Checked out the new Salmon Kitchen along Tanjong Pagar Road; the Korean-run seafood establishment had recently opened their doors, taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Hongjjajang — the interior of the restaurant now features a largely white colour theme, which opposes the louder aesthetic of the former establishment. While Salmon King does serve up ala-carte dishes on their menu, the highlight here would be their 1 meter / 85cm / 66cm sets featuring a variety of dishes that are great for sharing, or their “unlimited” ala-carte buffet offerings that is available from $29.90++ per pax and up (depending on the dishes offered) where diners can enjoy a free-flow of a variety of Korean dishes for a dine-in time limit of 90mins.

Since it was our very first visit being made to Salmon Kitchen, it was needless to say how we ended up opting for the 1 meter unlimited buffet at $39.90++ per pax; essentially the full works served on a 1 meter long platter that featured the following items according to the menu:

Yukhoe (Beef Tartare) + Salmon + Tuna + Tokboki + Saeujung (Soy Sauce Marinated Shrimp), Yangnyeomgejang (Spicy Marinated Crab) + Sushi + Taco Wasabi + Muneosukhoe (Parboiled Octopus), Riceball + Kimchi Pancake + Jogetang (Clam Soup)

To put it in summary, we did find ourselves enjoying the cooked food items more than the raw dishes for the most part; the carbs such as the Tokoboki and the Riceballs were mainly the highlights here which we couldn’t get enough of. Other items such as the Muneosukhoe and Yukhoe were also commendable; liked how the former wasn’t particularly rubbery and well-flavoured with the marinade, while the latter was especially enjoyable with the honey mustard sauce served on the side. The sushi were generally decent; whilst we enjoyed how the rice did come slightly sweetened, the rice wasn’t as tightly packed as expected and there were a couple of pieces that were hard to lift off considering how the rice already loosened as we attempt to pick them up using the chopsticks. Other items such as the salmon sashimi were reasonably fresh; enough to entice the typical sashimi lover.

Tanjong Pagar is that neighbourhood that is filled with Korean-run establishments; Salmon Kitchen attempts to provide for a buffet experience that deviates from the usual Korean BBQ buffet which is abundant in the area — the concept of serving up Korean seafood in a 1 meter serving platter for a buffet is definitely something that is likely to appeal to the more adventurous eater, not to mention how it does seemingly deliver on a Mukbang-esque experience. While we didn’t have an unpleasant experience here, there are definitely teething issues with the service — seemingly understaffed and could also do with more training; food does take quite some time to arrive in general, though they seem to be aware and do not seem to strictly impose the 90mins dine-in time limit during our visit as a result. Could also perhaps look into reducing the portion size of their initial serving for smaller groups as well — while I do appreciate the fact on how they would want to seem generous, the nature of the food served (raw items) does seem like a concerning factor when diners leave them exposed for an extended period of time at the table whilst consuming the spread. Otherwise, a fairly decent option to dine at for something different that other Korean establishments have yet to offer; hoping that they could continue working on their service and also furthering the freshness of the food served for an elevated experience in time to come.

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