I was watching Korean reality shows when I had sudden craving for Korean soy marinated crabs cos it looked so good on screen and I had never tried them before. So I came across this place on IG and the menu looked pretty good so I decided to give them a try. This place is pretty new and there were not much reviews online so being the ever adventurous me, I headed down on a weekend and wow, it was packed

Friends who know me know that I don’t eat Korean BBQ so a non-BBQ centric restaurant definitely put a smile on my face

Soy Marinated Crabs $48

Korean Flower Crabs, Soy Sauce, Spices

Definitely what I was here for. The crabs looked good, and tasted delicious too. Fresh and sweet with texture like raw prawns, the roe mixed with the rice and the appetising sauce, finishing it off with a the seaweed roll was a like a match in heaven. It’s definitely important to have fresh crabs else you wouldn’t want to keep running to the toilet and I say this place ticked the checkboxes

I wanted to order a few of their signature dishes but was told they were not available so I felt a little disappointed. I mean, the point of having signature dishes is so diners could try them and so, I thought they could have done better planning and managing their stocks in making sure they have enough for all. FYI, my dinner was at 6pm

Truffle Scallop w Caviar $22

The scallop came in the form of minced version, and so you can wrap it with the seaweed and eat it like a wrap. It’s good, but portion a little small for that price

And to prove my point. Here’s the contrast of the scallop and the small plate

Egg Roll (w Korean Crab Meat & Pollack Roe) $18

It’s simple and filling and you could taste the crab meat in it

Japchae $20

I thought the japchae was quite good. It had all the right balance without being too oily and came in quite a decent portion too

Signature Kimchi $7

Yeah kimchi is not free here and it’s priced at $7. To be honest, the regular kimchi I ordered at home from a HBB comes in 500g at $10.  But well, how can you not have kimchi when you eat Korean cuisine right. To be fair, their kimchi was quite good. It’s a little spicy but not too much and yet you can taste the acidity in it. Just $7, really?

Ginseng Chicken Soup $22

I was quite excited for the chicken soup but I must say it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I definitely did not expect 2 pieces of chicken in about one finger’s length each. Clearly, this was more like an appetiser than a main. Though I must say the soup was very good. You can taste the earthiness of the Ginseng and the soup was aromatic and sweet. The chicken also comes with some glutinous rice which was tasty and sticky

Bossam $48

Last on the menu, Korean pork belly which came with a variety of sides to go along

To be honest, Anju’s the benchmark. If you have tried theirs, you would know how amazing (and filling) it is. The version here lacked the tenderness and the caramelisation and the slab was a little too thick for me. I don’t think I can see bossam the same way again. lol

I enjoy Korean restaurants that are non-BBQ centric cos I like to see what it has to offer. There is no lack of Korean restaurants in Tanjong Pagar area and to stand out, you need to offer what others can’t. So Seoul serves modern and innovative Korean cuisine but I felt like the price might be a drawback cos if not for the crabs, I can’t find any compelling reasons to go back. I mean the food is decent but I could find other places that serve equally good and delicious Korean cuisine as well

And showing some items on the menu they offer as well

Missed out the ala carte BBQ page

So Seoul Korean Dining & Bar

49 Tras Street, Singapore 078988