Jang Shou Korean BBQ (Katong Village)

Add: 86 East Coast Road (Blk B Katong Village - 2nd Floor)

Price: $33.80 ++ (weekend), $28.80 ++ (weekday) - not open for lunch

Promotion: 10% off if you dine within an hour (which honestly, i think you shouldn't=)

Great for: buffet, carnivores, kimchi, authenticity

Was watching Food Safari just a moment ago on the Travel Channel featuring some Korean eateries in Adelaide and it kinda reminded me of this really awesome Korean restaurant i visited 2 Saturdays ago with W.

My BBQ Grill

Not wanting to travel far after a hard day's work of spring cleaning a flat in Marsiling (part of company comm service project), we figured that travelling into town was a bad idea and decided to dine within a 3 km radius of my home. After much research online, we kinda settled on Jang Shou Korean BBQ at Katong even though the reviews weren't typically astounding (it was a close fight between that and the Jap buffet at Katong Mall, but being the carnivores we are, meat prevailed).

Yummy Korean Fish Cakes!

The Food

It was a well-balanced buffet spread with the star items (of course) being the wide variety of marinated meat: pork (spicy belly, tongue(yew), bulgogi, terriyaki, intestines..) beef (tripe, shoulder cut, prime cut, bulgogi, spicy..) ,chicken and seafood (sotongs and fish). Vegetables (brinjals, cabbages, onions, leeks, carrots, garlics, mushrooms..)

Cooked Food selection: Galbijim, Spicy Korean Rice Cakes and Noodle Soup

The cooked food and kimchi sections were definitely a bonus to the entire meal. There was an entire spread of tradition Korean food that includes Galbijim (beef stew with carrots and radish) , my FAVOURITE Korean fishcakes (fond memories from my OBS course at Odaesan National Park in Korea), rice cakes and potato currry stew. And in addition to the usual cabbage kimchi, there were 5 other different vegs that were (what I would like to call)..'kimchified'. Radish, spinach, seaweed..(and I can't remember the other two)

Pickled vegetables & the amazing potato salad

The salad/fruit bar consisted of your usual selection of raw veg, watermelon, pineapple, and honey dew. What really stands out though is the potato pasta salad and the raw beef salad, the latter being a personal observation of its replenishment rate since i do not particularly enjoy beef.

If I were to single out which dish was my favourite, it would have to be the spicy pork belly ( i swear you have never seen a 'broader' pork belly than this)...you could almost feel the TLC given by the chefs during the marination process. The Galbi-jim, spinach kimchi and the spicy fish were excellent too. And of course, W gives both thumbs up to the beef.

Spicy Pork Belly. Check out the width of it as compared to the 'normal' one

The Service

Generally good service and you could see that almost half the staff are actually from Korea! They were responsive and at times...TOO enthusiastic about cleaning away the grease & burnt bits on your bbq grills with kitchen towels (I hope. please let it NOT be toilet paper)

The Manager (or so I assumed) seems to guard the art of eating Korean BBQ very fervently. From a few metres away, he spotted my haphazard arrangement of meat and veg on the sloping bbq grill 5 minutes into my meal, shook his head in utter disappointment, trudged over with the folded toil... i mean...kitchen towel clamped in between the thongs, and started pushing all my food aside while scrubbing the grill at the same time. He then gingerly arranged the fatty meats at the top of the grill while leaving the garlic, onion and brinjals at the trough. I guess that makes complete sense since gravity would do its job on the melting fats and oil the entire grill in the process.

They had a great selection of sauces

The Vibes

Well, with the restaurant packed full with chattering customers and the aroma of bbq meat in the air, this must be one of the most unique dining experiences to have in Singapore. And the fact that HALF the customers were Korean make it a comforting fact that this establishment isn't one of those run-of-the-mill eateries boasting their soggy Bi Bim Baps.

The Before

p.s. Remember to grab a complimentary carpark ticket that could help offset a portion of your parking fees at Katong Village!

p.s p.s Wear the most chapalang shirt you have to this meal as you are gonna smell like a ton of bulgogi beef by the end of it. You should probably bring a change too if you are going somewhere for a date later.

If your partner is with you, and smells like bulgogi too, then I guess it's fine=)