Address: 252 North Bridge Road #B1-74
Raffles City Shopping Centre
Cuisine: Korean
Nearest MRT: City Hall station (North-South line / East-West line)

From humble beginnings, Hyangtogol has been regarded as one of the best Korean Restaurants in Singapore. Recently being named as one of the world’s top 5 overseas Korean restaurants by Korean Food Foundation, Hyangtogol continues to raise the food quality and set the new standards of “Authentic Korean Cuisine”. Their dishes are hearty, fresh and of good quality at all times, crafted with extra dedication of professional Korean Chefs.

Their latest outlet at Raffles City aims to bring the most authentic Korean dining experience to the masses at the most affordable prices. From the usual favorites like Seafood Pancake to standard staples like Bibimbap, there is definitely something for everyone! I have been to the outlet at Amara Hotel for the first time, and now I shall be reviewing the outlet at Raffles City.

While we were queuing up, we were greeted by these smiling wooden statues. The Dol Hareubang are a replica of the stone statues that can be found on Jeju Island. They’re easily recognisable thanks to their stylised shape: the sculptures all have bulging, pupil-less eyes on a grim or slightly smiling face, their hands rest atop their bellies, one slightly higher than the other, and all the sculptures wear mushroom-shaped hats that are often interpreted as phallic. Their origins are mysterious, but are often attributed to the island’s shamanic traditions.

The restaurant was crowded as it was lunch hour and also many of the seats were blocked out due to safe distancing measures, When we finally got a seat, we were told to sit side by side. The bonus top-up is a current promotion where people can top up one side dish or drink, from crispy dumplings to fried seafood rolls, by adding $1 to $2.50 to their main course.

I ordered a kimchi jjigae which is spicy tofu soup with seafood. The dish was served first. The tofu soup broth was not too spicy nor salty, so I enjoyed this dish a lot. It also came with a bowl of white rice. There was fresh seafood in the soup, such as mussel, prawn and squid. While the weather was rainy outdoors, it was wholesome soup for the soul with this dish.

As my friend is vegetarian, he ordered the bibimbap. At first, he wanted the kimchi stew but the soup already contained pork. It wasn’t added separately, so he can’t eat it. For the bibimbap, they gave him more mushrooms because his did not contain meat. For those who can eat meat, there is an option between chicken, pork or beef. The bibimbap is served with a raw egg at the top. You have to mix the rice, vegetable and raw egg with the hot stone pot, such that the egg will be cooked by the heat.

We really enjoyed the Korean flavours at Hyangtogol. The ingredients used are fresh and they are generous. Even for the side dishes, their kimchi was outstanding. It is definitely not the low-quality kimchi that is served at Korean stalls at the food court. There were other side dishes such as pickles, potato salad and beansprouts. You can ask for a top up of the side dishes, but we were really full after finishing the first serving.

Service at this restaurant was also good. We were impressed that the waitress went to the kitchen to ask about the kimchi soup, if it contained pork, instead of outrightly rejecting our order. We will be back next time.