(Jewel in) The Palace?

I wonder if the shopowners were trying to ride on the fame in the popular Korean Drama "Jewel in the Palace" also known as Da Chang Jin. I remember thinking how fantabulous the food looked. I didn't even enjoy the storyline, I just liked to watch her cook. After she stopped cooking and went on to medicine, suddenly the show's appeal skyrocketed downwards for me.

For the uninitiated, this drama caused a huge stir around the world and restaurants all over went crazy. The recipes in the show were adopted by restaurants. People sat up and noticed Korean food. I heard that there was even a restaurant in China where you were served by waitresses who looked like Da Chang Jin!

The Palace is possibly one of the cheapest Korean places you can find in Singapore. It's actually more like Korean fast-food, because you literally have to find your own table, queue at the counter, place an order and wait for them to deliver the food to you. It's MOS Burger style at MOS Burger speed. (Someone should really tell MOS Burger that their food is self-service but definitely not fast service) Yes so, The Palace isn't exactly the usual atas Korean restaurant.

CBD-goers will know that this place is packed packed packed during lunch hours and it is almost impossible to get a seat. Well, I don't think that the food here is really to-die-for, but it's convenient and (relatively) cheap Korean food.

I would say that the standard of food is actually ok, at least it tastes authentic. But it's definitely not high. It's somewhat like HK Cafe. They serve somewhat authentic HK food but its not exactly quality food. It's better than foodcourt standards but far from restaurants'.

Why do I say so? For one, my kimchi ramyuen is actually instant noodles. (see the resemblance to HK Cafe?) I even know which brand they use. It's NONGSHIM, the kind you can get at NTUC. And they're not shy about it, I've seen them opening boxes of Nongshim.

But for what it's worth, I like Nongshim. So I did like my ramyuen although it was a lil overcooked and I like my noodles "Q-Q" or as some of you more atas folk would say, "al dente".

It's definitely not value-for-money. Do your math; a packet of Nongshim costs 70c at NTUC, a bowl of ramyuen costs like 7,8bucks at The Palace. If you think gas and a few pieces of cabbage and labour costs for that 3min (or 5min here, since they overcooked the noodles) is worth 6,7bucks, then yea it's worth it.

That said, I would still pay for it, because sometimes you really just want a bowl of savoury piping hot noodles that hits the umami spot.

Sharon ordered the beef stew. I'm not sure what its called in Korean. Its like Bulgogi beef stew with glass noodles (tanghoon). I have a particular weakness for tanghoon. Especially the Korean ones. I think its magical how they absorb all that flavour and still remain so Q.

This was no exception. The noodles were soaking up all the delicious wonder. Every bite was a winning bite. I think these are even better than the Jap Chae, the stir-fried glass noodles. The texture of the glass noodles was excellent. It was so perfectly springy. When you bite into them, they are soft at first instance and then you meet with just a little resistance to complete that final clench. (I do realise of course that tanghoon is almost always like that but hey that's why I like tanghoon!)

We've had this before, it was good. We had this again today, it was still good. There's just something about that broth. It's very sweet, it's full-bodied, and it is also very savoury. The beef makes it very rich but it's still light because of the sweet broth. (I cannot overemphasis how sweet the broth is. It's like dessert.) The whole combination of the nectarine and meat-infused goodness is so very enticing. It's dainty and carnivorous. It's like when you eat it, there's this whole splash of lively flavours dancing upon your tongue. Heaven's what I feel.

What can I say? It may be Korean fast-food, but darn, it's one tasty dish.

The dishes came with kimchi. Unfortunately, the kimchi was unexciting. It was more sweet and salty than spicy. The perfect kimchi is a triangle with each edge governing sweet, salty and spicy respectively. Unfortunately, the proportions were off for this one.

This is some place I would go to for lunch once in a while when I'm craving something soupy and hearty, IF I am in the area. Not something I would travel across Singapore for. Whether there really is Jewel in The Palace? I'm not so sure though.

Nonetheless, it makes for a reasonable lunch place, and confirm-guarantee-plus-chop a lot better than a lot of so-called restaurants in the basement.

The Palace Korean Restaurant

Chevron House

30 Raffles Place

#B1-03A