Doong Ji Korean Restaurant

I made a reservation for my family (4 people) on Saturday 9 Jan, at 7.30pm. When we arrived slightly earlier (about 7.25pm) we could see the whole restaurant was full and there were people waiting outside. Waitress told us that our reservation was a little bit later, can we wait a while? so I said ok.

So we waited for 10minutes, it was 7.35pm. The whole restaurant was still packed and nobody looked like they were finishing their meals. We asked the waitress, what's the point of taking our reservation if you're not going to be able to seat us at the specified time? Like obviously I didnt want to wait for a table, that's why I made a reservation right? We just left and ate somewhere else willing to serve us.

To be fair, the restaurant called back much later to apologize and say that a table has been freed up. I said its ok, and told them that I don't think we'll be back.

You know how we always associate the authenticity of the food with the nationality of the owners/chefs? In this case, Doong Ji is opened by Koreans so I reckon the food should be quite good, authentic or not (since I can’t differentiate anyway!).

Side dishes are the best thing about eating Korean! Besides the obligatory kimchi, fried anchovies and soybean sprouts, the water chestnut cakes stood out from the rest. Bland without the accompanying chili paste, it had a nice jelly-like texture. If not for the waitress, I wouldn’t have known it’s made with water chestnut though.

STARCHY is the only word I’d use to describe the tofu pancakes ($6.90++). At the end of the meal, 2 (out of 3) pieces remained untouched. Goes to show how much I didn’t like it.

I like eggs so it’s easy for the Korean Style Omelette ($7.80++) to win a nod of approval from me. Chock-full of carrot, spinach, onion and seaweed, it would have been even better with more moisture.

Despite its name, the Spicy Beef Soup ($8.90++) wasn’t spicy at all. In fact, it tasted suspiciously like instant noodles soup.

The broth of the Hotpot Beef ($8.90++) was nice! Savoury with a tinge of sweetness. For the price, portion was so generous that half of it had to go to waste.

Very reasonable pricing for the portions served. Do I foresee myself coming back soon? Well, not in the near future, I hope. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it but I don’t particularly like it either. It’s just that I’d rather go for its Japanese counterpart for its clearer taste and delicate appearance compared to the more robust and fiery Korean food!

For photos/reviews, visit My Food Sirens =)

namul - kimchi( quite spicy for me, i prefer sweeter) , anchovies , potato ball? , cucumber, etc

dolsot bibimbap($11) - huge servings to me. beef, comes with shitake mushrooms, julienned carrots, plus some other veggies which i've forgotten, comes with raw egg yolk, i would have preferred a fried egg.
chilli sauce is good, plus the rice at the bottom gets crisp.

Hubby and I have been visiting this restaurant for some time. It was previously called "Togi" but changed owners.

Food is good...i dare say, some items became better!

We usually eat the same things: bibimbap (beef), kimchi soup with pork, ginseng chicken soup, and kimchi pancake. The food is well-cooked and very appetising. We find ourselves having a craving for the spiciness of it. I especially enjoy having the ginseng chicken soup on a cold rainy day - comfort food at its best. The chicken is soft and tender and I love the glutinous rice. Best part is the restaurant offers to top up your soup when you run low but still have chicken to finish.

They are also generous with their little appetisers. I like the variety. The two Chinese waitresses are excellent - knowledgeable and very very lovely ladies.

i went to doong ji before it was renamed and put under new ownership. it was called togi then, also a korean restaurant..after the change in management, the service had improved a LOT. the staff seem happier and always serve with a smile. which is really nice.
the side dishes are really nice..i especially love the jelly rice cake. the sauce is delicious! i go there relatively often, with my family..the food also has a more authentic taste, and i really do love the food there. i think it is quite affordable, and quite worth it. i especially like the kimchi fried rice and the pork belly is absolutely yummy. definitely recommended!

Since workplace is in the East, I had to source a place in the east for a lunch that I've promised my angmoh colleague.

Tried this place since this has good reviews in HGW.
We were the first customers when we entered, hence, service was prompt.

we ordered:-
-toufu kimchi seafood soup (set meal comes with rice, $8.90+)
-fried pork belly with vege wrap

wanted to order the pancake but since me and my colleague was still very full from our breakfast, we cancelled that.

we liked the toufu kimchi soup that we had while waiting for the pork belly to come.
the pork belly came piping hot and it was delicious to wrap in the vegetable. reminds me of childhood where i had the same at reunion dinners except the meat will be char siew or roast pork.

appetizers comes in 7 variety, a tad little in number IMHO, but my angmoh colleague likes the kimchi salad, while i like the potatoes.

spend $35 (including 10%) for 2 dishes above (with another bowl of rice), price is reasonable given that the food fills up our stomach considerably fast.
i think it would be more worthwhile to have a bigger group so that everyone can taste more dishes.

My gf and i was craving for Korean food and we are clueless where we are able to source for nice korean food. We tried searching online and get to read on these reviews about "Doong Ji" so we decided 'let's go'... Was impressed by their excellent service. My gf n i was so hungry that we ordered "kimchi soup, potato soup, ginseng chicken soup, kimchi pancake, spicy stir fried squid with pork belly, stir fried beef and spicy stir fried pork. Everything was fantastic except for the Ginseng Chicken soup which i don't really fancy (i had the authentic 1 when i was in Korea).

My gf don't like squid but when she tried the spicy squid with pork belly, she told me "2 thumbs up"....

It's worth going back again and we spent around SGD159 for 4 pax.

it really felt authentic there, almost like i was back in korea with additional heater.

service was pretty good, i was quite clueless about ordering there and the waitress really helped.

we ordered ginseng chicken soup (the soup was really good! $20 i think).

we also ordered the wrap where you put the fried chicken onto a piece of leafy veg. that was awesome and pretty authentic. i liked that they had all the condiments and sauces ready for your customization.

we also ordered their soba fish which surprisingly wasn't that great. not as tasty as the korean food i have in the food court of my workplace. erps. not that great an order.

dolsot bibimbap was good! rice was a little tough and some parts burnt. koreans seem to like to scrap off the rice from the stove and eat it with the burnt parts, so authentic? definitely.

i also loved that they gave 6 small dishes of different appetizers. they were all good and pretty authentic.

i just wish they served the different kinds of korean rice (that's white and purple) and not just our normal white rice though.

we also had their mixed ramen and rice cake that wasn't to my liking. a little too much taste and sauce after eating a whole bunch of dishes with a lot of sauces. felt that something like plain rice would've gone better with the rest of the dishes.

we also had their citron tea which seemed to taste nicer cold than hot.

all in all a great place, authentic food, more suitable for a big group of people to share than just two people.

Brought bf to this restaurant after noticing this restaurant along Katong everytime we drove past it.

1st impression- just like a family restaurant, small, cosy and not lavishly decorated.
2nd impression- excellent service! The staff greeted enthusiastically, and always spoke with a smile on their faces!
3rd impression- bf likes the LCD TV showcasing MTVs of sexy korean girls singing and dancing. @@
3rd impression- for a first timer, bf found the menu confusing. Luckily gf came to the rescue, and ordered the following food:

1) Ginseng chicken soup ($20)
2) Kimchi and seafood pancake ($7.90)
3) Ice plum tea ($3)
4) Ice pear tea ($3)
5) Rice

Everything was served extremely promptly. Drinks were served first, alongside with the free 6 side dishes. Bf commented pear tea was very good, natural and appropriately sweet, very refreshing for a hot day! Same goes for plum tea. =)

Ginseng chicken soup arrived next. The portion was bigger compared to some other korean restaurants I've been to. Very nice ginseng-ish taste, strong but not ovr-powering. Towards the later part of the meal, we requested if our soup could be re-heated, and the lady boss (we think) did it with no complains at all!

Kimchi and seafood pancake was slightly greasy, and we couldn't detect much "seafood" in it, but nonetheless its quite tasty.

Final words- excellent and prompt service, and good, hearty meal.

I've been a regular visitor of their predecessor "Togi" and was quite sad to find that the shop was being "passed" over to new owners. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that "Doong-Ji" not only lived up to the standard set by "Togi" but surpassed it.

The new owners have done up the place so that it feels much nicer yet still retains the warmth and friendliness of a small eatery.

The menu selection has increased slightly from before but the food quality has not suffered. In fact, in some areas, it has actually gotten better. They have one of the best kimchi around!

Really recommended! By the way, they have opened a small stall selling the one-meal items at the Lavender Food Court.