Malang's Ttoekbokki Battle!

Boombayah!

Korea nowadays is super popular among Indonesia and other countries. Especially its music, right? But its drama, TV show, and even food also becoming super popular because of K-pop fans around the world! 

Let's talk about one of the most popular Korean food, Tteokbokki. 

Who does not know Tteokbokki? Never eat that before but at least you already heard about it? See it in some drama scene or your bias eat it in some TV show? Rest assure because I will tell you all about it!

Tteokbokki (떡볶이; spelled ddukbokki) is a popular Korean dish that likes to show up a lot in Korean dramas. Tteokbokki, or what people also known as stir-fried rice cakes, is made from tteok myeon (rice cake noodle that is long cylinder-shaped with white color). Usually, eomuk (Korean fish cake), boiled eggs, and scallions will be added too.

Where to find and eat tteokbokki then? Do we have to go to Korea first just to eat tteokbokki? Well, if you have so much money then go on! But if you don't? You can find and eat tteokbokki in Malang too! I will share and compare 3 restaurants or cafes that sell tteokbokki in Malang with different tastes, variations, and of course, price. 

1. Kimbap Rina

Kimbap Rina (KIRIN) is a small, home-cooked restaurant that serves Korean cuisine. This restaurant, which is located on Jalan Kalpataru no. 40, serves food and drink that is quite affordable.

source: @kirinkimbap (Instagram)

Kimbap Rina does serve ttoekbokki in their menu. But I want to share my opinion about their rapokki. Rapokki is a pun from Ra-bokki (Rabokki). It is basically ramyoen noodles but cooked with ttoekbokki.  Eomuk and boiled eggs are also a common addition for this dish, just like other ttoekbokki dishes. Kimbap Rina sells its rapokki also with a portion of up to three people with various prices (IDR 29.000, IDR 56.000, IDR 84.000). Quite a cheap price for Korean cuisine (price includes tax), but the taste is so-so. The ramyoen noodles taste like common ramyoen noodles that were sold in a supermarket. The ttoekbokki is quite too chewy, so it's a bit hard to bite. 

2. Kimchi Story

look at those melted cheese!

Kimchi Story is a Korean Cafe located in Jalan Tidar No. 2A. Kimchi Story not only providing tteokbokki menus, but they also provide Korean specialties dishes such as bulgogi. 

The menu I am going to talk about is Tteoboki Chicken. It is a fried chicken served with Korean chili paste (gochujang), tteokbokki, and mozzarella cheese at the price of IDR 55.000 (price does not include tax). Pricy but worth it! It a potion for 2-3 people and the taste is super delicious. The tteokbokki's chewiness is perfect. The combination of the gochujang dan mozzarella cheese is birdie num num! Even the chicken taste so good. 

3. Aventree BBQ Resto & Homestay

Located in Jalan Soekarno Hatta Blok B No.4A, Aventree BBQ Resto & Homestay is a Korean restaurant that provides grill and shabu-shabu in its menu as its specialties. There is an indoor and semi-outdoor area as a smoking area. It is also a homestay with quite a cheap price, around IDR 200.000 for one night stay.

The tteokbokki that Aventree sells is for IDR 29.000. IDR 32.700 if you want cheese topping (price does not include tax). It served in a nice and neat plating, looks super eyecatching and instagramable. But the portion is not as much as what I imagined. The texture of the tteokbokki is good, but the sauce is not much enough and thick so it feels a little bland.

source: @aventreeid

I think tteobokki that wins this battle is Kimchi Story's Tteokbokki Chicken! It is such perfection in terms of taste, variations, and price! Try that later if you never tried it before.