Seorae, a fully established restaurant from the land of barbecued meat Korea, has opened its doors in Singapore. This restaurant is known for their signature meat, Galmaegi. Found between the ribs and belly of the pig, Galmaegi is considered to be rather unique as every full-grown pig only has a mere 250 grams of it. Because of how precious this cut is, it comes as no surprise that this meat used to be exclusively available only to the royal family in Korea.
Before being cooked on a ‘circle grilling’ plate, the pork skirt will first be marinated in a delicious blend of spices. What greeted us at the table was chunks of meat placed onto the grilling plate. The sizzle which emitted when the meat touched the hot pan was music to our ears, and we waited in anticipation to sink our teeth into the juicy pieces of meat.
I ate it the usual way — wrapped in Korean lettuce, but my dining companions did not. They were raving about eating the meat with cheese that I eventually caved in to dipping my meat into the golden stretchy goodness of cheese, even though I am not a fan of the diary product. To my surprise, the cheese-meat combination turned out to be a pretty good marriage. Despite the fact that each serving of cheese is priced rather expensively at S$2, I found myself enjoying it very much. To go without it would definitely be a shame.
I also tried a huge selection of premium pork and beef cuts. The one that I particularly liked was the Woosamgyeob, otherwise known as beef belly. Definitely not being something that I would have usually picked, the Woosamgyeob emitted such an irresistible smoky scent that I succumbed once again to temptation, and I was glad that I did. The beef belly exceeded my expectations. Thinly sliced and extremely flavourful, the beef was exceptionally tender and a delight to consume. This was, by far, my favourite dish of the afternoon.
Photo © Vanessa Koh
Seorae was kind enough to let us try their Sundubu Jjigae (tofu stew), Haemul Pajeon (Korean pancake with green onions and seafood) and Bibim Naengmyeon (Cold Noodles). A huge fan of tofu stew, I always have it whenever I dine at a Korean restaurant, I found the one served here to be different from those served at some of my favourite Korean haunts. In the bowl of soup, there was a pretty generous serving of minced meat in it. The texture of the meat served as a good contrast to that of the tofu, giving each mouthful I took an added bite.
Photo © Vanessa Koh
With bingsoos being all the rage right now, Seorae puts up a rather good fight with its version. Although I could not appreciate the Apgujeong Bingsoo (Cheese), my dining companions were crazy about it. Apparently, the salty crunch from the cheese bits complemented the rest of the dessert very well. Coupled with large pieces of cheese cake stuck into the bingsoo, I guess that is one of the reasons as to why the Cheese Bingsoo has consistently remained as one of the top favourites.
Photo © Vanessa Koh
On the other hand, my personal favourite was the Chungmuro Patbingsoo. It is essentially a bowl of shaved ice topped with cornflakes, red bean and a huge scoop of matcha ice cream. By combining bits of each component, the dessert came together very nicely and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
My only gripe with this place is that their service left a lot to be desired for. Perhaps the restaurant is understaffed, but the wait staff did not seem too happy to be working there. For a restaurant that serves such good food, it would be a shame to lose customers over something like service.
Seorae
68, Orchard Road
Plaza Singapura, #02-01,
Singapore 238863
Tel: +65 6238 8429
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday from 11.30am to 10pm (last order: 9.30pm); Friday to Saturday from 11.30am to 11pm (last order: 10.30pm)
