Supulae

On a Friday evening a few months ago, my dining companions and I met up for Korean dinner. Walking down Tanjong Pagar Road, a banner with the words "Naked Waitresses Serve You" caught our eyes. A closer look read "the naked truth about our waitresses is that they only serve you to make you regular". Still, we decided to check out the place packed with Korean customers and left our name. Then, we continued exploring the area and tried our luck at Todamgol where we managed to get a table for four. In the end, we ordered and ate there without receiving any call from Supulae (yes, that's the name of the restaurant where we left our number). Fast forward to last Friday and I was back with a different group at the restaurant. Opened last year, extendable exhaust tubes hung above gas-ignited charcoal grill at wooden tables paired with wooden benches and chairs against bare walls and concrete floor. Reaching before 7pm, my dining companions and I were seated immediately.

We ordered two BBQ sets – chicken and beef as well as pork and beef, one with bean paste soup and another with kimchi soup (portion good for one person though the set was for two people). Food was served quickly enough with chicken sausage and mushrooms to be grilled, leafy greens and raw garlic to wrap the barbequed meat, as well as rice and steamed egg. Of the 6 dishes of banchan, I only liked the kimchi which was a tad spicy and not very sour. And another reminiscent of Japanese fishcake and something from local yong tau hu stalls, with an additional aroma from the sesame seeds. Rice and soup were nothing to rave about or fault with steamed egg that reminded me of Chinese-style home-cooked ones. Tender beef and pork were well-marinated, moist and not too fat. Less sweet and with a nice aroma was the drunken beef ribs from the à la carte  menu, from which we also had the pork shoulder steak with a natural sweetness as if it was not marinated at all. Yummy!