I've not had korean food in weeks..nearly a month! I made the happy couple (Blamer & Leecher) and mr tyw visit Hwang To Gol with me..Well on the pretext of other stuff as well. :P Hyang To Gol's been a favourite lunch hangout of mine, to satiate the korean cuisine cravings, for as long as I've worked in the vicinity. The tea's got that roasted fragrance about it...nice!
2 menus up for tasting, the lunch specials and ala carte. The lunch specials are a steal and it's normally packed with native Koreans and locals. We didn't go for the lunch specials this time.
We shared...
Kimchi Hotpot with mushrooms, dumplings and pork belly (small, $29)
A flavourful broth filled with tons of vegetables (green peppers, leeks, onions, cabbage...kimchi), tofu, dumplings and slivers of pork belly. Found it slightly salty, maybe it's because we didn't have any rice to go with it. Found it more tasty than the authentic korean dishes I had in kimchiland itself...tweaked for the local palette I reckon.
Seafood Pancake ($22)
A pasty huge pancake that came in a hot stone. Rather tasteless if not for the sauce that came with it. Only found teeny weeny chopped up bits of seafood (clams and octopus). The burnt edges of the pancake was rather crunchy which I liked.
Side dishes that are refillable~! Only 7 types were available though.
Chilled kimchi in broth
I like this! The kimchi's not so strong on flavours, vegetables have a nice crunch..think carrots, radishes...
Lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes in salad sauce
The least Korean of the range of sides...not too bad, refreshing in fact.
Raw crab salad (right)
The crabs in the salad are the blue sri lankan ones? Not a crab connoisseur, however. The flesh was just soft..a far cry from the very fresh crab thai salad I had in Bangkok!
Pancakes
On the sweet side, just small pancakes with leeks in them.
Potato Salad
yummy, yum, yum! Potato Salad that's definitely not korean but a staple in the korean's diet. Delicious.
Preserved Radish Cubes
Nothing spectacular
Spinach with garlic
Tasty.
Green & Red Peppers with mushrooms
Somehow tasted oriental with the mushrooms and all.
2 types of kimchi (one was on the sweet side, the other salty)
I prefer the sweet based one.
Ended with the usual fruit (orange and watermelon) and a lukewarm ginseng, date, pine nut drink which I still like muchly! The rest weren't too receptive towards it.
All in, I found the service tardier than normal, possibly due to the bumper tourist crowd they had to entertain. The waitress spilled my sweet drink in a huff to get them all on the table. Price wise, $16 per person...quite a steal I say! Will be back for sure...maybe bbq? bimbap?
Having been to Korea, I find the korean cuisine here stronger in flavouring, enhancements and basically high on MSG. In Korea, the food's really in its most natural form (the exception of fermented vegetables!), with minimal seasoning or even cooking. Very healthy indeed. Even in hot pots, no oil is used, broths are lightly flavoured. I figure, Hwang To Gol's the next best alternative to authentic korean food, but definitely not what they serve in Korea.
Reservations are recommended!
Citibank and HSBC cards get 10% off.
Hyang To Gol
Amara Hotel
Level 2
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