation and does remarkable Korean food.

To start with, the place is hard to find. Being tucked away in one corner, my best landmark for you would be it’s in the same lane as Backyard (Aurobindo market). The outside is shabby with a small sign board dusted away in one corner, which quiet frankly does not exude a good vibe. Step in and you’re a man who’s just been lightning struck, the place inside is split in 3 floors with private dining cabins where you can sit either on chairs or choose for the more authentic on the floor kind of seating with low tables.

The massive menu which is split in sections of barbecue, stew and casserole to name a few makes the job a lot more easier for people who aren’t  well versed with this culture and food. Even before you place your order, a series of banchan (side-dishes) are placed for you and they go well above 10 in number and are free flowing mostly.

Thanks to the descriptive menu and help from the staff I could order a few dishes as I am not that well versed with Korean food. My first order was cooked tuna rolls which sounded like California maki to me initially but far from it when they were placed. Warm and chunky sized cooked tuna stuffed in bap (steamed rice) rolls topped with sesame, served only with dark soy unlike Japanese sides. They were really smooth and appeasing.

My next order was samgyetang, which is full chicken stuffed with rice and scallions in ginseng soup. Although the scallions and spring onions are interchangeable mostly but I still like the idea of using scallions/green onions when it comes to only the stem as it has more flavour as compared to the counterpart and vice-versa when it comes to the bulb. The soup was absolutely warm and is the perfect thing around a cold winter night, the chicken well cooked and the rice had wonderful flavours of scallions as it was soaked in them for a while.

A jokbaengii which is trumpet shells with pork trotters was ordered by set of friends but I have no say in it as I did not consume it. They were not impressed with that is all I know.

We ended up sitting here for 3 hours sipping complementary tea and talking, unaware of the world and time outside. This is one place that I would recommend to everyone who wants to explore the Korean food or maybe have a good time with their family over great food. It’s simply unlike any other place. One thing to remember is the dishes seem expensive on the face of it but remember Korean food is unlike plated European cuisine and a dish would easily serve 2 to 3 people so order wisely and avoid wastage.

The PLF (pocket loosening factor) for the place is INR 2500 for 2, its highly recommended to make reservations before you go and samgyetang is a definite try here.