ANJU

After a not-so-impressive dinner two years ago, I went back to Anju recently for their Abalone Gim Pasta ($34). As that odd girl who orders an entire plate of pasta (meant for sharing) all to herself; I really enjoyed the slurpy chilled noodles. With quite the chewy bite, the thin al dente strands were well-coated with oyster sauce, seaweed sauce and perilla oil. Tangy with hints of savouriness and earthy-sweetness. Dressed together with chopped perilla leaves, the plump sous vide sliced abalone was superbly sweet too, and fresh-tasting with a lovely buttery aftertaste. The aromatic greens and the inclusion of pickled shallots also provided a nice gentle crunch into the mix.

Pork Belly l Pickled Mushroom l Dried Squid l
Dried Radish l Pickled Garlic Shoot l Baby Romaine Lettuce

Wooow this was good!! The pork belly was perfectly caramelised, each piece had a nice char and smoky flavour, and was soooo soft and tender. It was pretty fatty, but still very meaty. It got a bit too fatty for me after a few pieces so I had to remove the fats.

Sides were really nice too. The pickled garlic shoot was super good, felt like an interesting version of an asparagus. Dried radish and squid was crunchy and lightly spicy-sweet, and pickled mushrooms were p interesting, I didn’t expect them to be pickled so it was something different, having that sourness. Baby romaine was crisp and was a great vessel to hold everything.

Thought this would also go well with rice! It’s a great dish, I would definitely have it again. Felt that portion was pretty huge.

White kimchi l Radish l Red Dates

It’s white kimchi! With briny and sour flavours, it was rather refreshing, crunchy and delicate. The red dates gave a nice complementary natural sweetness. Worth a try!

Cauliflower l Rice Cake l Multigrain l Gochujang

Think sweet and sour pork but Korean style and vegetarian! I liked how the batter was of thick enough to have a nice crunch, but thin enough to not feel doughy. The cauli encased within is soft and tender. Good flavours, on the sweet side, and not too salty or spicy.

Couldn’t decide if I liked the like balls of rice cake, on one hand I like the rice flavour but the texture is a bit strange for me. Overall it’s yummy dish, I would order again!

Potato l Zucchini l Prawn l Onion Pickle

The jeon was v crisp, with each thin sliver of potato, zucchini and prawn coated with a batter and deep fried. I love crispy things and it was really crisp, but that was also its downfall.

There was no soft chewiness I would associate with a jeon, and I felt this was pretty dry and one dimensional. The onion pickle did little to help, it was not really my thing.

Overall it’s still decent, not horrible, but I was kinda disappointed with this dish. Maybe adding cheese would help. But this departs too far from my expectations of a jeon, I wouldn’t order again nor recommend.

Black Bean l Mascarpone Cheese l Chive Oil l Sourdough Cracker

Really enjoyed this! It was light and very refreshing. I liked the subtle sweetness of the black bean paired with the mascarpone, which was surprisingly not at all heavy. The sourdough crackers were crunchy and thin. I loved the small indentation of chive oil on the mascarpone, it was super flavourful and very unique. Definitely would order this again!