Located in between two popular Korean BBQ Restaurants in Tanjong Pagar is Charim Korean BBQ, which recently started operations in the mid of Sept 2021. Despite the highly saturated KBBQ scene along Tanjong Pagar Road, it seems that authentic Korean-run BBQ restaurants such as Charim will have no problem settling in.
Authentic Korean BBQ Restaurant in Singapore
As we all probably know by now, Tanjong Pagar is the place to go for Korean food. So, it’s no surprise that we see new KBBQ restaurants opening in this neighborhood. Run by a Korean family, Charim Korean BBQ’s specialty is probably the DIY Sushi Set, which we’ll talk more about later.
The daughter quit her dream job at Apple to help achieve her mum’s dream of owning her own restaurant.
The restaurant has a typical KBBQ setting, with tables having the exhaust vent and the walls decorated with soju promotional posters. Charim Korean BBQ can sit around 45 pax (without any Covid restrictions).
Charim Korean BBQ Menu
Much like any other Korean BBQ Restaurant in Singapore, Charim has set menus featuring a combination of cuts for you to choose from. The set menu also includes a soup of your choice (kimchi/soybean/sundubu) and a steamed egg.
Other than meats, they also have ala-carte items like Army Stew ($42), Seafood Pancake ($28), Spicy Cold Noodle ($18), and Gamjatang ($18).
You can view the menu in detail here.
Banchan (Side Dishes)
For the side dishes here at Charim, we were served Japchae, Salad, Mashed Potato, Kimchi, and even Salted Squid. The salad was really refreshing, while the salted squid had a nice addictive chewy texture.
Instead of the set, we opted for the ala carte meat options instead.
Pork Belly and Pork Collar
For the BBQ, kimchi and beansprouts were placed onto the grill, along with our serving of Pork Belly ($24) and Pork Collar ($24). The setting reminded us of On Dol, another Korean restaurant just further down along the same street.
The quality of the meat was pretty good, and the thickness of the pork belly was just nice. Make sure to eat this with the provided condiments or pair them with the grilled marinated beansprouts and kimchi.
DIY Sushi Rice
Here at Charim Korean BBQ, you can opt for the DIY Sushi Rice ($5) which is essentially 8 pieces of rolled sushi rice, served with a side of wasabi and Korean wild leek (Myeongi-namul) with house specialty sauce.
We were recommended by the staff to pair the sushi rice with the Korean wild leek, a piece of pork belly, and some ssamjang.
Soju Set
Charim Korean BBQ also has a Blue-themed Soju set ($22++) which comes with 1 bottle of Jinro Soju, 1 can of Tonic Water, and 1 can of Milkis.
We also loved how they placed all of this in a bucket of ice and served it.
A must-try combination is the Jinro Soju with the Tonic Water, which will make you go back for seconds immediately. We tried it using a 1:1 ratio and it didn’t feel like we were drinking soju at all.
While the Milkis + Soju combo was pretty good too, the Soju + Tonic Water combo was unbeatable for us.
New KBBQ Restaurant in Tanjong Pagar
If you’re not a fan of the crowds over at O.BBa BBQ, head over next door to give Charim Korean BBQ a try! If you have a favourite combination to go with the DIY Sushi Rice, do let us know as well!
Charim KBBQ is now giving away Dalgona as a dessert for their customers to experience the popular game seen in Squid Game. (As of 11th Oct 2021) We visited during their first week of operations, so we didn’t have a chance to try it 🙁
Charim Korean BBQ
65 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088486
Mon-Sun, 11:30am-12am
*This is an independent review by MiddleClass.sg.
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