Ju Shin Jung West Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant (Sept 07 2008)

I would know what a greedy pig is, cause I am one. Proud to be one too... :D hehe I got really bad craving for Korean spicy seafood soup, after seeing it on one of my friend's shot of his dinner on Flickr. Needless to say, I put up half a struggle and lost it within the 2 seconds I tried. The next thing was to plan and most important of all, plot how to get a group of people interested in Korean food meal. That wasn't difficult at all, considering how stubborn I can be, when I want to.



So.... off to one of the more popular Korean food in Singapore, Ju Shin Jung at West Coast Road or Highway... whichever it is, it's just opposite Haw Par Villa.

I remembered being very much entertained by these towel coins... they sure look like mints now... and when u pour water over it.... it will expanded into a disposable towels! great stuffs to bring on a camping trips!



The REALLY fun part of having Korean meals is the side dishes. Ju Shin Jung, or rather most of the authentic Korean Restaurant here, gave unlimited side dishes, at least that's how it was here all the times.

Frist came a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong tray of raw Vegetables... Errr Can't we just have a few leaves? Plus I am not too convinced that most of the diners can finish that tray of veggies... I never did like recycled vegetables.... no matter how fresh they might look.

We were supposed to use the vegetables as wrap for the BBQ meat that we had ordered. But raw chilli??!?! Do anyone actually pick up those raw chillies and start chewing on it? I can do garlic, but anyone is welcome to the chillis! :p

Kimchi!!! Cabbage marinated in Spicy bean paste and fermented for a few weeks .... though I think it's only done for a few days here, it's still so tasty. One of the better kim chi I had tried so far in Singapore. I prefer to use this cabbage to wrap my meat with :P~

Pumpkin Pancake! I absolutely love this. It had a sweet pumpkin taste to it. But they run of this, and wasn't able give us more *sobs* I did not manage to get any... there was 2 kids there, so they can have it first.... I wonder who took the 3rd piece *hmmmmm*

Cold Tofu in Spicy Soya sauce and spring onion.... I liked the sauce and the spring onions, and left the tofu to the other adults on the table to finish. hehehe :D

Another side dish... I think it's fishball... but I never did like such fishballs... so I left it alone. It didn't look that great either.

More vegetables.... I think they were just trying to balance our diet here....

I like, I like !! Sauteed mushrooms! Though there are chilli slices in it, it's not spicy at all.

Cabbage in spicy soup.... I didn't try this. I thought it look too weird to eat.

Chilli in spicy cream sauce - I didn't try this. I always have the idea that a whole chilli, and it doesn't matter if it's cooked or raw, it's very spicy!! And I would absolutely refused to have it.

These are individual side dishes... I was given raw onions with some sort of oil like base and this seaweed marinated in some vinegar tasting sauce.

Cold noodle in cold soup (물냉면 Mulnaeng) This noodle has mee sua like noodles, with a half an egg (how can anyone be so cheapo!!! give me an egg mah...), slices of radish and cucumber and a thin slice of beef, dipped in ICE cold weird tasting clear liquid. I don't think this would ever made it into my top favorite food list EVER!!! I don't like the soup, cause it's so cold esp with the crushed ice they had put it. And it had a weird taste!!!! and we were supposed to put in some mustard and vinegar into it..... Geeezzz give me more kim chi and I will forget this dish ever exist in Korean food history! :p

Seafood and Vegetable steamboat (해물전골 Haemul) - This wasn't the type of steamboat I am used to. My version of steamboat is hot soup in a pot, and the raw ingredients all around and we just cook as we want. With this version, everything was already in it. All we had to do is to sit and wait for it to boil. Considering that this is a seafood steamboat, I don't see much seafood, other than a whole chunk of octopus!!! Seriously, a whole chunk of octopus... IT was definitely too much for us to handle. We ate the scallops, the prawns, some of the tiny crabs and a few mussels... and left most of the octopus behind. I like the taste of the soup, but it would not be a hit with people who doesn't like fishy taste. The spicy and hot soup, mixed with some rice... definitely will warm you fast, especially in a cold winter.... *blinks**Blinks* Hey! I live in Singapore! no winters.... What the heck!!! I can always turn up the aircon!

Now to our BBQ Stuffs!!! I was given 3 different types of sauces... I really can be bothered with which sauce to use with each meat, I just dip whichever I like and enjoy my meats!!

Sliced beef tongue (우설 Woosul) - Delicious.. not saying that it can be eaten raw, but it's delicious when it's lightly bbq 'ed. Beef tongues are so chewy and when sliced thinly, they are easier to eat than regular beef.

Fresh Pork Belly (삼겹살 Samgyub) - Yummy!! This was much better than the one I had a few days ago at the other Japanese restaurant. I think it had do with the fact that it was cooked and consumed quickly!!! :D

Marinade Beef-Rib (양념갈비 Yangnyum) - I didn't get a cooked picture of it... why? because the service staff took away my favorite part!!! my bone!!! *sobS* she took away my bone!!! I was too shocked to eat for 5 seconds! But I got over it and continued with eating my Pork belly with kim chi... :D They also had another version of Black Angus beef... only a few dollars difference, but I can't be bothered with it... cause this was good enough for me.

Seasoned Slice beef (생불고기 Bulgogi) - What is an authentic Singapore version of a Korean meal without this!!! u get it almost everywhere in food courts of Singapore. What made this so different? Well.... *drum rolls* it was the free enoki mushrooms they gave. In another word... no differences.

Spring onion Seafood pancake (해물파전 Pajun) - This is one of my MUST eat items! IF they have it, I must have it. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE this. I like the spring onion in it, the pathetic almost non-existing seafood that was supposed to be in it... and most important of all the pancake batter? Can it still be a batter, when it's cooked? no matter! I just like the thing! everything that made this into a perfect dish, except the pepper! :p doesn't it just look yummyily delicious!!! :p

Saengang-cha (Ginger Tea) - to me, this is a very much acquired taste thing... but I like it!! :P very nice... give me more!! I think I drunk about 4 bowls of this..... :P It left behind a spicy aftertaste, that was quickly forgetten as I recall the sweet taste of the drink.

Oh we were also given hearted shaped watermelon slices... nothing special, just another piece of water melon.

With the issue of FT coming into Singapore, and how Singaporeans are dependent on them, as they are on us, I still find it hard to balance the need and the want. This restaurant used to have a majority of Korean staff, as compared to now, where FT had taken over almost all the service staffs and the kitchen, when I peeked into it. I agree totally, when a business wish to cut costs, having a cheaper source of labour is good. But when the standards of the food dropped, I find it hard to justfy the cost of cheaper labour. The want of having cheaper labour overshadowed the need of having good food. Either start training them to prepare Good Authentic Korean food or get back your Korean staffs, cause MILK MILK wants GOOD FOOD!

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(Take note that I do not have any issues nor do I discriminate against hard working people who leave behind everything they have back home to come to Singapore for a better life.)