PUBLISHED May 6th, 2012 01:47 pm | UPDATED March 28th, 2016 01:23 am
Unless you have been hiding under a stone, you will have noticed that Tanjong Pagar Road is a veritable hotbed for Korean eateries. Having started off our Korean munching escapades at Todamgol, a relatively more upscale Korean restaurant on the stretch, I thought next stop should be something infused with a good dose of Korean pop culture. 2D1N Soju bang is certainly that place. Think Seoul city scape images blown up onto the walls, K-Pop and Korean songs pumped out through the speakers, and a whole lotta buzz.
Soju Bang has quite a reputation on the stretch for its BBQ buffet but having heard tales that it can turn into a bit of a BBQ warzone with smoke everywhere, and the mad rushing and elbowing of BBQ buffet addicts trying to get their fix, we thought we’d play it say and go for the al la carte eatery downstairs instead.
Now while we were in the mood for some BBQ, I would have to say that if BBQ is really what you’re after, you probably need to brave the buffet upstairs as the BBQ selection offered downstairs in the a la carte section of the restaurant is somewhat limited. However the rest of the menu is absolutely HUGE and quite frankly, we were somewhat unimpressed with the BBQ offerings. The other dishes….well that’s quite another story.
Things got off to a good start as a our myriad of banchan (side dishes) invaded the table – macaroni salad, braised sweet potato, cucumber, tofu topped with scallion soy sauce and of course the dish that no Korean meal can be complete without – kimchi. For me this part of the meal is always welcomed to keep hunger at bay until the main event begins!
Speaking of Kimchi, the Kimchijeon ($15), or Kimchi pancake is delicious here. Huge, perfect texture, excellent taste and incredibly more-ish. To be honest I would have been content just to have eaten this all to myself and finished on that note it was so good.
For fish lovers the Godeungeogui ($20), a nice fat piece of grilled salted mackerel was simply delicious with just the right amount of saltiness and that satisfying texture – juicy inside and crispy on the outside – that only comes from grilling up this healthy fish.
The Yangpunibibipbap (Big Bowl Bibipbap, $20), a large but seemingly humble dish turned out to be great. Despite most bibipbaps coming with some kind of meat or another, this one is all about the vegetables…and, well, rice! But don’t let this fool you because this dish was one of our favourites – really flavoursome with a fantastic sesame aroma to it. N.B. The picture below shows only one individual serving size…
We ordered some beef short ribs known as Galbisal ($20 for 200g) to BBQ ourselves but were rather perplexed when this dish turned up already cooked. Something obviously got lost in translation here but come on folks, some common sense needed! Why would we come to a BBQ place and ask for someone to cook it for us??! Anyway, I don’t know whether it was because we hadn’t had the fun of cooking it ourselves but this was our least favourite dish – sadly the meat was tough and lacked flavour to it.
However compensating for that was the Dakdoritang , or Spicy Chicken Stew ($35). This was a fantastic hearty and spicy dish made with potent flavour which one of my dining partners described as “rocket fuel”, it packed such a punch. But don’t worry the stew isn’t over spicy – in fact just right with a perfect balance of flavours from the chicken, big chunks of carrots and a lovely sweetness to it which will leave you drinking the sauce just like soup.
I have to say I quite love Soju Bang for it’s buzziness served up with just the right level of tackiness and the fact it’s also good value for groups. We paid $160 for 5 people – so essentially $30 a head for a whole heap of food.
It’s a great place for getting a few friends together, ordering a whole bunch of stuff and tucking into it as a group because…well, ya know…sharing is caring and quite frankly the portion sizes here are MADE for sharing they are so big. And if you are coming with a few friends do book one of the cubicle rooms – it’s nice to have it all to yourself against the backdrop of the buzz. But do be sure to book, Soju Bang place gets packed out particularly at weekends.