Tan Xiaomi

ANY argument over which Shenzhen restaurant serves the best Korean snacks should end with Zheng Yi Wei.

High ceilings, comfortable wooden furnishings and good service add marks to the restaurant which provides small Korean dishes. The menu is available in both Chinese and English.

The secret of this restaurant's success lies in its excellent stone bowl dishes, an ambitious blend of sliced meat, kimchi and assorted vegetables that perfectly combine in a preheated grey stone bowl.

The steaming kimchi stone bowl (18 yuan) is almost overflowed with sliced pork, sweet-and-spicy kimchi, bean sprouts and carrots. Stir them all together with a dollop of Korean-style chili pepper paste and tuck in. You should eat the dish with a spoon rather than chopsticks.

The heated stone bowl helps to keep the rice warm for an hour, and don't forget to try the golden-brown crispy rice at the bottom before finishing the bowl.

The taste of the home-made kimchi and chili pepper paste has been lightened a little bit to cater to local diners.

The stone bowl is actually a variation of "bibimbap," literally meaning mixed rice. The mixed rice, topped with vegetables, beef and a raw egg, is generally served in a stainless-steel washbasin instead of a stone bowl.

Other choices include stone plate rice, which is similar to the Japanese teppanyaki and produces lots of smoke. Spicy squid with kimchi stir-fried in stone plate (25 yuan) or curry with beef (20 yuan) are also recommended.

Kimbap or rice roll (18 yuan) is a very popular snack. The dish consists of cooked rice, sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds, to which small amounts of vinegar and sugar are often added. Then it is placed on a sheet of dried laver. The seasoned rice is spread on the laver, and fried egg, carrot, strips of ham, seasoned ground beef, pickled radish, seasoned spinach, and cucumber are then placed on the rice, and rolled in the manner of Japanese sushi.

Naengmyeon or cold noodles is the perfect dish for a hot day. The dish comprises buck-wheat cold noodles (15 yuan) served in a large bowl with a tangy broth, raw julienned vegetables, a half boiled egg and cold cooked beef. Vinegar and sesame enhance its flavor.

Also, don't forget to try the soybean paste soup and kimchi pancake.

The Korean-style soybean paste soup (18 yuan) is usually served with a meat course. It contains a variety of vegetables, shellfish and tofu, small mussels, shrimp and large anchovies.

The kimchi pancake is made mostly of eggs and flour, with fermented kimchi, green onion, oysters, or fresh baby clams cooked on a frying pan. The dish tastes best when it is dipped hot in soy sauce, vinegar, and red pepper powder.

Zheng Yi Wei

正一味

Add: No. 9-10, Choi Lan Gourmet, B/F, CITIC Metro Arcade, 1093 Shennan Road

深南中路1093号中信地铁商场夹层蔡澜美食坊9-10号铺

Tel: 8290-3070

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Metro: Ke Xue Guan Station (Science Museum Station 科学馆站), Exit D

Parking: five yuan per hour