Hyang-To-Gol Korean Restaurant

This is a nice Korean restaurant on the second level of the Amara. The second time I came here, I ordered the Jangeo-Gooi (grilled eel = $15.30) set lunch. The order comes out with rice and a lot of other stuff like kimchi and bottomless green tea. A fantastic and filling meal for a reasonable price. The eel was a little small, but delicious. The rice and everything else is very nice, and the whole setting makes you feel like you can take your time and enjoy the meal - and yet at almost fast food prices.

But I still docked them 3 points for the ++ policy. Add the GST and service charge in to the price list - its not like the numbers change daily.

I've been here twice. Just to note I am not a fan of Korean food aside from bibimbap, fried chicken and bulgogi and that I actually enjoy Seoul Garden's bulgogi so if you are into authentic Korean, my review shouldn't count too much. This looks like a place frequented by real Koreans, and it seems pretty authentic.
However, the service is terrible! Had bibimbap the first time I was here and I am accustomed to eating it with lots of sesame oil (I don't know if this is an authentic Korean practice, but I ate a lot of this in my college days in US where it came drizzled with generous amounts of sesame oil). The staff couldn't understand requests in English & Chinese for more sesame oil and instead of trying, they gave up and ignored me. 
Room was stuffy. But if you have a private function, they have rooms of varying sizes. However, if you just happen to be seated in a room, all the best to you - staff will not come to check if you need anything. 
Again, I don't really like Korean food but it seems authentic enough and based on what other (actual Korean food lovers) people say, I give it a 7. The pancake was pretty yummy. 

Been a long while since I get so excited but this restaurant is really great!
I lived and worked around Tanjong Pagar and didn't try this place till few days back.  What a waste!
My colleague and I went in and were gave the ala-carte menu.  Had to ask for the set lunch menu :-(
I ordered the tofu soup and I finished every drop of the soup!  This restaurant has impressed me so much that I'll definitely come back for dinner (soon) and try their ala carte menu which is quite expensive.
If Hyang-to-gol can serve up such delicious set lunch at ~$11pax, just imagine the mouth watering delights when you pay $50pax for dinner!

Look at the title, I think you will know it's going to be a good review.

I only went with a friend, so we could't really order too much. So our orders were:

1. Kimchi hot pot
2. Fried dang hun (vermicilli)

Very simple stuff, but very tasty. Kimchi soup is rich and very generous portion of kimchi. There are also some dumplings and rice cake in the hot pot too. If you are worried that hot pot is not filling, you are quite wrong cos you are gonna finish all the soup -  which we did.

The stir fried dang hun I believed it's cooked with sesame oil and that's why it's so fragrance. It looks like cold dish, but it's actually a warm dish. Not too heavy portion, so it's just right size for the both of us as we didn't want too much meat in our dinner.

I would definitely go back again with more people so that we can try more stuff, esp the BBQ.

Of course I can't forget to mention the wide variety of small dishes and serve as really good apetitser. I love their cold kimchi soup as it really boosted my appetite!

The only down side is that the place can be quiet noisy, so I really got to scream when talking to my friend...

There's a dearth of authentic, affordable and quality Korean food in Singapore. The only place I'd recommend to any Korean expat in Singapore is Hyang-To-Gol, perhaps the most authentic Korean restaurant in Singapore. A quick warning for those watching their spending, it comes with a hefty price tag (budget at least 80 bucks per person without alcohol, and 100 bucks per person with alcohol), but it's well worth every dollar.

Almost everyone that stepped into the restaurant was Korean, which says volumes about the authenticity of the food served here.

There was a melange of sides (with free refills) to stuff our faces with while waiting for our bbq meats to be done. I'm not a fan of Korean food (especially kimchi), but I was feeling adventurous that night, so I promised to try everything at least once. I was surprised to find out that I loved some of the dishes.

1) Best Sides: Sweet Kimchi, Cold Tofu, Dried Squid, Fishcake, Pancakes,

2) Yangnyeom-Galbi ($40 for 200g), seasoned beef ribs. The bulgogi-marinated beef was perfectly sweet, tender and juicy.

3) Dak-Gooi ($21 for 200g), marinated chicken. Sweet and succulent.

4) Gochujang-Samgyeopsal ($24 for 200g), spicy bbq sliced pork belly. The heat was subtle and slow, with the sweetness of the marinade coming through every bite of this decadently fatty meat.

Read more abt it at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com

Booooiing !! The big Korean drum greets us at behind the front door. Through which you are led into mini Seoul ! I like it. The smell of grilled beef and loud sounds of rude men and women is refreshing in sissy-Singapore.

The beef is great, especially the cubes. I cannot think of another place that serves better. The bim bim bak is also very good.

The only slight let down is the Chinese waitress, although she did her best, she just couldn't pass off as a suedo-Korean to completely make you feel you are there.

One of the deplorable realities of being a Korean in Singapore is that there aren't any great Korean restaurants around (zippo). I've searched far and wide, looking for that elusive bit of gastronomic Koreana to remind me of my motherland (and mother, if I were to ask too much). I've stumbled onto some truly awful places along the way, including Ju-Shin-Jung, where the prices are ridiculously palatial and the staff appear to have galloped south with the Mongol horde (no English, no Korean... and rude enough to make me dream of building my own Great Wall - I'm referring to the one on ECP, near Longbeach). Another curious episode was the Korean restaurant at the Furama where (I swear to God), the Korean chef lady speaks really weird and makes me wonder if she somehow defected from North Korea (I'm serious). The food is mediocre there, if not radioactive. I've also marched through Jeju (near Raffles Hotel), Auntie Kim's, the one at Novena Mall, Crystal Jade (two of them), Seoul, etc, etc. To date, the closest I've come to the real thing is Hyang-to-gol. As a comparison, Hong Kong (where I used to live) offered a fair number of great Korean restaurants at various price ranges.

Hyang-to-gol's menu is pretty awesome and it reminds me of a place many many Koreans hang out in Hong Kong; Secret Garden (or "Biwon") in the Bank of America tower in the Central district. The food, however, is very hit and miss. What I mean by this is that some items taste close to the Real McCoy and some are bland imitations. I will illustrate.

The Gopchang Jungol, a spicy stew made of beef innards, is actually pretty good. The Soondooboo Chigae (raw tofu stew) is crap. I haven't tasted all the stews, but friends tell me they're all inconsistent. On my next foray, I'm thinking of trying the Boodae Chigae and, perhaps, the Al-tang (fish roe stew). The Chajangmyun was pretty awful, but the bbq Kalbi seemed fine. The selection of Banchan dishes is pretty good and they are kind enough to refill them when asked.

The service is fairly attentive, if not overly cordial (I don't mind at all). The ambiance is as plain and uninspired as if you were eating in Seoul, so I suppose we can chalk one up to authenticity. By the way, I can confirm that the majority of the clientele was Korean each time I went - I guess this is a good sign to many of you. I could also tell because many Korean's have a rude habit of staring at you with a "who the hell are you?" expression when you walk into a restaurant (if you go to Seoul, it's a ubiquitous ugly experience). There was even the archetypal arrogant bastard wearing sunglasses (indoor), masticating on a toothpick and pretending to own the world (remind you of a certain someone in the news lately?... with a couple of nukes?). Now don't get me wrong; many nice Koreans also co-exist in Korea and, of course, in Singapore (though not in the high proportions you see on popular TV dramas).

So there you have it. Pick the right items and you will be rewarded. Pick the wrong ones and you'll be cursing when the bill arrives. I have to try more dishes before I can build a compendium of hits and misses. Given the array of items on the menu, this might take a while.

Postdata: I visited this place a couple of times after this review, and I'm disappointed to report that other items have been very mediocre. The altang (fish egg stew) was awful and the kalbi-tchim (braised ribs) was too sweet and uninspired. The other stew items that my friends ordered were also disappointing. I've adjusted the food rating down to 6 accordingly.

Off for a visit to the restaurant under strong recommendation from my friend.
We took an order for kimchi stew, jajangmyeon and tangsuyook (sweet-sour pork). The meal portions are large, I must say. My serving of jajangmyeon was good enough for two, not counting the free flow of side dishes.
The ambience and service in the restaurant's nice and is a frequent for koreans.
Me and my friend were the only non-korean in the restaurant during our meal.
Good place for gatherings or casual dinning.

This has been a regular haunt of ours ever since we discovered it. Can get extremely packed on Fri nights, with the majority of tables taken up by Koreans. Although on our last visit on Jan 2nd, there were barely 4 tables occupied at any one time.

Banchan – 8 small side dishes that changes every time we visit. Like especially the potato salad, and radish marinated in wasabi sauce.

BBQ Marinated Beef Ribs – melt in the mouth tender and juicy. As always, beef isn’t cheap in Korean restaurants, but quality is top notch and this stuff is rich.

BBQ Marinated Pork – cheaper option to the beef, not as memorable but still delicious.

BBQ Prawns – I didn’t find this impressive at all, but the family liked them. Can’t recall the price, but was quite expensive given the small portion and satisfaction level.

Haemul Pajeon – this seafood pancake is slightly more starchy and less crispy than some others, which some folk might prefer. I love all pancakes so I’m biased. Probably not the best you can find, but passable.

Jap Chae – Tung hoon fried with sliced beef, cabbage, sesame oil etc. Really liked this version for not being too oily (it still is, but not as bad as most others). Sticky and not too sweet, goes beautifully with rice.

Jajangmyeon – Korean version of the Chinese Zha Jiang Mian. Sticky, gooey and black, this can be an acquired taste. Still can’t find anything to match the ones in Korea; this version is just too starchy, ending up in a big glob before you’re halfway through.


Service is great considering the crowds and the fact that they actually barbecue the meat for you, but the staff really has to run around so watch that your beef doesn’t get overcooked. This is one of the more authentic Korean joints we’ve found in Singapore, price is reasonable (though not exactly cheap).

I work in the Tanjong Pagar area, i love the area. There's heaps of food, varying price range. There are many Korean restaurant in particular. I was recommended to try out this Korean restaurant at Amara Hotel, initially i was a bit skeptical because it being situated in a hotel instantly means "EXPENSIVE". However, i beg to defer. Their set lunches are affordable, approximately SGD13/person.
I had their BBQ beef, it's yummy. The beef is tender with the right seasoning. It's tough getting delicious beef in Singapore. My friend ordered a soup (i think it's Pork ribs soup), taste a bit bland. In fact ,it reminds me of those Collagen Ramen Soup.
Overall, the quality of food is highly dependent on what you order. Lunch hours are pretty packed for them, go early if you dont want to be disappointed or call to make reservation.