The Hungry Bunny

Crystal Jade Kitchen at Holland Village recently launched its " Guang Zhou Style Stewed Dishes Recommendation " promotion, which is only available after 5pm every night. For every 2 claypot dishes ordered, you get the Assorted Vegetable Casserole for only $3.80. We ordered the Stewed Pork Belly with Belachan ($13.80) of thinly sliced decadent pork belly with shrimpish belachan and crunchy green vegetables. This was spicy, bold and indulgently yummy. We also got the Stewed Assorted Mushrooms with X.O. Sauce ($14.80), with the shimeiji, oyster, white button and shitake varieties. The fragrant seafood based X.O. sauce flavouring was heady, lightly spiced, and very umami. The Assorted Vegetable Served in Casserole ($3.80 promo price, $13.80 usual price) was unexpectedly delicious! There were so many different vegetables, bean sprouts, spinach, cabbage, black fungus, carrots, green and red peppers, kailan, bai cai, cauliflower and sweet beancurd, in a luscious oyster s...

We were a little hungry before the flight and decided to grab a light meal at the food hall before boarding. We weren't expecting much because it was a food from a food court afterall. So it was a very pleasant surprise that the quality and quantity of the food was really good! We got the Ginseng Chicken Soup (18,500 Won). Contrary to popular belief, Koreans don't have this widely-exported dish every day and/or in every restaurant. We found it difficult to find restaurants serving this dish around Seoul. It's like how sharks' fin soup is known around the world as a Chinese dish but isn't that easily available in every Singaporean Chinese restaurant except for the premium Cantonese restaurants. The rice and barley-thickened soup was rich and robust, with earthy ginseng lending a bitter edge to the dish. The BF loved chomping on the pungent garlic bulbs in the soup. The Soft Tofu Dish with Seafood in Hot Pot (8,500 Won) was even yummier. The flower c...

We wanted to sample all of Seoul's culinary offerings, so as a matter of strategy, we had 2 lunches, 2 dinners and 2 suppers almost everyday (I'm not really a breakfast person. Besides, I'm usually still asleep during the breakfast hours!). That way, we managed to eat our way through most of the restaurants in the town of Daechi-Dong. I guess you could call this a food recce trip of Seoul. But then again, I do that with every city I travel to! We had a couple of hours of kill before setting off for the airport so we headed back to Cobaco for a quick meal. We ordered the Udon Noodles in Soup (5,500 Won), which was absolutely slurpilicious. The soy-based soup was delicate, the noodles were thick, slippery and chewy and enoki mushrooms grounded the soup base in their distinctive earthiness. The only disappointment of the set was the dry Pork Cutlet. It should have been taken out of the fryer 5 minutes earlier. The BF got the Sushi Golden Set (8,500 Won), which wa...

This was the other restaurant serving barbecued meats further along the same street from Bon Ga . However, unlike Bon Ga, Hwa Soo Mok focuses primarily on Korean barbecue. So the menu here has a correspondingly wider selection of meats. We got the Boneless Short Ribs (50,000 Won), heavily marbled meat simply seasoned with salt and pepper. The thickly sliced beef was unbelievably juicy, tender and robust. A couple of white button mushrooms, crisp onion rings and garlic buds were served alongside the beef. The beef was robust, bold and full-bodied. So simple in marination but so full of flavour. A special mention must be given to the scrambled egg side dish. I guess this is the Korean version of the Japanese chawanmushi. It was scrambled, lightly seasoned and steamed so it came out as a bubbling hot fragrant mass. It was so simple but superbly yummy. We practically licked the bowl clean. The exterior of the restaurant. Hwa Soo Mok 1F,...

We wanted some western food as a change of scenery after all that Korean food in Seoul so we headed to the late-night spot, Chili's at Tanglin Mall immediately upon touching down in Singapore. We got the Mushroom Jack Sizzling Fajitas ($31.90), juicy tender grilled chicken breast topped with melted Jack cheese, sauteed mushrooms and applewood smoked bacon. This was served with fresh and warm tortillas, shredded Jack cheese, guacamole, sour cream, crisp lettuce shreds and refreshing salsa. We also got the Soup-of-the-Day, Chicken Enchilada ($4.50 with any entree). It was creamy, cheesy, spiced and bold. We also shared an appetizer, the Skillet Queso ($9.90), freshly baked tostada chips served with a cheese and ground beef dip and salsa. This was classic snack food. Comfortingly cheesy and robust and savoury. We also got some of our favourite sides to share. First up was the Mashed Potatoes with Black Pepper Gravy ($4), subtly spiced and fragrant black creamy pepp...

This restaurant always seemed to be a full-house everytime we walked past it, so we walked in one afternoon for lunch. We ordered the Self-Aljumeokbab (3,000 Won), flying fish roe rice ball. A large mixing bowl with seaweed strips, fish roe, moist sushi rice, a hard boiled egg, are given for you to mix and roll into rice balls on your own. Complimentary kimchi and chilled pickles are served on the side. Gloves are provided for hygiene purposes. The mixed up version. We were too lazy to roll them up into rice balls, so we ate the mixed up rice straight from the bowl. This was nice and had wonderful umami flavours of the sea. A gimmicky DIY novelty, but very fun. We also got the Yeolmukimchi Guksu   (4,500 Won), young radish cold noodles in a diluted kimchi-based broth. This was a very mild dish, to the point that it was a little bland. That said, the noodles were very soft and smooth, they practically went down like silk. The restaurant's facade. Nil Ri Ri Mam Bo 1F...

This is along the same row of shops as Fresh Burger , and it always seems to be full of patrons, so we thought we'd try this to see how it'd compare with Fresh Burger. Our senses were hit with the aromatic and mouth-watering smells of the grill immediately upon stepping into the restaurant. This is not the place for people dieting, because it would take an immense amount of willpower to resist such mouth-watering smells of char-grilled beef. We got the Smokey Burger (8,900 Won) to share. Smoky mesquite was slathered liberally over the thick and juicy freshly-ground beef and topped with melted Jack-cheddar and indulgent bacon strips. The burger's really good, but less value for money than the ones at Fresh Burger .   This was served with jalapeno peppers for a slow burning heat and pickles for a piquant edge.  The restaurant front. Smokey Saloon Lotte Castle Arcade 893 Daechi-Dong Gangnam-Gu Seoul South Korea Tel: (02) 553 5633 Open daily from 11.30am...