Food Review: Ssikkek Korean BBQ

Cuisine: Korean Barbecue

Price: $27 per person

Location: #01-01, Oriental Plaza, 291 New Bridge Road, 088756
Website: N/A

SO MUCH MEAT

There's a few Korean barbecues around Singapore which offer buffet style meals. I went to Ssikkek after seeing it highly recommended on HungryGoWhere.com. There was a queue outside the restaurant but since we were 2 people, we go a table right away.The interior was bland but serviceable.

Once you sit down you are free to choose whatever you want from the food table. There are a varieties of cuts of raw meat including pork loin, chicken, bacon and beef steak. Seafood is limited to whole prawns and squid, which I noticed was frozen. This lead me to believe the meat is likely frozen as well. There was also quite a few vegetables offered, including lettuce (though I noticed a lot of the leaves were wilted and close to becoming rotten).There were a few pre cooked options including something similar to savoury pancake, a noodle dish (which was great) and some chicken in a sweet sauce. Dessert was limited to watermelon and orange. Free refills of drinks of soft drinks and iced tea were included in the price. Finally there were a variety of condiments such as chilli and oil to add some flavour.

Once you've chosen your raw ingredients you  place them on the grill to cook. It takes a while for the grill to heat up, roughly 20 minutes. In regards to the taste there isn't much to say, the meat is fine and it's ultimately quite plain fare. I find meat delicious and there was a nice variety, so I very much enjoyed the meal. If you are into body building, then this is the perfect place to bulk, unlimited meat for under $30! My enthusiasm for my meal was dampened by what I was about to see next.

Cockroaches. We were sitting by the windows when I noticed several cockroaches walking around the tables. I don't know whether they simply wandered in from outside, or this spoke of a serious sanitary problem in Ssikkek.

Ssikkek provides quantity paired with acceptable quality, with a variety of meat to chose from. However the lingering experience is one of disgust, from seeing those cockroaches wandering about the restaurant floor. As a result I can't recommend Ssikkek at all. Its not worth risking your health when there are other Korean barbecues out there.