Tofu G (豆府記 두부젤라또), Mandarin Gallery

Came across Tofu G (#03-30 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Road, tel : +65 8970 6493) recently and tried a couple of their tofu gelato. Apparently, they're the first tofu gelato here and the spot they're on is a pop up. Nicest looking pop up I've seen.

The lavender coloured one was Korean sweet potato - if you asked me, it tasted like yam and coconut. The Sandy coloured one's pistachio with its unmistakeable nuttiness. These were a lot lighter compared to regular dairy based gelato. Not bad.

Back at SBCD Korean Tofu House

Happenstance dinner at SBCD Korean Tofu House. It's been a lot longer than I realised since the last time. This was a combo with spicy chicken and their original beef soontofu/sundubu.

Their spicy chicken's kinda nice. Charred, smokey, sweet and the heat isn't as intimidating as what most people might imagine. We almost thought this was the teriyaki chicken served by mistake.

That original beef soontofu has sliced and minced meat. Noticed substantially more tofu than I recall ever getting from the last times. This pot was great with rice.

Re-visiting Jeong's Jjajang

There were a couple of things we wanted to come back to Jeong's Jjajang for. The first was to try their jjampong and the other was to get their delicious mandus again. And then we also found something else this time. 

I love the smoky aroma infused in their jjampong's broth. It's exactly the same soup as what they gave us on the side the last time we were here. It's so good. Will try the stir fried one next.

There's kalguksu which I hadn't noticed on their menu the last time. The in house made soya bean broth was deliciously bean-y. 

Possibly the best mandus we've had to date. Not that we've had that much but the quality is obvious and the stuffings, generous.

Song Gye Ok (송계옥), Telok Ayer Road

These guys (113 Telok Ayer Street, tel : +65 8088 3850) are a chicken specialty shop from Korea. According to them, they're really popular. And they're sister to the current samgyetang belle of the ball Modu, so we came here for samgyetang.

But first some sikhye. Flavour's sweet, malty and oat-y.

Middle's salt and pepper, not brown sugar. The cabbage on the right is baek kimchi with yuja/yuzu. Nice. The other green preserved vegetable thingy on the left...not so memorable.

We were here for samgyetang but I was also curious about their grilled chicken parts because that's what they were known for. We decided we'd try one part and went for the heart.

Those little hearts were grilled table side.

Mouthing silent squeals with mouths they don't have while they sizzled to our delights.

Came with some dips and salt. Though I like salt best because that's the condiment where the flavour of the heart and the char aroma came through, the others dips were not bad.

Truffle was shaven on serving for the truffle samgyetang.

The broth from it tasted like a tangy mushroom soup...not exactly what I imagined. No discernible ginseng flavour. It wasn't bad though. Chicken was slurp off the bone tender.

In retrospect, I liked the oat-y earthy flavour of the perilla samgyetang better. The collagen broth that they use for refills has that ginseng taste I was thinking of. Both banchan and soup are refillable.

Super Star K, Funan

The last time we were at Super Star K, I was pretty sure there wasn't kong guksu on menu. Apparently, there is now. At least there was for their branch at Funan (B02-22A/23 Funan, 107 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6320 3813). Was happy with it and also glad that they served with sugar on the side without us having to ask for it. Note to self: We enjoyed their gogi mandus.

Jeong's Jjajang, Killiney Road

Have heard of Jeong's Jjajang (75 Killiney Road, tel : +65 9832 1525) being mentioned so we're here to try the food.

Some peach makgeolli while waiting.

Jjajangmyeon was fine. The sauce was savoury sweet and onion-y. While we didn't think badly of this, I'm also thinking that I prefer the ones from O.BBa Jjajang and Wonderful Bapsang.

Decent kimchi bokkeumbap. This tasted like kimchi integrated with fried rice rather than kimchi fried rice if that makes sense.

Not bad kimchi jjigae.

Their mandus rocked!🤘🏼 Stuffings were pork, chives and mashed tofu I think. They were also huge. These were much more memorable than the ones from Noodle Star K. Note to self: come back for the jjampong the next time because the wok hei infused broth also rocks!

Paik's Noodle without noodles

Back at Paik's Noodle. Their savoury and smoky shrimp fried rice was pretty good tasting. Didn't think it needed the chunjang at all. 

I've been curious about their mapo tofu and finally tried it. Not as salty/beany as the Chinese rendition. Loads of onions in this one and the meaty gravy was slightly starchy. Not bad tasting but also not as intense and moreish as I imagined.

Tuna bibimbap from Ssada Gimbab (싸다김밥)

My first tuna bibimbap. From Ssada Gimbab. I wanted to keep it simple but ended up adding mozzarella cheese which on hindsight might not be the best idea since the warmth from the rice could only do so much before the cheese hardened again. What would seriously elevate this is a drizzle of good sesame oil. Definitely serviceable still.

More lunch from Fish & Bones

The burger's no longer available at Fish & Bones for lunch. It's...regular Korean food now.

Banchan's refillable. The one with cucumber was refreshing. Bean sprouts have a nice sesame oil flavour. Kimchi's kinda young-ish without the tang I was hoping for.

Hoedeopbap - there's salmon and a white fish which I think might be halibut. Fish here is kinda chewy.

I think this is their gochujang. Didn't taste like most gochujang. Not as beany, tasted more fruity and also more refreshing.

Those vegetables aren't great for mixing. Too bulky and doesn't wilt. Didn't dislike the hoedeopbap but I don't think I'll get it again.

Don't think we've had Korean abalone porridge before. I was expecting something abalone-y but it did not taste like abalone. Tasted like...something we can get from Ah Chiang. 😂 I'm not sure what I'm tasting here.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

Decent miso marinated hamachi collar.

D'RIM Korean Steak House, Mandarin Gallery

D'RIM (#02-14 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Road, tel : +65 9660 9964) is run by the same folks that manage Modu - that samgyetang place which everyone has the hots for lately. What's here then? I guess an upscale KBBQ joint would be a pretty accurate description. We ended up here because the queue at Modu was a little crazy and we managed to snag seats here during the pivot.

Something sparkling while waiting for the food.

Were curious about their pricey minari jeon (water dropwort pancake) which featured barley shrimp. One might wonder what's the latter. That was what we were trying to discover. The wait staff thoughtfully positioned this for photos before they scissor-ed up the pancake.

There's a lot more crunch and batter mouthfeel than what we could see from the thin layer of fried batter. Not a complain. This was delicious. Not excessively greasy from the frying.

There's a great salty sweet dip on the side which brought out the flavours of those barley shrimps that tasted much like sakura ebi.

That's the Jeju yukgaejang. Our first yukgaejang.

The broth was beefy, viscous and filled with shredded beef brisket. Instantly reminded us of the moum guk from Jeju Sanghoe. Sliced chilli added a nice layer of heat to it. Those green stuff on the little dish were pickled sea asparagus.

Yukhoe mulhoe bibim naengmyeon - beef tartare salad spicy cold noodle if my interpretation is accurate.

Is gochujang slushie even a thing?

Awesome-est cold noodle I've had. All of it was chilled all the way till the end. Imagine an icy broth with a fruity sweetness coupled with a respectable tangy heat. All that paired with loads of textures and subtle flavour layering collectively from the cold firm noodles, minced beef, julienned pears and vegetables. Very nice! 👍🏼

We were given some complimentary refresher shots at the end. Think it was some plum tea/juice thingy.