There’s A $16.90++ Korean Griddle Buffet At Tampines Mall—Is It Worth Going?

POCHA Tampines has a $16.90++ Korean griddle buffet

My expectations for cheap buffets are kept low for a simple reason—I find that with such affordable prices, the variety and quality of food are often compromised. So when I heard of POCHA’s new K-Griddle Buffet in Tampines, priced from just $16.90++ per person, I was intrigued.  

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Drawing inspiration from pojangmacha—outdoor food stalls that populate the streets of Korea—POCHA serves up Korean street snacks such as hotteok and tteokbokki, alongside a small array of mains. This new buffet is only available at their Tampines Mall outlet, so we headed all the way to the East to give it a go. 

Do note that the buffet is priced at $16.90++ from 11:30am to 5pm on weekdays. During weekday dinners from 5pm to 8:30pm, and weekends from 11:30am to 8:30pm, the buffet is priced at $18.90++. There is a one-hour dining limit. 

Food at POCHA

Considering that prices start from just $16.90++, we were impressed by the extensive selection of food. For starters, there was a street food station, which comprised the likes of tteokbokki, french fries, gimmari AKA deep-fried seaweed rolls, and two types of fried chicken. 

For meat choices, you get pork collar, chicken, sausages, luncheon meat, crab stick, fishball, fishcake, and ngoh hiang. Do note that premium offerings such as beef oyster blade, as well as a seafood platter of mussels, clams, and squid require a $5++ top-up. 

For vegetables, the selection includes spinach, broccoli, long bean, celery, bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, enoki mushrooms, and tofu among others. Lastly, not forgetting the carbs, there’s Hangari Fried Rice, plain rice, as well as an extensive selection of instant noodles, which include several variations of Shin Ramyeon and Buldak Samyang.

The Korean buffet makes use of a Korean griddle, an iron appliance used to grill the various meats and vegetables by the table. This gives off a similar effect to what you would expect from a Korean BBQ experience, where the grilled items come with a smoky flavour.

Once you grab your choice of ingredients from the self-service display, the staff will fire up the griddle and pour in the broth. We got to try the kimchi and beef-based broths,  but felt that they were pretty diluted and not really worth talking about in length.

On to the fried lot, there were two types of Korean fried chicken: one of which was coated in a honey mustard sauce, while the other was coated in cheese powder. The meat was on the tougher side and required a fair bit of effort to tear apart, but that might be because we left the wings out for a while. 

As for flavour, the honey mustard wings had a nice touch of sweetness, and ended up being the superior option out of the two. 

The latter was coated in what seemed like a half-decent attempt to replicate BHC Chicken’s ‘Bburinkle’ seasoning—this version, however, was far less generous with the powdered cheese and ended up rather lacklustre. 

A staple appetiser I find myself ordering in every Korean restaurant is tteokbokki, as I enjoy how chewy, spicy, sweet, and savoury the rice cakes are. This rendition, however, ended up tasting rather one-dimensional. 

The sauce also leaned on the thinner side, like it came from an instant packet, which was rather disappointing. 

Our favourite of the fried food assortment were the seaweed rolls, which were crispy and packed with a medley of chives, carrots, and glass noodles. 

Despite its simplicity, it was flavourful and not overly greasy. I might be slightly biased, though, as almost anything that utilises a generous amount of seaweed is bound to impress me. 

Fried stuff aside, let’s dive straight into whether we thought the top-ups were worth the additional cost. 

We found the particular cut of oyster blade beef to be much more tender and rich as compared to the other meats in the selection. 

Though the beef was a stand out, the seafood options were pretty disappointing. We found that the squid boasted a nice chew, but the shellfish were overly briny and tough. 

Overall, we found that the top-ups were not really worth the price, as the default meat options that were included in the lowest tier were already plenty. 

While the instant noodle selection was generous, what stole the spotlight for me was the Hangari Fried Rice. 

This well-seasoned fried rice was essentially egg fried rice topped with strips of seaweed. I found myself going back for seconds to enjoy it with the various grilled meats. 

I also helped myself to generous amounts of kimchi, hoping it would be the saving grace of the meal. As someone who has had lots of subpar kimchi, POCHA’s kimchi was decent. Though it was not as fermented as I would have liked, every bite was refreshingly tangy. Saving grace it was indeed, and I enjoyed pairing it with every piece of meat I picked up. 

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While we had a pretty substandard experience thus far, my biggest gripe with the whole experience was probably the griddle. As the surface of the griddle was flat, it could not really contain much of the soup. Due to this, we had to constantly reduce the flame to prevent it from boiling over, which meant that we had to wait longer for our items to be cooked. 

Ambience at POCHA

If you have been to a POCHA joint before, you would be familiar with their usual interiors, which include stool chairs and vibrant colours splashed across the walls. There is also a good variety of four-seater and six-seater tables, which are suitable for seating large groups.

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The main selling point of the buffet is definitely its affordability. For under $20, you get to choose from a good variety of meat, vegetables, carbs, fried snacks, drinks, and even ice cream. Though I am not ready to cease my search for the best cheap buffet just yet, POCHA is a pretty good placeholder in the meantime—especially for Easties. 

Unfortunately, the decent price and extensive variety are the only factors of the buffet that stood out to me. The quality of the various components is average at best, and I would rather fork out a bit more cash for a better Korean meal elsewhere.  

Although the service at POCHA was pretty speedy, the staff seemed to be relatively uninterested in attending or accommodating us, which left us feeling quite unsettled. Perhaps we caught them on a bad day.

Kudos to POCHA for the value-for-money Korean buffet nevertheless! 

For more cheap buffets, check out our guide to the best cheap buffets in Orchard from $20, including Korean BBQ and hotpot. If you’re a Westie craving for some delicious Korean fare, check out our list of the best Korean restaurants in the West for Korean fried chicken, hearty stews, and more.

Address: 4 Tampines Central 5, B1-02, Tampines Mall, Singapore 525910
Opening hours: Daily 11:30am to 10pm
Website
POCHA is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Tao Zhi Tan.
This was a media tasting at Pocha.