Lunch at Um Yong Baek @ 27 Boon Tat Street

What birthday girl wants, birthday girl gets. Um Yong Baek seemed to be the trendy place to dine at, somewhat. Rumors of long queues seemed true from the recent experience. The two outlets; Telok Ayer and Boon Tat Street are pretty close to each other.

Telok Ayer outlet

before the shop opens

One should go online on the day of visit, and get a queue number. Thanks to Tiara, we were lucky to be placed in the first batch of diners to go in once the shop opens at 11am. Perhaps that was because we visited on a weekday.

At approximately, 10:45am, Tiara received an email notification that our table at Boon Tat Street outlet is ready. We headed over on foot as we were around the Telok Ayer area. Reached by 10:55am but the shop didn't open its door till about 11.10am. 

queue at Boon Tat Street outlet

queuing instruction and opening times

The staff will ask the patron to display the email notification of the table number and will check that all parties in the group are present before being let into the restaurant.

 

tables nearer to the entrance

We were led to the inner section of the restaurant where there were more tables available. The traditional types at the outer section near the entrance gives the cosy aesthetics but it does take up more space in the shop.

As all tables seemed to be meant for 4 pax, so we shared it with another patron whom is dining solo.

open kitchen view

The tables have been setup with the side dishes, flask of water prior to the guests arrival. 

pickled green chilies and vege stem

onions/chives kimchi

kimchi

bean paste, sliced green chilies and sliced garlic

water, self-service

salted shrimps

salt

Um Yong Baek offers dwaeji gukbap 돼지국밥 (Pork & Rice Soup) for lunch and there's two types; Busan style Daejigukbap and the Milyang style Daejigukbap. For dinner, its menu offers BBQ aged pork and makguksu (buckwheat noodle).

Ok, so we ordered the pork and rice soup, one each. Best of both worlds!

(top) Busan style Daejigukbap and (bottom) Milyang style Daejigukbap

Was happy with the generous amount of meat in the standard bowl and the meat is of quality. Tried the soup for both and the Busan style broth has a more pronounced porky flavour while the Milyang style broth is richer but less pronounced porky taste. 

Busan style Daejigukbap @$21

large piece of pork slice

Usual practice is, one can add the salted shrimp, or salt, or the bean paste to enhance the flavour of the broth. Recommend not to add all at once but one and a little bit at a time, to see which one you like more. My favourite was the bean paste as it changes the profile of the soup quite a bit.

Milyang style Daejigukbap @$21

beautiful layers

Perfect for cold weather, and it was quite filling at the end of the meal. It was enjoyable to match the spoonful of rice, some soup and a piece of kimchi. One could inform the staff to refill any of the side dish. We had another round of kimchi because we enjoyed the crunchy texture, and the juicy-ness of the kimchi here.

To my lunch companion Tiara, thank you for your company and Happy Birthday!

Um Yong Baek

Address: 27 Boon Tat St, #01, Singapore 069623

Website: https://umyongbaeksgeng.creatorlink.net/

Contact: +6588435968

Business Hours: 

Closed on Sun.

Mon-Sat: 11 AM–3:30 PM, 5:30–10 PM

[Tasting] Myung Ga (명가) II @ 28 Tanjong Pagar Road

Craving for some reasonably priced and delicious tasting Korean food? I found one of the dishes that I had wanted to eat for the longest time; donkatsu at Myung Ga II ! It is located right behind a bus stop, and that's a pretty convenient way of getting to the restaurant.

let's eat delicious food!

Thank you Hence for inviting me to tag along to experience Myung Ga II.

our table

barley tea

Service was warm and a jug of room temperature barley tea was served to the table once the guests are seated.

There were many things from the menu that caught our eyes but the one that stood out most to me, was the donkatsu 돈까스 and altang 알탕 (fish roe soup). But let's start with some banchans (side dishes) and appetisers.

aged kimchi

miyeok julgi bokkeum (sautéed seaweed stems)

beansprouts

myeolchi bokkeum (stir fried anchovies)

gyeran mari (egg rolls)

My favourite from the banchan was the sliced gyeran mari. Just a subtle pleasant eggy flavour with a hint of sweetness and balanced savoury.

Original Kimbap (Spam) 

The Original Kimbap is pretty looking and works well as an appetiser. The spam was nicely fried to golden and the colourful pairings of the ingredients made it a joy to eat.

Pro-tip: the ends actually had more spam and egg ;)

one bite

seafood pancake 해물 부추전

ingredients are popping!

I was a bit reluctant to order the seafood pancake as our party only consist of 3 pax. But boy, was I glad we ordered this as the pancake was nicely crisp on its outside, firm flavourful batter and abundance of seafood that appeared in every mouthful! Best part...there was much less oil than anticipated. And that sauce was pretty good too though the pancake was already flavourful on its own. But do try as the flavours gets a changed up.

How about deliciously wobbly cheese steamed egg?

치즈 계란찜

The steamed egg should be eaten while it was still hot and so we did, but in careful manner, of course. The cheese was stretchy and kinda fun to eat. Really strong flavours for this one and I wonder if a glass of soju might be helpful in this case... Hahah, need to try it out on next visit!

We also ordered two portions of pork belly for BBQ and requested for the staff to assist us in grilling. Minimum order is 2 portions. 

2 portions of Iberico Pork @$24 per portion (with staff to assist in grilling)

let's check the fire

a dash of pepper

carefully grilling

drip out the oil

getting there

crispy pork

wrap it with lettuce and condiments, and enjoy~

Thank you Noel, for helping us to grill the pork till a nice crisp.

The crispy Iberico pork could be quite oily hence, wash it all down with a bowl of spicy fish roe soup (altang).

fish roe soup

let's see what's in there

treasures

I liked the soup and it was spicy for me. The heat dissipates as quickly as it comes but it was definitely there! The fish roe had a firm texture and flavourful. Not funky. The wriggly ones were softer but not much flavour.

If you're craving for some carbs, I do recommend the Donkatsu (it comes with rice) or the Stir Fried Octopus Rice (nakji-deokbap).

Donkatsu @$20

The donkatsu was lightly battered and the meat was thin and easy to chew. Tasty and the sauce was a mix of tangy and savoury. Eat it with rice, the sliced cabbage with thousand island sauce and baked beans for a 'yesteryear' kind of vibe. Pretty nostalgic and reminded me of the missed opportunity to try donkatsu at Namsan many years ago.

delicious!

Octopus is always a good choice, especially if it is chewy but still tender.

nakji deokbap

lovely bite

To end, one might enjoy a sweet refreshing Korean drink such as pear, sikhye 식혜 or grape.

grape drink

Thank you Victoria (Vicky) for being such a warm and friendly host, as well as staff at Myung Ga II who are earnest in introducing their food to diners.

Have a try and let me know which is your favourite. I know which ones are mine. 잘 먹었습니다!

Myung Ga (명가) II 

Address: 28 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088451

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myungga2.sg

Business Hours:

Tues-Sun: 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-9.30pm

(Break time 3pm-5.30pm)