[Seoul, Korea] Foodhunt: Black' Smith Sinsa by Song Seung Heon [Closed]

If you think that Korean food is all the Koreans love, you are in for a big surprise.  Western food is a big influence in Korea, especially Italian food.  Many chefs, native Koreans, obtain their professional culinary trainings abroad.  Look at the recipes they had created, the food is totally enticing!  These yummy Italian dishes are from Black' Smith located at Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Spoon pizza is one which I personally like very much.  Key ingredients include roasted bacon and potato, sweet potato and cheese!  Baked to perfect golden brown.  Why is it called spoon pizza?  Because it is to be eaten by scooping using a spoon.

Gorgonzola Pizza is a basic (yet delicious) pizza.  It is gorgonzola cheese served with honey ... simple is good.  You get to focus on the fragrance of the gorgonzola cheese which has a nice buttery taste.

This pasta is Black'Smith's signature dish - Black Smith's Cream Pasta cooked using mushrooms, green peas, bacon, onion and deep flavoured cream sauce.  If you are not a fan of cream pasta, you may find this a little too rich.

If you prefer tomato-based pasta, then try Promodoro.  It is a basic pasta with basil, delicious cheese, extra virgin olive oil and of course, tomatoes.  

Warm bread rolls are served as appetisers, with olive oil dip.  The bread comes with variety so you don't always get the same type of bread when you dine there.

Now, to locate the restaurant is really very easy if you take the subway.  It is a simple 1 minute walk from Exit 8, Sinsa Station.  Look out for the directional details at the end of this post.  This is the building and the restaurant occupies 2 storey.

You will be greeted by Song Seong Heon life-size standy, posters and his interview video clips.  He is in fact the owner of this outlet!

The interior decoration is contemporary and cosy.  Each table comes with a bag holder and this is so useful for female diners.



Did you know that some of the scenes from Korean Drama, When A Man Loves, was filmed in this restaurant too?  The drama poster is up there and I was lucky enough to receive a postcard from the staff when I last visited in April =D

Black'Smith Sinsa

서울 강남구 신사동 514-20

Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Sinsa-dong 514-20

Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm (extended to 11pm on Fri, Sat and Sun)

Tel: 02-3444 8211

Website: http://www.blacksmith.co.kr/main.php

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BSsinsa?fref=ts

Getting there: Take Subway Line 3 to Sinsa Station and use Exit 8.  At the first junction, turn left and Black'Smith would be just in front of you.



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Seafood Aglio Olio @ Secret Recipe

Secret Recipe @ Henry Park Apartment

42, Holland Grove Road

Singapore 278810

Phone: +65 68751233

Operating Hours: 10am - 9pm (Daily)
[Closed]

 

I'm quite glad that I discovered this dish.  It is awesome.  I love the springy spaghetti texture and the slightly burnt taste.  Though it was kinda oily, I guess it should be alright since olive oil was used in the cooking... or perhaps it was my own assumption.

The fried noodle was soaked in the fragrant garlic taste.  *Just make sure you do not burp straight into someone's face after that.*

I love the freshness of their seafood - prawn, crayfish and squid.  For $14.90 (ala carte + ice tea meal set), I can't really complain that the crayfish is too small.  Though I did wish that the portion could be double.  However, the proportion of ingredients and noodle was just nice for me.

FYI, Secret Recipe Diners card holders are eligible for 1-for-1 meat set.... So, it works out to be about $8.75 for each person (for the seafood aglio olio meals).

Saizeriya @ Liang Court

Saizeriya

Liang Court #02-22

Originating from Japan, this family restaurat serves pasta, pizza and grilled dishes.  The dishes are reasonably priced with pasta starting from $7+.  BUT, food quality is just very average. 

The cabonara (above) comes in a relatively big portion BUT there's no egg.  It was just a plain pasta with cream sauce and a few pieces of fatty bacon.

For the drink, it is quite worthwhile, if you opt for drinks set.  You get free flow drinks for $2+.  Selection of drinks include soft drinks, flavoured tea and coffee (espresso, mocha, cappucino). 

Overall, you can get a decent meal with $10 but do not expect any fantastic food standard.

Amici Italian Restaurant (Holland Village)

This is one Italian restaurant (Amici @ HV) which serves consistently good food, at least for those dishes that I have tried, including the one below - Creamy Alfredo with Ham. The cream sauce is so so so yummy.

Amici is a relatively classy restaurant and paying $8 for pasta of such good quality, what else can I complain? Note that this is only applicable during lunch.

Chicken Parmesan @ Amici Italian Restaurant

Was at Amici Italian Restaurant in Holland V yesterday. This is probably my 3rd time there and simple love the food.

Their set lunch is really reasonably price for the food quality you get, starting from $10.90. They also have $8 express special which does does not come with soup and coffee & tea.

I had the Parmesan Chicken served in lemon oil. Between soup and salad, I went of the soup of the day, which was Cream of Cabbage. My colleagues were initially very skeptical if Cream of Cabbage would be good, but it turned out to be really good. Highly recommended!!

Here's my Parmesan Chicken, served in 2 relatively huge chucks of chicken breast meat with slices of potato and carrot and pieces of broccoli and cauliflower. The chicken was quite tender and tasty.

The restaurant was also very generous to offer us tiramisu for our birthday 'boy' and 'girl'.

Great place for gatherings with friends. We had 16 of us there yesterday and given an exclusive corner away from the main section of the dining area.

Prego

Haven been to Prego for a long long time since I have not been to Raffles City for a long long time as well.

This visit, I decided to try something different from my standard Carbonara. So, I went for Wood-fired Pizza Margherita. The pizza is really huge and hm... portion for 2 pax? It was cut into 6 slices.

The crust is thin and crispy. The combination of tomato sauce, cheese and tobasco sauce can't go wrong much. Anyway, I finished 3 slices and R & R finished the other half of the pizza for me, in addition to their pasta main course. Haha...

We ordered 2 desserts - Tiramisu and Creme Brulee. The tiramisu is served in a bowl with a Prego logo on top. The tiramisu cream was light and R thought a little bit more rum would make it taste better.

Below is the creme brulee which was served in a rather big plate, definitely a size good for sharing. The top lay of sugar came in small bits instead of a uniform crispy layer. And, i thought there was just too much sugar when the creme brulee below is only a think layer of about 1.5cm.

I suspected that 'red ball' is actually raspberry ice-cream and I was too lazy to confirm if i was correct... It was a little sour and filled with berry taste.

Would I return for more desserts again? ... I think I'd prefer to go Menotti located at the other corner of the building.

Set Lunch @ Secret Recipe

Went to Secret Recipe recently and found out that they have a new set lunch menu now. The selection includes.... Spicy Turkey Carbonara, Tom Yum Spaghetti, Gourmet Laksa, and 2 other dishes.

For the set lunch, a free drink is included.

I ordered the Spicy Turkey Cabonara. It was spicy because of the chilli padi slices. I had accidently eat a slice which was hidden into the pasta! Hoohoooooo! The turkey was actually turkey ham. And the dish came with loads of straw mushroom. For a non-mushroom eater, I was lucky that a colleague helped me finished up the mushroom :)

Damage : $10.90

Homemade Italian

Found this outlet 'Homemade Italian' by chance after a gym session at Raffles Place California Fitness.

Address: 50 Market Street, Golden Shoe Carpark #01-32,
Meixin Foodcourt Stall 10
(It is just across Republic Plaza)
Tel : 65358223



It serves main courses such as Poccini Chicken, Pan Fried Garlic Fish, Beef Lagsana, Meatballs etc at $7.90, pizza with 2 toppings at $5.90 and pasta (seafood, carbonara, aglio olio) from $5.90 to $7.90.



I tried the garlic fish and love it! The serving portion is quite generous and it comes with garden salad.



However, if you are cautious about garlic taste in your mouth for the next 12 hours, then you might not want to finish the entire garlic sauce. :)

~ Edited on 8 Oct ~

For some people, Raffles Place is probably the last place you wanna be during the rush lunch hour, people use tissue paper packs to 'chope' seats! Like that also can ah.

Despite the long queue, the chef still managed to whip up a delicious breaded chicken dish for me, after a wait of approx 10 mins. The serving portion is really big for the price of only $7.90. Very good value :)

It is a piece of deep fried chicken breast meat covered with bread crumbs, with cheese and ham strips on top. Also comes with a generous serving of garden salad.

Romano Ristorante

Sembawang Hill area is another cosy little town in the private estate area of Seletar/Sembawang. The downside is that it isn't very accessible unless you have your own private transport.

This time round, I checked out the Italian Restaurant - Romano Ristorante. It reads Italian Casual Dining on the orange cheery signboard.

10 Jalan Leban Singapore 577551

Tel: 6453 3778

Operating Hours:

Mon closed

Lunch 11.00 am - 3.00 pm (Tue - Fri)

Dinner 6 - 10.30 pm (Tue - Fri)

11 am - 10.30 pm (Sat, Sun, PH)

I ordered my almost all time fav - Carbonara Linguine. Although I had hoped that it would come with an egg yolk, I soon forgot about the disappointment of not having the yolk cos the cream sauce was quite impressive. If you are a 'milk person', you'll like this. Surprisingly, my other half who doesn't like milk says that the cream sauce taste great! :)

He ordered the Chicken Milanese. This is a colourful dish with very tender chicken breast meat wrapped in a layer of fried egg. It came with some potato cubes that were slightly fried and charred. It has a small serving of spaghetti in tomato sauce.

I think it is one of the chef's recommendation dish.

Total damage : $32.

There were couple of other diners in the restaurant, who had ordered Tiramisu. The dessert looks quite yummy. Shall KIV this for my next visit :)

211 Roof Terrace Cafe

Have been wanting to try out the food at 211 Roof Terrace Cafe for the longest time. Last night's dinner there was rather unexpected ie. unplanned. And finally got the chance to use the food vouchers from ABN Amro CC.

211 Roof Terrace Cafe

Holland Road Shopping Centre

211 Holland Ave

#04-01

Telephone: 6462-6194

The place was rather crowded and for a moment, I thought we weren't gonna get a seat since I did not make reservations. Unfortunately, a table for 4 was available and we took it. There is an indoor section and an outdoor section with a choice of smoking or non-smoking area.

Since I had a rather heavy lunch, I opted for something light....

an ice chocolate ($4.50) - just cold milk with chocolate fudge.

It was rather disappointing or maybe it wasn't the type that I like. Actually, it might have tasted great if they could just add a scoop of chocolate gelato. It wld have made a whole world of difference. And I probably won't mind paying $1 more for it.

This item is marked with a 'new' on the menu - Apple and Celery Salad ($7.50). Plainly diced apples with slices celery in salad sauce garnished with 3 pieces of green veg, 3 pieces of cherry tomatoes and some raisins. Serving portion isn't big.

R had 'Cod Fish' ($26) which I had expected to be a rather decent huge portion but it came in half the size of what I had expected. Looked charred but taste wise, it was alright. The spaghetti was quite delicious though a bit oily.

It was a rather expensive dinner, if not for the voucher I had.

Ragazzi The Italian Kitchen

Ghim Moh's hot - yeah, with the addition of Ragazzi The Italian Kitchen in the neighbourhood (Blk 10 Ghim Moh Road) and Blue Spoon.

IMHO, the food is quite decent and prices are also decent ($5 to $7) for pasta.

For hungry diners, it is quite value for money as well. 11 bucks for soup, main and dessert.

Garlic bread was ok but a little ex - 5 pieces for $2.50 if I remember correctly.

Pastas are quite good. I wouldn't mind having carbonara over and over again. It comes without the egg yolk tho, add $0.50 if you prefer to have it.

I have also tried their minestrone soup ($2.50) and tiramisu ($4.50). The dessert was a little watery and er... think it could have been better.

Bather's

Even though Singapore isn't a big place, I realised that there are many places which I haven been to... such as Clementi Arcade. It is located in a quiet and cosy private estate in Clementi, known as Sunset Way. A good place for a quiet dinner.... (note : the restaurant plays Christian music tho)

Address: 41 Sunset Way #01-02, Singapore 597071

Tel : 6463 1767

We shared an quesedilla, onion rings and a mushroom aglio olio. It came with complimentary 2 slices of thick garlic bread.

On the whole, the quesedilla and onion rings were quiet delicious, but a little too oily. The spaghetti was a little disapppointing as somehow, it could not reveal the fragrance. It was rather bland. Serving portion was quite big though.

Total damage was $12.90 (quesedilla) + $3.90 (onion rings) and $16.90 (spaghetti).

There is UOB discount for dining from Monday to Thursday.

There is lunch set menu at $12.90 and executive set lunch at $18.90. Looks rather worthwhile. Will definitely wanna try it out during lunch one of these days.

Spizza - Balmoral Plaza

Went to Spizza at Balmoral Plaza, which has both an indoor and outdoor dining section.

Spizza (Bukit Timah)

271 Bukit Timah Road,

#01-09, Balmoral Plaza

Singapore 259708

Tel : 6333 8148

Fax : 6235 0363

I had high expection of their pizza since they serve wood-fired pizzas, which are usually delicious. We ordered a Margherita pizza and a Aglio Olio with Shrimps.

On a closer look, they serve 26 types of pizzas, with names starting from A to Z.

The pizza was good but frankly, the Margherita from Modesto's is still the best!!! The spaghetti was also good but could have been better ... esp for the shrimp.

On the whole, it is a good place to go with friends for a decent meal without burning a big hole in your pockets.

Total damage : $17 (pizza) and $16 (pasta).

Modesto's

Went to Modesto's at Orchard Parade Hotel 2 times this week. Haha. I am not crazy. Nothing can stop me from feasting on good food.

The 1st time I went to Modesto's was maybe about 8 yrs ago. The spinach lagsane left a deep impression on me. I was a little disappointed when I could not find it on the menu anymore when I went back a few days ago.

Blessing in disguise, I found some other delicious food from this cosy Italian restaurant - Pizza Margherita! It is a traditional wood-fired thin crust pizza with simple ingredients such as tomato and cheese. The tasty juicy ingredients beneath the hot cheesey layer is what makes this pizza so delicious. (Mini pizza: $12.50).

The carbonara ($18) tastes alright for me but one of my colleagues thinks that it is on the creamy side.

I would definitely be back for more Pizza Margherita.

Amici Authentic Italian Restaurant

Amici has set lunches that starts from $8. Sounds good?

My colleagues and I checked out the Holland V outlet during lunch one day.

The restaurant was not crowded at all when we reached abt 10 mins before 1pm. It has an open kitchen and you can see the chef in action.

Because it is open, it is best that you sit further from that area, unless you want to be reminded of what you ate for the rest of your day.

The set lunches come with a soup, bread and coffee/tea. No dessert :(

The above is mussle chowder. It tasted good although I do not like to eat mussle.

This is my main dish - Baked Dory Fillet in Pouch. The outer aluminiun is the pouch that contains the fillet, vegetable and stock.

The portion was just good for me, although some of the my colleagues think that the portion is a little too small.

Total damage : $10.90 (before taxes)

Slippery Lobster Spagetti @ Galilee

That's my dinner for tonight @ Sengkang Library. Yes, there is a Galilee (cafe) in the library and they serve western food. The spag is a new dish and on promotion. I have no idea why the dish is called Slippery Lobster. Maybe the lobster tries to slip away from the spag.

It has 2 halves of a mini lobster. Overall rating, I would say, 3 out of 5. The lobster is a little fishy and the spag is slightly blend.

Total damage : $6.90