#1. District 7, Korean Chinese Restaurant Chef's Chai Tan Review
Chef's Chai Tan, a Korean style Chinese restaurant, is located between upscale residential areas in the south of Phu My Hung, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, and is operating on the 2nd floor of the Korean Premium BBQ restaurant Ilmirack building. This restaurant is run by the owner, who was former President Roh Moo-hyun's personal chef, and is popular for its plain and light Korean style Chinese food.
For a Chinese restaurant, the interior has a clean and neat pasta restaurant feel. Although the restaurant is not very spacious, the tables are spaced widely apart and partitions are installed between them, so you can eat in a comfortable environment.
I booked a private room during lunch time on Sunday and it was a little stuffy because it had no windows and wasn't very spacious, but it wasn't a bad thing because I was able to eat quietly with my companions. The private room can accommodate up to 8 people.
The side dishes included radish kimchi, pickled radish, onion & cucumber pickles. The taste was all mediocre and I couldn't feel anything special about it, but it was nice to see radish kimchi served in a Chinese restaurant.
To commemorate my first visit to a Chinese restaurant in a while with my group, I ordered a bottle of Yantai-Kaoliang Liquor. The price was not cheap, but it's not bad. The alcohol content is 33%, so it's a little weaker than other Kaoliang liquors, but it tastes pretty good.
The first dish was Stir-fried Seafood with Bamboo Sprout and Mushroom(M). Ingredients such as sea cucumber, pork, shrimp, squid, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and chives was thinly sliced and stir-fried in a sauce containing starch water. It is a non-strong tasting dish that allows you to enjoy the natural texture and taste of the ingredients. It was the most delicious dish I ate that day.
The owner served jjamppong soup(spicy seafood soup) as a service. Unlike other Korean style Chinese restaurants, jjamppong soup of Chef's Chai Tan is not greasy and does not have any artificial fiery taste, so although it is a word that does not fit a Chinese restaurant, it tastes healthy. Of course, since the taste is not strong and it is a bit boring, there are definitely differences in likes and dislikes.
The second dish was pure white Fried Pork with Sweet and Sour Sauce(M) made with clean oil. The moderately sweet and sour sauce goes well with the soft, fluffy fried pork that are not hard or chewy, making it one of the most delicious menu items at Chef's Chai Tan and worthy of being loved by many people.
The third dish was Stir-fried Meat and Vegetables with Flower Buns(L). I originally ordered a medium size, but the owner upgraded the size to large as a service. It is a dish with the aroma of pork and bell peppers, the texture of bamboo shoots and bell peppers, and the subtle spicy and salty taste. It is really delicious when wrapped in the flower bun that comes with Stir-fried Meat and Vegetables.
The fourth food was Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet Chili Sauce(M). Chicken coated in a starchy batter, crunchy vegetables such as lettuce and onions, and green and red peppers are added with a soy sauce-based sauce. It is a salad-like cold dish with a sour, sweet and salty taste that I thought would be good to eat as an appetizer.
After we finished eating, we each ordered noodles. I ordered Noodle in Black Bean Sauce(M), and it was a good ending to the meal as it was inexpensive and the portion size was not small. Certainly, unlike other Korean style Chinese restaurants, all the dishes at Chef's Chai Tan were not greesy and had a light taste, black bean noodles were also taste not strong. So the taste was not bad, but it was a bit disappointing.
Although I was full, I was a little disappointed that I could only eat black bean noodles, so I ordered additional Spicy Noodle with Soft Tofu and Pork(M). It tastes like a mixture of jjamppong and soft tofu stew, and surprisingly, the soup was spicy, clean, and good. However, like black bean noodles, it uses buckwheat noodles, but unlike black bean noodles, the taste of the soup and noodles did not match, so I thought it would be nice to have an option to choose regular noodles.
#2. Korean Chinese Restaurant Chef's Chai Tan Menu
Chef's Chai Tan recently renewed its menu. The concept of a high-end Korean style Chinese restaurant with high prices has changed to one where you can taste a variety of Chinese food at a reasonable price. Of course, the overall ingredients used in cooking have changed and become simpler as the prices have become cheaper compared to the dishes that used to contain a lot of expensive ingredients, but I was able to feel while eating that they were still using fresh ingredients.
Five of my friends and I visited during lunch time on Sunday and ordered the following.
Stir-fried Seafood with Bamboo Sprout and Mushroom(M): 300,000VND
Fried Pork with Sweet and Sour Sauce(M): 350,000VND
Stir-fried Meat and Vegetables with Flower Buns(M): 250,000VND
Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet Chili Sauce(M): 200,000VND
Noodle in Black Bean Sauce: 120,000VND
Noodle in Black Bean Sauce(M): 60,000VND x 3EA = 180,000VND
Spicy Seafood Noodle(M): 100,000VND x 2EA = 200,000VND
Spicy Noodle with Soft Tofu and Pork(M): 100,000VND
Yantai-Kaoliang Liquor: 400,000VND
Jinro Soju: 150,000VND
At the 2,250,000VND, plus 5% service charge, 8% general VAT, and 10% alcohol VAT, came to a total of 2,563,050VND. Five adult men ate a variety of Korean style Chinese dishes, and we were surprised to see that the price was cheaper than expected. Chef's Chai Tan is an attractive Korean style Chinese restaurant where you can enjoy plain and light cuisine, and is especially popular among older people who do not like strong taste foods.
#3. Korean Chinese Restaurant Chef's Chai Tan Hours and Location
Chef's Chai Tan is a Korean Chinese restaurant located in an upscale residential area south of Phu My Hung, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, and operates on the 2nd floor of the Korean Premium BBQ restaurant Ilmirack building. For a more detailed location, click the Check Location button below to check on Google Maps.
Address: 222 Phạm Thái Bường, Tân Phong, Quận 7, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
Phone: 02854125589
Hours: 11:00~14:00 / 16:00 ~ 22:00(Fri, Sat, Sun break x)
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