[Food Review] Yoogane

When i first head that Yoogane anchored itself on the shores of Singapore, I was super excited!!! What got my adrenaline rushed was that Yoogane was one of the BEST restaurants i visited in Korea a few months back.

I searched high and low in the cold (it was Winter when i was in Seoul) in Myeong Dong for Yoogane because i heard about how deeeelicious their food was. Now, it's right here in Singapore, don't have to travel all the way to Korea for Yoogane anymore. Yippy!

Here's a brief introduction to Yoogane:

Established in 1981, we pride ourselves as one of the most popular and best Chicken Galbi Restaurants in Korea - all this is made possible through the continuous support and love from our customers.

Yoogane is extremely well received in Busan , Korea - where it all started. Despite fierce competition from other restaurants specializing in chicken galbi, we were able to achieve tremendous success. The unique blend of sauces and seasoning that we have developed using top and fresh ingredients is what sets us apart from others. 

Click here to read reviews on Yoogane in Seoul

Restaurant was very full and a queue was snaking outside, be prepared to wait, otherwise, it's advised to come earlier.

1. Kalbi or galbi generally refers to a variety of gui or grilled dishes in Korean cuisine that are made with marinated beef (or pork) short ribs in a ganjang-based sauce (Korean soy sauce). In the Korean language, galbi literally means "rib" and can refer to cooked or uncooked ribs.
2. All ingredients are imported from Korea and everything is same as the Yoogane in Singapore.
3. 
   
   
   
   Salad bar available for customers to help themselves to the side dishes offered.
4. 
   Must try their authentic Kim Chee and their shredded cabbages and drizzle them with their strawberry sauce.
5. 
6. This sauce tastes like sweet strawberries and goes very well with their very crunchy veggies.

Popular fruit sodas from Korea. Fizzy and refreshing, not too sweet, just what i like. It reminds me a little bit of Fanta.

Korean Rice Wine aka Makgeolli. It contains alcohol but it's very easy to drink, this one is plum flavoured and tastes slightly sweet and milky with some flavours of rice grain. Makgeolli has some health benefits as it contains lactobacillus bacteria and dietary fiber which helps aid digestion and improve immune function.

Yoogane also provides unique services like the charging of your mobile phones!

Our set of Seafood and Chicken Galbi arrived! We added sticky noodles and Ramyeon noodles to the set.

The marinated food and vegetables are thrown into the pan and stir fried together at our table. The staff will be helping out with this.

The pan is HUGE!!! This can serve up to 3-4 people. Very good for sharing.

The marinated squids were added later on so as to prevent them from being overcooked if added too early.

The noodles were the last to be added and finally, food is ready to go into our stomachs!!!

Yoogane's unique and super flavourful marinated tender chicken thigh meat, prawns, baby squids, mussels, veggies, rice cakes and noodles altogether in this pan. Very tasty indeed! I went back to Seoul again while eating this...

I personally liked the Ram yeon noodles very much as they were very springy in texture and absorbed the flavours of the sauce very well.

Next was the Chicken Galbi Cheese fried Rice. This was the exact dish i had in Seoul and it tastes EXACTLY the same. Melted mozerella cheese sort of neutralizes the spiciness in this dish and together, this made a wonderful, exotic combination.

Seafood Pancake came next. Unlike pancakes from many other Korean restaurants i've tried, this was executed pretty well. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the pancake contains a generous amount of prawns and veggies. Must dip with their sauce to bring its taste to a further height.

Hope Yoogane can open more branches all over Singapore so that we can enjoy our favourite Korean food anywhere :)

YOOGANE Bugis Junction #02-47/48 Mon - Sun: 11am - 10pm (No reservations so be early to avoid disappointment!)  

https://www.facebook.com/yoogane.singapore

[Food Review] Beer Market

Centrally located at Clarke Quay, Beer Market has a special concept where prices of beer fluctuates according to the demand of beer. They carry a myriad of beer from all over the world and besides beer, their food menu is very comprehensive and enticing as well.

This is an awesome place to chill out with friends over football, enjoy great music from their live band and a fantastic meal sure to please the palates.

They have a promotion during their Happy Hour where side dishes are going at $10 for any 3.

We were awed by the array of uncommon brews they offered, we tried a number of them. This one above is Wells Banana Bread Beer. This unique brew combines all the traditional qualities and style of a Charles Wells beer with the subtle flavour of banana, i personally like it a lot as it doesn't tastes as bitter as many other types of beer.

Next came the Mystic Peach Beer. It smells fresh and tasty and has the full flavour of sun-ripened peaches combined with wheat beer. Sweet to the palates and very suitable for ladies.

The Matso's Mango Beer is another fruity beer which has a nice balance of flavours, not too overpowering and very refreshing.

Wells Honey Beer. Unlike it's name, it doesn't have the slightest hint of honey at all and it was rather bitter in fact.

 Lychee Beer, this is definitely a ladies' favourite and tastes intensely of rich lychees.

Kopparberg's Elderflower and Lime Cider. The juice of both elderflower and lime is added to Kopparberg's Apple Cider resulting in an invigorating and refreshing taste, all the ladies at our table agreed that this was our favourite drink of the night.

The very first dish presented on our table was the magnificent Seafood Shooters with Tiger Radler ($22.90). Shooter glasses containing prawns, salmon and crab meat garnished with fresh chopped tomato, onion, herbs and spices. But WAIT, before you put these down your throat, Tiger Radler Beer must be poured into the shots to be eaten together with the seafood. An incredibly brilliant combination thought of by their Chef Steven.

 The Tiger Radler Beer tasted sweet and fizzy, a perfect combination to enjoy the chilled and refreshing freshness of seafood. A definite MUST-TRY! *2 thumbs up*

 Next came the Salmon and Tiger Lettuce Wrap ($12.90). Fresh prawns and salmon with egg mayonaise wrapped in big crunchy lettuce, i super LOVE this dish, it simply adds a twist to the traditional bar food menu. 

Squid Ink Fried Rice ($13.90). This is a fusion of squid ink and seafood stir-fried rice. I like how it was presented to us. The Chef mentioned that the rice is filled in a glass cup so that heat can be retained. The rich aromas of this dish immediately filled the air once the glass was lifted. You will not go wrong with this.

BM "No Nonsense" Steak ($22.90). This was served with fries, dou miao (chinese vegetables) instead of the usual lettuce and topped with a dollop of mentaiko butter. Slabs of beef seared and caramelized to achieve a pink juicy centre. Having it with the mentaiko butter further intensifies the richness of the meat. Seriously, no nonsense. Super craving it for this now as i'm typing this.

Beef Horfun in French Onion Soup Gravy ($14.90). Generous strips of Australian Sirloin Beef stir-fried with Horfun drenched in French Onion gravy. What an interesting mix of Asian and Western flavours. But what's important was that these flavours infused very well together giving it an overall rich taste.

Chicken Truffle ($15.90). Tender chicken chop laid on a creamy potato mash bathed in creamy mushroom gravy and drizzled with truffle. If you're a cream sauce lover, you'll love this dish. I like having the chicken together with the mash.

Prawn Twisters ($8.90). Crunchy on the outside and succulent on the inside. A superb snack that must be dipped in their signature "Shiok Sauce" which is rather spicy but as it names implies, very SHIOK!

Chicken Rice Pizza ($17.90). Who would have thought that chicken rice could actually be the toppings of a pizza? I thought that this was the most interesting and innovative dish in the menu. Fragrance bits of rice and shreds of chicken with crispy, thin pizza crust. Will definitely be back for this.

Their Salted Egg Mayo Seafood Pizza ($21.90) was another tantalizing delight. Salted egg yolk has a very rich and intense flavour by itself. Together with generous, fresh chunks of prawns, crabmeat and fish, this dish is simply amazing!!

Midnight Seafood Rice ($13.90). Simple but yet very tasty dish.

Luncheon Fries ($6.90). Another popular pub snack, sinfully yummy!

The casual and relaxed atmosphere, coupled with affordable drinks and well-executed food, makes Beer Market the place to head to the next time you crave an after-dark session to unwind, and when your pals and you need a spot to enjoy your matches.

For the latest updates, go to http://www.beermarket.com.sg/ and like Beer Market on facebook.

Beer Market

#01-17 & #02-02, Clarke Quay

3B River Valley Road

Tel: +65 9661 8283

Sun to Thu: 6pm – 1am

Fri & Sat: 6pm – 3am

Eve of PH: 6pm – 3am

Closed on Mon

Nearest Station: Clarke Quay

Mastercard Theatres presents THE SOUND OF MUSIC!

When i saw banners and posters of The Sound of Music hanging around in Marina Bay Sands (MBS), i knew i had to watch this musical!!!

I grew up with many of the songs from The Sound of Music like Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, My Favourite Things etc. Watching this musical brought back many fond memories of my childhood.

Was ecstatic to be presented 2 tickets to The Sound of Music by Mastercard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands.

The musical officially started at 8pm but doors were opened at 7.30pm. People started filling up the place. Food and beverages were sold right outside the theatres.

Programs, souvenirs and other merchandises were available for sale too.

The theatre was filled to the brim, this was a weekday.

The Sound of Music tells the true story of Maria Rainer, the fun-loving governess who changed the lives of the widowed Captain Von Trapp and his seven children by reintroducing them to music. She came to the family to tutor the children who were all home schooled and educated them through music and touched their hearts with her sincerity.

The original 1959 Broadway production of The Sound of Music won six Tony awards, including Best Musical, and was Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammeretein’s biggest success. The 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews as Maria won five Oscars, including Best Picture. The original London production was produced by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Carrie Underwood was Maria in the American production.

The Sound of Music Singapore production was produced by David Ian Production, Base Entertainement and Lunchbox Productions.  Six out of the seven Von Trapp children will be played by eighteen of our Singapore’s most promising young actors and actresses.  The Singapore cast includes:

• Jaime Chew who plays Gret Von Trapp.  Jamie is passionate about dancing and start learning ballet at 6 and plays the piano and cello;
• Abbie Machin who plays Louisa Von Trapp.  Abbie started dancing and acting at 7 and has even choreographed her own performance last year;
• Felicity Bertram stars as Brigitta Von Trapp.  Felicity is 11 years old and enjoys Musical Theatre classes at Centre Stage and loves all sports.  She has also performed as Cinderella in her school’s Avondale Grammar production of Cinderella Rockerfella, Peter Pan in the Centre Stage production of Peter Pan and Oliver Warbucks in the Centre Stage production of Annie;
• Joshua Goh plays Kurt Von Trapp.  Joshua has performed in Singapore America School school variety show for 3 consecutive years.  He also joined the volunteer kids’ chorale to raise funds for typhoon Haiyan victims last December.

The international cast includes:

• Bethany Dickson as Maria Rainer.  Bethany has been in numerous productions in Johannesburg, Cape Town.  She dedicates her performance to her beloved Dee & Pa;
• Andre Schwartz as Captain Von Trapp. Andre studied Law at the University of Stellenbosch, he later on developed his singing career after winning a bursary to study singing at Mozarteum in Slazburg.  He has recorded 14 solo albums of which EkWilWeer has reached number 1 on most radio stations;
• Taryn Sudding as Baroness Schraeder.  Taryn has performed in numerous television show and has been a voice artist for many tv commercials like Coca Cola, PEpsi Virgin Atlantic and many more.

Enjoyed every bit of this musical, the songs couldn't stop playing in my head after it ended! 

A musical for all ages, not to be missed :)

Click here for some video clips of my favourite songs:

Do-Re-Mi: http://youtu.be/xIjobdArtiA

My Favourite Things: http://youtu.be/33o32C0ogVM

Edelweiss: http://youtu.be/7l8t85khtIw

Sixteen Going on Seventeen: http://youtu.be/hwK_WOXjfc0

So Long Farewell: http://youtu.be/Qy9_lfjQopU

DETAILS:
Duration: 11 July – 10 August 2014
Performance times:
* Tuesday - Friday 8:00pm
* Saturday 2pm and 8pm
* Sunday 12pm and 6pm
Ticket Price: starting at $65 (excludes booking fee of $3 per ticket)
For internet booking, please visit BASEentertainmentasia.com or sistic.com.sg.   
For phone booking, please call +65 6688 8826. 
Tickets can be purchased in person at Marina Bay Sands Box Offices-  
Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby. 
For corporate and group bookings, please email corporate@showbizasia.com 
or call +65 6688 1029.

So Long Farewell!!!