19 May 2007

SU Korean Cuisine at Far East Plaza

Brought my mum-in-law, mum and 2 younger brothers to SU Korean Cuisine at Far East Plaza as a belated Mother's Day treat. Was contemplating between Crystal Jade Ginseng Chicken and BBQ and SU Korean Cuisine, decided to go for the latter since food is quite authentic and I had relatively good dining experiences previously (2 times in fact).
Better to recommend a tried and tested place as hubby is very skeptical about Korean cuisine. His impression is only kimchi and more kimchi and he had bad experiences dining at Seoul Garden before. Both mums have no qualms about it as they are interested to try Korean cuisine; must be the influence of Korean drama like Dae Jang Geum and Goong. My brothers should be satisfied since there is BBQ meat and deep fried stuff.
We ordered the promo set meal for 4 pax at $129++ which comes with:
  • 8 Korean Side Dishes
  • Boiled Sliced Pork with Cabbage
  • Grilled Mackerel
  • BBQ Beef Short Rib
  • BBQ Beef
  • BBQ Chicken
  • BBQ Pork Collar
  • Assorted Rice in Hot Stone Pot
  • Authentic Ginseng Chicken Soup
  • Fruits

In addition, ordered the Korean Style Fried Rice Flour Cake and Deep Fried Prawn. All these are really more than enough for 6 people.

The side dishes were served first. The photos above were the ones served during my previous visit half a year ago (didn't have opportunity to take photos of the side dishes this time, reason later). I remembered there was kimchi, soy beansprout, chestnut jelly, radish, spinach, potato. Quite enjoyed all of them except for the jelly which was tasteless on its own and flavoured by something like soy sauce. Weird.

The grilled meats were well marinated, very tender and juicy. I love the idea of putting the whole piece of meat with lettuce and beanpaste into the mouth. Every bite was a burst of savoury flavours and aroma. Yum!

The soup stock was light with distinct taste of ginseng. Chicken meat was tender and glutinous rice was almost melting. My mum liked it alot.

Didn't have chance to take photo of the actual stone pot as the waitress whisked it away for dividing immediately after letting us have a glimpse of it.

This has got to be my favourite dish of them all. Rice was cooked in a black kettle stone pot, topped with spinach, soy beansprout, mushroom, carrot, radish, beef and raw egg and most importantly mixed with Gochujang (Korean hot chilli paste). As the stone pot was very hot, the rice at the bottom got burnt and formed bits of rice crust which was what I love most. The assorted rice was sticky, moist, spicy, sweet and crispy.

Mum-in-law loved this dish a lot as the fatty pork belly was juicy and crunchy. Wrap the meat with cabbage and radish kimchi for a more refreshing taste.

This dish didn't do well, unfortunately. There was a fishy taste which we didn't like. We had to dip the fish with lots of sauce.

I love this dish too as the rice cake was very chewy, and the spicy sauce really complemented it well. Apparently, this dish is one of the most popular snacks among teens in Korean, especially for girls. I can just imagine chewing into the spicy rice cake during winter and the instant warmth it would bring!

The deep fried prawn was sliced into half like a butterfly and coated with breadcrumbs. Tasted ok, not too oily.

Overall, it was a good meal with good quality food, no doubts about it.

The only gripe is the breakneck speed the dishes were served. To begin with, although our table sits 6 people comfortably, the space was limited due to the BBQ area in the centre. The servers seemed in a hurry to serve the dishes all at once, trying to squeeze them into whatever space there was, even though it was obvious there wasn't much space left. Moreover, the serveware is big and heavy and each dish comes with its complement sauce. Felt kind of pressurized to finish the dishes in a faster pace. This is why I didn't have chance to take photo of the side dishes and we didn't replenish them although we liked some of them.

Not sure if I would be back again since this was already the 3rd try. I'm very keen to try Gujeolpan which I think is not available at SU. Gujeolpan is the "nine-sectioned plate" consisting of different vegetables and meats served with thin pancakes. In ancient times, this dish is served only at special occasions such as weddings, and associated with royalty. Maybe Crystal Jade would have it? I must check it out one of these days.

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