After seeing all these positive reviews, I had to try this place for myself... three times!
Why three times? I wanted to be absolutely sure before I wrote anything that contravened so many positive opinions. Now I'm sure.
The decor reminds me of a new restaurant awaiting the arrival of some interior designer who skipped off to Cheju without notice and with a nubile suljib girl. It's almost "non-decor" actually. So the ambiance is a "5". Having said that, I'm usually not fussy about decor, as long as the food is good.
During the busy hours, its packed with Koreans. There was a big wooden cross behind the cashier and the place is closed on Sundays. It doesn't take Sherlock to figure out the owners are devout Christians. Amongst Koreans, going to church on Sundays is a big social thing - in fact, many Korean immigrants (here and everywhere, especially in the U.S.) don't have much else in terms of a social scene. So this is a good thing, I suppose. All the other Korean churchgoers will support a fellow congregation member, in particular if someone's running a new restaurant. In fact, the derivative client base also extends to tours and companies influenced by owners and staff who are fellow churchgoers. You can see many of them here.
(For a second I thought I was back in college, writing some kind of social essay. Yuck!)
The service is a dichotomy. There's the owner-guy who is super polite and really eager to please. He zips around everywhere trying to be helpful. He gets an A. There's also a young girl who I thought was Chinese but then she spoke Korean and really good English. She gets a B+. Sadly, the rest of the staff gets C for lack of warmth and attentiveness. The poor man should clone himself and populate his restaurant.
The food, sadly, is downright disappointing.
The Kalbi-tang and the bibimbap were passable, but the other stuff left a lot to be desired. The soondooboo chigae is a must pass - really watery with few bits of raw tofu and not much "kkondegui" or anything else. The spicy chicken kalbi was bland and forgettable. Seollong-tang; not available, despite being on the menu. Dwaeji-kalbi-chim; ran out. Jaeyuk bossam; ran out. The kimchi (the defining yardstick of a Korean restaurant) looks like the zombie cousin of a live version - listless and lifeless.
The price is comparable to most Korean restaurants in Singapore - which is way too expensive. I usually refuse to order kalbi or deungsim in S'pore because it's pricy and they give you what amounts to be a toddler's portion in Korea. Last time I ordered one portion of yangnyum kalbi somewhere, it set me back S$30. That's like KrW 25K for a kalbi the size of an iPod Nano!
My advice; save enough money by not going to any Korean restaurant in Singapore and use it to fly to Seoul. You'll be guaranteed a wonderful culinary experience with lots of human eye candy and a good dose of true blue Korean rudeness (not like those gentile characters you see mostly in TV dramas). With some luck (lack, thereof), you might even get run over by a motorcycle in a busy pedestrian sidewalk (I kid you not).