Under construction

Please bear with me :O There will be more to come, this blog only just create few days ago :D

SSIKKEK Korean Grill BBQ Buffet, Bras Basah, Singapore

SSIKKEK Korean BBQ at Bras Basah

 This restaurant is well hidden on Level 2 at Bras Basah Complex, just above Jack's Place. The entrance looks like this :D in case you can't find it. 

This place gives me a "home" feeling, I feel like this is how Korea locals have their dinner when they are not in those high-end posh restaurant. 
It was not fully air-conditioned, but they placed standing fan around the place to keep it cool. 

Note: The place is not well-ventilated. I can guarantee you will leave the place smelling like a piece of well-cooked meat :P So don't dress too well if you intend to dine here. I bring my clothes there to change after my dinner, but my hair still smells like BBQ pork hehe. 

Personally, I love this place. The food variety wasn't much but they serve really nice Kimchi soup and Seaweed Soup. Nice bowl of rice mixed with Kimchi soup, it just like what I saw on Running Man (popular korea variety) , which makes me drool. Both soups tasted amazing, full of flavor. Hmm. 

Fresh kimchi, lettuce if you like to wrap your meat with it and "others" lol 

Meat counter, fresh and some marinated in different spices. Pork, Beef, Chicken.

Their pork belly is amazing and the bacon was good too. If you like beef, they have quite a few different cut of beef and marinated. I like their mushroom "Jing Zhen Gu" which is amazing to cook in BBQ as it absorb all the remaining beef juice left on the BBQ.

The grease to use before BBQ will be the pork belly itself, put a couple fresh onions with the pork belly during greasing. Now you are ready to start your BBQ, don't forget to try their traditional beanpaste and dips for your BBQ if you like additional flavors. Beside meat and vegetables, they have mussels & prawns as well. 

Cooked food that I recommend will be Kimchi Soup, Seaweed Soup, Korean Rice cake and of course fresh Kimchi. They have Korean ice cream if you fancy dessert after (Not include in buffet) at $5.00 each I think. 

Pork belly really taste amazing, they provide scissor for you to cut them into small pieces after you done cooking :). The service was alright, because they are busy making sure the food is well stock for diners :O.

The boss of this restaurant is a Korean mid 40s man, he's really friendly and funny too. As I was late for around 30 minutes, oops. When I finally get seated after I apologized to my friends, he came over to me with a big smile and says "Your poor friends been waiting for you and they are so hungry! I offered to cook for them, they say to wait for you. So I guess the bill is on you." Hehehe, we have a good laugh and I will I "might". 

Reasonable price, around $27 per pax on weekend dinner. 

Author Notes: 
Compared to my experiences over at Bornga, (Korean restaurant), I prefer SSIKKEK way more. I really enjoyed it and definitely visit again. 

Even though they aren't like Bornga with high rating and celebrity chef, SSIKKEK served authentic Korea traditional dishes. I would rather pay to go SSIKKEK than Bornga. 

After you pay over at the counter, the staff or boss spray Fe-breeze over you :P, so do let them know beforehand if you don't want that. Enjoy folks :D 


SSIKKEK Korean Grill BBQ Buffet
Address: #02-01, Bras Basah Complex. 231 Bain Street.  Tel: 6336 4476. 
Operating Hours: Daily 11:30-14:30 (Lunch) & 17:30-22:00 (Dinner) Price range: Around $27 per pax.

Bornga - Korean BBQ Restaurant at Star Vista, Singapore

Bornga, rated as one of the best Korean BBQ restaurant in Singapore,  I love Korean food and they serve authentic Korean traditional dishes, so I decide to try this restaurant.  Experiences we had in this restaurant was bad, but food was good. 

The greens to go along with the BBQ meat, wrap wrap *

Woosamgyup – $22 / 200g

The BBQ begins, cooked by the server.

Sizzling....

We love the pork bellies, well it's good for your skin. Unlike those really fatty parts this is a good cut of pork. They keep the recipe really simple, full of taste from the fresh cut of meat. One fear about having BBQ is you will probably end up smelling like cooked meat after. We ordered a plate of Woosamgyup (above), a Kimchi soup and a Bibimbap to share, we can't wait to leave this restaurant, that is why we didn't take any pictures as we was offended by a employee.

 There is a server, she's not a waitress, her role is taking food out of kitchen to the waitress. The server, who took the dish to our table said "Why order so many things? How you expect to finish?" and server start shaking her head in a really rude way. We kept quiet and the server left after she done her job, my sister and I look at our dining table. With a Kimchi soup, a rice and small place of meat, which is suppose to be combination of a normal meal. 

So I asked the waitress, "do we really ordered a lot?" 

She said "No, actually. Because over here we normally have customer we order more meat instead of other dishes, so probably looks a lot to her (the server) and she's normally not like that towards customer."

Author Note: 

Truthfully, food was good. Do try if you like good BBQ pork, but my rating for this restaurant will be the lowest. A place where I will never visit again. Dining experience is important in all expects, not just the food itself. Doesn't have to be excellent customer service but making the diners feel comfortable. Because of the bad service, I personally think it's slightly over-price, and reviews was over-rated.

Bornga Korean BBQ Restaurant

Address: #02-24, The Star Vista, 1 Vista Exchange Green. Tel: 6694 4696. 

Operating Hours: 11:30-22:00. Price range: Around $35 per pax

La Tasca Restaurant, Cambridge - Spanish Tapas Restaurant

Spanish has unique culture when comes to food, variety of dishes spread across the dining tables where friends and families will tuck in with joy and laughter. Remarkable seafood variety in Spain with sea surrounding their country. Amazing fresh and delicious seafood dishes like Fritos (fried fish), Calamari (fried squid), regional dish Paella  (with 3 variety of  with meat, vegetables or seafood with rice) and many more. 

Las Tasca Restaurant, with 4 categories; 

FROM THE SEA, FROM THE FIELD, FROM THE SALAD GARDEN & FROM THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Wide variety and selection for Vegetarian & Gluten-free dishes also available in this restaurant. 

With Spain traditional music on the background and restaurant decorated with a strong feel of being in Spain, cosy seats with couch and pillows to high chairs with barrel as dining table available too. Bar counter serving wide variety of cocktails (Sangria, country wine or other wine if preferred) 

Food: If you like to try their varieties, look out for their promotion (Buy 1 get 1 free Tapas to Share) on Sunday to Friday, subject for promotion validity. Normally I go for this promotion with friends, had lots of dishes with a price of  £12.00 to £15.00 per pax. (Including non-alcoholic drinks)

Tapas to share, price range for each tapas is £3.95 to £5.95

I will provide my favorite tapas in this restaurant, however they have wide varieties which I haven't try. 

Seafood paella 

Pescado Blanco Frito (Malaga)

Deep fried white fish in their special-recipe San Miguel Batter

Calamares (Calamari)

Crispy squid with sea salt 

Chorizo (Spanish sausage) 

Simply sauteed on the plancha 

Albondigas

Beef & pork meatballs in rich tomato sauce

Pollo Marbella

Chicken breast, cooked with chorizo in white wine & cream sauce

Patatas Bravas

Fried potatos with spicy tomato sauce 

La tasca House Green Salad

Croquetas De Manchego (Croquettes) 

Hand-crumbled with 3 month ages Manchego cheese & fresh spinach 

Author note: 

I like to provide honest reviews for each dining experiences. For a couple times, when restaurant was quite busy. I have left waiting for around 20 to 30 minutes to place my orders and another 30 to 45 minutes for my food. I have walked away once after seated, as it no one came to us for orders at least 30 minutes so we are forced to leave. Reservation does help in getting seated, but avoid peak period (Fri or Sat dinner) if you doesn't want to wait. 

Personally there is a dish, that I tried and dislike in this restaurant; Tortilla Espanola which is Spanish Omelette. It was hard and dry so I never ordered it again. 

La Tasca Restaurant 

14-16 Bridge Street, Cambridge, CB2 1UF.  Tel: 01223 464630 

Operating Hours: 11:00 to 23:30. Price Range: $$ 

Review: 3 out of 5.  Ambience: 4/5  Food: 4/5  Service: 2/5

The Green Man, Grantchester, Cambridge

Good pubs always on high demand in UK, after a long tiring week we need a place to relax and chill. Ambience of the pub, well groomed garden for when the summer arrives and of course good heating when the bad winter hits, all these are essential when I think I deserved a good break. 

You cannot miss out a nice pub meal, be it on a Sunday family day or regular night out with friends for a few pints. I recommend The Green Man at Grantchester as my favorite pub. The Green Man specialise in producing the best food, they take pride in their food, demand freshly prepared and indeed excellent food. 

Yes, they have good beer too, probably not a lot. However do not miss their beer festival as they have always put in their best when the beer festival arrives. I will be updating pictures of their amazing garden when I'm back in the UK. 

Dining area of the pub and smoking area. 

Starters (First courses or Light lunches)
Not recommended for diners looking for average portion, as their starters really small. However it's gourmet style and heavenly taste.

Fresh tuna, beetroot, grapefruit essence n salmon mousse with a dash of champagne. £8.50 

I was looking for light lunch. This starter was about size of my palm (and I have small hands). However I enjoy every single bite of it, like an adventure filled with excitement when I dig into my lunch, the combination is superb and the tuna amazing fresh.  

The main course  (Portion that will filled you up nicely)

Homemade Cambridgeshire beef burger with your choice of bacon and Cheddar or Stilton cheese, served with homemade fries and a crisp mixed leaf salad  £12.95

With a choice of Cheddar or Stilton cheese accordingly to your liking. I choose Stilton cheese. The tender & juiciness of the beef in every single bite, combination with the strong but not overpowering Stilton and crunchiness of the salad. Do make sure to protect your shirt against the juice.   

Author note: 

The Green Man served the best burger, i ever tasted up till today. (I will keep trying more burger in future so stay tuned). The chef Steve Thompson at The Green Man indeed surprised me today. I will explore their wide variety on my next visit. 

The Green Man
59 High St, Grantchester, Cambridge CB3 9NF, United Kingdom. 
Tel: +44 1223 844669. Operating Hours: 11a.m to 11p.m. Price: $$$
Review: Overall 4 out of 5.   Ambience: 5. Food: 4. Service: 4