2D1N Soju Bang Korean Restaurant

I was at 2D1N Soju Bang on Wednesday with Averie and Xuan I have had three friends (unrelated) raving to me about how good this place is, so here I am eventually succumbing to peer pressure and trying it out! To be honest I'm not a fan of Korean cuisine - having tried Seoul Yummy, Seoul Garden and Korean food at hawker centres/ food courts, I've decided it is really not my kind of thing. With the exception of NTU Canteen 13's Korean stall, the rest of it was just a little weird for my taste. Maybe I just haven't been eating the right stuff! So I give Korean food another try This is only about one-third of the whole of the second floor, and it's really huge. We didn't have to queue when we reach at around 6.15pm, but soon around 6.45pm it was full house already. So note, please reach early or have someone to go there and get a seat first! When you reach, you'll see this on the table. A rectangular hotplate to cook your stuff and also a mini metal container to contain oil from the meats you will be cooking. Tools: two metal tongs and two scissors. You can request for more. The dong-fen thingie on the left is quite nice to eat. For the less-carnivorous, there are also enoki mushrooms, vegetables, prawns etc. There is free-flow lime juice/iced water! Self-service.Important information!Do not waste food aka. do not be kiasu, you can go and refill your plates as many times as you like. Trust me you'll need the exercise too! ;) I liked the orangey sauce better than the red sauce. It isn't spicy at all but there's this fragrant taste to it that fit well with the meat. I liked chicken meat best (spammage of chicken meat) as compared to beef (which was tough) and pork (which was oily >_<). Service

We call the service at 2D1N Soju Bang the "silent service" because they would sidle up to your table quietly and then replace the alumnium foil (about four/five times throughout the entire meal) efficiently with their metal tongs. They don't talk a lot, I guess because some of them are Koreans and might not be fluent in English. In general the staff there are very attentive.

Ambience

Definitely a lot of room for improvement, the ventilation was pretty bad with only electric fans to help. We walked out of the place totally stinking of BBQ. The wall posters/MVs/Korean pop songs definitely made the whole place seemed more "authentic" so to speak, but I haven't been to a real Korean shop to decide if it's really authentic or not... a plus point for K-pop fans though.

All in all, I think 2D1N is a value-for-money place to try out Korean BBQ if you can eat a lot! It's $26 (after GST and service charge) for adult buffets, so you should really empty your stomach before you go. I also spotted Super Star K Restaurant (another Korean BBQ restaurant) along the same Tanjong Pagar Road which looked like it had so much better ventilation. Hint, if you're going on a date it'll be unsuitable to go 2D1N. For friends gathering or family outing I guess it's fine!

If you are looking for Korean BBQ, it will also be good to walk along Tanjong Pagar Road and have a good look at all the available ones first. There are really a lot of options like Oh Neul Han Jeom, Chicken Up, etc. etc.

Note: To get to 2D1N Soju Bang, it will be nearer to walk from Chinatown than Tanjong Pagar.

2013-05-15

SGD 26(Dinner)

This place is very popular among the younger crowds as the price is reasonably cheap with quite a lot of variety. They doesn't accept reservation (for buffet) so the only way not to wait in the line for hours is to be there way earlier before they open. We queue for about an hour plus and was lucky enough to be the first batch to go in to the restaurant. The place is very smokey, so one important advice is to not wear your favorite clothes when you are going here to eat. As for the food, there are a few cooked food selection and of cos, the marinated meat. I love their beef and chicken especially. BBQ-ed the meat and some golden mushroom, wrapped it and eat like a boss! The feeling is... urm, shiok!

Highly raved by most of my friends who have dropped by occasionally to have their korean bbq fix, I was quite excited to be able to try it when my friends suggested we have our dinner there! Dinner starts at 5.30pm but when we arrived at about 5.15pm to queue, there was already a group infront of us! Make sure to be there early to get a table when it opens! And by 5.25pm, there were already 6 groups of people including us waiting to go in.

We had seats by the window which wasn't that bad! But I was rather disappointed with the variety of food there. There's mainly meat (more than 10 different kind) like bacon strips, beef strips, just meat of different types, kimchi, lettuce, mushrooms, prawns and watermelon and also drinks as well. So meat is like the only main dish you're going to have. And the meat are not sliced thinly so I had quite a hard and long time chewing, but they do provide scissors for you to cut your meat into smaller pieces.

The only good thing was that the staff were all quite efficient. They changed our aluminium sheet on the grill quite often, probably about 10-15mins. Don't worry if you see the grill on the table slightly tilted downwards! It's for the excess oil to roll down.

Dropped by 2D1N Soju Bang for their famed Korean BBQ buffet. The buffet place is housed on the upper floor while the a la carte restaurant is housed on the lower floor of the converted shophouse. There has been an attempt to improve the ventilation upstars- the windows are all flung open and they used several fans and wind blowers to help cool the surrounding air and improve air circulation. As we visited on a weekday dinner time, the place was not fully packed to the brim, but even at its busiest crowds, I did not feel overly uncomfortable or hot from the simultaneous cooking happening in all BBQ grills. My only gripe is the narrow space and walkways. As the tables are quite packed closely, I felt it was hard to get out of my seat to get food without disturbing the neighbouring tables.

2D1N has an extensive selection of marinated meats- beef, pork, chicken in a large array of sauces and marinates are available in the buffet counters. Meat lovers will definitely rejoice here. Besides the meat selection, there is also a small salad bar with BBQ staples such as enoki mushrooms, kim chi. There were also fresh prawns for BBQ. Drinks wise, there's a drink dispenser which has free flow iced water or lime juice. The BBQ meat selection is what you should be gunning for here. The variety of meat is mind boggling and for a moment I was a little mixed up too. Luckily, the place has the buffet counters labelled with the right meat. The BBQ meats all turned out very well- if you do not overcooked it (till it is burnt black), the meats turned out really tender and flavourful. The marinates were all different and distinct from each other and it's hard not to find something you do not like.

Service wise, the staff were really observant and changed out BBQ foil at regular intervals when the grill got too clogged up or too burnt.

We went to the popular Korean Restaurant in Tanjong Pagar. Their Korean BBQ buffet is highly popular but it is only available for for dinner. We came with the intention to have Ala cart BBQ, but it requires us to order 2 portions of the same type of meat before they will open the grill. There was only 2 of us which is too much to order with another main dishes. So we ended up ordering their Lunch Special.

The Lunch Special was placed at the back of the menu and most items is priced at a affordable price of $10 ++

The place is simply decorated with tables and chairs. The table has built in grilled for BBQ.

When we were seated, a lady place a cold bottle of mineral water and 1 can of lemon tea which we did not order. She said it was free drinks. We decided on the lunch special for

Sides Dishes
We were served with 6 sides dishes. I liked most of the taste and texture of the sides dishes especially the mini potato and egg plants.

Crispy Seaweed
I like the crispy seaweed that add a crunchy texture to my plain rice.

Soya Glace Mini Potato
The mini potato is cooked with the skin and has a glossy dark sweet glace on it with a nice soft bite. Spicy Egg Plant
The Egg Plant was fried with tiny shrimp & slightly spicy and the texture was just right.

[b]Spicy Bean Curd Puff
The sliced Bean Curd Puff was coated with some chilli powder and it was spicy.

Fish Cake
The sliced fish cake is thin and different from our local version. It cooked in a sweet gravy.

Cabbage Kimchi
The kimchi was spicy and sour and well fermented and is very appertising with steaming hot rice.

Saba & Pork Set
Both sets came with bowl of rice served in their traditional stainless steel bowl with cover.
We get half a Saba fish which was fried crispy on the skin and still moist inside.The Pork Set served on a hotplate look spicy with the orange color sauce but for me it is not very spicy. The portion is decent for 1 person or 2 persons sharing if you order other set as well. The only complaint is that the pork was sliced too thick, it would have been better if the pork is thinly sliced.

Overall the food is tasty especially the free sides dishes and value for money as it comes with free drink. At $10++ per head in air-con comfort, it is value for money.

Service
We were served the bill just before 2pm even though I have not finished eating and did not asked for the bill. I paid thinking the cashier wants to closed the account. Then someone wanted to clear the table even though I was still eating. We still had a almost full hotplate of pork and my rice bowl was not empty. The staffs should be reminded with better service.

2012-10-15

It was my first time at this Korean BBQ restaurant which has received many good reviews about their bbq buffet. It was a weekday evening so the restaurant was not too crowded. When I first stepped in, I was quite shocked by how oily the place was, the floor was really oily and slippery and it was just smoky everywhere at the second floor of the restaurant. Korean pop music was playing from a gigantic TV. There was a wide spread of different types of meat and other condiments like kimchi for self service. You cook your own meat on aluminium foil over a pan. The waitresses come and change the foil very frequently, sometimes too frequently that it disrupts your cooking. The meat were all well-marinated and yummy! From pork to beef to chicken and sausages, every piece was mouth watering. The good thing about this place is that you can come early and sit there for up to four hours, enjoying your meat and the kpop music. After a while you get used to the oily and smokey environment.

a group of my friends and i decided to try out this korean bbq place after hearing good reviews on it. the meat choices were wide and plenty, with pork, beef, chicken, mutton in various different cuts. from bacon strips to pork chops. you also get a choice of marinated meat or just plain ones.

the staff was also very attentive, where they helped you to change the foil. they even helped to cook a few pieces of meat for you. Overall the meat and food was delicious. however it was very hot and stuffy inside, with all the fumes everywhere.

it cost 20++, which was around $23.8. it was very worth it, as it was a buffet with endless amount of food and time.

i went this BBQ after read the gd reviews at this website. new customers must know ourself abt the restaurant rule to write the reserve n wait for the call in!
Finally we allow to enter after 1hr waiting time, this is the first time i dining at such bad enviroment hot n noisy(very loud radio) can imaging the loud radio songs cum noisy chit chat group, *macam dining at a disco!! very oily floor u must walk becareful to prevent fall down, very narrow place, i must stand to give way for the others when they need to refil foods! all the time!
Honestly, the foods really not bad n kimchi is very nice, beef,pork,chicken n prawn, not much choice as they only korean type BBQ, but gd enough for korean BBQ or meat lover, ** can avoid if u r not a meat lover as nothing beside meat at this buffet.

2012-06-18

A great place for group gatherings, though remember to go very early to queue up to secure your seats. Early as in before 6pm early.

Food wise, the selection was decent, there were meats, kimchi, watermelon, vegetables for wrapping the cooked meats in, and mushrooms. The meats were well seasoned, I particularly liked one type that tasted a bit like char siew (though I couldn’t tell what sort of meat that was. Just look for a reddish sauce one). Service was very prompt- they changed the aluminum foil on our hot plate many many times without us prompting them. Drinks are self service bottles of cold water.

My complaint about 2D1N is its very hot and stuffy in the restaurant and everybody’s sweating like crazy throughout the meal. Being a Korean bbq, expect to stink up your hair and clothes.

SGD 30(Dinner)

Came here last friday night. As i read that there will be a long queue on friday night, i came down specially at 4.30 to start queuing up and i was the first one there. The buffet started at 5.30 and there were quite a variety of beef, chicken, pork available there. I love the pork bacon as it was really nice. The chicken was marinated quite well too. The place is really small so it is good to go early so that you are able to get into the first round if not you will have to wait quite long to get your table. The staff there were really attentive too as they would always change the aluminium foil for you.

We did not go for the famed BBQ buffet dinner, instead we avoided the queues and went straight into the (less crowded) ala carte section on the lower floor.

For more photos, visit http://eugeniegene.tumblr.com/post/11952306039/2d1n-soju-bang

The food portions here are ginormous (and this is also reflected in their prices) so it’s best to come in a huge group to share. Although we came in a group of 6, we had trouble finished four large dishes.Seafood Pancake- I had trouble locating the seafood bits but overall, nice flavour.

Sashimi with mixed vegetables- It is a salad dish tossed with some pieces of fish sashimi slices in korean marinate sauce. This was served in a tall mountain heap and we had trouble finishing it. It tastes like achar! haha.This is one of the nicer dishes- Spicy soup with ham and sausage. Served with korean noodles, pieces of ham, fish cake, rice cakes, cabbage and bamboo shoots. It’s the ultimate chapalung korean dish, and the soup was really tasty.Octopus and pork belly. Slices of octopus and pork belly tossed in korean marinade sauce and garnished with sesame.

Service was fast and perfunctory.The servers here don’t smile much. Korean food lovers, especially those who love korean marinated meat of all kinds will not be disappointed by the variety whipped out by the restaurant.

$22 for an authentic Korean meat BBQ buffet is really worth it. So much so that I went an hour before it opened to get in during the first round. It was worth it. There're a lot of choices to choose from, different types of chicken and pork meat in generous cuts. They also offer sikhye, a sweet rice drink that's refreshes you in between rounds. The staff are very attentive and swoop in to change the aluminium foil once there are carbon bits on it. The standard way is to wrap your meat with lettuce together with kimchi and bean paste before eating it. It's a good idea to skip lunch in order to maximise your tummy space for this meat feast.

The place is a little stuffy though, as it's crowded with a lot of tables using the hotplates. Be prepared for the lingering smell that sticks onto your clothes.

SGD 22

my colleague recommended me this place after knowing my love for korean food. i brought my husband and we headed down to 2d1n soju bang. i ordered their squid seafood soup. it was really good. they were very generous with their seafood. all the seafood were very fresh, it was so sweet and tasty. the soup was not too spicy. but it went really well with rice. there were a lot of vegetables inside as well.

It is a Korean BBQ restaurant There is long queue when I reach the place. wow..

But its worth waiting, as the meat and other food was nice !!!

The meat marinated very well and full of flavour as well as the kimchi is fresh. and for $20+ for all you can eat Korean BBQ is pretty worth it . I like the raddish very much and the soju ^^

Service is good as there are people walking around to check if we need to change our foils. However, the ventilation is very bad as my hair and dress was stink when i leave.

One advise is not to go too late as you have to wait for your turn.

2011-08-20

SGD 23(Dinner)

after hearing my colleagues talk about it, i decided to give it a try. i brought my girlfriend and we headed there. the food there was really awesome. it brings back memories from korea. the food indeed taste like those i ate in korea. now with this restaurant, we don't have to travel all the way to korea!