Soo Ra Sang

No, its not about someone singing, this is a wonderful Korean restaurant in Bangalore. We reserved in advance, and that turned out to be a good thing. Its not exactly in a location where you might chance upon it. When coming from the Koramangala/MG Road/Indiranagar direction get on to Airport Road, and at the first signal after Manipal Hospital, take a right turn (that’s Wind Tunnel Road). You won’t see it for quite a while, so disregard the voice within you (and behind you or by your side) that says you’re lost. After a while, you’ll have Omega Healthcare on the left, Soo Ra Sang is about 3 plots after that. Parking is not too much of a problem.

The restaurant is on the fourth floor, with the first 3 floors occupied by the hotel. There’s this note stuck inside the lift which warns you of dire consequences if you don’t follow the instructions on it, but they were simple enough, and we survived. The roof top location gives  a wonderful view of Bangalore. There are about seven tables, some of which have a floor mat seating, but they were occupied, so we had to make do with regular seating, but it offered us a great view. The ambience is very cosy, makes you feel completely at home. There was also some nice Korean music in the background. Perfect setting. 🙂

The menu has five sections – Chicken, Seafood, Pork, Beef and Veg. From a few reviews I’d read, i’d decided I’d either have beef or pork, but I chickened out in the end. We got a lot of help from the person in charge of our table, and it was a good coincidence that he suggested the same dishes we’d considered. So D ordered a Dol Soth Bee Bim Bob (no we didn’t say it, we mumbled the number associated with it on the menu). That’s stone pot rice with vegetables and chicken mince. I got the An Dong Cim Dak, which is chicken and soya sauce with green chillies, noodles and vegetables.

We were given a bottle with some flavored water, and were told that it was sweet corn based. Its served chilled, and is quite refreshing once you get used to the taste. We then got a starter with some nice chilly sauce . Its a pancake (Maida based with vegetables, I think the generic name is ‘Jeon’). And then came the main course. In what can be compared to a Kerala sadya experience, we had about 10 plates placed in front of us with small portions of some vegetables, some plain bolied, and some with unique flavors. radish, potato, beans, brinjal, zucchini, Chinese Cabbage, among other things. These serve as accompaniments, we were told, and if we liked, we could get more. 🙂

D’s dish was served in a stone pot, and was expertly mixed for her by the person who served it. Mine looked less fashionable, but I got a small bowl of rice, so there! while the former did remind us a bit of of Chinese food, the latter was completely different from anything I’ve tasted, and awesomely spicy. I guess that was the reason for the bowl of rice, it helps 🙂

The meal ended with a Korean version of dessert. Its served in little cups and is cinnamon based. It’s served cool, but ends up cooling your insides much more. It seems to be a version of Su Jung Gwa. Not exactly the chocolate stuff I’m an addict of, but delicious.

Meanwhile, all of the above cost us Rs.750. The 2 dishes are charged at Rs.375 each, so the starter and the dessert are part of the deal. Each dish on the menu is a meal by itself. The portions are quite sufficient, though i was tempted to ask for a refill of the dessert. Should have.I think the food is authentic, because all the other tables were occupied by Koreans, and they all looked very happy with the food. The service is extremely good. There’s hardly any time between the ordering and the serving. I think they serve some alcohol, since I saw a few KFs, and what looked like some bottled Korean liquor.

Overall, a great experience, though next time, I’d like to try the floor mat, and one of them barbecues on the table. They looked delicious. You really must try it out.

Su Kh Gua Ran Teed. 😀

Soo Ra Sang, 35, RK Arcade, NAL Wind Tunnel Road, Murugeshpalya, Bangalore Ph: 080 41303435

Photos at Zomato

PS. In the bike parking space, there was an old signage, which reminded us that Soo Ra Sang used to be in Koramangala, when we had moved to Bangalore. 🙂