Kkongdon BBQ | ThumbsForFood

I was having an intense craving for korean food during work so I decided to try out Kkongdon BBQ. I walked past it many times and noticed that it was always almost empty, even during the lunch hours. But I decided to give it a chance because the poor crowd could be due to the location (Djitsun Mall) right? Plus I googled their Daily Set Lunch Menu and it looked pretty decent. 

So, I went on a Monday, during lunch hours and it was .... pretty empty. We ordered the BBQ Set A. There were 5 options to choose from, and it was $12.80 ++ per person (minimum 2 person to order). 

There is also the individual set lunch menu to choose from, with prices ranging from $9.80 to $18.80.

The lunch came with free flow side dishes. The side dishes were a little too bland. The kimchi was so horrible that we did not even finish our first plate.

BBQ Set A consists of beef and pork, served with rice and Kimchi soup. Our first reaction when the meat was served was how unappetizing the meat appeared. The meat was cut in huge chunks and frozen.

And so, we decided to throw all the meat onto the grill so that the thick chunks of meat can be cooked within our lunch hour.

I have to be honest and say, how bad can BBQ meat taste right? The meat turned out okay and for the amount of meat (plus soup), $12.80 is quite a bargain.

The kimchi soup is a safe choice, nothing out of the ordinary but nothing bad about it as well.

Overall, I have to say that I was quite disappointed with the standard of food served at Kkongdon BBQ. I don't know if it was because of the outlet I visited but I mean it can't be that bad right? Considering the fact that they have 4 outlets in Singapore.

Well, at least I gave it a try but I know for sure I will not be back at Kkongdon, at least not soon.

Kkongdon BBQ
5 Ang Mo Kio Central 2
#01-06
Singapore 569663

Opening Hours:
Daily 1100-2230

Have a good week ahead!

Cheers,
Z

Paik's Bibimbap (Bedok Mall) | ThumbsForFood

Being a Korean food lover, I was quite excited when Paik's Bibimbap opened in Bedok Mall. It's signature is non other than it's fusion-style bibimbap. 

Paik's is located at the side of Bedok Mall. As renovation works are still ongoing, it might be a little bit harder to spot Paik's. It is right next to Mr. Bean. I have visited the eatery twice - once during lunch and once on a weekend early dinner slot. It was quite empty both times. Paik's is a simple bistro that boosts a small seating capacity with quite a simple menu. 

Interior of Paik's Bibimbap

We tried the signature Terriyaki Chicken Bibimbap ($8.90) which was chicken stir-fried with soy sauce and a dash of Tenkatsu (rice crispy) and vegetable with special mayonnaise sauce. I added the hot pepper sauce in as well. Really, the dish is not photogenic at all. Like many of you reading this, I thought to myself "What a plain dish!" when I saw it. However, I was so surprised at how naturally flavorful it was after I mixed everything up. The various textures from the rice, tenkatsu, cabbage, vegetables made the dish alive.

Terriyaki Chicken Bibimbap

Previously, I had tried the Squid Bibimbap which they removed from their menu. I really hope that they can include it back in because it was so yummy! I especially enjoyed the flavorful squid. On my last visit, I noticed that they had only 3 flavors left - Terriyaki Chicken, Marinated Tofu and Beef Bulgogi. 

Warm Noodles with Soy Sauce was another choice. The first time when I was there, the warm noodles were al dente. The soy sauce was so fragrant that it made the dish really appetising. However, I was a little disappointed on my second visit as the noodles were slightly soggy. Nevertheless, the Soy Sauce made up a little for it. Hope to see the noodles improve the next time around!

Warm Noodles with Soy Sauce

Overall, Paik's Bibimbap boosts a simple, fuss-free, self-service concept. I liked that the bibimbap tasted naturally flavored. It made me feel that my meal was wholesome with a balance of both proteins and vegetables. I would think that I will return here again for some simple yet healthy meal! And of course, I would love to try their steamed egg and Anchovy Noodles next time!

Paik's Bibimbap Cashier 

Paik's Bibimbap

Bedok Mall #01-95

311 New Upper Changi Road

Open daily: 10am to 10pm

Love, Y

Superstar K (Tanjong Pagar) | ThumbsForFood

Korean food lovers probably would have heard of Superstar K situated in Tanjong Pagar. Superstar K serves up various ala carte Korean dishes such as stews, noodles, e.t.c. It's highlight however would definitely be its Barbecue Meat!

One of the best must-haves for good barbeque meat is non other than the fire! Meat barbecued with Charcoal fire definitely makes the meat more fragrant! Superstar K also has a smoke vent directly under every barbecue pit to ensure that the place does not get overly smoky.

Charcoal Flame

Patrons would have to crowd around a stove and dine. I really quite like the vibrant atmosphere of the restaurant as it resonates the ones in Korea. A tip for ladies or anyone who has bags, you can lift up the seat of the stool to reveal a compartment for you to stow your bags away to refrain them for having the barbecue smell. 

Interior of Superstar K

Every patron will be served with their own tray of sauces and condiments. I like this concept as it is cleaner and more convenient. For those who are wondering what the onion sauce is for, you can actually dip marinated meat in it for it to enhance its flavor. A good tip from Z!

Condiments and Sauces

They sell Hite Beer at $12 a bottle as well. We find that Hite really goes well with barbecued meat as it is refreshing and light!

Hite Beer

Superstar K also serves up side dishes (banchan) that you can refill for free once. We found their kimchi really delicious as it is not too sour not too spicy.

Side dishes and personal sauces tray

We tried their Beef as it was recommended by the staff there. We saw many tables eating their beef as well. Look at how beautifully marbled the beef is below! The good thing is also that the staff will help you cook the meat so you can happily enjoy chatting with friends whilst waiting for the meat to be done. We found the beef really quite good and juicy!

Beef

Yes, Superstar K also serves up steamed egg (for free with order of  BBQ meat) ! You can ask for one refill for this as well! It is soooo good! The egg is really fluffy and delicious. Goes really well with rice!

Steamed Egg

In the middle of the picture below, that is one of the must-try in out opinion. The curded beancurd soup! It is spicy, appetising and the beancurd is really smooth! Totally appetising and delicious.

Our Meal with Curded Beancurd Soup

We tried their spicy chicken as well. Please bear with the visually not very appetising raw chicken. It is actually quite delicious! A tip is to eat the spicy chicken with kimchi. It helps to neutralize some of the spiciness.

Spicy Chicken

Overall, we had a great experience at Superstar K! We would recommend Superstar K for small group of 3-4 friends which we feel is most comfortable to seat around the table. I personally feel that Superstar K is quite underrated as it does serve up relatively good meat. Korean food lovers, do give this place a try! (There's another branch opened at Telok Ayer as well)

75 Tanjong Pagar Road
6224 0504
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 1130-1430; 1730-2300
(Closed on Mondays)

Cheers,
Y

Todamgol (Tanjong Pagar) | ThumbsForFood

It is not difficult to spot Todamgol along the Little Korean Street of Tanjong Pagar. The exterior and interior is themed to be a rustic and village-like. It has been the area for quite some time so we have always wanted to try it!  

Please pardon the yellowish tinge in the photos below due to the lighting and I was so hungry I did not adjust the settings of the camera. 

Todamgol Menu

What really attracts me to Korean food is the banchan (side dishes) that they serve. It just whets your appetite with the salty, sweet, sour flavors in each dish. We were served 5 side dishes. My favorite would be the kimchi! It goes really well with rice and it's really appetizing. Always a good way to start the meal! You can refill the side dishes but just make sure you don't stuff yourself too much before the main courses arrive!

Banchan (side dishes)

We read that Todamgol also has an extensive collection of Rice Wine. Korean rice wine is more on the sweet side and thus, would appeal to ladies. Based on your preference of a sweeter or thicker one, the waiter would recommend the one to suit your palate. We ordered the sweeter one and it was really smooth and tasty. We would definitely like to try other rice wine in future! If you are a light drinker, a serving would be good for 4-6 people.

Korean Rice Wine

As it was our first time there, we were not sure how the serving size would be. Hence, I guess we over-ordered a little. For an average eater, I would recommend that each dish is good to be shared among 3-4 people with exception of their barbecued meat.

The main courses range from $25 to about $35 each.

Kim Chi Jun Gol (Kimchi Stew: about $30) is a must try dish when we visit Korean restaurants. We really appreciate a piping hot pot of soup to warm our stomachs. The kimchi stew here consists of the usuals like tofu, mushroom and tanghoon (glass noodles). We felt that the ingredients were rather miserly considering the price we were paying. The soup however was tasty. Do look out for our upcoming posts on our favorite places for kimchi stew!

Kim Chi Jun Gol 

We ordered a meat dish, Stir-fried Chicken Stew. We had initially thought that it would be served like the Kimchi stew but was wrong. It came in a really huge plate with chicken, potatoes, capsicum and gravy. Taste-wise, it was not bad. A really good dish to go with plain rice. The chicken was tender but we had hoped that it could be boneless.

Stir-fried Chicken Stew

We ordered some barbecued beef (about $20). The difference of the portion compared to the other dishes was vast! Nevertheless, the beef was tender and well-marinated. Really delicious but all of us felt that the portion was disatisfying.

Barbecued Beef

We tried the Seafood Pancake (about $20). The seafood ingredients was quite generous. I would prefer if the pancake was more crispy and served hot!

Seafood Pancake

Overall, we felt that Todamgol offers a good ambiance for gatherings with friends. If you have a large group, you can request for a private room. There are hits and misses in the food. Do order some rice wine to complement the food! 

Overall Rating: 7/10

31 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Singapore 088454
6224 7077

Love, Y

The Korea Food Company | ThunbsForFood

Fancy some healthy and delicious korean food without having to step out of the house? 

The Korea Food Company is the place where you can find this service! They offer ready to cooked pre-packed Korean meals that are delivered to your doorstep! 

Being a Korean food lover and a curious person, we decided to try the food! We decided to go for the Bibimbap Celebration Set ($58.50; Serves 6pax). As you know there are many ingredients that go in a Bibimbap. It takes a lot of effort to prepare the ingredients, cut them up and arrange them nicely. Preparation wise, it would probably take more than an hour. 

So, we ordered it in and it was delivered promptly. Side dishes are anchovy, Kimchi and sun-dried radish. Seaweed soup was given free upon request. As you can see below, the ingredients are packed and labelled nicely in their respective containers. Very hygienic! So, if you would like to safe more time, you can certainly pop them in the microwave to heat them up! But, we chose to heat them on a pan. 

Bibimbap Celebration Set

And, the set also comes with Japchae and Kimchi. The Kimchi is served in a bottle (quite large). Japchae is one of my favorite! I just love the texture of the thick glass noodles that they have. They also gave us a pack of rice to cook! You can choose whether you prefer Korean Pancake or Japchae.

Japchae

As you can see below, the meal looks super wholesome. Add some Korean Chili Sauce (not shown in picture). You can choose the meat (pork/beef/chicken).

The meal was for 6 pax and its really quite wholesome! If you have less than 6 people like us, you can split the portion into two and eat it for the next day as well.

Taste wise, I got to say the meat was well-marinated and the ingredients were fresh! It's really quite yummy. Considering how easy it was to prepare, it is definitely something I would order again if I have a party of friends coming over for a meal. Fuss-free and yummy!

They do have other choices as well such as BBQ meat and ala carte menu.

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

To order, visit http://www.koreafoodcompany.com/

Love, Y

Wang Dae Bak Korean BBQ Restaurant (China Square Central) | ThumbsForFood

I'm sure fellow Korean food fanatics have heard of Wang Dae Bak Korean BBQ Restaurant in the Tanjong Pagar area along Amoy Street. It has another branch in China Square Central and we would like to share with our readers this hidden Lunch Promotion find! 

The "Lunch Sets $10 nett" signages placed around the restaurant were what caught our attention. The extra pull factor was its free flow of iced barley tea. Having said that, not all the lunch sets are at $10. Some are slightly above $10 depending on the type of dish. But, nothing goes above $20. 

Free flow barley tea

And... Like all traditional Korean Restaurants, lunch sets come with side dishes! Really like the fact that they are quite generous in their side dishes. We really love the tofu marinated with chili (top of the photo) and glass noodles (bottom of the photo).

Side dishes

We ordered a Bulgogi (Beef on hot plate) that was $10. The serving was reasonable. Beef, however was a bit too tough. Probably, a little overcooked. The marination was not bad which made the beef tasty.

Beef Bulgogi

We also ordered Son Du Bu Jiggae (Spicy Seafood Bean Curd Stew: $10). It was quite delicious. The ingredients were generous and we particularly like the tofu in it. The soup is reasonably spicy and the seafood taste permeates through the stew. Would say that this is a must order if you are a fan of Korean Stew.

Son Du Bu Jiggae

Even though there were only the two of us, we were really greedy! We could not resist the temptation to order Ddokboki (Spicy Rice Cake: $4) and Seafood Pancake ($3). These were classified under side dishes.  The Ddokboki portion was reasonably fair. It's mildly spicy with some sweetness. Would order it again if I were to crave for some Ddokboki. The Seafood Pancake on the other hand was a little disappointing. The combination of flour and seafood was bland and overly starchy.

Ddokboki (Spicy Rice Cake)

Seafood Pancake

So, here's our feast for two! We actually refilled our side dishes once. So, we were really very full! The lunch sets come with rice too.

Feast for 2

Overall, Wang Dae Bak at China Square Central is a small and cosy restaurant. It serves affordable and value-for-money lunch sets that we think would generally appeal to those working in the area. We were there on a Saturday for lunch and there is quite a handful of patrons considering that China Square is pretty empty on a weekend.

Do share with us your thoughts on Wang Dae Bak if you have dined there too! :)

Interior

Our Rating: (For lunch set only) 8.5/10

For it's value-for-money

22 Cross Street

#01-64 China Square Central

Tel: 62252646

Mon - Sat: 11:30 - 14:30

Love, Y

Sarang | ThumbsForFood

Sarang is a Korean restaurant located in Orchard Central. Having heard much about it, we decided to visit it after buying some Groupon Coupons for food there! 

They have indoor and outdoor seats. We were seated outdoors, but, it was comfortable as it was airy. 

Sarang's appearance

Side dishes and Cutlery

 We started off with ordering Japchae from the Tapas section on the menu. The japchae is tasty with the glass noodles being succulent and not too dry.

Japchae

 We ordered some omijacha and yuzu alcohol. The drinks are quite nice and they have a variety of other drinks that are named after K-pop stars name! Do check it out when you're there.

Omijacha and Yuzu Alcohol

Barbecued Pork Belly was not bad. The good thing is that you can eat comfortably without needing to worry about smelling bad from the barbeque smoke. The meat is quite well-marinated. The dish costs about $30, which is a little steep considering it's portion.

Barbecued Pork Belly

We chose an Army stew, which is the one with Seafood ingredients. They have other kinds of country stews which is of different variations of different ingredients such as seafood, beef and other stuff. The army stew is about $30 which we felt was not worth the money due to its small portion.

Army Stew

Dukbokki was out other choice. This dish was disappointing though because it was small in portion and had different other ingredients. We had expected the focus to be more of the dukbokki, which is the rice cakw other than the other ingredients.

Dukbokki

Jajeongmyeon, which is noodles with black bean sauce was also quite disappointing. We preferred the noodles to be less watery. Having said that, the taste was not bad.

Jajeongmyeon

 Lastly, we ordered Seafood Pancake. The seafood pancake is crispy on the outside and the seafood ingredients in it is fresh and succulent. For lovers of seafood pancake, do consider trying this!

Seafood pancake

We spent a total of $120 (before Groupon vouchers). Overall, for the price, the portion is quite small. The food is not bad, quite tasty but not extraordinary. I guess we came into conclusion that for the price, there are better Korean Restaurants out there with better prices for good quality food.

Our Rating: 6.8/10

181 Orchard Road

#07-01 Orchard Central

Tel: 67731322

Love, Y

Boss BarbQ (Clarke Quay) | ThumbsForFood

It seems that we have not reviewed any Korean restaurants yet. Well, that’s not because we don’t like Korean Food. Instead, we do enjoy Korean Cuisine. So, do look out for more Korean food reviews!

We bought a Groupon deal for $50 for food worth $100 of food at Boss BarbQ to try out the food there! Boss BarbQ is actually a contemporary K-Pop and K-Bar, featuring grilled Korean dishes. It is actually an established franchise store from Korea. 

Interior of the restaurant

Deejay sound system in the Restaurant

While you are waiting for your food to be served, K-pop MTVs featuring famous K-pop songs will be played on-screen to entertain you.

The menu features many dishes from grilled to fried chicken to many other Korean authentic dishes.

Menu

Take note that there is 15% off Citibank credit card promotions, that is not valid with other discounts or promotions.

15% Citibank Promotion on food

DO TAKE NOTE! Side dishes are priced at $3 a set. And they are only refillable one time. This is quite disappointing as we had previously visited other Korean restaurants that serve free flow side dishes that are not charged to the bill. Kimchi is like an essential to Korean food, thus, I feel that it should be given free flow for customers to consume. Well, I quite like the taste of the sides but just that portion is too small and lacking variety.

Side Dishes - $3/set

Drinks are also charged (except Iced Water)! But well, the barley tea is free-flow at a charge of $2 per pax. We notice that these charges were not told to us when they asked us whether we would like to have them. I think it would be better for the restaurant to be more explicit in their prices because we saw one table  of patrons who were really shocked when they saw their bill for they didn't expect these charges to be incurred. Rice is also charged at $2 a bowl.

We tasted the recommended Fried Chicken ( about $38 for 16 pieces). We took a mix of Spicy ones and Original-flavored ones. Majority of us preferred the Original Fried Chicken because it was juicy and the meat was tender as it used the thigh of the chicken. It was not too oily as well and the batter was just right. On the other hand, the Spicy Fried chicken was dipped in Chili and sesame sauce. Frankly speaking, the spiciness level was too weak. I am not really good at eating spicy food, but, the sauce was indeed more sweet than spicy!

I think for the price of the chicken it is considered steep as it does not really have the WOW factor that I had expected.  



Spicy Fried Chicken

Original Fried Chicken

Seafood Pancake ($28) was a recommendation by the waiter. It was quite a big portion and there was squid and some prawns. I guess the seafood pancake tasted quite normal. Really nothing very special from the ones I ate at other places. For $28, I think it is really overpriced and expensive. I think much can be improved since this is one of their signature dishes.

Lastly, we ordered Cheesy Spicy Chicken (about $38). The waiter warned us that it will be very spicy. However, I think it is really not too spicy. What was awesome was that the cheese was aplenty in the dish. Being cheese lovers, we enjoyed eating the cheese. Also, there is Dokbokki (Rice Cake) in the dish with the chicken. Quite yummy and big portion.

We concluded that the food served is nice and quite hearty in portion, but, the price is really steep for each dish! Without the Groupon voucher, I don't think I will return because we ate nicer Korean Food at other places priced at lower costs. 

I remember walking pass Boss BarBQ on another night and saw the performance by a Korean girl group. Really, when the music played, the lights of the restaurant will also flicker, creating a disco-like ambience in the restaurant. It felt like a club with the music blasting.

Al-fresco seats available outside

Overall, ambience is quite vibrant and noisy. Service wise, I wouldn't give too high a score because the waitress did not know much about the food when we asked her. 

Our Rating: 6.7/10

Must Tries: Original Fried Chicken

3C River Valley Road

#01-04 Clarke Quay

Tel: 6336 3393

Have a good day,

Y