Wang Dae Bak (China Square)

Yay... Finally reach a post which is categorized 'recent finds' in my mental drawers. It was a weekday dinner when hubby wasn't free. J was on leave so I asked the only dinner kaki left, FQ, whether he's free for dinner. He said he was having dinner with his BFF, D, whom I know. Asked me if I mind having dinner with them? I was like, if they don't mind the extra me, who am I to mind anything?

But anyway, we agreed to meet D at Chinatown point, but we hadn't decided on what to eat. I off hand said I haven't tried Wang Dae Bak, which the two of them had recommended me before. So they said, why not? And off we went to Wang Dae Bak.

So Wang Dae Bak is a Korean joint, it serves both cooked food, as well as table BBQ. We opted for table BBQ and in no time, red hot charcoals were set up at our table. Real charcoal BBQ! Cool! And after the grill is set in place, the waiter poured something that is pre-tty unique to this place. Beaten eggs. That's that yellow ring you see around the grill. Egg is FREE-FLOW! I think that's FQ's bias for this place. He loves eggs! The typical korean side dishes were quickly brought to the table, kimchi, cold mashed potatoes, seaweed... etc. We were happily munching while waiting for our orders to arrive, but that wait wasn't very long. Oh well, how long will they need to bring raw food to the table right?

Red hot coals

Ring of egg, and all the side dishes

Meats! The boys said the 'marinated chickens' is good (That's exactly what is written on the menu. It's not typo on my part.). So we ordered 2 portions of the chicken, and one portion of pork belly, and one portion of boneless prime rib. D found the pork too tough for his braces, and he doesn't take beef to begin with. So FQ and I polished off the whole plate of beef and pork between the two of us. I quite like the beef, and agree that the pork is a little on the tough side. The boys were right, the chicken is good. It was well marinated and tender. Despite me being a beef lover, I had to declare the chicken the winner. *Update: On a subsequent visit, I found that the pork shoulder loin is more tender than the pork belly.

Boneless prime rib (top) and pork belly (bottom)

Marinated chickens

Nice thing about Wang Dae Bak is their adjustable UFO-like smoke vent. U can shift it up to give yourself space to maneuverer the food. Then shift it down to maximise it's venting power and reduce heat and smoke on yourselves while the food cooks. Here u can see the half the egg ring gone, due to our continuous digging.

Meat cooking under the UFO smoke vent

The only cooked food we ordered on that occasion was the seafood pancake. I like it! It was crispy, very fragrant, and yet fluffy inside. There's alot of veggies and prawns and whatnot, and the light soy based sauce it was served with complemented it well. This is a "To-Order" dish I will highly recommend. On separate visits, I had tried their dukboki and japchae. Liked both of those dishes. I've also tried their Ginseng chicken soup. Warm and nice. Mmmmm

Seafood pancake

Spicy rice cake

Japchae - stir fried noodles with vegetables

I liked Wong Dae Bak enough to bring people back twice already. Do note that you'll still come out smelling like BBQ despite their UFO vents. Fear not, they provide Febreeze spray at the counter. Lol!! Lynn wasn't very impressed by their food though. Maybe that's because we ordered the platter on that occasion instead of focusing on the chicken. Really, their chicken is the best dish they have. Moreover she was on a super BBQ crave that day. For a BBQ focused meal, there are other places with buffet based BBQ which are much more value for money - IF you're not an egg addict like FQ. But I will be back. If anything, for their seafood pancake.


Wang Dae Bak
22 cross street (China Square Central)

#01-64

Singapore 048421
Tel: 6225 2646

Haramiya Japanese BBQ

Ok, this will be a highly contradictory post. Because although they are supposedly a Japanese BBQ restaurant, I opt to call them a... confused BBQ restaurant. But confusion aside. we love their food. We found this place really by roaming through Clarke Quay Central after gym, and settling for this because we were wanting meat, and what better way to satisfy meat craving than a BBQ buffet.

Buffet menu

The reason I call them confused? I'm seeing the standard Korean BBQ food and sides in a JAPANESE BBQ joint. First confusion: spicy bean paste and lettuce for the BBQ meats, kimchi as starters. Whatever happened to edamame, raw cabbage and non-spicy miso paste?

Bean paste chilli, kimchi and lettuce

Then off the cooked food menu comes the next two confusions: bibimbap and kimchi soup. Mainstays of Korean cuisine, in a supposed Japanese restaurant. Contradictions aside, the bibimbap was actually quite yummy. You may be wondering why we ordered rice in a buffet. It's because we came after gym workout and were ravenous! Moreover two person to a bowl of rice wasn't too bad. The kimchi soup was nice too. Warm and mildly spicy, it was pleasant to slurp while waiting for our other food to cook on the grill.

Bibimbap

Kimchi soup

The meats were less confused, although the few I showed here had western influences. Garlic chicken with cheese - we weren't impressed. Kaburi beef with butter garlic - while the Kaburi beef was yum, the butter garlic was forgettable. We did love the scallop though. It grilled beautifully and was sweet and delicious.

Scallop, garlic chicken with cheese

Kaburi with butter garlic

Food not shown included the salmon in foil pack, which ended up very overcooked by the time the accompanying mushrooms were cooked. We really loved the Kaburi beef and Rosa beef. The Kaburi with bone was also nice. These beef didn't dry out into tough pieces after grilling, but retain their tenderness and juiciness. Pork wise we ordered pork toro and Samgyeopsal (Korean sounding again, doesn't it?). Although as far as I'm concerned they both refer to pork belly in different languages, the pork toro came as rectangular slices of well marbled fatty pork, whereas the Samgyeopsal was an entire length of pork belly in its three layers. Weirdest thing is the Samgyeopsal was served on a bed of kimchi. Really? Did they expect me to eat kimchi that had a piece of raw meat sitting on it? Or did they expect me to grill the kimchi? Between the two we preferred the pork toro and spammed it quite a fair bit, as it grills into a very juicy bite. 

Grilling food

We liked their potato with butter. I think we got corn with butter on a separate occasion and liked it too. Their ginger chicken was bland and hopelessly dry. The pumpkin came as slices, which on our first try were too thick and didn't cook through by the time they burnt on the outside. But on a second occasion it was the perfect thickness and cooked nicely.

Potato with butter

We've been there twice, and both times left stuffed and satisfied. They have a 10 items per order rule which they aren't too stringent about. And their grill is the kind with the ventilation vents at the side, so you don't leave smelling like BBQ. Unfortunately our gym had moved to a new place, so chances is we're less likely to be back for post-gym dinners. But I still like it and may just bring my colleagues back.


Haramiya Japanese BBQ
6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-87

The Central

Singapore 151897

Tel: 6534 9468