COCONUTS HOT SPOT — For a little twist to your usual Korean favorites, hit up newly-revamped Century Square for fusion grub from Two Hana and Seoul In A Sandwich, both by The Seoul Garden Group.
The name Seoul Garden might bring back ’90s nostalgia-tinted memories of the days when the buffet restaurant was basically all we knew about Korean grub in Singapore — but we were pleasantly surprised to find the F&B company flourishing in its move towards a hip, modern look with the two new concepts.
First up, Seoul in a Sandwich (with soul in every bite). Pardon the cheese factor — that’s just the motto of the takeaway sandwich kiosk. It’s located in the Tampines mall basement, and yes, we went to go give it a try.
Sinking your teeth into any of its menu offerings — or as they call them, “Korean fillings stuffed into European breads” — is like relishing comfort food with an edge. The flavors are familiar yet new, and we can totally see these sammies becoming your go-to when you’ve had a particularly bad day (for East-siders, at least).
For a quick breakfast bite, try Seoul Street Toast ($6.50), a stomach-warming stack of onion cabbage omelette, chicken ham, gooey cheese, and mayo toast. Or if you prefer your sandwiches cold, get the Kimchi Prawn Cocktail ($7.50), an overflowing number with Asian pear and prawn cocktail, mesclun mix, and kimchi stuffed in between two focaccia slices.
Things get heartier with Bulgogi Cheesesteak ($8.50), where sautéed peppers and onions are layered on a thick layer of bulgogi beef, topped with mozzarella and raw onions, reined in all together with a crusty baguette.
And for fans of budae jjigae, the Army Stew-wich ($8.50) tastes pretty much like the classic Korean hot pot — minus the noodles (to avoid carb-on-carb crime). Think bits of chicken sausage, chicken luncheon meat, topokki slices, kimchi, daikon slaw, army stew sauce, and melted cheese on a hunk of ciabatta.
It’s messy, of course, but aren’t all the best sandwiches?
They’ve also got sweet sandwiches like citron cream cheese with Asian pear ($4.50) or matcha white chocolate ($3.50). Whatever floats your boat, folks.
In drinks, we tried the pear and quince tea ($2.50) — a light, refreshing way to wash down all those heavy flavors from the food.
For a proper sit-down meal, then it’ll be better at Two Hana — a casual Korean and Western cafe decked out with pastel colors — on the first floor of the same mall. Addictive starters on the menu here include kimchi mac and cheese ($9/five pieces), breaded and deep fried to a crisp, and Korean cauliflower fritters ($9/six to eight pieces), tempura chunks coated with a sweet and spicy sauce that cleverly masks the fact that you’re eating veggies.
On the list of mains, you’ll find the eatery’s version of a beef rice bowl: Striploin Bap ($13), a mount of kimgaru rice covered with kimchi, spinach, and beansprout namul, caramelized onions, poached egg, and seared striploin slabs.
But if it’s rainy season, the Korean Seafood Ciopinno ($12) is quite the comforting option — a rich bowl of tomato cream stew swimming with mussels, clams, prawns, mushrooms, and carrots, served with with tofu or soft bread rolls.
Otherwise, the Braised Gochujang Lamb Shank ($24) is a great one to share with your dining partner. The meat is tender and comes with a side of carrots and kimchi, but really, the kimchi mashed potatoes are most likely what you’ll be fighting over. Each buttery spoonful comes with a slight kick from the spicy pickled cabbage, ensuring you won’t get the usual gelat feeling that tends to accompany this dish.
For dessert, you can try the strawberry waffles with honey citron ice cream and pink fairy floss ($9) — it’s photogenic, sure, but for something a tad more unique, get the apple caramel waffles with doenjang caramel ice cream ($9). Interestingly, the fermented soybean paste adds an umami flavor to what would’ve been a basic caramel ice cream, although you may feel slightly unsettled by the strange new taste at first.
If you’re 99 percent full but still want something sugary, either sip on the iced matcha latte or iced hojicha latte ($6; both served with whipped cream and fish bungeoppang), or order the revelation that is the house-made hojicha pudding ($5) topped with pound cake cubes, strawberries, blueberries, buckwheat puffs, and whipped cream. It’s smooth, it’s sweet, it’s creamy — the kind of treat that you can easily finish off unknowingly (and perhaps unintentionally).
FIND IT:
Two Hana is at #01-21 Century Square, 2 Tampines Central 5.
6260-4321; Daily 8am-10pm.
MRT: Tampines
Seoul In A Sandwich is at #B1-23 Century Square, 2 Tampines Central 5.
Daily 10am-10pm.
MRT: Tampines
