While most Korean restaurants in Singapore sell familiar dishes such as Samgyetang and Korean BBQ, Songane Korean BBQ in Jalan Besar might just be one of the few Korean restaurants in Singapore to offer Spicy Duck Stew, otherwise known as 오리탕 (Oritang) in Korean.
What is Oritang?
Yes, Korea does offer dishes other than your typical Samgyeopsal or Army Stew. Spicy Duck Stew is a Korean dish that falls under the category called Boyangsik (보양식) which can be translated to energy food or food that warms your internal organs.
Spicy Duck Stew is often eaten during the summer in Korea as a classic way to beat the intense summer heat – fighting fire with fire. Another more common dish used to beat the heat is Samgyetang, Korean Ginseng Chicken.
Songane Korean Restaurant in ARC380
The newly opened restaurant is opened by a Korean family located over in ARC380. Interior-wise, it had a pretty typical Korean restaurant vibe with a few cute drawings on the wall.
When you place your order, you can hear the daughter shouting ‘Omma!’ almost like you’re in a Korean neighbourhood eatery.
Songane Korean BBQ Menu
The Korean restaurant has a BBQ menu serving beef and pork cuts as well as your typical ala-carte menu items such as Kimchi Soup ($15), Naengmyeon ($13) and Kimchi/Seafood Pancake ($15).
However, we were more interested in the lesser-seen Spicy Duck Stew ($18), which is why we decided to go for that.
As usual, before the mains enter, Korean restaurants serve some side dishes while you wait. We really enjoyed their stir-fried fish cakes and beansprouts.
The kimchi was slightly more towards the sour and spicy side.
Spicy Duck Stew (Oritang)
Technically speaking, Singapore is the perfect place to sell this as we experience summer all year round. But instead of beating the heat with this dish, we can see ourselves craving for this on rainy days.
Fun fact: Oritang is a speciality of the South Jeolla Province, especially in Gwangju.
The spiciness of the Oritang was bearable and had a nice savoury finish which probably came from the duck oil and perilla seed powder. If we’re not wrong, the stew also had a bunch of siraegi (dried radish leaves) in it which we absolutely loved.
We did hope that the duck meat could have been slightly less tough, but other than that, the dish was not bad! You can give it a shot if you want to experience a new Korean dish right here in Singapore.
Bossam Set
The Bossam Set ($26) at Songane Korean BBQ comes with ssamjang, sliced raw garlic, green peppers and ssam vegetables so you can make your own bossam wraps.
The sliced pork had just the right texture, the meat was not too tough and the fatty part of the meat simply melts in your mouth. Make sure to wrap it with some ssamjang, raw garlic and green chilli for an authentic Korean Bossam experience.
Lunch Promotion
For Lunch, Songane Korean BBQ has an all-day lunch set for soups, rice dishes and noodles at $12.90 with a free barley drink. It also comes with free coffee/tea after your meal.
They also have 15% off all meats during weekday lunch in case you’re craving for some Korean BBQ in the middle of the day.
While Korean restaurants may be aplenty in Singapore, it’s nice to see places introducing new varieties of Korean dishes such as Oritang and Ori Jumuleok (spicy stirred fried duck).
Songane Korean BBQ
ARC380, 380 Jln Besar, #01-02, Singapore 209000
Wed-Mon, 11:30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-10pm. Closed on Tuesdays
*This is an independent review by MiddleClass.sg
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