Togi Korean Restaurant

First review on this website!
As I was craving for Korean food, decided to visit this joint after reading reviews here and recommendations from friends.
Was quite apprehensive at first because my Korean pal told me Togi serves up poor Korean fare, but decided to go with my instincts and give it a try with my girlfriend.
We ordered Ginseng Chicken Soup, Bibimbap (Chicken), and Seafood Pancake. Total cost was over $50, and this included the appetizers, which were free flow.
Because I tasted Korean Ginseng Chicken in Korea itself earlier this year, I probably had unrealistic expectations of what I would get. Togi's Ginseng Chicken soup was pretty disappointing, with the soup a little bland, kind of watered-down taste with not much Ginseng taste. The chicken however was huge, and stuffed with glutinous rice, I believe done in the traditional Korean style so I was glad to see they tried to follow the same format. $21 for this was quite pricey though.
The bibimbap was done pretty well, not much burnt rice at the bottom. The taste was not that much different from what you will get in the food courts though, in my opinion.
The seafood pancake was probably the best among the lot, though the leek was almost unchewable. The pancake however was a good mix of egg and flour, not too floury in that respect.
I graded low for ambience, simply because it's probably meant to be a no frills diner.
Service was pretty good, though that could be due to us going early. Don't expect Koreans to serve you though, most of the servers are from China I reckon.
A little pricey for the food-if I'd try another one in the near future it would be their neighbors, Jang Won.

Let me first set the record straight. Togi's food is not fantastic, not by a long mile. But I liked it enough, and judging from the crowd, they liked it too. There must be a good reason for it, and for me it was that it was simple food well done.

Not to forget, Korean food at Togi was easily one of the most authentic I've tasted. The Ginseng Chicken was wholesome and comforting on a cold day (I even got a refill of the soup, which was even tastier), while the spicy ricecake was interesting enough to be finished. The sides are worth a mention - I especially liked their kimchi and potato salad.

It was my third visit to Togi's, each time with different company. Would be back to try the BBQ some day.

I love Korean food. With all that BBQ meat and spicy dishes, what's there not to like about it? One of my all-time fav Korean restaurant is the very homely Togi, located at Chinatown. There's nothing grand about it in terms of ambience but its all about the food there.

Great side dishes...the kimchi is not overly sour or spicy, and does not leave your tongue numb, depriving you of the chance to sample the vast array of food that is coming up.

The seafood pancake is soft and light, with fresh seafood toppings. It is not greasy and goes well with the sweet sesame sauce. We could do with thicker slices though...but I may just be greedy!

The spicy rice cakes comes with such a kick. Served piping hot and spicy, they are chewy but not starchy. Very appetizing indeed.

If you need your carbo intake, the stone pot rice that comes with various mix of veg and a sweet spicy sauce was pretty good. Of course, we went for the crusty sides.

We had barbequed beef and pork belly, that goes well with rice or wrapped in lettuce. The meat was well marinated and flavourful but one problem was that they have been chopped up too finely, which resulted in a lack of bite. I had to stuffed the lettuce with several pieces of meat to get a good mouthful of it. The pork belly was slightly dry and tough, likely due to overcooking.

The spicy tofu soup came strongly recommended by a friend. Don't be fooled by its fiery red colour, it is not all that spicy. In fact it is sweetly flavoured, with cabbage and tofu pieces. This is all-time comfort food and is especially gratifying on a cold rainy day.

For more pics, refer to: http://wildrocketing.blogspot.com/2009/08/home-cooked-and-authentic.html

The week was one of Gourmet, Gossip with the Girls as I caught up with my favourite peeps at work who share the joy of wonderful food.

One of the places they brought me to was Togi which was an unassuming korean joint wholly owned and managed by koreans. While we were there for lunch, we were likely to be the only non-korean dining there while the rest of the lunch crowd made themselves at home, shoes off, ciggies out as if this was their own home.

I left the ordering to the girls as they knew exactly what they wanted and I'm happy to go along. I reckon we might have been food soul mates in our past lives so I trust their tastes.

We were served a selection of 6 free flow appetizers as most traditional korean restaurants do. Honestly, I would have been happy with a bowl of rice and the appetizers.

Finally our mains... seafood hotpot with noodles (extra serving). This is like typically home-cooked comfort food. Generous amounts of prawns, whole crab, fish cake, vermicelli noodle, mushroom and instant noodle in spicy broth.

Based on just the hotpot alone, I'll say its not overly impressive but satisfying nonetheless. I'll have to come back and try the other dishes again. But I suppose a room full of koreans having korean food is more convincing than a singaporean who don't know any better.

I find it hard to get anything authentic in Singapore, unlike those in Australia and UK, where the immigrants from the past brings along their grandma's cookbook and proceed to set up a new food life there and then.

I have been to Togi couple of times, and even to the East Coast branch, which to me lacks greatly in comparison to the Mosque Street branch.

We ordered the usual delectables; potato pancake, BBB, spicy beef soup & spicy ricecakes, and of course, the requisite side cold dishes. The kimchi wasn't that fresh, however, it tasted soggy and the flavour was missing the red spicy pepper. As similar as to how soup is boiled for hours to get the flavours, I feel that kimchi should be kept for a certain period to get the flavours absorbed into the cabbage. Upon first taste of the beef soup, I did not find it spicy, but subsequent slurps had me running for the iced green tea. The pancake was its usual tastiness. I don't like their ricecakes this time, as the thick chilli sauce spread over the ricecakes were too thick, and too starchy for my liking.

By the way, us being really kiasu, we waited outside the shop at 6pm and were the first to get in the moment they were opened. This is because I hate the queues at Togi.

The food quality has differed over the years as Togi has gotten more popular, but since I have not found better korean eateries, I guess I'll stick with this for the time being.

p.s. I noticed a big group of koreans were given priority, they walked in and made a reservation for 10 and returned 45minutes later when there was a long queue for Togi. Can't find them for favoring the same nationalities, however. I would.

Quite disappointed with the gamja tang (potato and pork rib stew). As it comes in one big pot, hubby and I shared it with rice and the complimentary side dishes.

The soup base was spicy and appetizing, but not flavoursome enough. There was quite a lot of pork ribs, but they were not tender enough, and had a strong frozen taste!

At $35 a pot, it wasn't worth the price at all. Maybe we should have stuck to the cheaper but boring dishes like bibimbap or kimchi stew.

The side dishes were not bad, very authentic and homey, but nothing wow. The kimchi was a bit limp and watery.

You can read my full review at:
http://www.aromacookery.com/aromacookery/2009/03/togi-korean-restaurant.html

Cosy restaurant run by a Korean family. Was packed when we arrived for dinner, but service was pretty good and friendly.

The meal comes with an array of Korean side dishes, which you can top up. Items worth trying: The ginseng chicken soup and marinated barbecued beef.

been here twice.

very impressed by the wide variety of side dishes offered.

the bibimbap was average, i prefer the one served at Tampines Mall food court.

the kimchi soup was excellent, tasted like authentic korean stuff and they had chunks of tuna inside the soup too.

the 2nd time we came, we came with more friends and tried more stuff like the BBQed dishes. but somehow, the dishes that left me the deepest impression was the kimchi soup.

will come back here again some time soon!

(must remember to make reservation by phone before coming because they can get really crowded)

What i love about Korean restaurant is the WIDE array of starters like pickled potato, kimchi, fishcakes and barley tea... Their kimchi here tasted so good - fresh and cold and crunchy!!

Today for lunch, we ordered
1) Bi Bim Bap - $11
2) Bul Gul Gi Bi Bim Bap - $11
all in dol sol style aka hot stone pot

Although i dun mind doing the mixing myself, they offer to help first timer stir the rice/noodles and to grill the meat so diners are spared from any splatter of sizzling oil or sauce - How nice!

Its my very first visit there after our KTV session and well, I must say the food over there is simply authentic Korean food.

We ordered the Stir Fried Pork, Pork Belly, Beef stone rice bowl, Fried rice cake with dumpling and ramen and Kimchi soup. The service is very prompt but however, due to the dinner peak period, the lack of staff is kind of slow down in service.

1st: Stir Fried Pork
Taste alright and serving is just nice for 4 person. Not bad I would say but if its on hot plate, I guess it will taste much better.

2nd: Pork Belly
The lettuce wrap with the pork belly I must say its fabulous. It just so tasty.

3rd: Beef stone rice
Alright only...But then, its kind of lack of other vegetables but just beef and some seaweed

4th: Fried Rice cake
Guess I love this the most cause its very tasty with all sort of items fried together. The rice cake is soft and the noodles is nice!

5th: Kimchi soup
Not that spicy hot but on sour side. Overall, I would want to try others the next time

Overall, service is prompt but I guess they need to have more helpers then!