291. Chang Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant

It's a beautiful Sunday. A visit to the Dempsey area would be nice.

We had wanted a Korean meal since 2 weeks ago but never managed to go in the end. Something cropped up everything. We finally did today.

I like reading Korean World (available at sol-mart; free), a magazine for Koreans living in Singapore which introduces mostly on dining and most of the time, Korean food and restaurants. I came across Chang BBQ in one of the issues.

It's very spacious. Even for the traditional seating, a big space is used. They have private rooms too.

I think many non-Koreans get annoyed with their heavy stainless steel utensils because it made us appear clumsy with them. The flat chopsticks are hard to use but practice makes perfect.

One of the reasons I liked Korean cuisine is because of their pan-chan (side-dishes). In a Korean restuarant, bowls of pan-chan which the restaurants have made themselves will be served. And every restaurant serves different pan-chan besides the classic kimchi. Not like Chinese, peanuts or pickles. Well, I felt at least diners are kept occupied with the pan-chan while waiting for the mains.

More pan-chan.

Beef Brisket @$35 and Pork Ribs @$25

Beef brisket was with a thick layer of fat but after BBQ-ed, the fats was gone and it was very nice. The marinated pork ribs was very well-flavoured. Don't worry about getting your hands dirty, the waiter/waitress will do the job of BBQ-ing the meat.

A bowl of onions for eating with the BBQ-ed meat. This is good, minused the grease. The sam-jang (chili miso paste) was very good. Add the sam-jang, onions, BBQ-ed meat, kimchi onto the lettuce and wrap it up. Chomp Chomp Chomp, yum yum.

Ginseng Chicken Soup (Sam Ke Tang) @$25

A small chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled in ginseng soup. The ginseng taste wasn't very strong. Soup became slight starchy because of the glutinous rice. It would have been nice on cold days. Still, I felt it lacked the punch.


Beef Broth Arrowroot Cold Noodles (Mul Nangmyeon) @$16

I liked the noodles. It's so tangy. There were sliced radish, half a boiled egg, sliced cucumbers and a slice of pear. The waitress said to add vinegar and or sesame paste and I was fooled. It wasn't sesame paste. It was miso with wasabi or mustard. It was choking.

The other Korean BBQ restaurant I have been to was Jang Shou @Esplanade. Doing a comparison, I think Jang Shou's BBQ was much tastier.

As for Nangmyeon, I felt Chang BBQ was better compared to Dae Jang Gum. Dae Jang Gum's was a tad too sweet. Chang BBQ's was light and refreshing.

Speaking of charcoal BBQ, it may be a little misleading. I have thought that they only used charcoal for the BBQ but it wasn't. Below the charcoal was a gas stove. They have used gas stove to burn the charcoal which I felt wasn't healthy.

The total bill worked out to be about $122 for 4 pax. Well, I think for Korean cuisine, it is usually at least a minimum spending of $30 per pax. Food was good, service was prompt and good.

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Chang Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant

Blk 18C Dempsey Road

Singapore 249677

Tel: 64739005