Entree Kibbles: BOMUL Samgyetang - Collagen and Restorative @ CHIJMES [Singapore]

Sunday, August 23, 2026

BOMUL Samgyetang - Collagen and Restorative @ CHIJMES [Singapore]

I don't think I am the only one noticing that there are now quite a few restaurants specializing Korean samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) in hot and humid Singapore!

Well, I paid a visit to one recently, that was located in a very central location in Singapore; CHIJMES, famously known as one of the shooting locations in Singapore for the movie, Crazy Rich Asians.

The restaurant in mind; BOMUL Samgyetang. While it's a new brand founded in Singapore, one of the founders was a "South Korean native and former JYP Entertainment K-pop trainee".

Nevertheless, it's known for its long waiting time to gain entry, and right here on our little red dot, that usually means good food, especially when the prices of the dishes didn't appear to be light on the wallet. Note the dining limit; I shall talk more about it later.

Using organic and free-range chickens that delivered fresh to the restaurant every day, BOMUL was also said to offer the widest range of ginseng chicken soup in Singapore, with ten different types to choose from! Now, that's not good news for a procrastinator!

As my friend worked nearby, she had already secured a queue ticket and we were seated just about ten minutes after I arrived. p.s. as expected for most Korean restaurants, a large bottle of complimentary water on every table for diners!

For typical Singapore, soup would be best enjoyed on days when they are wet and/or cold or at night. But in the Korean context, samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) is best enjoyed during the summer, under this concept "fighting heat with heat". What?!

Complimentary side dishes; the all typical kimchi (didn't captivate), pickled radish with scallion oil (not bad) and raw garlic drenched in chilli paste (refreshing, and favorite for me).

Makgeolli Flights - complimentary water aside, we absolutely can't resist the tempting picture of three bowls of makgeolli (Korean rice wine)! Original, corn and chestnut; the original was good enough for me with an even better liking for the unique chestnut. Corn rice wine was weird tasting.

Minari Pancake - with a must try tag on the menu, I am most curious about this as the typical me would have usually gone with the boring kimchi or seafood pancake. And minari is a "vegetable native to East Asia" and known also as Korean water parsley.

Fried to a crisp and requiring the professional scissor skills to make it easier for us apportion, I must say this was a most interesting vegetable, refreshing like a mix of mint and perilla. Batter was not very heavy, and it's like eating vegetable tempura.

Collagen Samgyetang - it was already more than 30 minutes of wait after we ordered, and keeping in mind of the 90-minute dining limit, we checked if the soup was ready. And the above was finally served after another 15 minutes, and I took up their offer to cut up the chicken for ease of eating! p.s. I think they missed our order.

Our soups were still bubbling when they arrived! There's no way, I can clean up everything in 30 minutes without scalding my tongue!

First thing, take a sip of the soup (said to be slowly simmered for hours) and let the liquid swirl around my taste buds for a few seconds. Rich, with a light creaminess, flavourful with a subtle ginseng taste towards the end. Good enough for me although would prefer a stronger ginseng taste, which I could have gotten by paying S$4.00 more for a 30-ml cup of ginseng liquor shot.

Premium ginseng root, found in the soup, can be chewed for a stronger dose of ginseng-ness. The chicken used (a whole young chicken) was said to be organic and free-range and the meat didn't disappoint, bearing no hint of being frozen. Glutinous rice was soaked in the soup, and surprisingly tasty. Red dates were sweet, although pretty hard and chestnuts were not mushy and appeared to have been grilled beforehand!

Restorative Samgyetang - I had to steal a spoonful of soup from my friend's order! Although creamier than mine, and said to be made with black tiger palm mushroom, the flavor was a tad blander than mine.

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Would I be back? Sure will and with my mom, who loves soupy stuff. Maybe the anti-ageing samgyetang that cost S$89, with octopus and abalone!

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