When Korean cuisine was fairly new to Singaporeans, only a few authentic Korean restaurants were opened by real Koreans. Most of the time, the Korean food choices we have are bibimbap or bulgogi meat on hot plates served in food courts Hansang …
When Korean cuisine was fairly new to Singaporeans, only a few authentic Korean restaurants were opened by real Koreans. Most of the time, the Korean food choices we have are bibimbap or bulgogi meat on hot plates served in food courts
Hansang Korean Family Restaurant is one of those restaurants I used to see when I was in the early stages of my career and stepping into a full-blown Korean restaurant was difficult to achieve for my wallet
Located on the 3rd floor of Square 2, Hansang has 2 spaces: the main dining hall, a semi-opened space facing out onto the atrium of the mall, and a more enclosed space for diners who opt for barbeque. As the main dining space is a semi-opened concept with no exhaust pipe system, most of the dishes are cooked before being served to reduce the smoke floating to other shops
They have a wide variety available in their menu from soups to noodles and hotplate barbequed meat. I was enticed by the special sets for 2-person as the offering is not commonly found in other Korean restaurants
We ordered the Jokbal and Bossam set which cost SGD 66.80 before tax and comes with; Jokbal, Bossam, bean paste soup, assorted vegetables, pancakes, japchae, rice, side dishes, drinks and dessert
There was a total of 6 side dishes served before our main meat course was served which is 1 dish more than other Korean restaurants. The usual suspects like cabbage kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts and potato salad were served. The other dishes which were more unique were the; braised potato with carrot, sausage and carrot with Tteokbokki sauce and deep-fried lotus root. The flavour of the dishes was ok but I personally felt the lotus root was quite hard and the sausage Tteokbokki sauce was quite mediocre
I like that you could choose between normal white rice, brown rice or even steamed black bean rice with carrot and sweet potato served in a pot. Like the recently popular Sotbap, the rice is served in these traditional metal clay pots and covered with a bamboo cover for the rice to steam to perfection. When the sweet potato and carrot are mashed up with the rice, there is a natural sweetness added to the rice which is delicious even on its own
The included pancake was only 2 slices per person and they were warm when served but not crispy anymore. The pancake batter was thick and the kimchi version was much better tasting compared to the pretty tasteless seafood version
The bean paste soup did not look much but tasted like a home-cooked bean paste soup which was rather comforting. There were beancurd and zucchini, potatoes and onion in the soup and it was great to have it with rice and the meat. It might not be the best bean paste soup I have taken but it is also not the worst
The serving of the Japchae is not too bad with the noodles chewy and springy with good seasoning and flavour. The soy sauce and sesame oil flavours were well blended into the noodles and shredded vegetables resulting in a well-balanced dish
It took about 8 mins for the meats to be served and they are combined into the same plate as a platter. There was more bossam meat compared to the Jokbal but I was not complaining since I do like bossam more. The meats were served with dried radish kimchi pickled radish and some bean sauce for dipping and making wraps. The Jokbal was well braised with deep soy flavour and tender meat while the blossom was a good mix of fatty and lean meat with no boar taint smell at all. I would say the set was well worth the price as you get to enjoy the best of both types of pork meat with many other dishes on the side
Lastly, for the free dessert, we had to do a Google review and show it at the counter to get a scoop of vanilla ice cream with red bean paste and Injeolmi powder. The dessert was good and refreshing and not overly sweet as the Injeolmi powder paired well with the red bean paste
On a side note, when I was waiting for the dessert at the counter, I spotted a cockroach climbing past the walls where the refrigerator is located and I did not make up a big fuss since it was just one and most of the food items were tightly covered or closed up. While it did disgust me slightly, I do understand for an open-concept dining space, the roach can climb in from outside the restaurant.
Overall, I find that the price of the sets is value for money and some of the food is considered ok for taste and portion. While they are not the absolutely best restaurant, diners do appreciate their lunch and dinner set offerings
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