[Singapore Restaurant] Korean Food: Wang Dae Bak Korean BBQ Restaurant

Wang Dae Bak - this is a restaurant that I had wanted to visit since some time back but only get to do so now.  Friends, who are fans of Korean food, have been raving about this restaurant and after trying, there's no doubt that this is possibly one of the few Korean restaurants that serve pretty decent BBQ!

The restaurant isn't very big and the size of table is good for 4 pax.  The deco of the restaurant ie. the BBQ chimney, seats with round metal chairs, cylinder tank beneath the table top, resembles what you see in BBQ restaurants in Korea!

Side dishes - a total of 5 and all were really delicious.  We asked for refill and the service staff topped it rather speedily.

 

Each person is also given individual portions of condiments comprising salt, ssamjang for the BBQ meat and sesame oil. 

For the BBQ, we order a portion of pork belly and marinated chicken.  It came with tteokbokki and a bunch of enoki mushroom.

For lunch, the BBQ isn't cooked over charcoal.  Instead, it was cooked over the Korean-style hotplate.  Notice that the side of the hotplate is used the scrambled egg?  This is the first Korean restaurant, amongst the many that I have visited that uses such hotplate. 

Between the pork belly and the marinated chicken, it was unanimous amongst me and my friends that the BBQ chicken was really delicious!  And just to clarify, it is not the case that the BBQ pork wasn't delicious.   It was!  Just that the chicken BBQ was better!

And none of us would object that the seafood deonjang jjigae (bean paste soup) was delicious!  But note, for those who have not tried Korean bean paste soup before, the taste of this dish may take a while for one to used to.  Deonjang jjigae is made from fermented soy bean and hence, the fermented taste may be a little overpowering for some people.  Otherwise, for seasoned Korean food eaters, this is one place that I will recommend for deonjang jjigae.  

Andong Chicken is one dish that is quite subjective.  For people who haven't tried this dish and likes spicy food as well as stewed chicken, it is actually quite delicious.  But for those who have tried Andong Chicken in Korea, this would not be able to match up to the standard.  But overall, it is not a bad dish though.

The haemul pajeon (seafood pancake) is uniquely served on a bamboo-woven plate.  The portion was bigger than what we expected.  The pancake was quite nice too... thin and crispy at the edge.

We had also ordered the gamjatang (potato and pork ribs soup) and the dish was not impressive.  There wasn't any distinctive taste from both the potato and the pork ribs.  So... this is one which I will give it a miss.

Good news is that diners are entitled to 15% discount during lunch except for BBQ meat dishes.  You may also wish to try out the new dishes on their lunch menu.

Overall, the food, ambiance and value of food at Wang Dae Bak is good!  I will be back for more next time!

Wang Dae Bak
98 Amoy Street, Singapore 069918
Tel: 62260450
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat, 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm
Website: www.wangdaebak.com.sg
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wangdaebak

Getting there: Walk from Raffles Place MRT station, Exit F.  It is approximately a 7 to 10 mins walk, depending on your individual speed.  With the opening of Downtown Line, it is in fact nearer to walk from Telok Ayer MRT station to the restaurant.



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Phan Viet Deli

I am not a big fan of Vietnamese food. Their food is pretty bland in my opinion, while I prefer food with stronger taste. But this paper springroll is so pretty that I'd like to share it with everyone.  It is served with plum sour... its taste is rather refreshing.

 

 

Phan Viet Deli
112 Robinson Road #01-03

Si Chuan Dou Hua (Raffles Place)

Nothing beats having a good meal. We've recently discovered a few more delicious dishes at Si Chuan Dou Hua.  Having been dining there for years and still impressed by their standard, this is certainly a place to go for interesting and delicious (but not cheap) food.

Baked Butter Cod - Cod fish has been deep-fried before topping with baked butter, mixed with chilli padi and curry leaves. Minimum order of 2 slices is needed.  Each slice costs $12.

Crispy Rice Bubble with Beancurd (锅粑豆腐）- I was expecting to eat burnt rice but it turned out that crispy rice (unburnt) was served instead.  The crispy rice was served in a separate bowl to keep it crispy.  Add the rice to the tofu dishes (a little similar to sour & spicy soup although it is much milder version).  If you like it, eat the crispy rice by itself, and you will discover that it is a very delicious piece of food on its own... $18 for the tofu + the crispy rice.

Manna Korean Cuisian @ Lau Pa Sat

I chanced upon Manna @ Lau Pa Sat and discovered that they serve buckwheat cold noodles, which it not commonly found at hawker stalls. Of course, they serve other regular dishes including bulgogi, bibimbap, ramyeon etc.

The stall is located somewhere near Cross Street, furthest corner from Boon Tat Street.

The main deciding factor for delicious cold noodle is really the sauce and the texture of the noodle. Sounds simple but i am sure it requires to make sure that the noodles do not clamp together after cooking in hot water and running through ice water...

The sauce is the main ingredient that spices up the plain, cold noodle. The other ingredients including the meat, egg and vegatables are garnishes (at least to me).
 

For $6, this is really worthwhile. The standard is quite there and the serving portion is quite huge. I would think that this portion can easily fill up 2 persons...

bQ Korea

bQ Korea

70-74 Telok Ayer Street, #01-01 Far East Square

Tel: 6536 7703

Closed on Sundays

Since back from Korea, we are still missing Korean food. One of which was Andong Chicken Jjim and Alicia told us one day that bQ Korea serves Andong Chicken! But this is not one of the dishes on their regular menu. We need to place order beforehand and they only this during dinner when the shop is not as crowded compared to lunch.

So about 16 of decided to give it a try....

Basically, Andong Chicken is a dish comprising of large pieces of potatoes, carrots, onions, chicken, glass noodles cooked spicy sauce & sweet sauce using low heat. I guess that's why it is not served during lunch since it looks rather time-consuming to cook it over low heat.

Side dishes to go with the main dishes...

Overall... was quite different from the one in Korea. :P Probably will go back bQ Korea for some other dishes such as bibimbap and Ginseng Chicken soup and enjoy the Korean TV channels on their huge TV.

 

 

Related Post:

- Hyang To Gol Korean Restaurant (click)

- Hansang Korean Restaurant (click)

- O Dae Yang Korean Restaurant (click)



Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant (Top of UOB Plaza)

The Si Chuan Dou Hua has got to be one of my fav chinese restaurant for family dining. But so far, I have not been to other outlets besides the one at Top of UOB Plaza.

Don't be mistaken that they only serve dou hua (ie. bean curd). They do serve a wide variety of meat, veg, seafood, rice & noodles and desserts. Of course, dou hua is one of their specialities. On weekends, I do see many others going there for their family dinners as well.

This is a tea master who gets into act for the 'gong-fu' tea. The water that travels from the kettle through the long spout spins the water quickly in the tea cup. Spinning the water and tea leaves together quickly helps to bring out the tea fragrance.


A nice cup of chrysanthumum tea with wolfberries.

Each is given an individual serving of appetiser and chilli sauce. I like both the haebeehiam (prawn paste chilli) and bean paste chilli.

I love this pan-fried cod-fish with sauce. The cod fish is so fresh. There is no 'fishiness' or 'cod-oiliness'. To me, this is a must-try dish. The pan-fried outer-layer is so crispy. But there is a minimum order of 2 slices of cod-fish, which costs $10 each. Cod-fish lovers could easily finish both slices at 1 go... ^^

This is pan-fried toufu with spinach and dried scallop gravy. There are about 4 or 5 pieces of toufu covered by the scallop gravy. Overall, the tou-fu was good. The top layer of the tou-fu was made of mashed spinach. It is quite unique and the tou-fu was smooth and soft.

However, the scallop taste was kinda strong and overpowering for the veg.

This is brocolli with crab meat gravy. There is generous serving of crab meat as shown in the pic. Nothing spectacular but it was within expected standard.

My mom likes the XO Seafood Fried Rice. The colour looks light but it is quite tasty. The prawns (lots of it) are really fresh. Can feel the crunchiness as I chew them.

Our final 2 dishes were desserts - dou hua with wolfberries and dou hua with water chestnut. The dou hua is really very very smooth and silky. The one with wolfberries was slightly sweeter. Both are equally great - I cld not decide which is better.

A fortune cookie to end the dinner.... there is a little note of 'advice' in each cookie.

Though the dinner did burn a little hole in my pocket but it was a very satisfying dinner and it has always been the case there. Thank goodness, there is 15% off for UOB card holders.

Verdict : Many happy returns...