The Corner Place Korean BBQ @ Marina Square

Located at Level 4 of Marina Square, just right beside the food court. To tell you the truth, didn't really know that Marina Square has a food court! Seldom go up to there...

shop entrance

Been wanting to try bbq beef galbi, so it was just nice that makan kaki suggested having Korean BBQ for dinner one day.

The selection of meats included beef bulgogi, marinated galbi and unmarinated beef slices, marinated chicken (looked like breast meat slices), unmarinated pork collar and pork belly, sausages and squid.

raw galbi, beef slices and marinated beef and chicken at the back

getting started

The vegetables included kimchi cabbage, radish kimchi, cucumber and spring onions, fresh lettuces, coleslaw and tomatoes. There were fruits such as sliced watermelon and oranges.

from bottom to top: bean paste sauce, japchae, radish kimchi, cabbage kimchi

 
For carbs, diners can help themselves to the rice in the rice cooker. Right beside the rice, there's another pot for miso soup.

For drinks (included in buffet), they have cherry juice (something that looked reddish), barley, lemon tea and iced water. There are other drinks in the fridge (including beer and soju) that are charged separately.

after first round of cooking

Enjoyed the meat by wrapping it with lettuce with kimchi and bean paste sauce. Would've liked it more if there were chilies or garlic slices around for that extra oomph.

meat, kimchi and lettuce

The beef galbi is actually quite chewy. So, probably it's wiser to cut it into smaller slices using the meat scissors, otherwise risk getting it stuck in the throat.

Next up, samgyeopsal (pork belly).

from top: pork collar, pork belly

Liked the fatty belly sizzling on the hot plate. The plate is slanted so the oil drips down.

slanting plate

BBQ'ing the pork belly was quite fun.

almost finish

just need to char it a little

ready to eat!

Think we polished about three plates of lettuces along with the meats.

fresh crisp lettuce

dab some bean paste sauce

make a wrap and enjoy

The japchae, made from sweet potato noodles (known as dangmyeon, 당면) was very tasty. Enjoyable because of its chewy texture and it actually tasted like fried noodles. A tad salty but still favourable.

japchae

The restaurant also offers cooked items such as jeon and kimchi fried rice. They didn't serve out the cooked items to the buffet table, so went up to the chef at the cooking station and requested to sample the mini pancakes and fried rice.

jeon and fried rice (hidden beneath the crackers)

left to right: original jeon and kimchi jeon

kimchi fried rice

The mini pancakes and fried rice were nice alternatives to plain rice carbs. The service crew cleared the plates on a regular interval, and they'll help to change the gas or the aluminium foil upon request.

This meal costs about $24 per pax.

Mad Nest @ East Coast Road

Located at 378/380 East Coast Road, and accessible via bus #14 (if taking public transportation). If coming from west side, then one will pass by Katong 112, Roxy Square and Holy Family Church. For bus riders, alight after the church. There's a Caltex opposite the restaurant. Limited parking is available in front of the shop.

interior

sushi chef

art pieces on the wall

My friend made reservations but we had a little trouble after that when our party started arriving at the restaurant. A small hiccup but we got our table nonetheless. The indoor dining area was quite spacious with lots of art pieces adorning its walls for diners to admire.

menu & cutlery

menu

plate and cutlery

rounded corners

We ordered plenty for our party of four. Went mad for food and drinks. Wheee~ Happy hours are until 8pm, so we got ourselves two jugs of Stella (HH:$25+,  R:$28+). Iced water is served freely upon request.

nice to see you again, Stella

Sashimi Moriawase San Shu (@$18+) was the first item to land on our table and subsequently in our bellies. The wasabi was a little dried out though.

sashimi moriawase san shu (3 types); salmon, mekajiki and maguro

firm and juicy swordfish

tuna

Next, was the Oishii Maki. Was our first time ever having Oiishi Maki though I've heard of its existance elsewhere on the island. The version here was very tasty. The softness of grilled savoury eel, the butteriness of avocado and the tiny salty bursts of fish roe that's rounded off by creamy mayo. Yums.

Oishii Maki

grilled eel and roasted salmon, served with avocado and homemade mayo sauce

one tiny morsel of oiishiness

Next up, from the hot tapas section: fries. Old Bay Frites to be exact. Its accompanying aioli dip was ultra garlicky and its a must dip for the fries! Otherwise, those spuds tasted just like regular ones.

Old Bay Frites

of salty spices and shaved parmesan

aioli dip

Then, the Mad Nest Wings flew in.

Mad Nest Wings

gorgeous tasty wings

sauce

The chicken wings were good enough on its own. Tasty and well marinated. Enjoyable with the cold beer.

yum yum drumlet

For main courses, my friends ordered Chili Crab pasta (@$21+), described under Italian-Asian section  and  The Mad Breakfast (@$20+), under the All-Day Brunch menu.

Chili Crab

crabmeat sauce and soft-shell crab

crab meat sauce infused with rojak flower and chilies

With the Chili Crab moniker, the tastebud was actually expecting flavours like the well-known chili crab that we're so used to. But the sauce here, has a refreshing taste to it, probably thanks to the rojak flower that has a fragrance similar to laksa leaves. The sauce was rich but not overly so. However, the soft shell crab has absorbed much oil in it.

The Mad Breakfast plate was pretty with nice colours. My friend gave us sampling portion of her breakfast for us to try.

The Mad Breakfast

chicken sausages, scrambled eggs, brioche, bacon, roasted tomato, wilted spinach

roasted tomato

bacon

If you like lean sausages with stronger flavours, then this chicken sausage might be the one for you. Personally I'd prefer 'em juicy and bouncy. Didn't like the bacon because of its tough texture. Personal preference is to have the bacon either still soft and tender or very crispy. No in betweens for me.

The bread. Really liked the brioche. Really. Yummms. It has a tinge of smokiness to it, with a light and airy texture. My friend commented that the eggs need a little more seasoning. I thought the mild flavour of the eggs was adequate.

yummy brioche!

All four of us felt seriously full after the breakfast. Wow, come to think of it, we've had six courses of food! My friend who doesn't drink beer, ordered a latte.

latte with cute biscuit hanging on

Adjourned to outdoor seats to chill, and got ourselves some more drinks.

weekday set meal if interested

outdoor seats

Another friend came by around midnight and she ordered calamari rings and a beer. They have Stella and Hoegaarden on tap.

calamari rings with wasabi mayo dip

closer view of calamari rings

Personally, I'd still prefer the chicken wings.

Service was efficient and sometimes too eager. We had a polite one who served us food, and he always finishes with a little flourish and says, "Enjoy~". Everytime, without fail. Puts a smile to our faces.

The service crew was also pretty quick to come by to top up our beer glasses as soon as it was half full. Just that one of them need further training in beer pouring, as he filled half the glass with foam instead. But am still impressed that they put in effort to take care of their diners. Kudos to the team.

We spent about $59 per pax (based on four pax calc.) for this meal. Note that there's no GST charge here. The 10% service charge is applicable.

Mad Nest online menu can be found here.

TCC @ The Pier, Robertson Quay

Located at 80 Mohamed Sultan Road, this place is not hard to find...once I get my bearings right. Direction is never my forte. Seems like its menu has been revamped, so it looked different and there are a couple of new items in it. Sat at the alfresco area and its chair was damp from the rain earlier. Indoor seats looked nice and there are some wicker egg hanging chairs too. How cool is that!

coaster

Tried the Toffee Choc Espresso and it came looking quite petite, served in espresso cup. Small sips of it was actually quite yummy. Sweet from toffee and bitter from the sprinkled choco powder. Nice and serving size just right. If its volume was any larger, then the sweetness would've been too cloying to handle.

toffee choc espresso

For food, tried the Prawn Cheese-a-toast. Smallish two-bite appetisers that was plated quite prettily. The prawn paste flavour was quite mild and has a bouncy texture. The mayo sauce lent an extra savoury depth to the dish while the egg roes undertook a more decorative purpose.

prawn cheese-a-toast @$10.50++

caviar on toast

pretty looking morsel

My friend had the Melon & Mangosteen tea. Sounds exotic, yes? Has a very nice strong sweet fruity fragrance but taste wise, it was rather flat.

melon & mangosteen tea @$9++

Feeling somewhat peckish, we ordered a Deluxe Snack Platter that consist of all things fried. Not a very health conscious choice too. And come to think of it, all our food that night was fried! Argh, hahaha!

deluxe snack platter (onion rings, squid rings, mozarella sticks and some rocket leaves)

The sauce that accompanied the platter was interesting. Tasted like plum. Goes well with most of the stuffs except squid rings.

This place serves iced-water upon request and our request to top up the hot water for the tea was acceeded with a smile. No issue here.

There was a 15% discount for payment via Citibank or DBS/POSB credit cards. This meal costs about $49 (after discount).