[Korean Culture] Korea's Black Day & Jjajangmyeon

It's simply the Korean's way to inject some fun into life.  Valentine's Day (14 Feb), where the ladies give chocolate to the guy they admire and anxiously await the guy's response on White Day (14 March).  If the guy is also interested in the lady, he will return a gift.

Now, what happens to those who are still single?  On Black Day (14 April), they get together, and supposed wear all black, and eat Jjajangmyeon or noodles with black bean sauce together with minced meat and onion!  They celebrate their singlehood on this day!  People who are single can be very happy too!

If you'd like to have some fun on this day, gather your friends who are single and have a jolly good time at local Korean restaurants!

Hansang Korean Restaurant is running a special promotion for Black Day from now until 20 April.  Details are available on their website.

[Singapore Restaurant] Korean Grill BBQ Buffet - Ssikkek BBQ

Hey, looking for buffet, and particularly Korean buffet?  Not many Korean restaurants serve buffet and Korean food is known not to be cheap in Singapore. After so many years, Ssikkek has maintained its top spot in the hearts of my friends and I because the food is generally good and it is quite affordable.  Weekday lunch buffet at $14++ and dinner at $22++.  Weekend / Public Holiday is at $24++.  Check the website for kids' price.

The kimchi soup is always the first dish that we would dash for because it is soooo popular.  Relatively thick gravy and flavourful.  Look!  The soup is finishing up faster than the ingredients!

Second on my list to dash for is the rice cakes, ddeokbokki.  Fresh fish cakes and rice cakes that are chewy and not too hard.  Sauce is good too.

Third item to dash for is the pancake, pajeon.  Thin slices and fragrant.  Those who prefer thick batter may disagree that this is worth dashing for.



And finally, meat dishes is what people may dash for at other restaurants.  But in Ssikkek, even though all the side dishes and drinks have ran out, the meat continues to be available.  It isn't that the meat dishes are not popular, in fact, they are very well marinated and delicious.  The standard chicken, pork and beef variety is sufficient to fill any hungry fellow.

While all these may sound all too good, are there things to note while dining there?  Yes, there are.  Firstly, due to long queues at the restaurants all the time, they have staggered the dinner hours.  I may not be totally certain but I think there are only 2 timings to choose from for dinner, either 6pm or 8pm.  So, timing isn't that flexible.  Secondly, if you are taking the 8pm dinner slot, fast fingers are needed to dash for the side dishes because the dishes may run out by 8.30pm :(  Thirdly, the restaurant closes at 10ish, so dinner at 8pm may be a little short if your plan is to have a slow and relax meal....

Ssikkek Korean BBQ

101 Thomson Road, United Square

#B1-15/16/17

Singapore 307591

Tel: 6254 8123

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ssikkek-BBQ/155178511226866

Opening Hours:

Mon to Fri : 11.30am to 2.30pm (Lunch), 5pm to 11pm (Dinner)

Weekend / PH : 11.30pm to 11pm

Nearest Station: Novena Station

Getting there: Use Exit B1.  Walk in the direction against the traffic flow and pass by Goldhill Shopping Centre.  The next building is United Square. 



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Starbucks Singapore - White Chocolate Mocha

Drinking coffee is a way of live for many people.  It is really nice if you get to enjoy an aromatic cup of drink in a cosy café when you aren't rushed for time.

 

I am seldom impressed with Starbucks in terms of coffee art since they are always in a hurry to get the drinks out fast!  With such a huge chain of stores under the brand name, it is difficult to maintain high quality standards in every aspects.  As such, I am appreciative and impressed if a Starbucks barista do make an effort on the coffee presentation.  Afterall, a cup of coffee at Starbucks aren't cheap but sometimes, the quality of coffee or the way it is served just doesn't match up to expectation.

 

As such, I was pleasantly surprised with this White Chocolate Mocha, with the propped up froth which was at the verge of overflowing, yet it didn't.  It was indeed a nice piece of art and it takes precision to achieve what's presented.  Thank you very much, Starbucks @ Novena Hospital, for the pleasant experience at the café.

 



 

Starbucks
38 Irrawaddy Road
#01-14 Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital
Singapore 329563
Tel: 6570 2945
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm.  Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.
Website: www.starbucks.com.sg


Getting there:  Take the MRT to Novena Station.  Head towards Square 2, Level 1.  Use the exit near Barcook Bakery.  Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital is located diagonally across the road at the left hand side.


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Starbucks at United Square

Café culture in Singapore is getting better!  Check out this Starbucks at United Square.  It would be really cool to savour a cuppa at the 2nd level, sitting by the full-length window, enjoying personal times with friends and watching the sun goes down.  I got so excited when I saw it this evening!  That's the way to enjoy life!

 



 

Hansang Korean Family Restaurant‎

Hansang Korean Family Restaurant
10 Sinaran Drive, #03-33 Square 2
Tel: 6397 6752‎

Known as Little Seoul, Square 2 gives the most complete Korean shopping experience at the 3rd level with 2 Korean restaurants (Hansang and Seoul Yummy), Korean rice cake shop, Korean Supermart, Korean hair salon etc.

Hansang Korean restaurant is the more expensive restaurant between the 2.  Seoul Yummy operates much more casually and the food is cheaper.  Whereas at Hansang, you're served with 10 side-dishes, authentic silver chopsticks and spoon.  You get to choose to seat at the BBQ or non-BBQ section inside the restaurant.

BBQ set meal for 2 persons starts from $65 before taxes and you get the following...

This is a starter dish, individual portions served.  Depending on availability, the cold tofu may sometimes be replaced with a scoop of potato salad.  Portions are dividually equally so if 3 persons are sharing a 2-pax set meal, 1 person may need to forgo the starter.

Next is the pa-jeon dish.  Again, it is 1 set person.  Each set comprises of 1 piece of fish fillet pa-jeon and 1 piece of seafood pa-jeon.  There is also an individual serving of soy sauce for the pa-jeon.  The seafood pa-jeon was much delicious than the fish fillet pa-jeon.

Next dish that was served was the glass noodle dish.  The noodles are fried with carrot strips, green veggie and mushroom; and garnished with egg and seaweed.  This dish was rather flavourful, especially the noodles. Highly recommended if you're ordering ala carte.
 

There was also a small pot of rice, korean rice with a piece of carrot, pumpkin and sweet potato and a red date.  With the added ingredients, the light taste of sweetness came through the rice.

 

I must say that the stew dishes at Hansang is really good. Besides the bean paste soup, kimchi chigae is also highly recommended. The soup stew is thick and you can tell that they have cooked the stew dish for hours. The kimchi flavour has deeply penetrated into the veggie, tofu and noodles.

This is the highlight of the day - BBQ pork.  For the 2-pax set meal, a choice of pork or chicken is available.  For pork BBQ, there are 3 types of pork available and we had opted for collar meat and ribs.

For ala carte BBQ dish, a minimum of 2 portions is required and each portion costs at least $25.  Hence, I figured out that it is more worth-while to opt for the set meal.  For $15 more, we get to try out a selection of other dishes including pa-jeon, chigae and rice noodle. 

For the set meal, coffee/tea and fruits are also served at the end of the meal. But if the above is too much for 2 persons to stomach, it is perfectly find to share the 2-pax set meal among 3 persons.

But great food comes with price, be prepared to pay at least $76.50 for a meal for 2 if you're going for the dinner set meal.

Related Posts:
Bq Korea (click)
Hyang To Gol at Amara Hotel (click)
Odaeyang (click)

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Seoul Yummy

For supporters of Meridian Hotel Food Court Korean Food, you'd be happy to know that Seoul Yummy, located at Square 2, is an expansion of Kim Dae Mun.
 

Seoul Yummy

10 Sinaran Drive

#03-68, Square 2 (next to Novena Square)

Singapore 307506

Tel: (65) 6397 6939
 

However, you might be disappointed with the food quality as many who has tried still prefer the meridien's food. But there is a reason to dine at Seoul Yummy - the dessert - PatBingSu, yogurt ice cream with shaved ice and fruits.
 

For a group of 2 and more, the set meal will save you a couple of bucks. It includes the side dishes (which aren't served if you order ala carte), main dish Bibimbap, fried glass noodles or fried udon, fried potato pancake or kimchi mandu (dumpling).
 

Side dishes - 5 in total. My fav is the cold tofu.
 

Fried Udon with seafood.

Fried Glass Noodles.


Bibimbap.

Fried Potato Pancake.

Kimchi Mandu (dumplings)

For the set meal, it comes with a drink and a mini bingsu.

The bingsu below is regular size. It is garnished with strawberry, kiwi, watermelon and red bean. The bingsu dessert is a must-try!

There is a promotion with HSBC currently but does not apply if you order the set meal.

Pasta de Waraku (Square 2)

This was my 1st visit at Pasta de Waraku @ Square 2... the restaurant entrance isn't very prominently located in the building though the restaurant itself is just next to a taxi stand. The entrance is located next to The Face Shop and not at the taxi stand side.

I decided to go for a light meal and order the Japanese-Style Clam Chower ($8.80). Thou V and J found the soup to be quite diluted, it was just right for me. However, what was very misleading was the BIG soup bowl, that gave us am impression that the serving portion was generous.

Guess some of us may be familiar with the famous Japanese plum alcohol - Choya Plum Wine. I ordered the Umeshu-soda ($6.80) which was a mix of the alcohol with soda.

And finally, my yummy dessert - Macha Azuki Parfait ($6.80). The bottom-most layer is corn flakes, covered with vanilla ice cream, topped with macha ice cream, strawberry, japanese rice balls, red bean paste and a piece of wafer biscuit.
 

Total damage - approx $25.

More Pics on Korean Rice Cakes

Had a private function today and we decided to order Korean Rice Cakes. Many of our members are not aware that Korean Rice Cakes are available in Singapore. I thought it was a good opportunity for them to try to see if they like it.

We had 3 types of cakes - Red bean filling rice cakes, Sesame filling rice cakes and Pumpkin rice cakes.

The Pumpkin rice cake is actually quite healthy cos besides pumpkin, ingredients such as black beans and red dates are used. It wasn't sweet and that's probably why the Pumpkin one was not well received.

I like the sesame filling rice cakes although the skin was a little too thick. As usual, I like the red bean filling rice cakes ^^.
 

Hankook Rice Cake House

Hankook Rice Cake House

No.9 Thomson Ridge (Off Thomsom Road)

Singapore 574637

Tel: 64563456

Fax: 64563470

Open everyday except on Wednesdays

or at Square 2 (next to Novena Square)

This shop sells authentic korean rice cakes and does not use butter or egg in the process. Hence, these are really quite healthy stuff.

I bought a box of rice cake that has red bean paste fillings and it tasted quite good. There is a nice gentle aroma of sesame oil and the red bean paste is really smooth.

A healthy dessert indeed.