Few years ago, a friend of mine, who is a self-professed foodie, had recommended a Korean restaurant in The Regent Hotel. I was pretty interested since I have very good impressions of Regent's lineup of restaurants due to the fact that I like Summer Palace and Basilico a lot. Though I enjoy Korean cuisine, the truth is it is not exactly the type of cuisine I will jump into trying. So I never got around to trying the food there. By a twist of fate, I end up coming here for lunch, and found the best Korean BBQ restaurant in Singapore.
The appetizers are pretty standard fare of kimchi, which is nice, as expected, sweet potato tempura, beanspouts and potato salad. In this department, I still prefer Hansik's offerings. Then again, the highlight of Seoul Restaurant is the meat, so let's get to that now.
The meat here is the best among all the Korean BBQ places I had been to. The meat is incredibly fresh and thoroughly marinated, thus yielding very flavourful, succulent, juicy barbecued meat that is imbued with the aroma of charcoal. Yes, instead using the conventional heater, we barbecued the thick slabs of meat over charcoal, and this is one of the reasons that make this restaurant a winner in barbecued meat department. And it helps that the grill station is designed in such a way that the oil will not be sprayed onto me, unlike what regularly happened when I visited other self service BBQ restaurants. The sesame oil with salt is a great condiment to go with the meat. Highly recommend the pork collar since the meat is not too chewy like the ribs, and the pork is generally more flavourful than the chicken. Another suggested way of enjoying the meats here is to go light first by savouring the BBQ chicken first, then the pork. And one more thing: the pork belly looks like the thinly sliced type in the menu, but when it is served, I am shocked to see that each slice is at least one centimetre thick! So if one wants to try that, be prepared, especially since pork belly has high ratio of fat.
The spicy soft beancurd stew with clams and egg yolk is another must order. The umami of the clams is impossible to resist.
Seafood pancake is prepared right in such a way that the ratio of vegetables to flour is high.
Chilled buckwheat noodles soup is a novelty, which reminds me of cold soba that I love. Add a splash of vinegar and a dot of mustard, the smooth cold fine noodles, soaked with the essence of the soup, is a enjoyable, refreshing treat. But I do find it a tad too chewy as compared to soba.
Service is, well, pretty okay. Kind of like in the middle for all aspects.
If I want to have Korean BBQ, is fine with travelling down to Orchard area and do not mind the aftermath of strong barbecue smell on me, this restaurant is the first to come to my mind.
My Thoughts: My Number One Choice for Korean BBQ buffet
Nearest car park: The Regent Hotel’s car park
Nearest MRT: Orchard
1 Cuscaden Road
The Regent Hotel #03-02
Singapore
Contact No: 63388548
