Finally completed the last of my IB examinations today (yipee!) so my sisters and I decided to have a mini celebration in town -  Korean BBQ at Dhoby Ghaut!

I'm Kim Korean BBQ is famous amongst students and young adults for its cheap and affordable rates. The spacious restaurant is well-suited for large-scale gatherings for family and friends, encapsulating the true essence of a Korean family restaurant.

In this case, it was just three of us sisters, but the table we were given could comfortably fit 5-6 people, so thumbs-up for the level of comfort as we feasted and dined for the 1.5 hours that we were there.

Why 1.5 hours? There isn't usually a time limit imposed but for today's meal we happily made use of an ongoing Students' Promotion:

Photo courtesy of I'm Kim Korean BBQ Facebook Page

And for such a deal, surely there would be throngs of customers waiting to dine so a time limit had to be given - and the duration was more than enough for us to relish the goodies that were waiting for us!

Goodies!

Gotta love I'm Kim's publicity technique

The restaurant has what I would refer to as 6 main stations:
(1) Cooked Food Station
Local delights such as Korean Glass Noodles (Jab-chae/잡채) and Spicy Rice Cake (Ddeokbokki/떡볶이) were presented, the former of which I loved a lot! I am not a big fan of korean rice cakes, but my younger sister who is did not fancy the ones in I'm Kim so I have reservations about that. I also tried their OMG Fried Rice, which tastes oddly similar yet dissimilar to our beloved claypot rice. The carbonara was a good distractor but the heavy taste of the sauce made me much fuller than I had expected to be, so that is one dish I suggest you not try. Other cooked food included CP Chicken Wings (brand endorsement I'm guessing - but tasty nonetheless) , Popcorn Chicken, Potato Wedges as well as Pumpkin Croquettes. 
If you like pumpkin, you must try the pumpkin croquettes because the ones I had were the best I had ever tasted. If you don't like pumpkin, I certainly recommend you to give these little ones a chance and they might introduce you to a whole new perspective on pumpkins. Yay croquettes!

(2) Raw Meat Station
Much to my disappointment, the variety was sparse and I found myself going back to the same few types of meat after rounds of sampling and elimination. If I remember carefully, there was only about 7 kinds available, which might seem like a lot, but it is a value that pales in comparison to Seoul Garden's diverse selection of meat. For a BBQ restaurant, I find that quantity is severely lacking, although quality is definitely on point.
There was a particular flavour of chicken called 'Volcano Chicken', and from the name you should be able to tell what kind of taste it had. Sure enough, it was spicy, but not 'volcano-erupting' kind of spicy, so I was rather disappointed. In retrospect the spicy CP chicken wing was more deserving of the 'Volcano' title than the marinated chicken itself.
There was only one type of beef available, but it was not very palatable according to my sisters (I don't eat beef so I can't judge)
For the pork, there was the renown pork belly and pork collar, and some other flavour I might have forgotten. I do remember a garlic chicken, which was equally as satifsying as the other foodstuff I had but the star of the meats was indefinitely the Pork Belly. 

Pork Belly with Garlic Chicken piled on top!

Recently I've been watching my diet in preparation for prom (as well as to keep fit) but the succulent strips of pork belly couldn't stop flying into my mouth! The raw pork belly itself looks appetizing with the tessellation of meat and fats - the cooked one only served to be more enticing when wrapped in fresh lettuce provided by the restaurant.




As I walked past tables of happy eaters I saw plates full of pork bellies and I had expected the tray of pork belly to be empty whenever I visited the raw meat section, but to my  surprise the staff was very efficient at topping the meat up. Thumbs up for speedy service!

(3) Soup Section
Alas, I was so busy stuffing my face with food that I completely forgot about the soup section and by the time I wanted to get to the soups, our one and a half hours were gone. My sister however had the Korean Ginseng Soup and said that it was tasty, so here's something to look forward to during my next visit!

(4) Vegetables Section
This was probably the most deserted counter of all sections, but I am lucky I visited it because the variety was considerably satisfactory. There were even pumpkin slices, much to my delight. Golden straw mushrooms are a staple, and they were provided alongside bundles of fresh lettuce leaves. Other vegetables like brinjal and radish were available... And of course, the indispensable kimchi! 


(5) Drinks Section
I was pleased with this area because there were special drinks apart from the typical soda dispensed from a Pepsi/Cola machine. The Korean Tea was bland in a refreshing way, and it helped to alleviate that greasy feeling in my mouth after scarfing down a few strips of pork belly. There was also mango and lime juice available, which I felt helped to whet my appetite as my sisters and I forged on halfway through the buffet. It would have been better if ice was available though!

(6) Salad/Desserts Section
One of my biggest regrets is not visiting this section because as mentioned it had completely slipped my mind - nonetheless I took a quick tour and the variety once again was pleasing, seeing that snacks such as edamame were provided, along with fruit cocktail as dessert. I missed the potato salad, which looked really appetizing and it pains me to say I never got a chance to try it! Still, this area of the restaurant has a great potential unfounded by yours truly, leading to a severely lacking review which I hope to furnish with more detail upon a second visit.




In a nutshell, I felt like I'm Kim is a successful restaurant, though if it were to depend entirely on its meat to survive, it might find itself to be insufficient because the bulk of my satisfaction is derived from the side dishes and drinks as a whole instead of solely the meat. To me, a good BBQ restaurant should have an outstanding protagonist (meat) with talented complementary characters (side dishes etc.) ... In this case, the cast was blended, but the result was great nonetheless as in my opinion, the pork belly really packed a punch and I truly, sincerely recommend this place to people who know they want good pork belly as well as a fulfilling satisfying meal of other Korean dishes. With I'm Kim's affordable rates, what's there to avoid if you need to satisfy some pork belly cravings?

I'm Kim Korean BBQ
1 Zubir Said Drive, School of the Arts
+65 6238 7218
Mon-Fri:
11:30-14:30
17:00-22:30
Sat- Sun:
11:30-15:30
17:00-22:30
http://www.imkim.sg
Facebook Page: I'm Kim Korean BBQ