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| Nanta BBQ |
Nanta BBQ
is a Korean Restaurant that open its door in Singapore in December
2014. Nanta combines traditional Korean dishes such as its BBQ meat
and stew, with modern and fusion Korean cuisine such as incorporating
cheese in their dishes. Located in Goldhill Centre, facing the
Thomson Road, the Nanta BBQ can be easily recognised by their cool
pig mascot.
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| Nanta BBQ Mascot |
The décor
is minimalist but spacious. Light wooden colour was the main theme
and materials used to decorate the place. Each of the table can fit
up to 4 person, however it also easy to combine to cater to bigger
crowd.
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| The Dining Area |
There
were 9 types of banchan (side dishes) served during that day. Ranging
from the aged kimchi and fresh kimchi, beans sprout, fish cake,
Gyeran Mari (Korean egg rolls) and salads. The kimchis are a hit on
our tables, especially with LD and another dining partner.
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| Side Dishes and BBQ Condiments |
For
starters, we begin with Cajun Chicken Salad. This is a new dish in
Nanta. Combination of boneless fried chicken piece with raw salad,
mayonnaise and onion. The chicken was succulent and made a refreshing
combination with the salad. It can be better if the chicken is
crispier to provide a contrasting texture to the dish.
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| Cajun Chicken Salad |
For the
grill meat, we have Wagyu Short Ribs ($35 for 200 gram), Aged Black
Pork / Kurobuta Pork Belly ($29 for 200 gram) and Kurobuta Pork
Collar ($29 for 200 gram). The wagyu short ribs was grill using cast
iron pan in front of us. It has a nice marbling and grilled to about
medium. To accentuate the flavour, I dipped it in the mixture of salt
and sesame oil. While it was tender and juicy, it is missing the
melts in your mouth feeling or what I called the #beefgasm.
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| Wagyu Short Ribs |
The porky
went through two steps of cooking. First, it was grilled over high
quality charcoal in the kitchen up to 80% cooked and finished at the
table so it create thick smoke like a normal BBQ restaurant. While it
is good to consider not smoking the customers, it causes the pork to
contract during the changes in cooking temperature (hot – cold –
hot) therefore the meat become slightly chewy. We suggest to just
cook it 100% in one location, the kitchen or in front of the
customers. We guarantee that it will produce a more succulent and
tender kurobuta pork.
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| Anti-Clockwise from Top Right: Kurobuta Pork Belly, Kurobuta Pork Collar, 80% cooked Pork Collar & Pork Belly; Pork Collar Final Grill |
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| Ready to Eat: Pork Collar & Pork Belly |
Moving to
the Fusion dishes, we sample their Cheese Deng-galbi (Cheese Pork
Spare Ribs). It comes in two different set. The set A ($55) is just a
spicy pork spare ribs, tok-bokki with melted cheese. While Set B
($58), you have additional cheese egg, cheese corn, potato and
spaghetti carbonara. The pork ribs are quite spicy, however roll with
the cheese, it subdue the spiciness level will providing a creamy
chewy texture to it. You must try the tok-bokki / rice cake as well,
as it absorbs the sauce that the ribs was cooked it.
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| Cheese Deng-galbi (Cheese Pork Spare Ribs) Set A Top Left & Right: Cheese Pork Spare Ribs; Cheese 50% melted Bottom Left & Right: Coating the Pork Ribs with Cheese; the Final product |
For set
B, the spaghetti was al-dente and creamy, while the corn cheese is
sweet and creamy. LD like the egg as it was slowly cooked and moist.
I also tried the unique combination of boiled potatoes with melted
cheese. The set B is actually something you can order when you bring
your kids or any non-spicy eater. It has enough variety that suited
for everyone’s taste buds. In case the set is not tummy satisfying,
you can add another $12 for Spam mixed rice to go with your Set A or
Set B.
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| Cheese Deng-galbi (Cheese Pork Spare Ribs) Set B |
If spare
ribs are not your thing, you can try the cheese Tok-bokki ($18). The
spicy version of the red pepper rice cake, topped with mozzarella
cheese and torched until the cheese melted. Not only it has a plus
point for WOW factor, it also provide a unique charred flavour on the
cheese. LD says its good, the rice cake absorbs gravy well and those
who like the chewy rice cake, will enjoy this dish.
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| Cheese Rice Cake |
Of course a Korean dinner won't be complete without their stew dishes. We sample three of their dishes: Seafood Budae Jjigae (Traditional army stew using beef broth with Seafood); the inspired healthy version, tomato Budae Jjigae ($42 - using chicken broth and milk); and Bullak-jeongol ($45 – Beef Bulgogi and Octopus).
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| Bullak-jeongol (Beef Bulgogi and Octopus) |
These
stews are just mammoth in size, which can easily satisfy 4 to 6
person. Each of the ingredients are neatly arrange in the pot before
the broth were added. The beef bulgogi and octopus have a robust and
sweet texture to the broth. The beef are tender and flavourful while
the octopus was a tad more springy compare to what I prefer,
especially near the end of the tentacles.
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| the inspired healthy version, tomato Budae Jjigae (using chicken broth and milk) |
Surprisingly,
the healthy version of army stew is something that I might incline to
order in the future. It has a mild level of spiciness, while the
sourness will stimulate your palate. The ingredients such as fish
cake, tofu and spam are closely similar to the original army stew,
however I feel it was missing the instant noodle in it. Meanwhile LD
enjoys the Seafood Budae Jjigae, especially the freshness of the crab
and cuttlefish. Not so much of the big headed bean sprout though.
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| Seafood Budae Jjigae (Traditional army stew using beef broth with Seafood) |
Overall,
the food served by Nanta is very interesting. We really enjoy their
cheese influenced fusion dishes as well as their stews. If we order
the bbq next time around, we will just ask them to do the cooking at
the back all in one shot. There are some little things that can be
improve, other than that it is a good place for some Fusion Korean
BBQ and stew. Cheers!!
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| Cheese Soonsal Chicken With Additional Kimchi Fried Rice and Fish Roe which we did not manage to try ($46) |
Thank you
very much Nanta BBQ and H3(Cube) for the tasting invitation.
Food
& Drink: 7.5/10
Value:
7.5/10
Service:
n/a
Ambiance:
7.5/10
Budget
per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80
Nanta BBQ
175 Thomson Road
#01-175/177 Goldhill
Centre
Singapore 307624
(Facing Thomson Road)
T: +65 6258 1391
IG: #nantabbq
OH: Daily 11.30 –
15.00; 18.00 – 23.00
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