Soon Dubu is a soft tofu stew cooked with vegetables, mushrooms, and gochujang and might have either seafood or meat. SBCD specializes in a variety of Korean soft tofu soups where the soft tofu is hand-made fresh daily in the SBCD kitchen, from specially imported soybeans from Paju, South Korea
A brainchild of Chef Nam who started his culinary journey in prestigious hotel chains in Seoul before joining the core culinary team of Todai Singapore. With the aim to bring authentic and wholesome Korean cuisine to Singapore, Chef Nam started SBCD in 2016
With 3 outlets at Millenia Walk, Tanjong Pagar centre and Alexandra Retail Center, we visited the newest one at ARC. All SBCD outlets feature the same dark maple wood walls and sand brown tables and chairs giving a modern and spacious outlook. The new outlet took over the space from a previous Korean restaurant I used to visit and the layout is much more pleasant. There are also private rooms for customers who require them
For the menu, they have the star soon dubu stews which come in various different toppings and varieties as well as main meat dishes, set dishes like dumplings and add-on hot stone rice
After we placed our order, we were all served side dishes and each customer had their own pan-fried yellow fish while the kimchi and banchan were shared but refillable. The fish was lightly seasoned and pan-fried till fragrant. The meat was fresh and sweet but had tiny bones which might not be suitable for children
Our first main dish that came was the pork belly tofu kimchi which was served in a hotplate-style dish. Different from the tofu used in the soup, the tofu served has a stiffer consistency so it doesn’t break when picked up with the chopsticks. The kimchi is well-aged with a more sour tinge which is perfect when paired with the milky tofu and pork belly. The pork belly is quite lean and has a light braised flavour
We ordered the combo which is a set consisting of 1 main, 1 soon tofu and 1 hot stone rice. We ordered a few combos for sharing; the spicy baby octopus and bulgogi with seafood soon tofu. The serving in the combo is generally smaller compared to the ala carte size but is sufficient for 2 people to share. The octopus was quite spicy but was chewy and crunchy. The bulgogi according to my nieces was very sweet and savoury which is perfect with rice
The size of the soon tofu is smaller but packed full of ingredients. There is a1 blue crab, a prawn and mussels as well as vegetables and soft soon tofu. The stew is boiling hot when served with a freshly cracked egg as a topping. You can break the egg into the stew or leave it to cook further as the stew is extremely hot. The stew is full of umami flavours from the seafood with the authentic gochujang chilli paste spicy taste. The tofu is very soft and fragrant as you can taste the original bean flavour in a silky soft texture. The stew can be slightly salty if you eat it on its own so rice is definitely needed
The next dish we ordered was the cockles bibimbap which is something I really like. The cockles are mixed with spicy sauce and seaweed and can be eaten on their own or mixed into rice like bibimbap. The spiciness of the bibimbap is perfect with a slight kick but enough spice to enhance the flavours of the cockles. This is savoury and very delicious to eat on its own
Overall, the food at SBCD is great with authentic Korean flavours. This is especially so for their soon dubu which is smooth and silky with flavourful stew. For those craving heartwarming stew, this is definitely a place to visit
Address: 460 Alexandra Rd, #02-21 Alexandra Retail Centre, Singapore 119963
Opening hours: 11.30 am to 3 pm and 5 to 10 pm ( No afternoon break for weekends)
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