[Closed] Dong Fang Hong 东方红 Restaurant @ 92 Telok Ayer Street

After an early check-in to our hotel at The Clan, we went in search of lunch. Literally a minute away from the hotel, is this Korean-Chinese restaurant called Dong Fang Hong. I wanted to try their jajangmyeon (짜장면 / 炸醬麵 ).

entrance

is time to refresh the banner?

We walked-in close to 1pm on a Friday, and most of the guests seemed to be have almost completed their meal.

menu

There are 3 types of jajangmyeon available but one was only available for dinner. I chose the DFH Jajiang Myeon  (东方红 炸醬麵) as that bears the namesake of the restaurant as well as being the traditional jajangmyeon. The other one was the seafood version.

Legendary Noodles

Am pretty amused by the wordings in the menu as it states "Legendary" or in Chinese "传说中". Can't blame the guests if the expectations rose by ten folds!

What caught my eye, is an appetiser called Menbosha (멘보샤) which was trending in Korea not too long ago. This is essentially fried shrimp toast which existed long ago but became rare through the years. Have not found any other restaurant in Singapore offering this, and if you know of one, do let me know!

We ordered one portion to try. Was thinking of whether we could do the wang mandoo (steamed dumplings) as well but decided not to overestimate our stomach space.

appetizer menu

Staff is efficient and friendly. They'll bring you the side dish which consist of kimchi, szechuan pickles and white pickled radish.

complimentary refillable side dish and pickles

A tumbler of cold water is brought to the table as well. Food arrived within minutes after order was taken.

DFH Jajiang Myeon (东方红 炸醬麵) @$12++

getting dizzy mixing the noodles

let's eat 먹자

The jajangmyeon sauce was tasty but leaning on the sweeter side. Portion was good to feed two pax. And like many others, we also ordered tangsuyuk to go along with the jajangmyeon. It's almost like a food pair.

Pork Tangsuyuk @$28++ (small)

Frankly speaking, my impression of tangsuyuk so far, isn't good. The batter ratio seemed to be of much more batter than meat. Had it the first time in Busan and we didn't finish the plate.

The version at DFH had a rather pale looking appearance and that didn't help visually. The sweet sauce (or syrup) was already poured onto the meat and I wonder if serving it separately would have helped to maintain the crisp of the batter for that little while longer?

I concluded for myself that tangsuyuk is an acquired taste and I very much preferred our sweet and sour pork or gu lou yuk (咕嚕肉), thank you.

Legendary Spicy Seafood Noodles Soup @$15++

I like the broth in the Spicy Seafood Noodles Soup and despite its name, it wasn't that spicy. The cabbage absorbed well the soup and the mussels were nice to eat.

My favourite dish from this place is the Menbosha (fried shrimp toast). Well fried to a golden brown, crisp outer and doesn't feel oily. Flavourful.

Menbosha (멘보샤 / 面包虾) @$18++

my favourite dish

Lunch with Hence and Tracy as part of our staycay adventures at Telok Ayer.

Dong Fang Hong 东方红 Restaurant

Address: 92 Telok Ayer Street #01-01, Far East Square, 048472

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DongFangHongSg/

Contact: 6327 9036

Business Hours:

Sun Closed

Mon to Sat: 11:30am–3pm, 5:30–10pm

[Tasting] I'M KIM Korean BBQ & Shabu Shabu @ Grantral Mall

First things first. Where in the world is Grantral Mall? Its address will lead most grab or cab to Clementi Mall. Not too far off, but not correct also. Now, knowing the bearings, alight at Clementi MRT Station, and once you've exited, move towards the left and away from the Clementi Bus Interchange (or away from McDonalds). After walking a few metres from Clementi mall, you'd come across a small junction or road between Clementi Mall and Grantral Mall and you'd notice another smallish building with steps leading to a sign that says "Grantral Mall". The signage is in blue.

Grantral Mall side view (the sushi shop is most noticeable once you are near enough)

Here's the YT video on the direction from I'M KIM website:

I'll admit that I didn't watch the direction video and hence, I was lost for about 5 minutes because I've headed towards Clementi Mall instead of the other direction, and had to seek direction from the helpful staff at the Bus Interchange.

Once in Grantral Mall, just head up to Level 2 and the restaurant large signage makes it easily locate-able.

There is a 90-minutes dining per seating and the 'buffet' table closes at 3pm and 10pm respectively for lunch and dinner.

Although it is 'buffet-style', due to current situation, the restaurant is offering table-service to get the 'buffet' item to the diners. All we have to do, is just to tick-off in the order sheet and hand it over to the friendly staff. They'll bring the items to the table for you. No need to get up from our table!

interior

order sheet

pencil holder

I was late, so my group had ordered a bunch of items. I was like whispering to them to ask if we had ordered one of each because it seemed like we had!

table-full of stuffs

While I had tried I'M KIM at SOTA, the concept here at Grantral Mall, is that this outlet not only offers BBQ, it has Shabu Shabu as well. Nice! For the shabu pot, diner could opt for miso or sukiyaki base. We opted for sukiyaki.

in goes the sukiyaki broth for shabu shabu

dipping sauces - ssamjang, goma, thai chili and thousand island

assorted side dishes

While waiting for the BBQ and Shabu Shabu to cook, one could indulge in their cooked food, especially the fried chicken wings!

Korean Chicken Wings

japchae

carbonara

Thirsty? There is an ongoing promo of "BUY 2 GET 1 FREE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS!" its Grantral Mall, SOTA and *SCAPE outlets. Do note that the free item has to be of lower value than the paid items.

Buy 2 Get 1 Free Alcoholic Drinks Promo

Hite beer

Makgeolli

Let's check how's the food doing, shall we?

ready, get set, go

turning up the heat

vegetable pot looking good

some chicken slices to shabu shabu 샤브샤브

ready to eat

The thin slices of meat cooks easily and quickly in the shabu pot, and the mixture of corn, mushrooms and seafood (prawns, mussels, clams, squid) added to the flavour.

marinated meats for BBQ

BBQ grill action

yummy black pepper chicken 후추 치킨

cheers to friendship and yummy food in our belly

make your own ssam 쌈

can't get enough of delicious meats 김치 삼겹살

The friendly staff would drop by once in a while to help change the grill paper or, if necessary, the grill plate. The sukiyaki broth would also be topped up periodically.

Overall, an enjoyable experience albeit a little hurriedly at the beginning. I felt so pampered with the buffet dishes delivered to the table. We were mindful to not over order and it was a good idea to order enough to start, and then to top up once we had cooked and eaten most of the lot.

reasonable price

Promotions at Grantral Mall Outlet:

• Students and NSFs Promo (Until 31st October 2020) Valid Student Pass or NSF card to be eligible. Minimum 3 pax to dine. Mon-Fri Lunch: $11.9++ (UP: $16.9++) Sat-Sun Lunch & Mon-Thu Dinner: $20.9++ (UP: $26.9++)

• 4+1 Free Promo (Until 31st Oct 2020): 1 pax dines free with every 4 full-paying pax. Valid for Sat-Sun Lunch & Sun-Thu Dinner. Have to reserve seats online and use promo code ‘4PLUS1’.

• Early Dinner Promo (Until 31st Oct 2020) $19.90++ Sun-Thu Dinner. To enjoy the promo, dining time will be 5.30pm-7pm. Have to reserve seats online and use promo code ‘EARLY’. Minimum 3 pax to dine.

• Healthcare Workers (Until 31st Oct 2020) 20% OFF Mon-Sun Lunch & Sun-Thu Dinner. Have to flash Healthcare Staff pass to be eligible.

Terms and conditions apply. Do enquire from the outlet itself.

Thank you Adrian and Kingdom Food Group for hosting the lunch, as well as a shout out to the friendly service crew at I'M KIM Korean BBQ and Shabu Shabu.

I'M KIM Korean BBQ & Shabu Shabu @ Grantral Mall

Address: 3151 Commonwealth Ave West Singapore 129581

Website: https://kingdomfood.sg/im-kim-korean-bbq-shabu-shabu/

Contact:  +65 62611936

Business Hours:

Weekday: 11.30am – 4.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm

Buffet Counter closes at 3.00pm & 10.00pm respectively

Weekend/PH: 11.30am – 3.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm 

Buffet Counter closes at 3.00pm & 10.00pm respectively 

3 Meals A Day 一日三餐 Korean Family Restaurant @ 12 Chun Tin Road

Was introduced to this restaurant by Tracy and Hence , my travel and dining buddies. They liked the food and we made arrangements to lunch there. Do make your reservations as the lunch queue tends to be loooong...

The place is conveniently located just right across the road after exiting from Beauty World MRT station. There are other Korean restaurants nearby too, like Oven Baked and KIM BBQ.

The service staff would frequently enquire if you are ready to order. Once you do, they'd bring over the serving plates, water bottle and water cups. Liked that they'll inform us on how to enjoy the dish, if they sensed that we are not quite that familiar.

Started with a plate of raw halibut in spicy seasoned salad. This was my first time trying. Only available in medium or large sizes. The medium sized was good for 4 pax as a starter. Tasty and beware of the green chilies, as it hits you where it'll hurt. Hahaa, a good kind of hurt and for a short while. Shioks!

Halibut Hoimuchim @$35 (M)

make a seaweed wrap

The halibut fish was sliced in strips and had a lovely slight bouncy texture. Not bouncy like squid and not mushy like salmon. Just something that's in between. The dish was tasty, well seasoned with standout flavours of spicy, sweet and garlicky plus a myriad of textural combination. Yums and whets the appetite for more.

water to put out the heat

For this meal, we ordered street snacks. No...not topokki 떡볶이 and not eomuk 어묵. Instead we ordered a small plate of sundae 순대 and gimbap. If for sundae, and you're thinking of ice-cream, that's not it! Sundae (or soondae) is steamed intestine stuffed with pig's blood, glutinous rice and glass noodles. An acquired taste and happy to report that the version at 3 Meals A Day is a non-funky version. Expect chewy texture. F.or taste, there's some salt given to enhance. I'd recommend to add some these into soup/stew for a more flavourful bite.

Sundae 순대 @$10

flavoured salt

We chose egg kimbap. Wow, this kimbap was huge! Hahaa, am used to the skinnier version so this came as a surprise. In terms of taste, this was somewhat lacking as the flavours were really gentle.

Egg kimbap 계란김밥 @$10

Let's take a look at the banchan 반찬 (side-dishes) served here. There was fresh kimchi (김치), fish cake (어묵볶음), seasoned bean sprouts (숙주나물), anchovies (멸치볶음), braised potato (감자조림) and macaroni with mayonaise.

side dishes 반찬

Hence asked, "Are you going to stop us from over-ordering today?"

Me, "Not today."

Now, let's do some serious eating shall we? 

A bowl of stew/soup is a must here and the tofu stew did not disappoint. Smallish in terms of size but big in terms of flavours. Enjoyment intensified after a few glasses of alcohol.

Soondubu jjigae 순두부찌개 @$12

건배

Fried Chicken Half/Half @$35

Yangnyum Chicken 양념치킨 (2nd Half)

Beef Bulgogi @$13

Samgyopsal (grilled pork belly) 삼겹살 @$15

Warm tummies and warmer hearts when good food is enjoyed with friends. But, we couldn't leave without trying their Jjukgumi Bokkeum (small octopus stir-fry). Why? Because the table next to us had it and it looked good. So, we ordered.

Quite a big pan of fiery red stuff with shiny blobs sticking out. Pardon my Huawei for the intense yellow tone.

Jjukgumi Bokkeum 쭈꾸비볶음 @$30

such a big baby!

You can cut the octopus into smaller pieces but it was tender enough to be bitten off. Beware of splurting sauces and don't wear white when you eat this. Amazing texture and very very likeable. Sauce was spicier than the salad, so get ready that cold water bottle at the side. The jjukgumi bokkeum is a definitely must-try here.

Thank you Tracy, Hence and Ivan for being the best travel buddies and makan-buddies! Till our next adventure, take care.

Expect to spend about $55 per pax for a meal with drinks here. 

3 Meals A Day 一日三餐

Address: 12 Chun Tin Road Singapore 599599

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThreeMealsaDaySG/

Contact: 6463 2346

Business Hours:

Tue – Sun:12.00 – 15.30; 18.00 – 23.00

Closed on Monday