O.BBa Jjajang & BBQ @ Chun Tin Road

Finally, tried O.BBa KBBQ at their Chun Tin Road outlet (Bukit Timah). It's within 5 minutes walking distance from Beauty World MRT, so that's pretty convenient. Reservation is not available at this outlet, hence diners would have to appear at their doorstep, then key in your phone number at the queue kiosk (at the entrance) and wait for staff to call. One could also check queue status via whatsapp.

My bro and me went at about 1pm and were seated within 10 minutes. The shop was fairly busy even at late lunch hour.

Scan the QR code left by the staff at the table and order through that as well. The place has adequate staff, so no issue in getting your questions answered. Drinks were served immediately once order is placed and the BBQ set appeared within 5 minutes as well. 

Set C - mix of beef and pork @$96++

scan for menu/wifi

Beef short rib, pork belly, traditionally marinated beef, marinated pork rib, sausage

At first, I was slightly confused as to whether the staff will do the BBQ or are we supposed to do it ourselves as the staff was just standing at our table after bringing out the meats. Ahh, perhaps he was waiting for me to finish taking the photos? Hahaha!

let's start

apple salad

fishcake

sliced sausages in tomato sauce

kimchi

While staff was busy grilling the meats, we busied ourselves with the side dishes. I liked the cold apple salad and the kimchi the most.

beef short ribs

We loved the tender slices of short ribs. It's unmarinated hence, one could add dip it into the sesame oil salt mix, or make it into a wrap with whichever condiments that you like. Noticed that the shop don't provide raw garlic here.

grilled cheese

Realised that the set also came with 2 squares of cheese which is also grilled. Interesting, and staff shared with us that this type of mozzarella cheese isn't too melty and hence, suitable for the grill. My first time trying a grilled cheese that isn't haloumi.

I was confused x2, when the staff suddenly dangled the already grilled cheese infront of me. So I quickly brought up my small plate to receive but he frowned. I was like thinking... what, what do you want me to do? Then he said "photo". Orhhhhh, he wanted me to take a photo of the grilled cheese.

grilled cheese photo with an amused bro at the background

For drinks, we tried the Chungha Sparkling which is like soju in sparkling form. A ladies drink, and it was sweet.

Chungha Sparkling @$15++

pork belly

gyeran jjim (with the set)

Staff kindly advised us to eat the steamed egg otherwise, the hotstone pot will continue to cook it due to its retained heat and the parts that are in contact with the pot surface, will likely get burnt.

This oppa staff at our table, do like to nag us a bit. Hahaha!

tasty

pork ribs

grill all

traditionally marinated beef

I least liked the traditional marinated beef as it was mostly lean and became such small bits after cooking. The marinade was sweet and similar to teriyaki or bulgogi sauce.

Give me all the fattier cuts, anytime!

The set also came with selected stew or noodles. We chose jjajangmyeon because wanted to try their shop specialty.

jjajangmyeon (with the set)

mix well and slurp

The noodles portion could be main dish for 2 pax. We were so full after all the food. I think this set feeds 3 comfortably.

juicy pork ribs

grilled white kimchi, onions, sausage, beef tendons (cut out from the beef shortribs earlier)

The free sausage was pretty good. I think it is pork sausage and texture was bouncier than the banchan version.

Once you're done with the food, head on to the cashier to make payment. Our meal costs $133 in total for 2 pax.

On your way out, remember to take your complimentary small haagen daaz ice-cream to eat outside as staff said they are sorry, but the ice cream can't be eaten inside the shop. I guess this way is to free up the dining table for the next seating.

ice-cream choco flavour

Overall, staff are friendly and efficient. Thank you to the oppa who helped us BBQ that afternoon.

 O.BBa Jjajang & BBQ

Address: 19 Cheong Chin Nam Rd, Singapore 599743

Website: https://obba-sg.com/

Contact: +6564639262

Business Hours:

Daily:  11:30 AM–3 PM, 5–10 PM

[Tasting] BULGOGI SYO @ Bugis Junction

It has been a long long while since I last dined at Bugis Junction. And when Hence kindly extended an invite to try Bulgogi Syo, it was a chance to get reacquainted with the mall once more. 

Bulgogi Syo is  the brainchild of Chef Chul Park, the founder of SEORAE. 

From the name of the restaurant, one could expect fire, meat and with these two combined, an interesting table-side dining experience as part of the show (syo). It boasts of an unprecedented 3-Step Hotstone grilling process; Sear, Torch and Flambé.

The restaurant is located at Level 2, along with a cluster of other restaurants. It is the first one you'll encounter after crossing the short bridge to the restaurants cluster.

Visited on a Saturday and the place was super busy from the weekend lunch crowd. We opted for a late lunch at 2pm. 

glimpse of weekday lunch specials

Have observed that when there's a queue formed outside of the restaurant, the staff will be proactively interacting with diners, giving out the order chit in advance in order to shorten the process of ordering later on.

As I was waiting for my dining companions, spotted Gong Yoo's advertisement for Terra. Weather is perfect for a glass of cold beer. Drink responsibly as always.

Soon, we were all seated in the restaurant and is ready to order. Simply indicate your order in the order chit and pass it back to the staff.

order up!

We got ourselves these mains; Spicy Baby Octopus (@$25.90), Oyster Blade Bulgogi (@$27.90) and LA Galbi (@$39.90). For sides, we had the Cheesy Tteokbooki with Kimari (@$17.90)  , Bacon Kongnamul Pancake (@$15.90), Cheesy Gyeran Jjim (@$10.90) and Seafood Sundubu Jjigae (@$18.90).

While waiting for the mains, diners could self-service at the Banchan Bar where on the day of visit, there were 4 options available; kimchi, tomatoes, macaroni and yellow pickled radish. The macaroni and pickled radish were evidently sweet, so suggest to go easy on those.

macaroni (front), pickled radish (back)

tomatoes (front), kimchi (back)

We could see some cooking action at the open kitchen where some of the dishes were cooked on the hot grill and torched prior to it being served at the table-side.

When the LA Galbi was served, we were warned to keep all the paper napkins, handphones away from the table before the 'show' begins.

The fire will surely elicit some 'oohs and aahs' from the table. 

flambe action

Oh, when ordering rice, staff recommended the seaweed rice which I found to be flavourful and lovely to eat with the mains.

yummy seaweed rice

galbi on rice

 

The galbi was tender as expected. The food at Bulgogi Syo is generally strong flavoured with majority of the food leaning towards the sweeter side.

The other dish that was torched at the table-side was the Cheesy Tteokbooki with Kimari.

torching the cheese

The cut-up fried seaweed roll (kimari) that came with the tteokpokki made it an interesting texture and flavour with the familiar taste of the tteokpokki. The rice cake was not chewy and easy to eat. The sauce was not spicy.

kimari that looked like meatballs

Currently, there's a 1-for-1 Terra beer promo for its 330ml bottle. Cheers to that!

Terra 330ml @$6.90 (Usual Price)

The cheesy steamed egg made a good interlude amidst all the heavier tasting foods. Top layer was laden with cheese and one might even get to see a cheese pull out of it!

Cheesy Gyeran Jjim

One thing to note about the kimchi on the hotplate, was that it tasted more sour than the ones from the Banchan Bar. The bulgogi that we had that day, tasted too beefy/gamey to my liking.

Oyster Blade Bulgogi

I was amused by the smoking hot appearance of the nakji bokkeum (Spicy Baby Octopus). Smoke everywhere and fogging up our cameras and spectacles. Hahaa!

Spicy Baby Octopus

The onions and sauce from this hotplate made a nice gravy for the seaweed rice. Added oomph! The baby octopus was of a tender chewy kind, so I enjoyed it.

First time trying beansprouts pancake with bacon. The pancake here had a crisp exterior with soft doughy interior. Bacon provided the salty relish that most people liked hence, no sauce was really needed although it was provided. The amount of beansprouts in the pancake was minimal to just give it that slightly 'raw' sprouts taste profile. It kinda jolted me to remind again, that hey, I was eating beansprouts pancake and not just bacon pancake!

Bacon Kongnamul Pancake

Seafood Sundubu Jjigae

peeking at the seafood

One of the dishes that I enjoyed at Bulgogi Syo would be the seafood tofu stew (Seafood Sundubu Jigae). Don't be frightened by the redness of the stew as it turned out to be way less spicy than it looked. In comparison with the rest of the food that we ordered, the stew would be the most 'spicy'. In terms of a spicy scale of 10, I would say this was a level 1 for me.

All in all, the staff at Bugis Junction are kind and efficient. Thank you Hence for the invite and special thanks to Bulgogi Syo Bugis Junction's crew who attended to us that day.

BULGOGI SYO 

Address: Bugis Junction: 200 Victoria Street, #02-49 Bugis Junction, 188021

Website: https://www.bulgogisyo.com/

Contact: 9880 9719

Business Hours: 

Daily: 11:30 am–10 pm

Guiga Korean BBQ Restaurant @ Tanjong Pagar

Heard about this place from Hence and Tracy initially. Then, Ivan had supper with them there at one point in time and I've heard good things, so been wanting to try as well. The rest of the foodie gang was activated for a meet-up and thanks to Ivan for helping to make a reservation by phone.

exterior of the restaurant

interior

our private corner

The restaurant has been around for some time and the condition of the hardcopy menu seemed to have seen better days. That aside, the staff are friendly and helpful.

menu

BBQ section

As usual, the group ordered up a feast! BBQs of both beef and pork sets, and staff kindly offered to do  the cooking at another table, as ours were too full with other things.

cold water

banchans (one set per table, refillable)

My favourite side dishes (반찬) are the kimchi and seaweed. The special one here would be the candied sliced sweet potato.

Candied sweet potato slice (고구마 맛탕)

kimchi (김치)

Kimchi was bright and not too fermented. Tangy and appetising. I liked the seaweed because it is nutritious and tasty. Texture was lovely too. 

miyeok julgi (미역줄기)

fishcake (어묵볶음)

And, then there's macaroni salad which was loaded with good 'ol mayonnaise. What's the deal with mayo that seemed to make food tastier?

macaroni salad

Hite Beer @$13

Let's have a look at the BBQ sets ordered. 

Beef Set A has prime ribs, prime short-ribs, marinated prime short-ribs and briskets. The Black Pig Set D has belly, jowl and collar.

Beef Set A @97

Black Pig Set D @$75

briskets

beef briskets

My favourite cuts of the meats would be prime short-ribs anything for the beef (means, I didn't like the brisket as much as the rest), and for the black pig, loved the pork collar the most!

Marinated versus unmarinated? Still preferred the marinated!

beef short-ribs

pork jowl

pork collar

rice 밥 @$2

For something soupy, there's the odeng tang (fish cake soup). I'll only have this when eating in a group but it is not something that I'd order on my own.

odeng tang 오뎅탕 @$30

Have you tried Ganjang Gejang or marinated soy crabs in Singapore? Guiga has it and we ordered one to try. Unfortunately, the version here was a tad tiny, and not as flavourful. Perhaps, it is the crabs used, hence the texture/flavour here was not comparable to the ones I had engraved in my memory. Read more about it here.

Ganjang Gejang 간장게장 @$45

Nevertheless, I would recommend the seafood pancake here. Delicious and the batter was soft and fluffy on its inside. Plus, loaded adequately with seafood such as prawns and squids. It was almost like eating a seafood omelette. Yums!

Seafood Pancake 해물파전 @$24

Ah, and there's yukhoe. While many will not think twice about having sashimi (raw fish), probably most will shy away from consuming raw meat. Yukhoe is made of raw sliced beef, and commonly served with sliced pear and topped with a raw egg yolk. Here's a link to Wiki on yukhoe.

Have tried yukhoe in Busan and Singapore, and I think it was the novelty of eating such food that was the main motivating factor. The meat itself would be void of any beefy taste, texture was interesting as it had a good chew to it and some sweetness from the pear slices.

Yukhoe 육회 @$36

The makchang order arrived last. Only people who likes internal organs would probably order. Hmm, the intestine itself was only slightly crisp on the outer side (because Tracy put in a request for extra crispiness) and texture was kind of chewy. Not the hard chewy but it'll still give the jaw some work-out. The accompanying julienned leek and onions provided all the flavours.

Makchang 막창 @$30

All in all, it was a flurry of dishes, a continuous stream of hands and camera taking photos, of us scooping up copious amounts of food and some attempts at conversation with the person next to you. 

We spent about $62 per pax and all the foods fed the 8 of us. For me, the aftermath was the same effect as after a buffet.

My top picks here would be the Beef BBQ of all the boneless prime beef short-ribs and the seafood pancake.

It was good to gather with Elle, Kris, Alvin, Hence, Tracy, Ivan and Tiara.

Short video:

Guiga Korean BBQ Restaurant

Address: 134 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088538

Website: https://www.facebook.com/guigakoreanbbq/

Contact: +65 6221 3001

Business Hours:

Daily:  11 AM–3 PM, 5 PM–1 AM