Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel)

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food is located in Concorde Hotel; previously known as Le Meridien Hotel. If you are wondering where is Concord Hotel, it is located along the Orchard Shopping Belt, in between Dhoby Ghuat (Plaza Singapura) and Somerset (Orchard Plaza) MRT stations.

Menu

As it's name suggest, Kim Dae Mun Korean Food specialises in serving Korean cuisine. They order quite an extensive variety of dishes ranging from soup, meat, rice, ramen and side dishes. In a short time span of 4 years, the eatery has shifted located 3 times times; from the food court at level 1 to level 2 and then back to another standalone bigger unit at level. I doubt they will move further as the sitting capacity that they have now is huge!

The kitchen and counter is manned by Koreans. This is the Ahjumma who always takes the order at the counter. After taking the order, she would always relay the order to the kitchen through a mike.

Although there is always a queue, they are perfectly trained to handle the crowd. They moved with clock work precision. I waited just 10 minutes and the food was ready. Upon collection of the food, customers could choose between kimchi, anchovies or cucumbers as sides.

Spicy Beef Soup Set $8

The Spicy Soup Set is one of their most highly raved dish online. This time round I ordered the version that comes with beef; Spicy Beef Soup Set $8. The set consisted of a big bowl of spicy beef soup served with a bowl of rice and a side dish.I chose anchovies.

Spicy Beef Soup $8

The Spicy Beef Soup Set was filled with generous amounts of ingredients such as slices of beef, beancurd, vegetable, Korean (thick) vermicilli, spring onion, egg and onions. The soup was spicy and tasty - not salty (I doubt MSG was added). The combination of soup with rice was perfect. In terms of the price, it was reasonable considering the quantity and taste of the food.

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

The Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8 was served in traditional stone bowl.

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

This is the Korean's version of mixed rice, that comes with a variety of vegetables, an egg, rice, meat (in this case I had beef) and the hot chili pepper paste (also know as gochujang).

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

Give it a good mix to ensure that each grain of rice is well coated with  the hot chili pepper paste. With each mouthful, you would be able to to experience different texture and taste due to the assortment of vegetables (some are crunchy whereas some are soft).

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

This is the Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50. It comes in two versions, with or without the spiciness.

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

Personally, I thought that the taste was just average. It was spicy but lacked flavour.

Tender Sliced Beef $10

The Tender Sliced Beef $10 is their most expensive item on the menu. This dish is also highly raved about.

Tender Sliced Beef $10

The beef was well marinated and tasty. However, certain pieces were hard and tough. At $10, I thought that the price is on the higher end (i.e. not so value for money).

Did you know that their hotplates items are cooked with water instead of oil? Yes, you heard me right!

I will certainly be back at Kim Dae Mun Korean Food to try out other dishes. I have been wanting to try their ramen. Their food is quite the tasty and authentic. Moreover, it is now no longer tough to find seats!

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel) 

100 Orchard Road #01-03D

Concorde Hotel And Shopping Mall 

Singapore 238840 

Tel: 9112 5910

Opening Hours: 11am to 8.30pm

                           Closed on Mon

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K.Cook Korean BBQ Buffet 고뷔페 (Orchard Central)

K.Cook Korean BBQ Buffet 고기 뷔페 is a Korean BBQ buffet restaurant in Orchard Central (Somerset MRT station) which started operation in August 2014.

I visited on a weekday for lunch. Being Kiasu (as usual), I made called the restaurant beforehand and was told that they no longer accept reservations. Hence, we went 10 minutes early, at 11.20 am before the restaurant opened. Everyone seemed to have thought like-wise. There was a queue of more than 10 persons when we arrived.

When the restaurant opened, the queue stretched to more than 20 persons long. I was wondering how come everyone was not working and if they were like me (who applied for leave). 

K.Cook Korean BBQ Buffet offers both air conditioned and alfresco (outdoor) areas. The seating capacity at the air condition area was way smaller compared to the alfresco area. We chose to sit outdoors as there was a Big Ass Fan (High volume slow speed fan) which made the area so well ventilated. Even though it was noon, it did not felt hot. In addition, you get a clear view of the city.

Prices

The prices for the buffet are show above. The price for weekday (Mon to Fri) lunch at $14.90++ was so value for money!

Corn

Korean rice cake with fish cake

The buffet consist of a wide variety of cooked and raw food. In the cooked food section, there was Corn, Korean rice cake with fish cake, japchae (glass noodles), Korean pancake, fried chicken wings and spicy tofu stew.

We went for more than 1 servings of Korean rice cake with fish cake and japchae (glass noodles) as these were delicious. We did not manage to try the fried chicken wings, as these were taken as soon as they were replenished.

At the raw food section there were Marinated Beef Short Rib, Beef Bulgogi, Pork Belly, Pork Collar, Marinated Pork Collar, Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Chicken Sausages, squids and prawns.

As with all korean buffet, there was a section with vegetables (lettuce), mushrooms, onions, radish and kimchi.

Besides these, there was also fruits and salad section and a counter for drinks.

Chicken, Pork Collar, Prawns, Squids

Look at how thickly sliced the Pork Collars are. This is by far the thickest sliced Pork Collar I had for a buffet. Most other buffets would slice their meat thinly.

Beef  Bulgogi and Pork Belly

The Pork Belly was also of decent thickness which the Beef Bulgogi was well marianted.

With the large pan, it was easy cooking the food. We started off with the Pork Belly so that fats would grease the pan.

Food wise, it was impressive. The Pork Collar and Pork Belly of good thickness allowed the juices and flavours to be retained in the meat. Basically for the raw food, we spammed the Pork Belly, Pork Collar, Beef Bulgogi and mushrooms.

For a Korean buffet, the cooked food and the raw food were quite good. One of the better Korean buffet I have tried. Worth going back for more considering the price and quality. 

K.Cook Korean BBQ Buffet 고기 뷔페 (Orchard Central)

 #07-01 Orchard Central

181 Orchard Central Road 

Singapore 238896 

Tel: 6884 7282

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm

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Orchard Yong Tau Foo (Cuppage Plaza)

Orchard Yong Tau Foo (Cuppage Plaza) is located at level 1 of Cuppage Plaza. This Yong Tau Foo has a small seating capacity of around 15 seats.  Despite that, many shoppers and office workers frequent this stall.

Customers would first need to choose the ingredients they want. After choosing the ingredients, they would need to choose the choice of rice / noodles ranging from bee hoon, kway teow, yellow egg noodle to mee pok. They would need be assigned a number and be asked to wait for their number to be called.

I went on two occasions and waited for less than 20 minutes. Do note that if you are coming with a group of more than 3, it would likely be a longer wait and you would be assigned to sit in a row.

Orchard Yong Tau Foo offers wide variety of ingredient such as stuff tofu, mushrooms, golden mushroom, bitter gourd, fish balls, fish cakes, meat balls, hotdogs, seaweed, cuttlefish, quail eggs, century egg, salted egg, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage.

The ingredients were fresh!

A rough gauge of the price range, 7 items of ingredients (excluding the noodles / rice) would cost $4.90.

Once your number is reached, you will be assigned to a seat. The space inside is pretty narrow and small.

I ordered mine with Kway Teow and with soup.

Kway Teow Yong Tau Foo.

On another occasion I ordered it with bee hoon.

Overall, this bowl of Yong Tau Foo was delicious. The ingredients were so fresh and well cooked. Take for example, the radish was soft, not hard. And for those ingredients that were too big such as bitter gourd, radish and fish balls, they would be cut into smaller pieces. The soup stock was another star of its own. Made from soy beans, it was clear, flavourful and hearty. Mind you, it was not salty unlike those you would normally get elsewhere.

The chilli and sweet sauce was excellent too! Personally, I preferred the sweet sauce. It was mild sweet and yet so tasty and fragrant. They had extracted the sesame flavour into the sauce!

Lastly, despite the narrow, small seating capacity, another aspect that would make me come back was the service. The service was excellent! The uncle who called out the queue number, clear the tables, collect the cash and serve the items to the tables was so attentive and friendly! He would notice and ask customers if they require a refill of soup when he noticed that had drank most of their soup. He would also ask if he noticed that customers need a refill of sweet or spicy sauces. Kudos to him as I noticed that he was already so busy, yet I noticed him asking those around me all these questions.

Orchard Yong Tau Foo (Cuppage Plaza) 

5 Koek Road #01-09 

Cuppage Plaza

Singapore 228796 

Tel: 9067 5245

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 8am - 630pm

                         Closed on Sun

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Spicy Chicken Soup Set at Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel)

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food is located at the basement food court at Concorde Hotel; previously known as Le Meridien Hotel. (come to think of it, when has there ever been a food court in a Hotel? The norm should be restaurants.) If you are wondering where is Concord Hotel, it is located along the Orchard Shopping Belt, in between Dhoby Ghuat (Plaza Singapura) and Somerset (Orchard Plaza) MRT stations.

As it's name suggest, Kim Dae Mun Korean Food specialises in serving Korean cuisine. It is probably the most famous stall in the food court. I have heard many people raving about their food. Hence, after a period of procrastination, I decided to visit this food court on a weekday evening for dinner. 

It was easy to spot the stall with its distinct blue signboard. Moreover, with a queue of more than 10 persons, it would be hard to miss this stall. I was quite surprised to see the long queue considering that it was a weekday. I joined the queue and waited 20 minutes before I was able to order. After that it was another 5 minutes of wait for my food. To be fair, the staff were quite efficient considering the crowd. 

Spicy Chicken Soup Set $6.50

I ordered the Spicy Chicken Soup Set  $6.50 which was widely raved about online. The set consisted of a big bowl of Spicy Chicken Soup served with a bowl of rice and a side. For the sides, customers could choose between kimchi, anchovies or cucumbers. I chose anchovies.

Spicy Chicken Soup Set $6.50

Spicy Chicken Soup Set $6.50

The Spicy Chicken Soup Set was fill with generous amounts of ingredients such as chunks of chicken, beancurd, vegetable, korean (thick) vermicilli, spring onion, egg and onions. The soup was spicy and tasty - not salty (I doubt MSG was added). It was awesome combining the soup with the rice! In terms of the price, it was reasonable considering the quantity and taste of the food. 

If I am ordering this the next time I would request for a less spicy version (overheard a customer requesting this). 

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food is one of the few korean stalls in food courts worth a try. I will certainly be back. For the record,  I seldom ordered Korean food in a food court. Besides the Spicy Chicken Soup, many others have raved about their potato pancake, tender beef sliced set and spicy shredded chicken. 

Did you know that their hotplates items are cooked with water instead of oil? Yes, you heard me right! A healthier choice! What are you waiting for?

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel)
100 Orchard Road

Level 1 Concorde Food Court

Concorde Hotel And Shopping Mall

Singapore 238840

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The Eastern Restaurant (Centrepoint)

Edited on Oct 2013: Closed. 

The Eastern Restaurant, a restaurant located in the heart of Orchard specialises in serving authentic Northern Chinese cuisine. It is tucked away in a deep quiet corner of Centrepoint. It has been located at the same spot for many years. With virtually no signs to guide anyone here, most people would have probably missed or not know of this place. Even we ourselves who had been here before got lost while trying to recall how to get to the restaurant.

I first got to know of this restaurant more than five years ago, way before I started FoodieFC. I remember that the food here was not bad and its Xiao Long Bao was worth a try. So here I am, back here again for its Xiao Long Bao! Visited on a Saturday evening. 

The seating capacity at the restaurant seemed to considerably reduced. Previously, the tables and chairs extend all the way out and there were also tables and chairs under the escalator next to the restaurant. This time, the tables and chairs have been removed.

You may noticed in the above photos that it has a open kitchen concept. You can scrutinise view how your food is being prepared. Moreover, it also assure customers that their food are prepared diligently and hygiene is well taken care of. 

Despite the reduced seating capacity, the Eastern Restaurant was full! Quite surprising, considering the location and lack of signs. 

Clean, air conditioned environment. Even though there was such a crowd, our food was served fairly quickly within 10 minutes upon ordering. 

Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce (5 Pcs) $6

The Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce an authentic Sichuan cuisine was very well executed. The use of vinegar and spicy oil caused a distinct difference in taste that made it hard for me to stop at one. The skin of the wanton seemed slightly thicker than the other wantons else where helped hold the fillings in place and adsorb the immense flavours of the sauce. Very spicy and sour, yet addictive. If you are can't take spicy food, you should refrain from ordering this. 

Xiao Long Bao (4 Pcs) $4

The Xiao Long Bao, one of their signature items did not disappoint. The skin was slightly thicker in comparison to the other Xiao Long Baos I have tried. Each Xiao Long Bao contained alot more hot soup in it (more than those in Crystal Jade/Ding Tai Fung). Most probably, the thicker skin was required to hold the soup in place. The hot soup was tasty and well flavoured while the meat was well marinated. The only issue I had was that the skin at the top was too thick. This may not be the best Xiao Long Bao I had, but it was certainly one of the better ones. 

Noodle in Hot & Sour Soup $8

I ordered the Noodle in Hot & Sour Soup, which is another Sichuan Cuisine - spicy and sour. Luckily the sauce used was different from the Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce. The sauce this time was more sourish and less spicy. It came with diced mushrooms, peas, black fungus, shredded beancurd and meat. The noodles were too hard and could have been cooked for a long period of time. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this dish despite feeling the spiciness towards the end. Kudos to the chef as he got the difficult part right - balancing the taste of the hot & sour soup.

Stewed Beef Brisket Noodle Soup $8.80

The partner ordered the Stewed Beef Brisket Noodle Soup which was one of the recommended items in the menu. The soup was light, clear and flavourful - very forgiving and not salty. Generous serving of beef chunks were given and the meat was stewed till they were incredibly soft and tender. It would have been perfect if the noodles were cooked longer as we felt that it was a tad too hard. 

Overall, the dining experience at The Eastern Restaurant was good.  It's a hidden gem. There's no need to queue even during weekend peak hours. The food that we ordered was delicious. Despite being at full capacity  the service was prompt and efficient. Price wise, it was reasonable. In fact, I would say affordable considering that this is in the heart of Orchard.

The Eastern Restaurant (Centrepoint)

176 Orchard Road

#01-57 Centrepoint

Singapore 238843

Tel: 6736 2638

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm
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