Kimchi Dining

When you think of Korean food, it is always barbeque, chicken ginseng soup or bibimbap. With the recent introduction of authentic Korean restaurants, Singaporeans are introduced to more traditional dishes like soodu bu, marinated soy crab and more. As a Korean food lover, when Kimchi Dining first appeared on my social feed, I knew I had to visit them

Located within the Orchard Central shopping mall, the restaurant is pretty popular, and you definitely need to make a reservation to dine here

The restaurant occupies one and a half floors, as it is on the staggered floors of the mall. The main kitchen and sitting spaces are located on the higher floor, while the booth seating is located on half a floor down on the slopes, which are accessible only from the steps

The menu is straightforward with 2 set menus, either for 2 pax, which is SGD 55 per pax or the menu for 4 people, where it is SGD 50 per pax. The sets come with 1 starter, 1 main, 1 noodle dish and 1 dessert. The set menu for 4 comes with 2 mains and 2 noodle dishes. You can also choose to order the dishes à la carte. What really attracted me was the drinks menu, especially the Makgeolli Flight, which consists of 4 different flavours of makgeolli. As a makgeolli lover, I decided to order this on top of my set meal at SGD 25

The first thing that was served to our table was the makgeolli bread served with charcoal white bean butter. Although it is called makgeolli bread, the texture is not like the usual bread; it was more like a steamed cake texture, which was fluffy, soft, yet moist and chewy. The steamed bread itself has a light flavour, and the fragrant bean butter gave it an added depth which was both creamy, nutty and buttery. I polished up the bread quickly and was considering ordering seconds

The next starter was the kimchi starter, which was served in tiny plates on a tray with a handle which reminds me of those pretty serving trays used in the palace in the old Korean dynasty. There were 7 types of kimchi, like the usual cabbage kimchi, cube radish kimchi, cucumber kimchi, spring onion kimchi, chives kimchi, garlic stems kimchi and white kimchi. The kimchi flavours were full-bodied and well-fermented, and very savoury, which was perfect with rice or even with drinks

The next starter dish is the potato pancake, which has a modern take on the traditional Korean Gamjajeon. The pancake was served with Siberian onion truffle mayo, and the pancake included new ingredients like onion and bacon. With shredded cheese on top, the pancake was a cross between a very crispy rosti and fries. While this is a new way of representing the potato pancake, there were still some flavours which resembled the gamjajeon taste. It was very delicious and not oily at all, so it was a great starter snack

My Makgeolli flight came served in these small ceramic cups and has 4 flavours, fresh ginseng, Jeju tangerine, grapefruit amd apple cucumber. We were told to start with the ginseng and the apple cucumber last. The flavour profile of the ginseng was lightest with a delicate hint of ginseng flavour while the tangerine had a strong citrusy taste and the cucumber with a sweet and refreshing flavour. My favourite, which is the grapefruit, has a fantastic balance of the milky flavour of makgeolli and the sweet and tangy flavours of the grapefruit. It was so good that I ordered a 2nd order of just the grapefruit makgeolli at SGD 38 for 300ml. The other drink we ordered was the Jeju Tangerine Peel drink, which was served in a pretty bottle and was very refreshing

For the noodle dish, we had 3 choices: the Jeju pork noodles, Jatt noodle and kimchi bibim noodles. We chose the Jeju pork noodles, which came with grilled pork belly on top of the noodles and were topped with sliced onions. The broth was poured into the noodles at our table and just covered the noodles like noodles served in fine dining restaurants. The pork belly was grilled perfectly with a nice smoky flavour and a balance between fats and lean meat, so it was not too greasy. Noodles were bouncy and chewy, while the onions added a light spice to the dish. The broth was clear yet hearty with a deep meat broth flavour, which paired well with the noodles

For mains, the selection of 3 choices was: pork jowl ssam, pork collar gui and arongsatae and dogani. We went for the pork collar gui, which is basically barbequed pork collar served with a side of kimchi, pickled vegetable and some fresh vegetables for making a wrap. The pork collar is the leaner part of the pig so it is very easy to over cook it for a tough bite but these little cubes were cooked so perfectly that each cube melts nicely in your mouth while releasing sweet meat juices. It was perfect with the wrap, the kimchi, or the pickled vegetables. Even though each dish looks small, they are very hearty, and we were very full after this dish, and I was glad I did not order the 2nd bread

Last but not least, it was time for the desserts included in the set, which included the black sesame ice cream served with injeolmi and jujube syrup and the chocolate ganache tart with dark chocolate dust. Both desserts were fantastically made and are a great finish for the set meal. The ice cream was creamy, smooth, nutty and fragrant with the sesame flavours, while the tart was extremely rich, thick, creamy and chocolatey

Overall, this is a restaurant I will definitely return to and bring my friends to, as each dish was exceptionally executed and the flavours were on point and, in fact, elevated. I was surprised with every bite and hope to return to the new menus soon

Address: 181 Orchard Rd, #06-10 Orchard Central Singapore 238896

Opening hours: 11.30 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm ( 11.30 pm to 10 pm for Sat and Sun)