Yuk Tan Chobeolgu-i Korean BBQ

Lorong Chuan has become a little more buzzy ever since the opening of NTP+ mall at New Tech Park. Despite the mall boasting only a limited number of shop units as compared to shopping malls that are located within other neighbourhoods, NTP+ mall has quite the variety of F&B establishments with the likes of SaveurThai, Dutch Colony Coffee Co., Clan 7 etc. being located in the mall. Operating within the mall since its opening, Yuktan Chobeolgu-i Korean BBQ Restaurant is a Korean BBQ restaurant that had recently been through a revamp; passing by the mall on a bus ride recently, we noticed that Yuktan Chobeolgu-i Korean BBQ Restaurant had since included a new concept named Wooga Jjajang within its premises. Said to have been established in Korea in the 1960s, marketing banners located outside the restaurant mentions that the brand has been in Singapore since 2005 — their social media describes the recipe for the Jjajangmyeon being an “authentic taste from a hundred years ago” that is “passed down from generation to generation”. Sharing the same dine-in space as Yuktan Chobeolgu-i Korean BBQ Restaurant, Wooga Jjajang is served as a separate menu to the menu of Yuktan Chobeolgu-i Korean BBQ Restaurant within its premises. As with most Korean-Chinese restaurants around, Wooga Jjajang serves up a good variety of Jja-Jang-Myeon and Jjam-Bong for its selection of noodles. Sharing plates available at Wooga Jjajang includes seafood dishes, chicken and prawn dishes that are sized for communal dining; appetisers such as Gun-Man-Du, Men-Bo-Sha and O-Hyang-Chi-Kin-Wing are also available. Those looking to try a good variety of their dishes can also opt for their 2 Persons (at $55++) and 4 Persons (at $140++) sets as well.

Having made the visit to Wooga Jjajang to give their various dishes a try, we found ourselves opting for the 2 Persons set; the 2 Persons set here includes two (2) appetisers from their menu — namely the Gun-Man-Du and Men-Bo-Sha, a serving of the Tang-Su-Yuk, the patron’s choice of Jja-Jang-Myeon (x2; i.e. one bowl per pax), and a dessert. Between the Gun-Man-Du (i.e. Fried Handmade Pork Dumplings) and the Men-Bo-Sha (i.e. Deep-Fried Minced Prawn Toast Bites), we did found the latter to be more interesting; unlike most Chinese variants of the dish, the dish seem to carry a rather intriguing savoury note rather than focusing on the natural sweetness of the prawns — the bread deep-fried to a golden-brown hue that is all crisp without being too dry and cloying. The Gun-Man-Du on retrospect was more towards what one would expect out of Korean dumpling dish; the dumplings being fried for a crisp, chewy exterior, though we did feel that there wasn’t much flavour for the fillings and the dumpling did feel a tad dry.

The Tang-Su-Yuk was actually pretty decent; coming with the sauce being more on the lukewarm side like how some of the other establishments also do with their variant of the same dish, we did like how gooey and dense the sauce was; the sauce also being suitably sweet. Letting the morsels of fried pork soak up the sauce for a while, the batter of the fried pork carried a good, soft chew — all that whilst absorbing the flavours of the sauce and the texture of the batter is almost consistent to the meat within. We won’t say that this is the best Tang-Su-Yuk we have had, but this was definitely a respectable rendition that we wouldn’t mind having.

Offering patrons three different variants of Jja-Jang-Myeon (namely the Yoo-Ni-Jja-Jang-Myeon — Grounded Vegetables & Pork Black Bean Noodles, Sam-Seon-Jja-Jang-Myeon — 3 Kinds of Seafood Black Bean Noodles, and the Baek-Nyeon-Jja-Jang-Myeon — Traditional Black Bean Noodles), we found ourselves going for the Sam-Seon-Jja-Jang-Myeon; the noodles were considerably chewy whilst also drenched in the black bean sauce that carried a good earthiness that somehow felt pretty balanced; the only hints of sweetness only starts to appear as one chews on the various onion bits within the sauce. Opting for the Sam-Seon-Jja-Jang-Myeon also meant that the bowl of Jja-Jang-Myron would come with seafood rather than minced pork such as prawns and squid also meant that this variant of the Jjajangmyeon would lack the meaty touch, though the seafood provided that additional chew that makes it different from the typical Jjajangmyeon that we have had at other establishments.

Despite serving a fixed dessert that is not being mentioned on what it is in the menu, the dessert was probably the highlight that ended our meal with a bang — essentially chunks of sweet potato coated in crystallised sugar, these were similar to that of the Stir-Fried Yam typically sold in Putian restaurants with a twist. Think crackling bits of sugar almost akin to that of the crystallised sugar layer of Creme Brulee encasing the fibrous chunk of sweet potato within that comes with a soft bite — a great end to our meal here.

This was really good. Pork is well-marinated, sweet and fragrant, while the meat is tender. Service is quite decent and the place feels clean. It is slightly cold as it was quiet when I visited. Would come back if I'm craving Korean BBQ, it's one of the better ones I've had!

Army stew was full of ingredients; lots of sausage and ham that we couldn't finish. Pot was a bit shallow though, I wish there was more soup! Overall 7.5/10 for flavor and portions.