Kkongdon Barbecue at Marina Square

This restaurant was full on a Friday night but this was my first and most probably my last visit to this Korean BBQ restaurant. Given that Kkongdon BBQ is a Korean chain restaurant, I had my expectations for them but they failed miserably as they serve substandard korean food.

This was possibly the nicest food in the restaurant. They were fresh and crispy.

Some of the side dish from the buffet counter. Namely, seaweed, radish, beansprouts, lotus roots and kimchi.

The take all you can side dish bar that comes with every set meal.

This is the most terrible rice cakes that I have ever eaten. The sauce is wrong, the texture of ricecakes is wrong, sotong tastes weird. Hmmm...

Meat for 2 persons.

An interesting way of induction. The bbq tray wasn't in contact with induction plate below but somehow the tray is hot.

Very salty miso stew with  tofu.

Bibimbap with the wrong sauce. The red pepper sauce just tastes odd.

Review: Damotory Korean Wine House

Bought their deal online for $24.90 for dinner buffet. I really like the design of the restaurant. It has both indoor and outdoor seats. The indoor seats are separated into tatami seats and the normal wooden benches. If the weather permits, one should try sitting outside at night. It will be really quite unique to sit on tatami out in the open air under the starry night. However, being the very typical Singaporean, "Aiya, the weather very hot la" cross our minds and we choose the indoor seats.

I simply love the wooden tables and benches and the white windows panes. Sorry that I forgot to take a photo of the outdoor seats.

One funny thing is that the kpop music that they play do not correspond to the music videos played on the tv.

Food-wise, they have quite a variety that are included in the buffet. We can order anything that is $20 and below. However, they missed the most important element in a buffet. DRINKS! and water is not complimentary. We need to pay $2 for a small bottle of mineral water.Truthfully, if I have paid the full price for this or order ala-carte dishes alone, I would have thought they are shortchanging me. For the amount paid, I thought the overall experience was quite ok. Food portions were large and they tasted ok.



 Beef (Bulgogi)
Good!

Cheesy Spicy Chicken with Ricecakes
Nice but it gets a bit heavy after 5 to 6 pieces.













Salmon Salad
Good!

Pollack Fish Pancake
Too oily and tastes odd.

Fried Glass Noodle
A little watery, lacking in the authentic korean flavour












Steam Egg
The steam egg dish is a far cry from the one that I tried in Korea. This one really just tastes like steam egg like those we overcooked at home. It is simply not smooth and fluffy.









Kimchi Soup
Kimchi soup is alright.

Squid Rings
Very tasty!









Will I go back again? Yes because I really wanted to try seating on those cute tatami seats outdoors.
Ratings
Food: ***1/2
Service: **; service was slow and the waitress kept mixing up orders. If your order do not come within 30mins, do remind them about it again.
Ambience: ***1/2; ideal for large group gatherings, tend to be noisy

Value for money: ****, coz I only paid about $30 for this meal, considered cheap for korean food.

BORNGA at Star Vista

I was anticipating for its opening ever since I read that they were coming over to Singapore. Located at the newly opened shopping mall - Star Vista, the restaurant seats around 70 indoors and 50 outdoors. So yeah.. Here we go!!

Was there at lunch hour and the place was not too crowded. Service was good and side dishes were served promptly after we sat down.

Kimchi Soup

Authentic taste; portion is small with little amount of soup and large amount of vegetables.

Naeng Myun - Korean cold buckwheat noodles with beef

This dish is an acquired taste. It is served icy cold, either with or without the red chili paste. Mustard and vinegar are served separately and can be added according to one's preferences.

This is a MUST try when you come to Bornga. It is one of the best that I have tried in Singapore. Yum Yum! This dish will definitely earn more points if they are able to throw in a few more slices of beef.

Chadol Duenjang Jigae - Bean paste hotpot with beef and rice

Unique dish! We are supposed to boil the bean paste stew to a thicker texture and mix the rice into it. This is extremely delicious and flavourful.

  

To our surprise, a complimentary iced drink was served after the meal. Oh my! It is sour-ish but so refreshing, especially after a heavy meal.

So what is that drink actually?

It is omija-hwachae aka five taste tea. It is from the fruit of Chinese magnolia vine which is rich in organic acids and helps suppress coughs and soothe dry throats.

For those who are visiting Korea soon, remember to grab one box of omija-hwachae from the Lotte supermarket!

Would I go back again? Yes!

Rating (Upon 5)

Food: ****

Service: ****

Ambience: ***1/2

Location: ****

This place is located at Star Vista which is easily accessible via the green or circle line. Alight at Buona Vista and there is a sheltered waywalk to Star Vista. Bornga is located at level 2, the same level as Porn's, Owl cafe and Brotzeit.  The plus point about Bornga is that we did not stink like BBQ meat when we stepped out. However, do note that this restaurant serves mostly beef so for those who don't take beef, choices are limited.