With the hallyu wave spreading like wildfire globally, Korean entertainment and culture have become readily available practically everywhere and that of course, includes Korean restaurants specialising in the fine art of barbeque. Recently, JP Pepperdine Group which owns popular steakhouse Jack's Place and Eatzi Gourmet, has started another venture by bringing Kkongdon Barbeque into Singapore's gastronomic scene.
To date, Kkongdon Barbeque has more than 60 branches in Korea and 2 locally, which are located at Marina Link and SAFRA Toa Payoh. According to internet source, JP Pepperdine is set to open another 11 outlets within the next 3 years.
Kkongdon Barbeque (meaning "value for money") promises authentic Korean barbeque experience at a reasonable price. There is also a free-flow kimchi salad bar which is available for any order of main course. Besides the usual red chilli kimchi, Kkongdon BBQ serves an impressive array of side dishes, including fresh lettuce to wrap your barbequed meat.
There is a promotion for their group dinner set at just S$19.80++ per pax with a requirement of minimum 2 persons to order per set. Basically, it comes with a combination of two meats - pork, beef and chicken, Kimchi pancake, soup and steamed rice. Since there were 6 of us, we decided to go with two dinner sets (which was supposed to be shared among four).
I love restaurants that let you cook yourself, although seemingly tedious, the do-it-yourself (DIY)process allows one to control how well the meat is done and not to mention that cooking is always fun, aye? Cook some meat, dip it with preferred sauce, wrap in lettuce and pop into your mouth!
On top of the meats, we had an extra portion of lightly seasoned Pork Cheek Meat (S$16.00), an under-rated and under-used portion of the pork which tasted somewhat like pork belly without the layer of fat and felt tender and chewy.
My favourite cut was the beef skirt, which speaks juicy and a burst of flavour. I like mine done medium-well with a tint of redness and lightly dipped in soy sauce.
Kimchi Pancake which comes together with the set (or S$10.80 w/o set) is too floury for my liking. The amount of kimchi was disappointing as well.
Ginseng Chicken (S$18.00), a Korean classic dish which is believed to cure illness, consisting of a whole chicken cooked in a broth of jujubes, ginseng and garlic with a generous portion of sticky rice.
Beef Bulgogi Stew (S$13.00) with assorted mushrooms, is a hearty soup that one would definitely wish for winter. It was a tad salty, but for someone who likes salty food, it was not half as bad.
As always, food is always good with awesome company.
(from left) ZR, me, Brother Tim, Bestie WY (with Peiyi and Pam not in picture)
Kkongdon Barbeque also comes equipped with retractable pipes that suck in the smoke, air purifiers and febreeze to make sure you don't walk out of the place with "barbeque smell". To be honest, Kkongdon is not the best Korean barbeque place, but the affordable price for these quality and quantity, it's quite worth it.
Kkongdon BBQ
Tel: 6336 2580
Opening Hours
Daily: 11am - 10.30pm
6 Raffles Boulevard
#B1-01/02
Marina Link