SODENG - THE VINTAGE BBQ (TELOK AYER)

Best to make a reservation as the restaurant is quite full especially over the weekends. Staff are very helpful and friendly and while the food selection isn’t huge, the quality is very good. While they are one of the very few Korean BBQ places that serves duck meat, we still prefer the beef. The duck is not very fatty and thus dries out quite quickly over the BBQ. The soups are very good and definitely worth ordering.

Sodeng is the BEST K-bbq place (even better than a certain famous restaurant in Seoul that I had to queue 2hrs for). Our first visit was to try out their lunch menu. Got a yukhoe bibimbap and beef soup. Both were great. This time we made a reservation for dinner. For a party of three, we got two portions of beef ribs, one portion of marinated duck, duck stew and fried rice. The staff (I think his name is Jay) was so friendly, grilled the meat and gave us a rundown of different ways to pair the side dishes with the beef. Side dishes were the star of the meal. Will definitely be back.

The place is nicely decorated, and the service is excellent. The staff cook all the food and even wrap it with different sides or sauces for you to try various ways of eating the meats, which I found impressive. In terms of food, the pork belly is delicious, but the other meats we ordered, such as beef and pork collar, weren't as impressive. I've had better at more affordable prices elsewhere.

I got the Yukhoe bimbimbap ($17 before gst). The raw beef was very fresh and generously portioned. There’s gochujang but very minimal spice (a great thing). The bursts of sweetness from the pear bits were my favourite part - I wish there was more because it complemented the mild spiciness and heaviness from the meat so well. It’s a big portion so one should come here with an empty stomach. They provide two kimchi sidedishes and salad and a savory soup, and some salty seaweed. It was nice dining in their private room, which they give to groups of 6?? Staff were nice and food came fast.

SODENG, Korean BBQ, at Telok Ayer! Highly recommended by friends, plus a 4.7 rating on Google, we very much looked forward to this Saturday brunch with the family! The long & short of it, it wasn’t quite what we hoped for, may be our expectations were a tad too high? (especially since we only got back from Korea about a month ago) so we kinda settled into ordering a good selection of what the chief recommended, and our hearts desired! Firstly the Good: the service by our young Vietnamese lady was very good, although she only worked at the restaurant 6 month, she did good! The menu wasn’t too complicated, making choosing dishes a breeze! While we had a private room for the 4 1/2 of us (4 adults, one little one) it was quite intimate, but tables very small, just managed! The food was ok, I give it a 3.5 at best! It was plenty for us! Now the expectations: traditionally one would get between 8-10 Appetizers in Korea, here we barely got half and not that exiting! For the sauces, we needed to ask for more, and not all went well with the dishes chosen! The meats were imported, Beef from the US, others not sure, overall just ok! What stood out: Yukhoe Bibimbap was a great starter, the Soup: Seolleontang, was perfect, primarily for the little one! The Sodengs Pot lid stir fried rice, was almost perfect, the flavor however was somewhat a bit flat, some soya sauce would have worked wonders! What could have been better received, was the signature Charcoal Grilled Pork Collar, as the dish was Luke warm! The Woo-Dae Galbi, prime rib bone, was decent, really well cooked & presented, but not as tender as one would expect! Still very well cooked & presented! The Hand Rub Duck, marinated, was interesting, flavourful, and quite good! Portion sizes were good, plentiful, funnily though, one ingredient often associated with Korean BBQ, we needed to ask for, was Garlic, we got it and it made a big difference in the flavor of the Beef & fried rice! For Drinks we tried the Korean Version of Champagne, the fermented Rice Wine, by Skypond, served in Plastic Bottles, not my taste profile, but the Beer called Terra (Korean) was pretty good! For coffee there was a self service machine/dispenser at the entrance, Korean 3 in 1, and free for guests! In conclusion, a welcoming and friendly restaurant, probably more geared toward the Korean clientele, and since it’s a traditional shop house, it’s rather limited in size! Lunch set us back at 390,-$ for 4 (not counting the little ones rice bowl) including taxes, so roughly a 100$ per person! #foodgloriousfood #singapore #foodsg #sgfoodie #sgfoodporn #gourmet #cuisine #foodagram #foodaddict #SGfood #sgfoodstagram #sglifestylesingapore #SODENG #Koreanfood #KoreanBBQ

A wonderful dining experience here, food was great service was wonderful as well. Jay, our server for that night did a great job explaining to us what were the ingredients used and how to eat the meat in various ways, it was very interesting. We also had a great chat with him so it was really nice. Side dishes were also really good and unique, never had side dishes like this in other kbbq restaurants. The kimchi stew was also amazing, overall the attention to detail in the service during the dining experience was great, highly recommend and will definitely be back !

I’ve visited Sodeng twice, once for lunch and once for dinner and both times I left feeling fully and satisfied. Do note that this place is no means cheap, so if you’re looking for somewhere cheap then this is not the place. However if you’re willing to spend some money on good and unique good quality Korean food, this is likely to be the place. Do note that there is unlikely to have any walk in space available, so do make reservations to avoid being turned away. The first time was for lunch, and while there is a lunch menu, we wanted to try their speciality duck. Usually this is only available for dinner time but they allowed us to order it for lunch. We topped it off with their fried rice which is a must order. For the duck, we ordered both the regularly and spicy version. They would cook the duck in front of you and served it to you by adding various condiments and ways of eating. Their banchans were also different, where the kimchi is fermented differently. I would say the banchan isn’t for everyone and I very much prefer regular banchan. Once you’re done with the main parts of the BBQ, they would offer to cook the remaining meat together with the fried rice and top it off with a heart shape. For this, I was served by a Korean gentlemen and the staff that day were mainly Korean men which made me feel like I was actually in Korea. The second time I went for dinner and sat on the second floor in a tatami style setting where you have to take off your shoes and sit somewhat on the floor. This round there was a bigger group and we ordered the ribs on top of the duck and other side dishes and soju. The ribs was served semi cooked and then cut and grilled infront of you and served with similar condiments like the duck. My favorite combo would be the one with their mozzarella cheese but with their mentaiko mayo instead of condensed milk. Service was wonderful as always and this time we were served by a Vietnamese lady. The bill for 5 pax came up to over $400+ that night which is definitely not cheap but a well worth experience. Edit: 3rd time here, this time to try out some new items on their lunch menu. Beef was super tender, great service as usual at reasonable price for the quality.

Amazing grilled meat! Very comforting seaweed soup and staff was kind enough to let me have a second helping~ Enjoyed the korean coffee as well.