One issue about staying right in the heart of town is that the (more-affordable) dining choices on weekends are rather limited. The hawker centres and coffeeshops are mostly closed on weekday nights and weekends. So we often end up at shopping centres or fast food restaurants for dinner.
After the Circuit Breaker, I started looking for more options nearby and chanced on this Korean restaurant that was not along the super busy stretch of Tanjong Pagar Road. The online reviews were not too bad and it has also been operating at International Plaza for a long time. The menu caught my eye as there were some Korean stews and dishes that are not often found at other establishments. We took the chance on this Thursday night to dine here on our own (as Y had to attend an enrichment class and had dinner earlier).
We ordered an oyster pancake and a Cheonggukjang-jjigae (Extra-strong fermented soybean paste stew) 청국장찌개. The latter was something I had only seen online, so I was curious how the taste would be like, as it would be much thicker than the normal doenjang stew. Even in local restaurants, I felt the doenjang stew tasted more soup-ish, compared to those home-cooked ones I see online (like on "Home Food Rescue" by Chef Baek Jong-won). This Cheongukjang-jjigae was packed chock-ful with the beans and vegetables, so much so that there was little liquid to drink with. Haha. For most palates, this is a strong-tasting dish. I would describe it as something close to what you would get if you cooked tempeh with an equal amount of broth. Thick, bean-y, substantial, and goes well with a full bowl of rice.
Hubby gave the oyster pancake thumbs-up. The oyster pancake was large, and the oysters were fat and juicy. While the pancake was greasy, it was crisp at the edges and not oil-logged. What I really liked was the generous servings and taste of the side dishes provided. The spicy side dishes helped cleanse the palate after each mouthful of pancake and/or stew. And they were really well-prepared, not commercially-bought basics like potato-mayo salad or seaweed out of a box.
The dishes were really quite authentic, compared to some of the so-called 'authentic' Korean restaurants in Singapore, which mostly only served well-known favourites like fried chicken and BBQ to go with alcohol. We arrived quite late (after 7.30pm) and I was famished, so I only remembered to take the picture of the side dishes as they were served first.
This is definitely going to be one of my regular haunts.
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