Popular Um Yong Baek eatery brings Korean pork BBQ to Suntec 

NEW RESTAURANT

Um Yong Baek #01-641/642 Suntec City 3 Temasek Boulevard Singapore 038983 Tel: 8962-1335 Open daily for lunch and dinner: 11 am to 3.30 pm; 5.30 pm to 10 pm

IF THERE’S a sucker born every minute, we hate to admit that we’ve been reeled in hook, line and sinker.

At least when it comes to Korean BBQ in Singapore, where our quest for a meaty experience even remotely close to that of Geumdwaeji Sikdang (also known as Gold Pig) in Seoul used to be as futile as finding pig’s blood curd in stock at NTUC FairPrice.

Most Singapore BBQ joints make more fuss over beef, with pork being the sidekick you’re obliged to invite to a party. That has ramped up lately amid the Korean meat wave in which Jeju-sourced hanwoo is elbowing wagyu out of pole position at premium grill outlets. 

Few put pork in the spotlight, and that’s what brings us to Um Yong Baek in the first place. 

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This Busan import has taken up shelf space in our brain since it opened in 2022, and has been unofficially rated as the kind of authentic eatery that Korean expats go to for a taste of home.

But the thought of squeezing alongside every second K-food fan into its original Boon Tat and Telok Ayer outlets kept us firmly on the sidelines.

Until now, that is, with the opening of its third and largest branch at Suntec City.

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Driven by a fear of missing out and a random social media post that says “go now while it’s still new and less crowded”, we show up at its faux-heritage surroundings – in a corner of the massive mall that requires topographical skills or a sympathetic passerby to find.

If you know your way around (and didn’t wander in from the Convention Centre entrance like we did) – it’s closer to Towers 3 and 4, facing the mall entrance closest to Promenade MRT station.

Look out for the wooden beams, rustic tables and utilitarian wooden bench seating that spell budget heritage.

Then again, they’re not selling an upscale product. Um Yong Baek is deliberately mass market but with an eye on what counts – pork done well, in more ways than just on the grill.

Its claim to fame isn’t BBQ, but rice soup. Dwaeji gukbap is what it built its name on in Busan. Its first outlet in Singapore serves nothing but rich pork broth in various collagen-infused ways for lunch.

Dinner is where it has its way with the meat – touting a three-way ageing process that turns regular pork into succulent cuts that are doppelgangers for their Korean-born kin.

The focus on pork leaves little room for the kind of banchan we’ve come to expect from Korean eateries. They don’t even serve red kimchi – just white pickled cabbage leaves that actually work better when lightly torched and wrapped over a piping hot nugget of pork jowl. Who knew that juicy meat in a tangy vegetable blanket could be such a flavour bomb?

The menu is no-frills: a combination of pork cuts designed to serve two people and up, with the option to go a la carte or add on a 150 g serving of diced ribeye for S$60.

Four not-very-appealing side dishes, a few noodle and rice options, and that’s it. You sit, they cook, you put it in your mouth. You may regret ordering the mushrooms stuffed with duxelles – neither Korean nor tasty.

Collar, belly and jowl (priced from S$84) provide different levels of juiciness, fat and bounce. The collar has the best bite, although the jowl has a cleaner finish.

Variety comes from the seasonings. An intense anchovy sauce, like a concentrated jjigae cooked down with sardines, delivers umami. Raw onion and a dab of barley miso give a different kind of intensity.

In between, mix and match with lettuce and ssamjang, raw garlic, green chilli or just salt.

There’s an efficient but rushed, assembly-line feel to the service, and our server is sweet but prone to overcooking as if she were on a bacteria-eradicating mission. The pork loses some moisture in the process, but not unacceptably so. Maybe the three-way ageing helped.

Take a palate break with spicy, bisque-like crab ramyeon (S$15), with a whole crab left in the broth as proof of flavour.

A pot of steaming rice tossed with little clams, soybean sprouts and seaweed, served with nori and soy sauce on the side, is the ramyeon’s gentler cousin.

Oh, and there is no dessert, either.

We haven’t been to the original outlets, but any indie vibe Um Yong Baek might have had seems lost in the expansion – it feels just like a restaurant chain now. Big and cheerless, it’s literally a pork-in, pork-out meal and nothing else. 

Think of it as a pitstop on your BBQ journey, while you hold out for a bigger reward further down the path.

Rating: 6