Buffet Review: Korean Fusion BBQ @ Dunlop Street (Jalan Besar/Rochor MRT)

06/09/19

Korean Fusion BBQ (Dunlop Street)

Time limit (For Eatigo Users only I think): 100min
Price: $18.60 (After 50% Eatigo discount and 10% Service Charge)

Pricing CAA 06/09/19

Note: No GST charge at this buffet

First sign that you will be greeted with at the top of the stairs

A small obscure restaurant located on the second floor of a shophouse along Dunlop Street. First thing I noticed upon entering was how slippery and oily the floor felt. Along the length of the restaurant was the buffet counters.

Layout of the buffet

From the end of the restaurant, furthest away from the cashier but nearest to the roadside

They had quite a wide variety of marinades for the pork belly as well as a variety of different types of meat and meat cuts. 

Non-marinated pork belly, Black pepper pork belly, Korean spicy pork belly, Spicy pork belly, Garlic pork belly, Char siew pork belly

Herbal pork belly tasted the most delicious, streaky bacon was well... bacon - Quite hard not to like it 

Bak Kwa Pork, Spicy Bulgogi Pork, Teriyaki Pork, Curry Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Garlic Chicken

Bulgogi Chicken, Gong Bao Chicken, Black Pepper Fish, Seasonal Prawn, Bamboo Clam, Spicy Fish, Thin Sliced Beef, Black Pepper Beef, Bulgogi Beef

Chicken Sausage, Crab Stick, Korean Fish Cake, Chikuna, Fish Tofu, Sotong Ball, Pork luncheon meat, Shitake mushroom, Golden needle mushroom, King oyster mushroom, Shimeji mushroom

In addition to the meats were the vegetables and pineapple (Probably canned) and watermelon. 

Pickled radish, Thai green chili, Doenjang (A type of fermented bean paste made entirely of soybean and brine), Green chili, Red onion, Ssamjang (Thick spicy paste used with food wrapped in leaf; Made of Doenjang, Gochujang (A red chili paste that is a savoury, sweet, and spicy fermented condiment made from chili powder, glutinous rice, meju powder, (Brick of dried fermented soybeans) Yeotgireum (Barley malt powder), and salt) sesame oil, onion, garlic, green onions, and optionally brown sugar)

Green coral lettuce, Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, Sliced onion, Sliced capsicum, Sliced potatoes, Sliced pineapple, Sliced tomato, Sliced cucumber

There was a waffle, ice cream and cooked food station as well. 

Waffle machine

(Clockwise from top right): Deep-fried meat, Chewy fried pancake, Sausage, Kimchi fried rice - Highly recommend to skip this entirely

On top of that, they provide free-flow drinks for an additional $2.50 nett. Otherwise, you're strongly recommended to bring your own water.

I didn't try the ice cream but tried some of the waffle. And if you care about maximising your calories, just skip their waffles. While it looked thick and big, the exterior had a texture of cardboard and it was not moist/fluffy on the inside at all.

The cooked food station had a total of 4 items - Kimchi fried rice, some sort of fried pancake that was far too chewy, sausage and deep-fried meat. I did not try the sausage or the deep-fried meats at all as it didn't look appetising to start with. My advice would be to just stay away from the cooked food as they were cold, unappetising and did not taste good (at least for the fried rice and the pancake that I tried). My friend found the pancake to be alright when he heated it up using the grill though.

What I did like from this buffet would be the Ssamjang paste under the condiments section as it was slightly sweet, complementing the saltish meats. For the same reason, I kept on going back to the pineapples but found it to be sickly sweet after awhile.

While there was a decent variety of meats, I wouldn't come back again, even with the 50% discount as none of the meats were high quality and none of the marinades stood out in particular apart from perhaps, the herbal pork belly.

Throughout my time there, I was sweating profusely and the restaurant did look like it needed a renovation. Nevertheless, I would say that the atmosphere is suitable for large groups of friends (Not more than 12 though as the restaurant is still quite small) wanting to catch up over a meal as it was lively and had a very casual setting with korean music playing over their speakers.
Price: 8/10 (This is after the 50% discount)
Taste: 5.5/10Ambience: 4/10
Overall: 5.5/10 (Would not be over 5 without the 50% discount)