Delhi Wine Club enjoys Korean Cuisine at Kofuku

Photos By:: Adil Arora

Philadelphia Roll and Kofuku special rolls with paper thin casing with a melange of avocado, tuna, yellow tail and salmon- in spicy sauce made some difference in what would otherwise be a Japanese Roll. Rajendra Budhraja, partner of Kofuku had also told me that these were ordered more by the Koreans than the Japanese in this restaurant. They were downed nicely by the Australian Prosecco from De Bertoli- Yes, they do make Prosecco in Australia because Italians lost their case against Aussies using Prosecco (now known as Glera in Italy) grapes and calling the bubbly a Prosecco. Certainly, the bubbles were more firm and tingly on the mouth and the very slight sweetness went very well with the ‘Korean’ appetisers.

Moyashi Salad was bean sprout salad revved up by the spicy sesame-based sauce. The dish that impressed me the most was Chicken Tongkatsu - a deep friend cutlet made by pounding the bread covered chicken –served with a special Korean sauce which made all the difference. The original dish is pork-based and even though I was assured that Pork is imported from Belgium, I had apprehension about some members not desirous of the meat. But for the finger-licking delicious savoury sauce, it reminded me of Wiener Schnitzel in Austria which uses lard to fry the meat. The dish was not greasy at all!

In the meantime, we had created a surprise Tasting session on the side. During my recent trip to Portugal, I picked up a couple of bottles of white wine from Vinho Verde produced by Casa Santos (pronounced –Saan-too-sh) Lima who export a couple of their labels through Prestige Wines. We had members try these two labels along with the existing labels. The red wine was overshadowed by the regular red premium from Chile but the white Vinho Verde stood their ground.

In fact, 1 out of 12 persons who rated these wines, found the existing import the best tasting out of the 3 wines;  5 liked the blend better while 6 felt the Alvarinho from Vinho Verde was the best of the lot. It might be mentioned that Alvarinho is the special grape from this Northern region of Portugal (and also in Spain) and is more expensive too. But the good thing was that the unbiased people loved all the 4 wines, especially the whites-a fact to be considered for imports, especially when the second white costs almost the same as the existing import.

Bossum- the pork belly made in Korean style was simply outstanding on its own and added an extra dimension with the super premium red Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Ona’ from Anakena. An excellent, full bodied, fruity wine with silky tannins that made it a pleasure for the pork belly you could cut with the fork This tempted me to request the original Pork version of Tongkatsu. That was a divine match with the Anakena Ona Cab Sauv.

Next up was another typical Korean dish Dubu Jeongol – a Korean Hot Pot which was not hot enough for me but went very well with Anakena Reserve Carmenere-a slightly spicy wine. The dish was based on the spicy kimchi tofu with stew sauce and was quite filling. Served out of the common pot-Indian style it was also interesting with Viña Esmeralda- an interesting off-dry blend of Moscato-Gewürztraminer from Torres, that could handle the spiciness of the food. Later, it turned out to be a good match also with the delicious dessert- Macha Ice Cream.

Thanks to the Chefs and an excellent personalised service by the serving staff, the dinner turned into a lot of bonhomie and convivial chats and people left only when the time to pack up was imminent. Despite some members staying away from the dinner due to the Korean food due to lack of exposure, those who attended were happy that they could come again to the restaurant for Korean cuisine, in addition to the Japanese cuisine for which the restaurant is well established.

Subhash Arora

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