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| Fresh Tuna @ Pohang Seafood |
Our first Korean style sashimi meal experience was during our first trip to Jeju in 2017. It was a gastronomic experience, though I must admit it is not something that I eat frequently. Last year, we found a Korean restaurant serving Korean Sashimi on the east side of Singapore and Pohang Seafood is the second restaurant that we tried in Singapore.
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| Pohang Seafood SG |
We decided to try this after I saw the IG post of Bjorn Shen, one of the judges of Master Chef SG. For the meal, we choose Fresh Tuna and Flatfish set (small, $180, recommended for 2 pax). One thing for sure, when you order the meal, it is like a banquet that will knock you over.
In a typical Korean meal culture, they flooded your table with side dishes at the start. Here, the banchan consist of salmon sashimi, acorn jelly, Mulhoe (Spicy raw fish soup), porridge, broccoli, corn with cheese, mini seafood pancake, salad with mayo and kelp soup.
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| Banchan Part 1 |
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| Salmon & Salmon Belly |
For the salmon sashimi, each person has a thick slice of the regular part and another slice of the salmon belly. Both are smooth and delicious. The porridge is subtle, thick yet tasty, while the corn is slightly charred, sweet and topped with cheese. It can do with a bit more cheese and more charred.
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| Porridge, Mulhoe and Corn with Cheese |
The mini seafood pancake is crispy and enjoyable. Mulhoe is a cold spicy raw fish soup, as a side dish the version is much simpler and it plays a dual role as an appetizer and palate cleanser. It tasted icy, tangy, spicy yet refreshing. It is a bit too spicy for my liking, but LD enjoys it, and also enjoyed the acorn jelly. Instead of mulhoe, I enjoy the subtle flavour of the sea in the kelp soup.
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| Mini Seafood Pancake |
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| Acorn Jelly |
The steam egg followed soon together with the next seafood treat of Abalone and Sea Squirt. The abalone is thinly sliced, delivering a familiar Korean abalone crunchy texture. Opposite to the abalone texture, the sea squirt inner part is soft with a touch of chewiness, it has a slight bitter taste but one thing for sure they are very fresh. However, the skin of the sea squirt is super chewy, I don’t recommend you eat that.
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| Steam Egg |
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| Abalone & Sea Squirt |
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| Abalone & Sea Squirt |
For the seafood, there are 4 types of dipping sauce. Soy sauce, wasabi, sesame oil with salt and doenjang-banga (Korean raw fish dipping sauce, thick). On the table, there is also a bottle of cho-jang (the lighter sweet and spicy sauce).
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| The Sauces - Cho-Jang, Sesame Oil with Salt Soy Sauce with Wasabi and Doenjang Banga |
Next up will be the WOW and IG moment. San-nakji (LIVE Octopus seasoned with sesame oil). Yes, you can see the chopped tentacles still moving. Taste-wise, it is almost tasteless but the bouncy texture is intriguing. The texture of the tentacles part tasted a bit rough because of the suction cups, while the head or upper part tasted smooth and velvety. Not a spicy lover, I decided to create my own sauce, using soy sauce and lemon juice (there are lemon wedges served with the seafood). The combination of salty and tanginess, extract the natural sweetness from the octopus. Yum!!
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| LIVE Octopus |
Now is the turn for the Tuna sashimi, served with perilla leaves and seaweed. The portion is huge, there were about 30 slices on the plate. From the colour of the tuna, you can see it consist of different part of the fish. The darker colour is the leanest and the lighter colour is fattier. There are two premium cuts on top, looks like the fattiest version as it is covered in fats. We thought the two pieces will melt in your mouth, instead, a tendon-like chewiness paired with the fatty texture. An interesting surprise.
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| Fresh Tuna with Perilla Leaves and Seaweed |
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| Fresh Tuna |
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| The Premium Slice |
The flatfish sashimi also comes in the same size. It offers a meaty and resilient texture. The regular cuts offer a very subtle sweetness, almost like a blank canvas, where you can dip it in any sauces that you like. The premium cuts (the creamy colour) have a stronger flavour; however, it is chewier.
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| Flatfish Sashimi |
I find the portion of the sashimi is very generous, to the point of overwhelming. My secret weapon here is the lemon. Not only it helps to cuts through the fats of the protein, but it also helps to extract the natural sweetness of the seafood. I use the lemon to mix with soy sauce or the sesame oil salt dip; while LD uses it together with the doenjang and cho-jang.
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| Tuna with Seaweed and Perilla Leaf |
Since there are a lot of slices of tuna and flatfish, you should experiment with different ways to eat the sashimi. I tried one with just the seaweed and another with just perilla leaf, it delivers a unique, yet delicious flavour.
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| Flatfish with Seaweed |
For those who never tried Korean Sashimi, please take note that the sashimi is served at ROOM TEMPERATURE. Just like the sashimi served in a high-end Japanese restaurant. The seafood here is likely still swimming in one of the aquariums when you walk into the restaurant and prepared after they got your order. Therefore, this is probably one of the freshest sashimi you can get in Singapore.
Once you almost complete your sashimi, they serve fish roe hand roll. It has an earthy vegetable taste, followed by bursting fish roe flavour. On your second bite, you can taste the pickle vegetables hidden below that helps to cuts through the rice the richness of the fish roe.
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| Fish Roe Handroll |
The finale is fish hotpot. It uses the leftover cuts from the flatfish and the head, cooked with potato noodles, radish, vegetables and zucchinis. The soup tastes clean and the red pepper helps to cleanse the overwhelming flavour from the heavy meal. We were stuffed before we start the fish hotpot, so after the first bowl, we ask them to pack the balance of the hotpot for LD’s dinner the next day.
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| Fish Hotpot |
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| Flatfish |
The décor of the restaurant is very simple and bare minimum. It feels like you are dining in a takeaway Korean sashimi joint, where the dining area a simply furnished with foldable chairs, DIY tables and transparent disposable plastic table cloth. The service is prompt and friendly. During our diner there, we notice the majority of their customers are Koreans and most of them order for takeaway. When they are talking, you can easily feel that you are in Korea.
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| The Interior Decor |
Overall, having experienced a few Korean sashimi meals in Jeju and Singapore, I like Pohang Seafood SG the most. The seafood is fresh, the portion is generous and we can experience this wonderful food without leaving our shore. Awesome and we look forward to our return visit with our “makan kakis”. Geonbae!! Cheers!!
Food & Drinks: 8.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 6/10
Budget per Person: $51 - $80; $81 and Above
Pohang Seafood
182 Jalan Jurong Kechil
#01-52, The Hillford
Singapore 596152
T: +65 6365 0309
OH:
Tue - Sat: 12.00 – 14.30; 17.30 – 22.20
Sun: 12.00 – 14.30; 17.30 – 21.30
Closed on Monday.
