정담 Jung Dam (North Shore City, New Zealand)

One of our recent accidental discoveries was this Korean restaurant called Jung Dam, located in Wairau Valley just beside the Laundromat near Burger King. It was an unplanned visit because during that time we were planning to dine in on one of our favourite Japanese restaurants in North Shore, Naritas but by the time we arrived there, the place was under renovation, while our usual default when we don’t opt in for Japanese was Hansan, I felt like I want to try something new, so we headed back to our car and as we walk we saw this place. Instead of driving and searching for another place to have dinner, we gave this place a try and to cut the story short it was a good decision.

We came in just nearly after 7:00PM, usually it’s a busy time for dining out but this place was not quite packed yet. There were several available tables, so we don’t have to wait. Upon entering what will welcome you is the scent of Korean chilli paste; it was a good sign. We sat down and observed, most patrons were Korean and most of them either have a hot pot or a large flat cooking griddle in front of them filled with amazing food. We were not up for a feast this time and wanted something easy and quick, hence we just grabbed some individual dishes that fancied us from the menu.

After looking at the lovely photos from the menu, we ended up getting three dishes, first one was the Ddukbaegi Bulgogi (NZ$19.00), served on a hotpot filled with marinated bulgogi in a stew with vegetables and glass noodles.

We also had some Kimchi Jjigae (NZ$18.00), served also on a hot pot filled with Kimchi, pork, and tofu in a bright red broth.

And finally the since we have two stews, we decided to have one dry dish in the form of Wang Donkasu (NZ$22.00), an impressively large slab of deep-Fried pork cutlet served with their homemade sauce.

Like in any typical Korean fashion, all dishes are served with rice and several side dishes like Kimchi, some sort of cucumber salad, Myeolchi Bokkeum (seasoned anchovies) and a spicy salad made with chives, cucumber and celery.

The food was amazing, not too spicy, so other who can’t take heat can enjoy their food. Every dish was spot on, they were all good and tasty. Serving size was huge, don’t be fooled by the looks of the small boiling pot, they do contain a lot of things inside and that pork cutlet, they were bigger than my face. Definitely you can taste the quality of ingredients used. Place was clean, staff were friendly and very attentive to your needs, I highly recommend this one, perhaps it is the best Korean restaurant in North Shore.

정담 Jung Dam
Address: 20a Link Drive, Wairau Valley, Auckland 0627, New Zealand
Phone: +649 441 7080