Favs: Seafood Pancake, Pan Fried Dumplings, Pork Bone & Potato Soup, Grade Boneless beef ribs, Grilled sliced Pork Belly

7.5/10 plates emptied!

[Written by Gobay in Chinese, Carly in English]

吉碟幫終於齊人來到這個讓人又愛又恨，服務差到街知巷聞但聽說是韓國人至愛的韓國餐廳。也許會讓部分打算『看文解氣、同仇敵愾』的食友失望——這篇食評其實是為元豐園正名的——因為餐廳的靈魂不是服務，是食物。

先大體說一下被人一致差評了很久的『服務』再說食物吧。當晚我們比預訂的時間晚了15分鐘，只見Lorling和韓籍老闆娘貌似求情，過不久我們就被手下留情『放進去』了，後來Lorling解釋說老闆娘只是和我們開玩笑。而整頓飯的過程中，服務還算周到，有位侍應大嬸還教我們怎麼喝米酒碰杯。在忠實粉絲Lorling和Dvd的講解下，我們知道了從前這裡的服務確是奇差，近半年才逐漸開始有改進，所以我們才見識不到傳聞中的『阿豬媽』脾氣。閒話不多說，以下的食物環節會讓大家知道為什麼我們想為這家餐廳正名。

The Gang has been longing to try out Won Pung Won just because it was our Korean cuisine expert Lorling and DvD’s favorite authentic Korean restaurant in Hong Kong. Openrice reviews have been absolutely notorious and negative when it comes to rating the service, often leaving customers with a raging temper after visiting. We hope that this review will not raise your expectations on the service level, since in Carly’s opinion; it will never be good or even close to ideal. We call this the “complete” dining experience of Korean cuisine just because of the imperfect service, rather thrilling and perfect cooked Korean dishes, and you will be able to understand that, as soon as you glance over to see the place packed with Koreans. No, we were not kidding about the food.

地道的韓式烤肉店，用的是鐵架氣爐火並不是炭火——一般人愛吃炭燒烤肉但純正的韓國本土烤肉店，其實很少是炭燒的，價錢問題。韓式烤肉其實是以醬汁或醃汁出名，其次就是肉的品種、質地和鮮度。我們點了以下幾款加一份韓式生菜（HKD50）：無骨烤牛肋骨、鐵鍋燒五花腩、和烤牛肉。

Local Korean barbeque places are equipped with gasoline stoves made in metal instead of charcoal types. Though people usually opt for charcoal grilled meat, Korean authentic places seldom use that, most likely related to cost constraints. Korean barbeque is prominent for their sauce/marinated spices, followed by the beef origin, texture, and freshness. The Gang ordered one serving of mixed veggie (HKD50) to go with “evil” beef, so here goes the verdict:

【無骨烤牛肋骨 | HKD130】

這裡是簡單地用黑胡椒末和油醃了一下，因為有韓式烤肉醬（據韓食達人Lorling解說，應該是由韓式豆瓣醬，辣醬加粟米糖漿，胡椒粉和麻油等自家烹煮，所以每間烤肉店都會有點不同），黑胡椒鹽麻油（必須提一下，這裡的麻油非常的香和惹味，很特別）和湯醬油的緣故。我們手上放著芝麻葉，放一片牛肋骨肉，加上些許烤肉醬，最後拌上半勺白飯，裹著一口送進嘴裡——肉汁瞬間包著有點糯米質感的白飯，加上甜辣的醬汁——不禁讓人想起了《孤獨的美食家》裡五郎的一次吃烤肉配白飯的經歷和整頓飯他臉上陶醉的表情！ 

Very close to the same cut of beef as we compared this with the Entrecôte part we had at La Vache! Beef ribs being the cut right above the waist of the cow, the rich beef flavor and texture at La Vache! is considered higher tier in quality compared to Won Pung Won. Not going to complain much for its reasonable price (Korean barbeque is so expensive these days; you always end up paying at least HKD350 pp for dinner). Boneless beef ribs have to be the favorite kind of thing for meat loves. Enjoy it simply with dipping the sizzling grilled beef in the mixture of sesame oil and grinded black pepper, Gobay noted that Won Pung Won’s sesame oil was particularly aromatic and special to go with barbequed beef. Korea guru Lorling stated that traditionally Korean Chilli bean sauce – blending red chilli paste with corn syrup and pepper powder will be offered at the table. Yet this really depends on restaurants, different dipping sauce will be offered, adding its own twist on the flavors and spices. 

Best way of enjoying delectable Korean grilled beef: arugula/fresh veggie, sizzling hot grilled beef ribs, add a bit of sweet chili paste to enhance the savory flavor, chewing that all together in one bite of rice. This, is, life. 

【鐵鍋燒五花腩 | HKD120】

至於五花腩，席間我們看到旁邊的一桌韓國人，先是用泡菜抹勻了在鐵鍋面上烤炙，然後將五花腩放上一起烤，我們當晚沒有機會嘗試這種烤法，但絕對是別有風味。雖然這裡的五花腩不算是特別肥美，在鍋上煎後，陣陣的油香包在新鮮的生菜，沾上傳統風味的紅辣椒醬，不會太辣，放入口就嘗到剛煎起豬油的甘香，實在是叫人難以抗拒。Carly仍是覺得名家的燒肉比元豐園的質素高一點，對比是牛肋骨肉的肉質、醃製的醬料/醬油、味道，和五花腩的肥瘦比例。元豐園的燒肉是不俗，但名家的更見美味。

Another authentic way of enjoying Korean barbeque, fatty pork belly grilled till the edges of the fat turned sizzling golden brown, giving off an irresistible aroma. Best combo and rather traditional way of enjoying grilled pork belly was to wrap it with fresh veggie (lettuce or arugula), one small bite of rice, a bit of Korean chilli paste – never too spicy but elevates the sweetness and seasoning of the non-seasoned pork belly. Won Pung Won’s pork belly was not particularly fatty so it was not the best type of juicy pork you can have around, yet for its price, what more can you ask for.  

Marinated beef slices were decent enough on its own, without dipping it into the barbeque sauce served on the table. Noteworthy that each Korean barbeque place has their own houseblend of dipping sauce – Carly’s personal favorite still goes to the simple combo of sea salt chunks mixed with sesame oil, even better, Myung Ga (名家) uses pink Himalayan salt, a type of rock salt that is not processed as much as household table salt. 

Lorling說這裡的海鮮煎餅是全香港韓式餐廳做得最好的，吃完後我們大家都深以為然！它的優秀之處在於麵漿的調配，當然還有火候和炊具使用到家。煎餅的口感外脆內糯，而且厚度比一般的煎餅要薄，夾雜著海鮮青蔥的爽韌，口感前所未有的好，強烈推介必食，否則後悔！據Lorling和DvD說，這裡的海鮮煎餅水準每次如一地那麼出色，但是菜單上面沒有這道菜，要直接點。

Lorling acclaimed Won Pung Won’s Seafood pancake to be the best in town, Carly undoubtedly seconded that. Optimal balance of seafood meat, flour, spring onions, pan-fried till it turned slightly golden brown, heavenly crispy with a light touch, never too oily. Crunchy on the exterior, and somewhat chewy on the inside. Chopped green onions well-blended with chunky seafood bits of octopus and shrimps. Lorling and Dvd as frequent diners at Won Pung Won, acclaimed for their consistency of the excellent seafood pancake served every time. This item is not listed on their menu *shhh* you just need to order it secretly and hope that the ajummas (translated as middle-aged ladies in Korean) do not say no. 

【煎餃子 | HKD250 (L) HKD130 (S) 】

煎餃子也一樣出色，雖然是簡單的大白菜豬肉餡，但餃皮很脆並帶種爽的感覺，讓Gobay想起日本飲食漫畫『中華一番』裡面有場餃子大賽，主角在餃皮裡加了淮山蓉達到『爽』的口感。Lorling說只要在煎之前把餃子放進急凍等餃皮雪硬了再加水和油煎就可以達致這種口感，喜歡烹飪的食友可以試下這個方法。

Profoundly cooked dish of some intriguing pan-fried dumplings filled with chopped cabbage and minced pork. The dumplings were pan-fried till the dough and edges turned crispy and fresh choppy in a sensational way. To get the crispy crunchy texture, Lorling suggested that dumplings can be icy frozen in the fridge for a while before cooking them in scorching oil. 

【辣豬骨鍋 | HKD350 (L) HKD280 (S) 】

豬骨煲最好的部位應該是用豬膝和筒骨 (腿骨)，豬膝肉滑而且有很多筋，筋煮久了會變得很軟，膠質很豐富，筒骨裡的骨髓比較多，煲出來骨髓容易融入湯汁，令湯更鮮更濃。這裡主要用的是豬脊骨，連著骨的肉會比較多，肉質也挺滑，湯上面放了很多芝麻葉 (紫蘇)，是韓國人最常吃的蔬菜之一。芝麻葉的味道很獨特而強，吃不習慣的人可能不喜歡。湯不會太辣，吃著十分開胃，下飯一流！推薦喜歡吃豬骨煲火鍋的食友去之前有寫到的西環坤記煲仔小菜，那裡的豬骨就全部用豬膝和筒骨，也是另一種『豬骨』趣味。

Pork bone soup cooked bullocks and huge portions of soft, tender pork, the cuts close to the bones are succulent and soft. Gobay recommended using pork knuckles or bone marrows to cook them into a soup base as the tendon will easily turn soft and nutrients will dissolve into the soup, condensed in essences, mild heat on the palate. Handful of arugula leaves were added to the soup, one of Koreans’ favorite veggie. Arugula does come with a very unique and rather pungent flavor, people either love it or hate it. Mildly spicy soup base is very heartwarming and appetizing to go with rice. Kwan Kee in Sai Wan (So far still the highest rated restaurant by the Gang), pork knuckles and bone marrows are cooked to its perfection, another spot worth hitting!

元豐園的服務水平改進了很多，但就算沒有改進，吉碟幫也覺得它的食物是值得點讚的！韓燒，香港開到近乎轉角就梗有一間在附近，但真心好吃的韓國餐廳不多，不是價錢偏貴，就是花臣玩太盡，味道又不怎麼樣。元豐園榮登Lorling與Dvd香港地最喜愛的韓式餐廳實在不為過。

It was not surprising to see the wave of notorious reviews on Openrice for Won Pung Won for its unfriendly service, point taken, food is what you should be coming back for when visiting Korean authentic places. 

Unquestionably, Won Pung Won’s cooked dished scored some top marks on Emptyplates Gang’s list. Not the best in town for barbeque meat but definitely reasonably priced. Bill ended up around HKD250 per person for dinner, not too bad as we were all so stuffed, plus we ordered a bottle of rice wine on the side. You may even locate and pin down one of our Gang members there for dinner, happily munching away!