2D1N Soju Bang Korean Grill BBQ Buffet (the Restaurant_guest) @ 46A Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore

For a person who could not get enough of Korean bbq, it's bothersome when you keep hearing your friends rave about the meat buffet at 2D1N Soju Bang!

It's not that i didn't try; I did attempt to enter the buffet section half a year ago but the huge crowd was a big deterrent and it's not as if that area is devoid of any other good food!

Kon recommended a Monday and to be frank, it's a damn good suggestion. The first day of the working week almost always guarantees a smaller crowd.

The Gang of Four was immediately ushered into the restaurant upon arrival and it was not even 20% full! Although there was a short queue of less than ten persons after we had filled our stomach, it was still a tiny fraction of that horrendous weekend crowd.

Given its price, the decor was nothing to scream of; posters of Korean celebrities or movies, a flat screen showing music videos of Korean boy girl bands and the rhythmatic blasting of Korean pop music.

Long accustomed to a wide range of choices for buffets, the offerings at 2D1N fell short of my expectations. I could count no more than twelve types of meat including chicken, pork, beef and prawns.

Optimistically, the meat looked fresh with no hint of being frozen and the marbling was actually not bad. As with typical Korean bbq, it is likely the marination that determines the winner.

Each piece of freshly barbequed meat, except for the common chicken sausage, was full of juicy flavour (hinting a good base of marination).

I especially could not resist layering string after string of deliciously oily bacon (i am not a big fan of the lookalike pork belly) on to the hot pan!

Proof that the bacon was damn oily! No butter or cooking oil is ever needed to lubricate the pan when you have bacon. It's that powerful although i admit it is as powerful in destroying your health.

Other than meat, there was an equally small section on salads, vegetables, kimchi, rice, noodles, watermelon and a sweet fermented rice drink.

Bottles of plain water were kept in a nearby fridge and included in the price while soft drinks, soju and beer were charged separately.

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Truthfully, i initially thought i will be back again.

After thinking it through, i am undecided. Besides the sad fact that my stomach is not able to hold as much food as in my younger days, there are just too many restaurants serving buffets with a wider variety of food at roughly the same price.

The saving grace at 2D1N, however, is in its freshness of meat and vegetables.

Location

46A Tanjong Pagar Road

(near Maxwell Hawker Centre)

Opening Hours

Sun-Thu: 5.30pm to 10pm

Fri-Sat: 5.30pm to 10.30pm

Reservation

By right, first come first served. You may try your luck on weekdays if you have more than 5 persons. The number is 6220-7119.

Price

S$20 per pax

Subject to GST and Service Charge

Additional Information

Bring along an extra piece of clothing; the normally appetite-stimulating BBQ aroma will stick to your clothes and it could smell downright disgusting for the person who has been trying to force too much meat down his/her throat!

This aluminium foil was changed so frequently during our 90-minute stay; i lost count.

As usual, no wasting of food!

For my review on the ala carte section of 2D1N Soju Bang, please click HERE.