Just Acia (Downtown East)

Just Acia or rather "Just Asia" is a new set up featuring Asia's staples of noodles and rice as its main menu items. With a tag line that says "free flow of drinks and ice cream" at a starting price as low as $2.80, this is a place that is light on the wallet at first glance. There are currently 3 outlets for this franchise, Downtown East, Dhouby Ghaut MRT station and Suntec City fountain terrace. It was on a day of celebration that we visited Just Acia and i can't deny that the price was what drew me in at first. The following is what we had and my thoughts on the food.

Location: 1 Pasir Ris Close #01-40 Downtown East Singapore 519599

Contact: 65818379

Website: http://www.justacia.com

Price Range: $15-25 per head

The pamphlet that seduced me

The interior of the restaurant is simple and sat about 20-30 patrons. There was a payment counter right smack in the centre and your bill is presented to you upon completing your orders. The free flow of drinks and ice cream are also located right behind the payment counter so thats where the majority of the action will happen. Overall, the interior is serviceable and nothing impressive.

Herbal Chicken Soup Set ($11.90)

Herbal Chicken

After some contemplation on the menu, we decided to have something more mid range as compared to the usual $5.90 meals. My order was the herbal chicken soup and it looked pretty substantial actually. There was half a chicken in the soup and it came with rice and some beans. The thing about herbal chicken is that the soup it comes in must be good, otherwise the whole dish amounts to naught. And unfortunately, the soup is salty and lacking much herbal taste in their version. My verdict, don't order this.

Stir Fried Greens ($4.80)

This wasn't too bad actually. At the least, it tasted crunchy and tasty enough to praise but nothing more to recommend.

Tom Yum Seafood Set ($10.90)

Tom Yum Soup

My gf ordered this and it was definitely much better then my herbal chicken set. The soup is still salty as though made of seawater but there's enough spice inside to give it a tinge of hope. Add to that generous ingredients and you have something tolerable but still too salty.

Spinach Tofu ($2.80)

On the menu, this was touted as the must order dish and chef's specialty. I'm sad to report its nothing special. In fact, it was rather bad because there's a very obvious layer of thick oil over it. The interesting thing is the texture which is similar to steamed eggs except that in this, the "eggs" are rubbery. Not recommended as well.

Free Ice Cream

The ice cream ain't half bad. I'm betting on Wall's or some simple NTUC brand but it works for me. The chocolate is thick and rich and so was the vanilla. I could have this for a long time. The free flow drinks were also a surprise for me since they weren't diluted by too much. Impressive.

Bill

The total bill for this rather disappointing dinner amounted to $32.53. Is it too expensive? Not really. Is it worth the money? Difficult to say yes to that too...

Overall Score: 5.5/10 (6.5 for drinks and ice cream)

Last word:
It wasn't all bad. There's decent stuff here i'm sure. In fact, i saw it packed in the Dhouby Ghaut outlet but i can't say the same from my visit to this outlet. As it stands, i do not think i will return for another try here but might consider trying the other outlet.

Kobayashi Hangul

Being the little blue collar worker that i am, its only natural that i have less lavish lunches and meals as the economy falls like a cut pendulum. Its a sign of times and a sign of my diminishing pay check that brought me to consider cheaper meals but of course, i'm exaggerating a little here. The truth is, it was a boring work day and i was once again at Simei for lunch alone which thus prompted me to have something more economical. And this will be discussed below.

Location: #02-50 East Point Mall

Price range: $4-6 per head

Menu

Tempura Set

Another Look

Bill

Lets talk about the bill first today, first of all, its not expensive. Costs only a mere $4.50 for a tempura set lunch with drink. The store itself is an open concept with generic plastic tables and chairs and the ordering system is reminiscent of fast food chains. You place your order at the counter, pay and take a seat. The selection of food is a decent variety of korean hot pots and japanese bento sets. Everything's fine so far.

Still, the actual set had me taken aback actually. No fries, a very small rice ball and a few fried potatos, fish and chicken. Thats it. The rice is especially saddening since its supposed to be the only thing to fill you up but its too little for anyone i suppose. The fried items were obviously oily as well. Taste wise, without the white sauce which tastes like a mix between tartar sauce and mayonaise, it would have been difficult to finish.

Score: 4/10

Last word: Perhaps i'm too harsh or i've ordered the wrong stuff, after all, many people patronize this place during lunch. In fact, it actually seems to be quite popular but they all had the Korean hot pot meals which i simply cannot take. My verdict? The place doesn't cost much and the hot pot seems popular, maybe its worth another try for hot pot lovers. I emphasize "maybe" here. So take your own risks.

Fresh Bulgogi

Fresh Bulgogi belongs in the same vein as Seoul Garden, Breeks and is part of a larger group of restaurants under Zingrill holdings. As ever, their commitment to bring a large array of food to the masses has given birth to yet another chain which specializes in Korean Food. And yet again, it was my colleague's birthday which brought us to gather round for a meal.

Location: #036-059 Changi Airport Terminal 2 Viewing Mall South

Contact: 62221339

Website: http://www.zingrill.com.sg/

Price per head: $20 per head

Chicken Bulgogi ($8.99)

Beef Bulgogi ($9.99)

Going by its namesake, the bulgogi should be first rate and thankfully, it wasn't too bad. I had the beef bulgogi which consisted of pan fried beef, bean sprouts, greens, kimchi and an egg atop rice which were reminiscent of japanese rice in that it was more moist and had much texture and bite. From my limited knowledge of the food, the only way i know to enjoy this was to mix the ingredients till it was colorful and mashy. The mixture in the end tasted slightly spicy and sweet which bodes well for me.

Marinated Chicken ($5.99)

Do not let this extreme close up shot fool you, the chicken portion was so small it was laughable that they dared priced it as it is. The meat itself was the usual korean marinated, which meant it was sweet and tasted like honey coated barbeque meat. It was rather tender too but the price and portion screams "RIP OFF" so loud its difficult to ignore.

Marinated Beef Short ($15.99)

8 pieces of beef for $15.99. Shock has more or less abated since its becoming abundantly clear on how these little items cost so much. The sweet beef is strangely elastic as its almost impossible to chew and break.

Seafood Hot Pot ($26.99)

Just when i was about to give up on the restaurant, in came its saving grace. The hotpot was huge and all the seafood within it was served uncooked thus the view was one where you see the food slowly simmer to a boil. Mussells, clams, prawns, mushrooms and scallops in kimchi broth. The broth itself isn't as spicy as the color makes it out to be and had a rather pleasing chunky texture to it. The seafood itself was thankfully fresh. Now, this, i can recommend an order.

Fried Chicken ($5.99)

Crispy, hot and moderately spicy, this reminded me a little about Mcdonald's spicy drumlets but bigger. Nothing much else to say though.

Bill

The bill for this meal came up to $118.19 after a 10% discount.

Overall Score: 6/10

Last Word:

For a korean food place, i'd say its not too bad although the price needs tweaking to ensure customers don't feel ripped off from some of its small serving items. Still, i'm not returning to this place for a second meal though.

Food In Shanghai (Part 5)

On towards day 5, the feeling of camaraderie at its best and basically, everyone is feeling very comfortable where they are already. Life has more or less gotten to be around this group of people you've spent 5 long days with. Albeit all filled with fun and laughter. Well, for dinner this day, we've decided on Korean food! (yep, its getting to be quite a habit to have different cuisine instead of Chinese in China...hmmm...what does that say of the food there i wonder?)

Korean Cuisine

Anyhow, the place is extremely near my hotel and is just one street across. The location is average looking and you would be forgiven for choosing the wrong one because on the same floor, there were quite a few different Korean restaurants. I'll just jump the gun and say the service here was great (with the exception of this cashier lady who was extremely fierce.). It provided the best service we've had in China since our arrival. It was so good that we actually decided to tip the serving lady and we did. She did a wonderful job of balancing and serving 4 tables at one shot while still providing explanations, cooked food and service with a smile. Now thats good service.

Side Dishes

Fresh Greens

Kimchi

The choice of side dishes is excellent to say the least. Refillable, the dishes do not repeat and basically, the sides were good. The kimchi, fried beancurds and beansprouts all satisfy with their authentic Korean taste. That is never easy and even more so since this is Shanghai we are talking about. Definitely worth a try.

Vegetable Pancake

We had a multi dish set men again at the recommendation of the lady boss. She recommended a 6 person set meal but we decided upon a 4 person meal with side additions. Good choice too. Because the actual portions, side dishes and meat were anything but miserly. Up first, the vegetable pancake above. It was lightly battered with crunchy cabbages, mushrooms, eggs and asparagus. And despite being fried, had very little oil when we bit into it. The fragrance it provides with each bite was excellent and we were tempted to order another on the spot, but there were more items to come.

Seafood Pancake

The seafood pancake was surprisingly small, what you see here is a slice of the original pancake after the lady split into 5 portions. I can tell you though, the pancake was still done well, crunchy shrimps with the wonderful fragrance of lightly spring fried onions accompany each bite. Shame on the portion size for this though.

Beef Tarte

Having had much Japanese cuisine, raw fish is no longer a novelty but rather a norm but raw beef is a first for me. Braving the unknown, me and Dean decided to have this dish to share. It came looking a winner. Egg yoke seating atop a bed of fresh reddish meat with a smattering of grounded nuts. Squeeze a little lemon over it, mix the contents up a bit and start eating. The texture was very tender and chewy. Like extremely tenderized chewing gum but better. The meat had a mixture of sweet, sour and a dash of peanut fragrance. Eating too much of it though, made me feel a little nauseous. Still good though, wouldn't mind eating it again.

Beef

Pork

Another Look

More Beef!!

The Grand Reunion

Let me just summarize the meat selection we had, beef, beef, pork and more beef. I had enough beef this day to remember for ages. Its made even better when all the beef were marinated very well and went perfectly with the side vegetables for better effect. Tender, fragrant and plentiful. I really can't say enough about it to illustrate the feeling. Its just great and much better then even the Singapore Ju Shin Jung that i have reviewed previously. In fact, the reason i crave Korean food in Singapore is due to this place. Yeah, its good alright.

Korean Pot Noodles....with beef!

We were already stuffed to the brim in meat and greens when this big....make that enormous pot of noodles were brought to the table. I kid you not, we stared at the pot and laughed when we saw it because there was no way we could eat the pot of noodles after everything prior to it. However, i was wrong, this pot of noodles tasted excellent. Imagine ginseng with bak kut tea and assorted other herbs to brew the broth. The broth was nothing short of amazing and we lapped it all up in the end. We couldn't finish the noodles which was a huge regret because the noodles were equally well done and very springy. The beef was normal but anything in that broth automatically invites you to finish it. At the end of the dinner, we were thinking we could have saved loads of money by simply ordering this pot in the beginning. This alone would have satisfied all five of us and all of my pals agreed on that. DO NOT MISS THIS if you are in the area.

Ginger Tea

Ginger tea. As i've mentioned before, this is an acquired taste but sadly, i've not acquired the taste for it when i first had it. It was subsequent visits that made me like it.

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Last Word:
What can i say, the best Korean food i've had thus far. Try it for yourself. Oh, the meal cost less then 20 bucks a person. Yep, value for money and definitely a keeper.

Ju Shin Jung East

Korean food appeals to me in many ways when done right. For starters, they have an inexhaustible side dish tradition that i wish every cuisine should follow. Secondly, their main items contain more greens then meat, perfect for the health conscious and finally, the food remains on the edge of spicy and sweet. Making it an appetising and healthy experience...when done right. So where else would we have this except for one opened and run by none other then a Korean boss? Ju Shin Jung is one such place i visited one lazy weekday night and here's how i think it fared.

Location: 1018 East Coast Parkway #02-01

Contact: 6447-9279

Price Range: $30 - 35 per head

Right next to Waraku and Burger King

What's it mean?

The Interior

The interior deserves a write up simply because its huge. I didn't expect it that way but when i entered the place, i had the same feeling Neo had in the movie 'The Matrix' when he looked at the buildings he had to jump. "Woah!" Its not that the place is lavish or anything, its just really spacious and really big. Even so, there were private function rooms available should you so require. There are about 4 to 5 tables in a row and each is serviced by one attendant. My observation is that most attendants are Chinese Nationals and apart from the usual hard sell attendant, the little lady servicing our table was very good at her job. Introducing the dishes and teaching us how best to enjoy the meal. The only complaint was the aforementioned order taker who definitely wasn't listening when we spoke and pushed the more expensive items for us to order, otherwise, service is generally excellent.

Menu

Side Dishes

More Side Dishes

Yep, all these side dishes are totally and utterly free! It comes when you order 2 meats for your meal which is exactly what we did. Do not let anyone tell you that having 1 meat and side dishes are not enough for 2 people. They are just trying to coax you into buying more food....which is exactly what we did. For the dishes, there was lettuce with mayonnaise, kimchi, tofu, steamed eggs, more preserved vegetables and a whole lot of greens i can't quite name. And most of it was good. As told by our attendant, everything was air flown and hand picked by the boss and i have to say, it definitely shows here. We over ordered but i did not regret it one bit and thats saying alot.

Pork Ribs ($22)

Chicken ($20)

I'll just comment on both meats together. Eating them is a joy. Fresh, tender and sweet with a dash of spice, its just really easy to stomach. The trick to eating them is to ensure you use the greens provided above to wrap the meat before eating. The meat are also both barbecued right in front of you which means its kept hot and ready to eat when you are ready to eat. No complaints here, just good meat and good vegetables together for a winning combination. If i had to be picky, i'd say the meat can get overcooked sometimes and there serving isn't exactly big. Still, it did stuff 2 stomachs to the brim.

Bibimbap ($13)

Another Look

Bibimbap beef. Yep, no visit would be complete without it. Actually, we tried to cancel the dish after seeing the side dishes but was told it was already made and couldn't be refunded. Despite the huge bowl it came in, after mixing, it only filled 2 small bowls. Upon tasting, i was pleasantly surprised yet again. The rice itself is interestingly 'full' tasting. You can taste the sweet and spicy sauce on each big grain of rice and the mixture of meat, egg, carrots, mushrooms, beansprouts and vegetables balances everything nicely. I could go for seconds of this anytime.

Korean Ginger Tea and watermelon

Complimentary dessert. You get a choice of watermelon juice or korean ginger tea. We got both. The ginger tea is the same one i remembered when i had Korean cuisine in Shanghai. Its exceedingly sweet but i was told that it had 'cooling' capabilities after our rather 'heaty' meal. Nevertheless, its not something i like at the moment but might be an acquired taste.

Bill

An over ordered yet very satisfying meal cost me only $67.09. I was pleasantly surprised actually because everything seemed so much more expensive on the menu.

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Last word:
With the exception of one lady i didn't quite like as she was trying to sucker us into ordering lots of items. Everything else in the restaurant was pretty well done. Good service, good food and good price, I don't see a reason not to return. Give it a try, judge for yourself. (Note: As the service staff are mostly Chinese Nationals, please take note that the preferred language is actually mandarin instead of English. I tried conversing in English but my message didn't quite get through, thus i switched to mandarin which yielded much better results.)

JK Don

Japanese and Korean cuisine together under one roof! Probably the first thought that popped into the minds of the entrepreneurs who decided to open this restaurant. Question is, does it actually manage to provide the same quality of food for both cuisines and do them justice? Or does the food not live up to expectations? Thats my job to find out and your job to read on.

Location: 1000 East Coast Parkway #01-05 Marine Cove

Contact: 62451955

Price range: $7-15 per head

Menu

Interior

It was obvious that little has been done for the interiors in terms of ambiance and decor. Wooden chairs and tables seemed straight out of a food court or park and a television that is so old, the images have noise in them. Not that i don't like the presence of the television, just that even coffeeshops have huge LCD televisions, a restaurant can't simply be happy with a sub par one such as that. Waiting time is generally long for the initial but when it does arrive, everything is fast and furious.

Tamago Sushi ($2.90)

Presentation-wise, this is normal but wait till you see the size of the sushi. Its bigger than most sushi's i've seen in other Japanese food places. It comes at a price of course, $1.45 per sushi isn't exactly cheap. The good part is that the rice is nicely done, sweet, sour and a tinge of spice along with a long Tamago (egg roll) atop which was actually tasty. If only the price could be lowered a little more.

Spring Roll ($2.90)

Served warm and crispy, this is like any other good spring roll you can find elsewhere. The serving size was incredibly small however. Not likely to order again at this point.

Chicken Bibim Bab Bulgogi ($8.90)

Spicy, sweet and fragrant pretty much summarizes this dish. I like the fact that it is very spicy as opposed to other similar offerings outside but i have to say, you can get a similar quality dish at a food court. Minus the spicy taste maybe. To sum it up, its an average rendition of a famous dish with no discerning factors.

Beef Babimbab Bulgogi ($9.90)

The beef rendition is basically the same minus the spiciness and adding more of the sweetness. As per the above, its possible to get the same quality from a food court maybe without it being as tasty or as fragrant as this version. I did like the sizzling rice and wok hei that resulted from the hot stone plate but somehow, i think the environment just didn't make me feel too special while i was eating it.

Chawan Mushi ($3.90)

One of the more expensive chawan mushi's i've had to try. The serving wasn't exactly big as well but the quality does make up for it. It is basically melt in your mouth light with a generous helping of fake shark's fin, naruto, shrimp and mushrooms. Thats all good except the price i suppose.

Bill

A rather simple meal cost me $31.35 which is a little too much to pay for the quantity, environment and quality.

Overall Score: 5.75/10

Last Word:
I honestly did not find the food too bad but i have to say it wasn't close to fantastic as well. Price wise, many items are overcharged and the restaurant could do with a make over and some further training for the staff to hopefully be a little faster. They need to get some really special dishes or special recipes with a better environment before i can justify paying for it at that price.