Bornga

The brainchild of renowned Korean Celebrity Chef Jong Won Paik, Bornga is Korea's leading chain of barbeque restaurants with almost 50 branches worldwide since it was established in 2002. 33 of these are in Korea with the rest in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. Following the successful debut of its 1st foray here (last November at The Star Vista), a 2nd has opened on the 2nd floor of VivoCity in May this year. My dining companions and I waited for more than half an hour on a weekend evening before we were seated near the back with a view of Sentosa and its fireworks. Dimly-lit and spacious but a tad smoky despite extendable black exhaust tubes hanging from the ceiling, which could be pulled down to just an inch above the grill. With the exception of kimchi as well as broccoli and cauliflower with accompanying sauce, complimentary free-flow banchan were mostly salty and nothing to rave about or fault.

Food arrived quickly but it was so difficult to catch staff's attention that I had to literally walk to where they were, and even helped to pour hot tea for our table. Kimchi Jigae – spicy stew with kimchi, pork, tofu and various vegetables, was more sweet than spicy with tender pork ribs and did not taste like the usual ones we had at many Korean restaurants in Singapore and overseas. Dwaeji Gochujang Barbeque, spicy pork fire-grilled to create a flavourful fiery stir-fried dish, had a charred aroma. Initially good or maybe I was too hungry, the savoury and sweet were soon overtaken by its tough and fats as the dish turned cold. Portion was also too big while Haemul Pajeon, pancake made from scallions and seafood, was too bland. Loved Jap chae, a stir-fried dish of pork and glass noodles, and the complimentary chilled Omijacha served to diners at the end of our meals. Also known as five-flavoured tea as it tasted sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and savoury all at the same time.