Kim Mi Korean BBQ - HK Style Korean BBQ Lessons

All you can eat Korean BBQ?!! How about the diet? The upcoming sun-bathing holiday? Well, screw 'em. I couldn't have possibly thought about diet facing all these yumminesses. When I saw these juicy oysters, especially after they got gorgeous browage all over them, the only D-word I could think of was DELICIOUS.

..and then E-AT, and F-ASTER, and G-OBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!
There are many Korean BBQ joints in Hong Kong (naturally, the flavors have been very Hong Kong-ized), but we love Kim Mi. Each table of 4-6 has its own enclosures, for privacy (yes, we like to gossip when we dine with friends, surprise surprise), which is really rare in Hong Kong, the ones which gave you enough space and privacy normally are really bad for your budget ($$$$$).


The star of the night was the beef ribs. They are tender, juicy and super tasty, especially if you get some of those melt-in-your-mouth bits of fat. Heheh! Bye bye, waist! See you next summer! The thinly sliced ox tongue was also good. They're so thin, you practically have to pick them up as soon as you place them on the hot, sizzling bbq pan.

Another thing we love about Kim Mi is..
The Hong Kong Style Korean BBQ 101
Our experienced servers normally walk back and forth to check that we're having fun, enjoying our food, and most importantly not screwing up the BBQ or burning the place down!
Thus, the friendly uncles will give us some BBQ lessons.
We'd like to thank the uncles, who made us the Korean BBQ patrons we are today. Couldn't have done it without you, Ah Suk! This one's for you! (I seem to have forgotted that I am not here to receive the Oscars)

What have we learnt?
1. Always keep the BBQ pan full, empty pan burns fast
2. Always BBQ seafood, which does not release oil, together with meat, or anything that releases fat, to prevent the non-fat items from burning
3. Do not pour oil all over, especially before placing the food. Lay your food on the pan, and just pour a little oil in the middle. The oil will travel to the sides of the pan
4. Chicken wings, capelin, shrimps and fish should be placed on the outer side of the pan, where the heat is not so strong, allowing them to cook slowly, once they are done, you can get some brownage going by placing them in the middle of the pan for a short period of time. Cook them together with some meat in the middle. Keep the meat always going, never let the pan go empty
5. Eels should be placed skin down, grilled until golden, and flipped only once
6. Squid should be placed scored side down, held with metal chopstick, then let cook
7. Try to refrain from always flipping everything you grill (believe me, it isn't easy, flipping them around is so much fun!), they only need to be flipped once

The first few times we visited this place, we actually felt really nervous every time uncle passed our cubicle, the exact feeling I got during my school exams. Nowadays, we confidently laugh at our clueless neighbors when they were "taught" by uncle, only to find out that we are still doing it wrong. LOL!

Korean BBQ study is a lifelong process I guess...there's always something new to learn in every visit.

Can a ship have two captains?

Maybe it can't, but our little BBQ can have two strong male chefs, who handled most of the cooking.

My main job was to take crappy pictures and eat.

Hmm, I use my DSLR with 50mm lens to take pictures, and it is not the easiest thing to manouver. To take some of these shots, I had to stand on my chair (thank God for private cubicles) or stood wayyyy outside the cubicle!!! (Loz has some shots of me doing just that, I'll add the pictures later).

The capelin, eels, chicken franks and beef ribs. Yum!


Fancy some frog legs? Or baby octopus? You got 'em!

What else went down that night?

"Someone" scored a hole-in-one, dropping a piece of succulent grilled fish right into Loz' glass of tea. Ehm, not my kind of cocktail.

You know who you are! ^_*
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Kim Mi Korean BBQ Restaurant
74-84 Sai Yeung Choi Street South
2/F Mongkok City Centre
Mong Kok
Try to be there before 7pm to avoid dinner time mad rush!