Korean barbeque has became the top past time of Singaporean when it comes to social and family gatherings. To enhance their offerings and differentiate themselves from the competition, some restaurants has started to offer combi eat all you can buffets like the Kingdom group of restaurants.
The Kingdom food group had their first barbeque restaurant I’m Kim Korean BBQ in 2014 at Doby Ghaut and since then, they have introduced I’m Kim Junior which combines Korean BBQ and army stew, I’m Kim BBQ and Shabu Shabu, Captain Kim BBQ and hotpot and GoroGoro steamboat and BBQ. Combining Singaporean’s love for both BBQ and steamboat at very affordable prices, most of their outlets are extremely popular with families and students with prices under SGD30.
The I’m Kim BBQ and Shabu Shabu I visited is located in Grantral Mall, Clementi and is pretty spacious as they have many rows of tables. With the safe distancing rule in place, they reduced almost 50% of their capacity and greatly spaced out each group of diners. The environment is kept quite clean without greasy floors like some other BBQ restaurants.
The buffet has quite a wide spread of cooked items from Korean to Japanese cuisines but due to the pandemic, all dishes can be ordered via a form and the server will bring the dish to you instead of customers helping themselves at the buffet spread. Some of the recommended cooked dishes include the fried chicken wings in Korean sauce which was fabulous as well as the tteokbokki. There are also other Japanese items like sushi and tempura which is mediocre.
The restaurant is quite generous in their serving so you don’t feel the immediate need to order multiple plates of the same item. The seafood is generally fresh and the size of the prawn is also quite medium.
The quality of the pork belly is not too bad as they were cut in thick slices with a good spread of fats and meat
For those who pretty leaner meat can choose the bacon or the pork shoulder and even their beef options which was quite good according to my dining mates who had the beef.
The advantage of having a grill and hotpot side by side is the option to grill or cook the same items to get different flavours. The restaurant provides a variety of sauces for you to dip your meats and seafoods but I found the sauces quite generic.
There are 2 types of base for the Shabu Shabu which is the miso and the ginseng chicken. For a more generic flavour, we chose the ginseng chicken which has a nice fermented bean flavour without being too over powering.
Overall, I’m Kim BBQ and Shabu Shabu offers a value for money Korean BBQ experience together with the convenience of Japanese Shabu Shabu so diners can get the best of both worlds. At the cheapest price from SGD 9.90 ( child on weekdays), this is the place to go with a big crowd for loads of meat and variety of dishes without burning your pockets. The service of the staff is also very good and attentive as they cleared our empty plates promptly and also was very patient in explaining the promotions to my family. Some of their cooked dishes like the Korean fried chicken with sauces was so addictive that my nieces had more chicken wings than the actual grilled meat.
Address: Grantral Mall – 3151 Commonwealth Ave West #02-05 Singapore 129581
Operating hours: 11.30am – 4.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm ( weekdays)
Buffet Counter closes at 3.30pm & 9.30pm respectively
11.30am – 3.30pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm ( weekends and PH)
Buffet Counter closes at 2.30pm & 9.30pm respectively
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