Food Blog | Dae Sam Sik Dang | Sri Hartamas | Mont Kiara | Kuala Lumpur

In an already competitive Korean food haven in Sri Hartmas, one new Korean BBQ restaurant has caught my eye lately. It is none other than Dae Sam Sik Dang. On the same row as Busan Zip (click right on over for that review), this is another restaurant that is garnering attention and really long queues.

Is it Halal

This is a non-halal restaurant. They serve pork, alcohol, the whole shebang. Their signature dish is pork, so just don’t come here if this is something that concerns you.

Just for a bit of translation trivia, Dae Sam Sik Dang means great pork belly restaurant roughly translated from Korean to English.

Where it Is

It is located on the same row as Busan Zip, behind Jin Xuan, the popular dim sum restaurant in the area. Parking-wise, I generally like parking on the same row as the Shell petrol station and walking through the back alley - but maybe that’s more because Sri Hartmas is basically my playground.

But there are options like the paid parking at Societe - although parking price there are REALLY steep - or trying your luck for a parking nearby (quite difficult to get a parking though).

The Banchan (Korean Side Dishes) selection at Dae Sam Sik Dang

One important thing to note is that there aren’t that many seats in Dae Sam Sik Dang itself - so the queue can build up quite quickly, and people don’t turnover that quickly here - I think they don’t really rush people to go out - which Busan Zip does - both in the form of telling you that you can order only once and telling you that you have around one hour to eat. You don’t really experience that here.

BUT, there is a whiteboard that can be used to queue outside…. and I’ve seen that the whiteboard can be entirely filled. My experience is such that I’ve seen it full and just decided it’s not worth the wait for them to clear the whiteboard, so I generally recommend coming here earlier (because when we went at around 5 something, it was actually pretty empty), but the queue outside grew quite quickly.

Address: 11, Jalan 26/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Operating Hours:

Daily: 5pm - 11.30pm (Closed on Mondays)

What it Costs

Naturally, when you come here, when you consider the similar pattern in terms of queue length and country of origin, the benchmark to compare cost would be Busan Zip, and this is actually significantly cheaper. A meal for two here came up to RM110. Here’s the breakdown:

Frozen Pork Belly - RM35
Pork Bulgogi - RM36
Pork Kimchi Stew - RM29
Service Tax (10%) - RM10
Total - RM110

Just as a comparison, for the two Korean restaurants that I’ve had recently in this area - for two people, Busan Zip came up to RM178.65 - although I would probably make it RM150 for equivalent - since I didn’t order drinks here, nor did I order the extra fried rice that I did at Busan Zip. That being said, this is still much more value for money - in my opinion.

How it Tastes

Oh, just a PRO TIP before I get to the food. Their seats can actually open and be used to hold your things. I found it pretty amusing it could do that!

So, starting off with the banchan - or Korean side dishes. I actually really like their selection. All are super clean tasting, and great to complement the heavy and oily meats that you will be indulging in. Naturally, I think the stars are the kimchi, japchae and the steamed egg. The kimchi, just because I love it when they actually grill the kimchi as well. The other two more because I’m shocked that they’re giving those side dishes - given normally there is a tendency to give cheaper options for side dishes.

You CAN refill on all the side dishes, including the japchae, except the steamed egg. This would be why I would say you don’t need to order any fried rice or anything on top - since you can fill your belly on the japchae, if you’re someone who wants your carbs! But really like their banchan selection - all are splendid choices to accompany the meats. Bonus for the choice of not using perilla leaf XD.

With their meats, I can’t help but complement their service. For two, I actually like the fact that whilst they grill it in front of you, they grill it in the opposite side table. I’m sure they’re sacrificing a bit of space to do it, especially considering there’s a queue almost anytime you come here, but it makes the experience nicer. The service is such that you never really have to worry about finding someone for help - which is a really important thing for me at these Korean BBQ restaurants.

I personally think that serving for the frozen pork was a bit smaller that I expected. I would say it is not that fatty, but I would also say it didn’t really stand out particularly. Nothing too out of the ordinary compared to normal pork belly. But pretty good nonetheless with all the banchan and the lettuce.

The pork bulgogi was the one that was perhaps my choice of meat among the two. More flavour and has that very savoury tinge to it. I generally like the stronger flavours, so it’s something that I liked a lot. I definitely also like the slightly burnt bits - but maybe that’s more down to preference.

Their pork kimchi stew is not to be missed! I highly recommend ordering it. Quite generous with pork, but it’s all about their broth itself. It’s super yummy! I’ve not say very nice things about other kimchi jjigaes in the past - mostly because they taste way too peppery, but I definitely didn’t feel that way about this one. Super yummy and flavourful. It has just the right thickness that I think it needs to make it very rich in flavour, but not overbearing.

Star Rating

7.5/10. I really want to give it an 8, but I think I can’t necessarily give it a higher rating than Dubu Dubu. But overall, really good service, great ambience and a place that surely alcohol makes even better. Definitely a Korean BBQ in the Sri Hartamas area that I would recommend!