They serve a variety of barbecued meat sets, rice, noodle and soup sets. This restaurant operates in a typical Amerian school cafeteria style- First, grab a tray, then join the queue. As you move up the queue, grab drinks and/or appetizers to go. (BTW they have quite a few interesting Korean can drinks available). Place your orders with the waiter and wait for your food order to arrive then pay. I realised the waitress at the counter was Korean only after attempting to order my set in Chinese and she didn't really understand me. (Me so embarrassed!) So just order your desired meal set number in English.
I had a Fish (mackerel) and Chicken BBQ meat combo set for $6.20 (after NUS student discount). I really thought it was worth it, especially since the portions of meat were really big. The combo also came with a bowl of rice, soup and two korean condiments (kim chi and seaweed). Taste-wise, the meat combo was really decent, somewhat above your ordinary food court stall standard. The mackerel was really fresh and the outer skin was grilled to crispy perfection, whereas the flesh inside remained soft and juicy. The chicken was tender, well marinated and as a result, flavourful. The sauce is a typical Korean marinade sauce- a combination of sweet and spicy which tingles your tongue, definitely a delight with white rice.Location: NUS University Town, Town Plaza
The Ellenborough Market Cafe is located inside the Swisshotel Merchant Court Hotel, just walking distance from Clarke Quay MRT (take exit B!) The restaurant has a nice colonial style decor- very nice and homely. There are two buffet stations- one near the entrance serves fresh, raw seafood, desserts and the other main station inside the restaurant offers the rest of the spread. Here are some highlights:
Japanese/ Korean food counter- There's free flow sashimi, freshly cut slices of salmon and tuna that are perpetually swept off the serving plates by eager sashimi lovers. Be prepared to face hoardes of hostile uncle and aunties bent on removing every single sashimi slice from the place. A sushi chef also furiously prepares various sushi pieces which are also constantly swept off the plates. I don't envy the sushi chef's job; if he is not cutting up sashimi, he's rolling up sushi, or being stared down by impatient uncles and aunties. There was also some korean salad served with hints of kim chi which was rather meh.
Cold seafood counter- There are raw oysters, mussels and steamed prawns to choose from. I was suffering from a severe oyster craving, hence the pile of oysters on my plate. Oysters were quite fresh- didn't have any stomach upset the next day hehe. Prawns were big, juicy and succulent.
Nonya food counter- A wide variety of authentic nonya dishes like Ayam Buah Keluk, Chap Chye, fish, Nonya otah. There is also a Kong Ba Pau counter where the chef will prepare the soft steamed buns with braised pork on the spot. There is also a Nonya dessert counter which serves out an assortment of mini bite size kuehs kuehs placed in erm, bird cages.
Hot food counter- The two must try dishes are Butter Fish with Broadbean Sauce and Stir Fried Slipper Lobster in Black Bean Sauce (above). The fish is an excellent dish with great texture and flavour, and its quality is comparable to those served out in expensive chinese restaurants. No wonder the fish meat is quickly polished off the plate once it touches the table. The slipper lobster is also another dish that is not exempt from diners' relentless stomachs. The lobster meat is very fresh, retains QQ texture and goes really well with the black bean sauce that is not overly salty. Do examine the lobster shells carefully; you would want to pick the piece with the meatiest section (like the one shown above) and not some random shell part with no meat. This uncle in front of me actually took his time digging into the catering dish to locate the fattest, juiciest lobster meat (like digging gold in black sauce) and ended up hogging the queue. (He obviously didn't care what people behind him thought). And if you can't do without your greens, do grab some Stir fried seasonal vegetables in abalone sauce, also available here.
Durian Pengat- The famous, MUST TRY durian dessert served here. It is essentially thick, luscious durian cream, pureed from high quality durian flesh. Each mouthful is bursting with fragrant, bittersweet taste of durians pulp and cream. Durian lovers would TRULYMADLYDEEPLYABSOLUTELY adore this. I was somewhat tempted to haul the whole vat of durian pengat back to the table, but I managed to restrain myself.
Dessert counter- Sorry, I was too lazy to arrange the items nicely on the plate, but you get the idea- this place serves an assortment of cakes and pastries. I was too full to stomach everything by then, but there were also local desserts and ice cream available!
Sarang is located on the 7th floor of Orchard Central (the sprawling shopping complex designed like a rat maze). It has a small indoor seating area which is usually filled up. There are also outdoor seats and seats at the bar, where diners can barbecue their own food or get the chef to do it. We were assigned bar seats since most places were already booked up (business is booming on weekends). The outdoor restaurant is really airy but be prepared to walk out smelling faintly of korean bbq. Kpop fans will enjoying the booming Kpop music videos projected on a large screen behind the bar. It's a really nice place to chill out and I discovered they serve decent cocktails!
This place serves Makgeolli- a korean rice wine with alcohol content of about 5%. It has a characteristic milky, off-white colour and is sweet. The bar serves out several Makgeolli cocktails and we had their Makgeolli Mojito (above, $10) and Makgeolli Orange ($10, background). The mojito was fantastic! I really liked the refreshing hints of citrus and mint, but the drink itself is still sweet (mainly from Makgeolli and sugar). The orange concoction was a bit like orange sparkling juice, but I guess citrus lovers will enjoy the fresh squeezed orange pulp bits inside the drink.
My friend was craving for Korean BBQ, so we ordered the DIY BBQ Platter ($38.80) where you get to select any 3 meat items from the ala carte menu, which was more worth it since each meat item costs between $16.80-19.80. We got ourselves Jeyuk Bakeum (marinated pork slices), Dak Galbi (marinated chicken) and Galbi Sal (marinated boneless beef ribs).
You also get to choose whether you want to cook the items yourself or get the chef to cook it for you. We opted for the former, so we were given this mini grill pan which came with some semi cooked mushrooms, kim chi, bean sprout and lettuce condiments to go with the meats. The waitresses are quite attentive, one even advised us to lower the fire to prevent the meats from overcooking. So BBQ noobs don't be afraid, you won't get burnt. The waitress also assured us that the oil from the grill will not splatter, but the pan got oily after a while and there were some oil splatter around the area. You can request for a change of grill pan, it somewhat helped reduce oil splatters. The meats were quite thinly sliced, so they cooked quickly. They were quite tender and well marinated, and I quite enjoyed the meal!
We arrived slightly after 12pm (opening time for lunch) on a weekday, but the restaurant was already filled up to the brim. Business is bustling good here! We had to subsequently wait for about an hour to get a table for 3. So if you intend to come in a group with more than 2 people, I would suggest you make your way to the restaurant after 1.30pm when it's less crowded and more seats are available. Or you can start queuing at 11.3oam. (BTW, the restaurant does not take reservations.) While waiting in the queue, many passerby office workers actually know of this place but are simply unwilling to wait so long.
This is their incredible Angel Hair Pasta With Sherry Minced Pork And Sakura Ebi ($3.90) that has everyone swooning over its value for money quotient. I really liked this al-dente spaghetti tossed in olive oil and garlic, topped with bright pink dried shrimps and minced pork paste. Where can you find decent restaurant quality al dente pasta for $3.90? Wise Guy of 
Pan Fried Foie Gras With Lentil And Pickled Onion (70g- $14.90)- an affordable french delicacy. This is actually my first time sampling foie gras, but I understand the best foie gras should not have any lingering taste of liver. The foie gras served here melts in your mouth but did have a little liver taste.
Confit Of Duck With Orange Segment And Sauté Shittake ($8.90) is a dish adjusted for the Singaporean palate. The original french duck confit is usually very salty, but this dish is not salty at all, but still well done. The duck meat is very tender, not overly dry or tough. The duck skin is also roasted to a perfect crispiness. This dish comes with mash potatoes, very flavourful shittake mushrooms and random pieces of orange.
For dessert, we had this spectacular looking Chocolate and Hazelnuts dessert ($7.90) It does look like a smiling face, with a protruding hat doesn't it? It is essentially chocolate garnished with bits of hazelnut shavings and raspberry. The chocolate had a smooth, mousse-like texture- well balanced and not overly decadently sweet. My friend found the raspberry sauce too sour, but I thought it was a nice pairing with the chocolate.
In such pressing times of austerity, everyone is cutting back on spending. Should you scrimp on good food too? As much as I would love that this eatery serves restaurant quality food at affordable prices, I'm not sure if I would want to queue so long to get in. But if I do manage to get a seat, I will definitely savour their cheap and excellent angel hair pasta.
We had dinner at Matsugen, a restaurant known for its soba. It's located in the neighbourhood of Azabu-Juban, near Roppongi, and might be a little difficult for unfamiliar tourists like us to locate. Thank goodness for Google Maps. Thanks to Wise Guy from 
Here is our order of Kinki fish being charcoal grilled on the spot. Kinki fish is a seasonal fish that is only found in Japan. Although this may cost a bomb (almost SGD45), it's a once in a lifetime thing ya?
