I usually stay away from Korean BBQ/ Yakiniku places which doesn’t use charcoal for grilling but this place came highly recommended to me so I thought I’d give it a try. It also helps that the concept of this place is from USA, because I didn’t manage to have any Korean BBQ meals when I was there even though I heard good feedback, so perhaps I’ll get to experience some of it here. The ambiance was quite basic but definitely modern compared to other Korean places. You won’t find the walls plastered with tacky K-Pop posters at least.

From the menu, it is obvious that their specialty is the pork belly, which they marinated in 8 flavours, hence the name of this shop. The pork used here is Mangalitza (or Mangalica) pork which is from a Hungarian breed. I’ve wanted to try Mangalica pork for a while so I was happy to see this! Quality of Korean BBQ often boils down to the quality of meat used, and secondarily how they marinate it.

However, what I don’t understand from the menu is that it seems not possible to order the meat alone. Both the 4 colours ($58.00++) or 8 colours sets ($98.00++) must come with a Korean stew. I am not a fan of Korean food and even more not a fan of Korean stew. Korean food in Singapore is generally overpriced and stew is the most overpriced dish because the ingredients that go in typically are well… processed/ canned food like sardines, luncheon meat, sausages etc.

I mindfully picked the least processed of the lot – the seafood soup. Usually one pot of this would be $18.00++. The ingredients may be nothing to rave about but I must say the broth was quite tasty.

4 Colours Set – $58.00++

For my 4 colours, I had the Original, Garlic, Smoked and Red Pepper.

The side dishes served were so uninteresting I didn’t even attempt to get a good picture. Kimchi and marinated bean sprouts were placed on the hot plate together with the pork. This is a good idea because it tastes better when warm and even better when the melted fats mix into them. I couldn’t stop eating the bean sprouts!

The staff would do the cooking so diners can just sit back and watch. I like this service.

Red Pepper

Smoked

Garlic

Original

My favourite would be the Red Pepper and Smoked flavours. The Smoked one kind of tastes like better bacon, which is good because everyone loves bacon. The Original and Garlic is kind of tasteless in my opinion and can only be saved with Korean chilli sauce and kimchi. Perhaps going with the stronger flavours would be a better idea. The texture of the pork was really good – tender despite being cooked through. I am impressed that the meat could turn out so good without charcoal. With charcoal it could be even better.

Bibimbap Bingsu – $28.00++

This was my first bingsu experience and I was quite pleasantly surprised with the fluffy shaved ice. I kind of expected it to be normal shaved ice like ice kacang but now I understand what bingsu is about (or I think it is based on this one). I was never interested in bingsu but I wanted to order this simply because it looks cute.

$28.00++ for dessert is the most I ever paid! This is good for sharing between 2 – 4 people. Basically the ingredients seems quite cheap, like fake Oreo (doesn’t taste like the original Oreo), mini marshmallows, some other kind of corn flakes, fruits (both fresh and syrup ones), red bean and whipped cream. Overall quite pleasant but I wouldn’t order it again for $28.

*****

Ambiance: 7/10
Food: 8.5/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: Best pork belly I’ve experienced from Korean BBQ 

*****

8 Korean BBQ
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
The Central
#02-79/90
Singapore 059817

Tel: 86921188

*****

Mon – Fri

Sat – Sun