BAANCHAN - ATT4FUN MAll

Address: ATT4FUN 5th Floor. Taipei Taiwan.

Eating in a department store is always so confusing.  For some reason, everything always seems so appetizing to me.  I really don't know if other people feel the same way, but there is something about all these restaurants and food options being piled together that excites the heck out of my taste buds.  The downside is that eating in such a place is typically a very hit or miss proposition.
My mother and I found ourselves in the relatively new ATT4FUN for lunch on a random Friday.  I think we walked by each restaurant twice, traversed multiple floors before we decided to test our luck at BAANCHAN, and give this Korean restaurant a go.

Like all Korean restaurants.  Some small dishes to get you started.

All the customary Korean fare was represented on the menu.  From savory pancakes, tofu soup, to your grilled meats and Korean style sushi.  The restaurant is nestled in one of the corners on ATT4FUN's fifth floor food pavilion, and has nice large windows overlooking the city.  The decor was simple, and the place was happily buzzing along with a good amount of patrons.  

Like any Korean restaurant, BAANCHAN provides you with some simple side dishes to start.  Some bean sprouts, kimchi and other little treats for you to nibble on as you wait.  This is somehow always my favorite thing whenever I choose Korean food as my dining option.  Who doesn't love appetizers? This is just like getting a ton of appetizers for free....... always appreciated.

 Tofu Stew.

 Meat!

 Seafood Pancake.

Mother's Bibimbap.

We opted to go with a seafood pancake to start, while my mother chose a bibimbap (mixed rice dish) as her meal.  I went with an combo that consisted of a choice of tofu stew and a choice of meat.  

Overall, I didn't think any of these dishes were particularly good.  The seafood pancake was a bit too bland and bready, without having enough of the agreed upon seafood in its DNA make up.  While my mother is notoriously hard to please, her scowl as her bibimbap was brought to her was still slightly exaggerated in my opinion.  She claimed that the dish wasn't authentic and was a bit too dry.  I had a taste myself, and it seemed fine, although definitely far from the best I've had.  

I liked the flavor of the tofu soup although it was definitely a bit on the salty side.  It went well with the rice, but when eaten on its own, the saltiness is eminently noticeable.  The beef however was tough and almost tasteless.  The marinade must have been having an off day as the flavor was definitely lacking.  I can overlook the fact that there were only four pieces since this was a part of a set meal, but the lack of flavor for Korean BBQ is unforgivable.

Some simple Korean sushi options.

Also picked a simple california roll as a topper to the meal (wasn't called a cali roll on the menu however).  It was simple yet satisfying and the thousand island-ish dipping sauce went well with it.  The prices were acceptable, but nothing that I would label cheap for Taiwan as it ran around 1200NT for everything.

Another gripe that I had was the service of the employees.  Something I have grown accustomed to while dining out in Taipei is the impeccable service that you will find in many of the restaurants, be it high end or low end.  The workers were both not attentive and seemed somehow put upon by even the simplest requests.  

As you can see, I wasn't overly pleased with the meal I had at BAANCHAN.  With that said however, the soup and sushi was good, and good Korean food seems to be difficult to find in Taiwan.  If I were to eat at ATT4FUN, there is almost no chance I would choose BAANCHAN again, unless the craving for Korean food had taken over my body.  Percentage of that happening? Slim to none.

Overall BAANCHAN receives: 

-Til Next Time-