SBCD Tofu House- an Uplifting and Complete Meal

Besides the Korean BBQ, I think the next most popular dish would probably be the Soondubu Jigae (순두부찌개). This soft tofu stew is a complete meal by itself and is a hit especially on a cold winter day.

The restaurant is conveniently located directly above the Tanjong Pagar mrt at the newly opened Tanjong Pagar Centre. I like the spacious and brightly lit, minimalist decor. It has ample seats to serve the lunch time office crowd. But there is a private room that can comfortably seat 24 people, should you want one.

There are 10 different types of soon tofu on the menu. From Original to Seafood to the more unusual one like Intestines (this should be a hit with kway chap lovers). There is also one vegetarian, non spicy version- Sesame Soon Tofu. The 2 most recommended ones are the Assorted and Abalone Soon Tofu. For those who are apprehensive about Korea’s fiery chilli paste, gochujang, you will be pleased to know that there are 4 different spice level to choose from.

Assorted Soon TofuI ordered the Assorted Soon Tofu which consisted of beef, clam, shrimp and squid. Very similar to the Seafood Soon Tofu, save for the beef. The bowl was chock-a-block full of ingredients, including at least 2 large prawns. I love the robust, beefy taste which was tempered down with the seafood ingredients.

Abalone Soon TofuI honestly could not tell much difference in taste between Abalone Soon Tofu and the Seafood Soon Tofu but we were all thrilled at seeing the abalones. We forgot to count how many there were. ^^

The Sesame Soon Tofu was light and tasty but somehow, without the gochujang, it did not feel like soondubu to me. ^^ However, it is a good dish to introduce to juniors.

Sesame Soon TofuEach soon tofu is served with 5 side dishes or banchan- seaweed, kimchi, pickled green chilli, spicy squid strips and a whole croaker fish. The seaweed was exceptionally good- very light, crispy, fragrant and not too salty. The management has mentioned that there are plans to sell the seaweed later on. The fish was fleshy but a tad too salty for me. Giving away a whole fish as a banchan is very generous though. And although the fish is not refillable, the rest of the banchan, including the ultra delicious seaweed and kimchi are. Yumz

Each main course also comes with a whole bowl of hot stone rice, complete with corn tea, which has a very fragrant flavour. These rice has been set to cook up to exactly 15 minutes 20 seconds. It’s like a military procedure, especially needed when faced with large lunchtime crowd. The rice is served in a hot stone bowl, and scooped out into a metal bowl at the dining table. A thick crust of scorched rice (nuraungji) will remain in the hot stone bowl and corn tea is added into the hot stone bowl and covered to retain the heat to further cook the leftover rice. This rice porridge dish is nutritious and yummy. So if see burnt rice in your bowl, do not be alarmed and think that the kitchen has done a bad job. It’s meant to be burnt!

Rice cookers, precision military styleBut what we really want to discuss is the tofu. Because this is really it’s specialty.

The tofu is made fresh every morning. We were told that the chef comes in every morning at 7am to make the fresh tofu. We did wonder what happens if he is on leave…

That perfect egg with seasonging, all ready to go into the soon tofu 

The tofu is really soft, with just the right texture and the subtle bean taste. Very different from those store bought tofu.

Besides the soondubu, there are other dishes like the Spicy Grilled Chicken, Spicy Grilled Baby Octopus, Tteok Galbi and Tofu Pancake. The Spicy Grilled Baby Octopus was springy and chewy.

Spicy Grilled Baby Octopus 

Spicy Grilled Chicken

Tteok Galbi

Prawn Tofu PancakeBut the LA Galbi… Ahh… that was heaven. It’s soft, juicy, with just the right amount of fat in it. It’s so well flavoured that I would have been quite happy to just chew and lick the bones. Yumz..

LA GalbiAt an average of about $20 per dish for the soon tofu dishes, they are not the cheapest meal in town but is comparable to mid range restaurant prices. However, I think the Combo meal do offer value for money and can be easily shared between 2 person.

Go try it out today.

For more photos, please go to Seoul Rhythms’s FB here.

SBCD Korean Tofu House
Address: 7 Wallich Street, Tanjong Pagar Centre, #B1-01/02, Singapore 078884
Opening Hours: Monday through Sunday, 11.30am-10.00pm
Seating: Private Dining Area – 24 Seats (4 sections combined), 8 Seats (per section)
Main Dining Area – 96 Seats
Contact: 6386 6441
Email: sbcdsingapore@gmail.com
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