Dinner At Daorae Korean BBQ Restaurant Melaka

Two Sundays ago, Albert P told me that Calvary Care Home (CCH) was going to be given a dinner treat at a Korean restaurant at Melaka Raya by the Rotary Club on Monday 11th October and I was also invited to go with the gang. Since last May, I had been looking forward to eating a la Korean again. How quickly God granted my wish!

According to the address given by the person in charge George, Daorae BBQ Restaurant is just across Carrefour of Dataran Pahlawan. Having passed by the place by car or on foot so many times, I was not aware of its existence. Albert also had no idea of its exact location. He almost wanted to rely on his GPS to trace it. Finally, a call to George led us to reach the destination on time by 6pm.

After the whole day of watching my students' videos with many scenes of them role-playing at eateries, it was nice to be my turn to relax at a restaurant in a real-life situation. I was given a very strategic seat.

Sitting between Albert, who was fit again before this dinner but needed to avoid spicy and oily food though he intended to eat a lot, and Luke, who was recovering from his lack of appetite due to fever earlier, I could easily have access to the two same sets of dishes served on my side and on the home administrator's side instead of crossing my chopsticks with theirs all the time.

Daniel who was right in front of me was sick. David who had long awaited that evening to open his stomach was far from me, which saved my trouble of competing with him to grab the food. I supposed Matthew who did not like Japanese cuisine was not going to appreciate Korean dishes either. John who was in the midst of exams and Paul who was under discipline were not joining us.

I must confess that my "happiness" there and then was being built on the "suffering" of other diners...

The variety of free flow banchan (steamed, marinated, or stir-fried vegetables or shredded squid usually seasoned with sesame oil, salt, vinegar, minced garlic, chopped green onions, dried chili peppers, and soy sauce, served as side dishes) to accompany round rice evoked my memory of those days when Mum and I were savouring the local specialities during our trip to South Korea.

At our table, there was a lady Dolly who had brought children and staff from Salvation Army, the other organization blessed with the same meal. She had already been to this restaurant on her own a few times and seemed to be a Korean food lover too. She could tell whether the taste was authentic or had been modified to suit Malaysians' tongues.

That evening, what I cared most was whether the taste suited the CCH gang's tongues, especially my gluttonous "son" who was the best representative. Unfortunately, David was less interested in pajeon (Korean pancake) than our Malaysian roti cheese.

The CEO of Daorae Restaurant wearing spectacles and a white shirt appeared to give a simple speech in a friendly way. He told us that they had prepared typical South Korean party food for us because our gathering was like a party.

It was a pity that there was no karaoke session during the "party". Otherwise, we could have requested the CCH administrator, who was invited to pose together with Dolly, the A Famosa Club members and the management of the restaurant, to present one or two songs to entertain us.

Anyway, Albert's singing might not have energised Daniel who was still down with fever. This boy rather closed his eyes to listen to his own sipping of seaweed soup.

He loved it so much that he asked the waiter to bring him two, three extra servings. Had there been any seaweed soup drinking competition, he would have surely won!

When we came out from the restaurant, it was already dark. After the tasty meal, the two homes were blessed with boxes of Korean snacks, sweeties and instant noodles.

Now I know where to look for it when I miss Korean food again.