It was drizzling outside. Inside the Chungdam Korean restaurant in Landmark 6 building (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City), about 20 diners were enjoying delicious food in a cozy atmosphere.
Each piece of grilled meat is marinated to the right degree of doneness according to the owner's own recipe, combined with side dishes typical of Korean cuisine, appealing to the eyes, nose and taste buds.
Korean restaurant owner grills meat himself to serve customers in Ho Chi Minh City. By: Vu Phuong
"I'll grill the meat myself"
After a career change in the telecommunications industry, Jung Jae-Chan (51 years old, originally from Seoul, South Korea) spent four years working in high-end restaurants in Korea. Finding his passion for food, he decided to come to Vietnam and opened Chungdam in May 2018.
Talking about the reason for choosing to open a Korean restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Jung said: "In Vietnam, there are already a number of famous Japanese and Korean restaurant chains; Korean media regularly reports on development opportunities in Vietnam, so I came here. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I encountered many difficulties, I am grateful that the landlord reduced the rent so I could overcome this period. Up to now, I still owe a lot of money, but I think of the employees who have been with me, so I am determined to maintain the restaurant."
Chungdam restaurant space is warm, suitable for families and small groups of friends.
And that is also the reason why the staff here have nearly the same seniority as the restaurant itself. The cozy space and the way the owner and staff talk make Chungdam feel like a family restaurant.
Mr. Jung shared: "The restaurant has no highlight, I just want customers to come back to the restaurant because of the quality of the meat. From my experience, I grill the meat myself. Customers who eat at the restaurant will see that the taste of the dishes has not changed over the past 5 years, the prices and menu are also the same."
The restaurant owner has been grilling meat for customers for the past 5 years.
As observed, the Korean restaurant owner has a separate table in the kitchen area for grilling meat. Each piece of meat is cut about 1 cm thick and grilled in 3 stages. First, Mr. Jung pan-fries the meat until it is almost cooked. Then, he puts the meat on a grill with a low charcoal fire - this is the most important step to make the meat fragrant, not smoky, overcooked or undercooked. And finally, he slices the meat and presents it on a plate.
I asked Mr. Jung: "Why don't you instruct the staff to grill the meat instead of doing it yourself?", the Korean restaurant owner smiled and replied: "I had time to experience and learn a lot when I was in Korea, the problem is not how to grill the meat to make it delicious but how to grill the meat every day to have the same flavor, customers always come back with the same flavor. And in fact, many of my customers come back just because they want to eat this grilled meat flavor".
The dishes at the restaurant are cooked according to the taste of Koreans in Seoul.
Without trying to reconcile the differences in taste between Vietnamese and Koreans, the restaurant owner applies the recipe according to the way people in Seoul eat. He also prepares kimchi to eat with: white kimchi, red kimchi, pickled mushrooms, pickled chili, crispy kimchi with pickled ken nhip leaves, raw vegetables, green mustard - grain mustard, soy sauce to "soothe" the nostalgia for Korean cuisine and meet the needs of Vietnamese people to eat Korean food.
For Vietnamese customers who are not "favorite" of mustard, they can roll the hot meat with lettuce, kimchi, and pickled or fresh ken nip leaves.
The restaurant's beef is mainly imported from the US; each diner will have their own set of sauce and kimchi.
Want to create a brand that is loved by Vietnamese people
When the guests arrived, the owner and staff bowed in unison and said "An ny-ong ha se o", and similarly when the guests left, the entire restaurant said "Kam sa ham ni ta" in unison with friendly smiles. The restaurant's menu doesn't have many dishes, mainly grilled pork, beef, beef rib soup, and kimchi soup.
Among them, the most popular dishes are: beef loin, beef tenderloin, grilled pork belly and beef rib soup. Each dish is beautifully presented, has a fragrant smell and tender meat.
Mr. Jung Jae-ChanMost of the customers are Korean and Vietnamese regulars; the remaining few are Singaporean and Japanese. The owner of the restaurant confirmed that he does not skimp on ingredients, so he is willing to import beef from the US and Australia at high prices to ensure the quality of the dishes served to customers. The restaurant sources pork, vegetables and tubers from suppliers in Vietnam.
Gimm Nam-Oh (41 years old, Korean living in Ho Chi Minh City) is a regular customer of the restaurant and said that he often comes to Chungdam whenever he craves grilled meat. "I know many Korean restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City but this is the only one where the owner stands and grills the meat for the customers - like family restaurants in Korea. Korean-style grilled meat will choose pieces of meat with interwoven fat fibers to help the meat become softer and more fragrant when grilled," he commented.
Mr. Gimm Nam-Oh is a regular customer of the restaurant and comes here every time he misses his hometown food.
Also often coming to the restaurant with her relatives, Ms. My Linh (29 years old) said that she was impressed with the grilled meat served with white kimchi here. "If I crave Korean grilled meat, I will go to Chungdam," she affirmed.
As an employee who has been working at Mr. Jung's restaurant for 4 years, Ms. Truong Thi Nhu Y (27 years old) said that the customers who come to the restaurant are mainly families or small groups of friends. Among them, there are customers who have been eating since the restaurant opened until now. Nhu Y said: "Here, whatever the owner eats, the employees eat. When the revenue is good, the owner supports more employees. During the year, the employees arrange their own time off with each other, but the owner does not take a single day off."
When asked about the restaurant's staff, the Seoul-born restaurant owner raised his arms above his head, forming a roof, and pointed to his heart, implying that he considers his staff as family.
Mr. Jung was moved by the kindness of Vietnamese people because they were exempted from and had their rent reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The owner, Jung Jae-Chan, also surprised the customers when he introduced himself as 51 years old. In the 5 years he has been in Vietnam, he has been the first to arrive at the restaurant every day, the last to leave, and only returns to Korea during Tet, when the restaurant is closed.
"My two children are studying in Korea, so my wife stays in Korea to take care of them. In my opinion, the man must be the pillar of the family, so working far away is natural. Therefore, my daily journey is only from the rented house to the shop at 7:30 am and back home at 10 pm," Mr. Jung confided.
According to the plan, Mr. Jung will expand the restaurant in the near future based on his own experience. "I want to create a brand that is loved by Vietnamese customers. I know it will be difficult, but I will not give up and will continue to challenge myself," he revealed.
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