It’s been several months I never come back to the Living World Mall, Alam Sutera, and I was quite surprised when I find a lot of change in most areas of the mall. Just last week, I went to Koba BBQ, a newly opened Korean restaurant that has been open for a week when we visit them. Located on the ground floor, I realized that the restaurant takes some areas that had previously been used by the Bike Colony shop, and this restaurant is located just across Bakmi Gajah Mada (Bakmi GM) near the parking entrance.
Koba BBQ tries to aim the Korean food lovers in Alam Sutera and Serpong neighborhood by offering diners a variety of quality meats for Korean BBQ at an affordable price, ranging from IDR 30K to IDR 200K. The dining area is quite spacious and comes with a nice interior in which they used bold colors such as black red and wood colors for everything, warm lighting, frames with images of some menus hanging on the walls and a cute mural showing a fat guy dancing as part of the decor. As you can see from my Snapchat (add my ID: myfunfoodiary) before, each table is equipped with a charcoal grill as well, so the food is cooked at our table, and we’re welcome to grill the meat on our own, but we can also ask them to do it for us. And just as in many Korean restaurants, they would serve us with an assortment of banchan; 10 kinds in total.
All banchan tasted delicious and easily become a table pleaser before the grill gets going. My favorite banchan was the sweet potato, green mussels, macaroni, pajeon (thin pancakes with scallions), and spinach. But here in Koba BBQ, all banchan (Korean light bites) are not refillable. However, you can ask for more of your favorite banchan with an additional charge IDR 5K/portion. They provide Jeon (Pancakes), Korean Hot Pot Soups, Korean Bab or Fried Rice, Bokeum (stir-fried dishes), and Seutim, but what I want to highlight is Koba’s specialty dish.
Preferred barbecue meats such as Woo Sam Gyup (IDR 99K), Yangnyeom Galbi (IDR 169K), Chaekkeut (IDR 149K), and Daepae Woo Seol (IDR119K) were all well marinated and grilled at the table. Although offered at a low price, surprisingly all the beef meat came in good quality, so tender, and no meat that makes us disappointed. But keep in mind that the tenderness of the meat also depends on how we cook the meat.
Yangnyeom Galbi 200gr (IDR 169K, 2 pieces/serving)
Prime cut and very tender beef ribs marinated in house special sauce
Chaekkeut 120gr (IDR 149K)
Square cut US Striploin
Woo Samgyup 120gr (IDR 99K)
Thin sliced Beef Brisket dressed with Koba’s special sauce
Daepae Woo Seol 120gr (IDR 119K)
Thin sliced Prime Beef Tongue
It’s hard for me to choose which beef was my favorite because I really liked everything! But if you insist on knowing, I loved the beef ribs the most (Yangnyeom Galbi) because they use sesame oil for the marinade, resulting a tender meat which was so flavorful, sweet and savory just right. Woo Sangyup was very tender as it was very thinly sliced. It was also very delicious. Chakkeut and premium beef tongue turned out to be our favorite as well. It’s not a secret that all Korean BBQ meat is best enjoyed with Ssam (fresh vegetables which are used to wrap a piece of bite-size meat, along with your favorite sauce and some rice into a bundle) that’s available on the table. Of three dipping sauces, my favorite, of course, the Sesame Salt dip.
Best of all was they have this extra space on the grilling pan which rarely available in most Korean food restaurants in Jakarta. You can enjoy soft scrambled eggs and roll your beef with the melted mozzarella cheese!! Yay! Pssst, the Tenderloin Cut which is not yet available on a menu, tasted amazing! It was so juicy, and easily melted in my mouth; the best meat among all meat that I mentioned above. The Olenji Oba Tea and Olenji Corn Tea paired well with all meat and other dishes.
The Koba Dancing Rice (IDR 39K) was full of flavor, where the sauce and seasoning mixed well after we shook the tin box before enjoyed. While Koba Dancing Beef (IDR 79K) was not my favorite because it was too salty to my personal preference. The Japchae (IDR 64K) was not bad; flavorful without being too salty, while the spicy tofu stew (Tofu Jjigae, IDR 49K) was consists of kimchi, tofu, and a variety of vegetables. It was one of the kind of heartwarming soup that I often look for in Korean food restaurant.
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Koba BBQ Restaurant
Ground Floor, Living World Mall, Jl. Alam Sutera Boulevard Kav. 21, Alam Sutera, Serpong
Operating Hour: 10:00 – 22:00
