Hence asked if I would like to join him and Tracy for lunch at Kelim Dakdoritang. I said "Ok" as I was curious on this dish loaded with mountain of minced garlic that I saw in instagram recently. Haven't tried any and didn't see much of it during previous travels to Seoul. Searched it up a bit and dakdoritang (닭도리탕) is essentially a spicy chicken stew.
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| shop front |
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| menu |
We did not make any reservations (and from what I read online, seems like walk-ins are encouraged). Reached the place at about 12.45pm and there was a queue. Put up your name so that you are in queue. Staff will periodically scan this list (usually after the earlier table had left) and call out to the party or phone them. From what we saw, the staff will usually call more than once.
We waited for more than half hour and then it was finally our turn. It might be a longer wait if the person in front of our queue had turned up.
Orders were quickly placed as we were hungry. Opted for the Dakdoritang (small) as there were only 3 of us, and added the Jumeokbap (DIY Flying Fish Roe Seaweed Roll) and the Grilled Semi Dried Squid.
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| Jumeokbap 주먹밥 @$9.90 |
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| mix it yourself (cr: Tracy's hand) |
Jumeokbap is literally translated as 'fist-rice', so am guessing you need to make one as big as a fist? Hmmm, kid's size fist will do for me!
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| tasty rice ball |
Next up, I was curious about semi-dried squid. It looked like a regular dried squid and thankfully, not tough. It was still chewy and the squid was flavourful.
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| Grilled Semi Dried Squid @$20.90 |
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| rice ball with grilled squid toppings |
And then, our stew arrived. Small is a good size for 3-pax. And indeed, there was a mountain of minced garlic in the stew. We added the King Oyster mushroom with a top-up of $5.
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| Dakdoritang @$36.90 |
The stew itself came with potato chunks, chicken (fresh chicken is used) and rice cake (ttokpokki). The MVP were the chicken and the potato!
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| let it boil up |
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| enjoy! |
We requested for one level up of spice for our stew when we ordered and the spiciness was not too strong. It was just a hint only.
The broth tasted good and appetising, chicken parts tender (even for the breast meat) and potatoes were so good! The chicken itself was flavourful and overall, this dish was somewhat comforting.
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| yummy |
And then when you're done with the meat, just indicate to the staff that you'd like to have the handmade noodles. The stew comes with complimentary noodles but if you would like more, then it is also $5 per topping.
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| kalguksu added |
The noodles takes a while to cook so just let it boil and you'll notice when the texture becomes softer.
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| not yet |
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| noodles is ready |
Unlike ramen when we could undercook it a little, the handmade noodles tasted doughy if you eat it before it is fully cooked. Unless, you like this texture... hahaa!
And we are not done yet, there's one more portion of rice after you're done with the noodles. Staff will scoop up the excess stew and place them in a separate bowl and leave just enough liquid to do the fried rice in the same pot.
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| fried rice in-progress |
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| mix it around |
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| flatten it |
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| done |
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| let's eat! |
Depending on the staff that did the table-side fried rice, the end outcome might be slightly different. For ours that day, the rice didn't achieve the desired slight crisp at its bottom but that's ok too. I enjoyed the meal, though the place tend to be crowded during weekends.
The meal fed all 3 of us sufficiently, and more. It was rather filling with the potatoes, noodles and rice and we also had jumeokbap, so double double of that rice. Expect to spend about $35 per pax without alcohol for a hearty meal.
Kelim Dakdoritang (계림닭도리탕)
Address: 14B Kensington Park Road Singapore 557265
Website: https://www.kelimdakdoritang.com.sg/
Contact: 6241 4241
Business Hours:
Daily:
11:30 am - 2:30 pm (last order)
5:30pm - 10:00pm (last order)
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