Paik’s Noodle Review: Famous Korean Jjajangmyeon, Jjampong And More In Suntec

Paik’s Noodle is a famous Korean restaurant in Suntec City

Celebrity chef Paik Jong Won’s world-famous Paik’s Noodle has finally opened on our shores, after the success of Paik’s Bibim has seen five outlets spring up across the island. Not to be outdone, we headed to Suntec City to see if his famed noodle dishes are worth the hype.

If you’ve never heard of Paik’s Noodle, they’ve got more than 270 outlets spread across 10 countries worldwide, including USA, Japan and Australia. It’s but one brand under the celebrated South Korean chef’s belt, whose combined restaurant franchises boast more than 1,000 outlets in Korea alone. He’s also the host of multiple Korean cooking shows, and even has his own Netflix show!

Food at Paik’s Noodle

The star dish at Paik’s Noodle is their Tang Suyuk (from $21+), which features deep-fried pork with cabbage and sliced carrots in a light, sweet and sour sauce. You can opt for the sauce to be served on the side, which would be good if you’re dining with friends who aren’t fans of the sweet-sour combination. This also allows the pork to stay crisp for longer—I have to admit that it was well-fried, and looked tantalisingly crunchy when fresh.

I’m not a fan of sweet and sour, and this didn’t change my mind; my colleague professed to preferring the zi char version better too. Objectively, the sauce felt a little too thin, and leaned more tangy. However, if you don’t like the Chinese style of sweet and sour pork for its heavy-tasting, thicker dressing, this might be just up your alley.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the Gochu Yuringi ($23+) very much. This was presented as a large cutlet of deep-fried, boneless chicken, which I liked for the thin batter.

It’s served with a soya-based dressing that’s loaded with minced garlic plus sliced red and green chilli. The menu describes this sauce as sweet-sour, but it was more savoury than either of those. Even poured over the fried chicken, we both felt it enhanced, rather than distracted, from the fried chicken.

Moving on to the noodles, we ordered Paik’s famous Jajang Myeon ($11+). You can upsize this for $3+, but the regular portion is already pretty massive. The noodles are said to be handmade fresh daily, and the house-made sauces all imported directly from South Korea.

We were slightly disappointed by this when we ate it, but it has to be disclaimed that we had this only when it was cold: the black bean sauce lacked the depth and smokiness that I was expecting, and there wasn’t enough of it to thoroughly coat the noodles. I did spy many other tables tossing theirs when hot, and it seemed to do the job much better—so dig in quick.

The noodles stood up well even when the dish was cold, still retaining a springy bite when we ate it after shooting. I expect it would go really well in Jjamppong ($14+), which was already sold out on our visit, though it was just an hour after opening.

I did get to try the jjamppong soup, which is served on the side with Jajang Bap ($13+): the rice version of JJM, topped with a scallion omelette.

The jjamppong soup was nicely rich, and full of vegetables, baby octopus, pork slices and more, all of which added flavour and depth to the piquant soup.

P.S.: have the jajang bap rice with the soup if you’re a fan of pao fan.

After the lacklustre JJM, I was unexcited about the jajang bap, but the black bean sauce here proved to be more intense, perhaps because I dished it onto each spoonful, and so was able to have more of it in each bite. They were also more generous with the sauce here than with the noodles. It’s full of onions, but I did wish there was more meat and chunky potatoes in this.

Ambience at Paik’s Noodle

Paik’s Noodle can be found at the Fountain of Wealth in Suntec City, which is directly connected to both Promenade MRT Station and Esplanade MRT Station. Just a short eight-minute walk away through City Link Mall is City Hall MRT Station. The eatery is not big, seating approximately 50 diners a turn, but its location means every table gets a view of the fountain, and is extremely well-lit with natural light.

The verdict

I’m not the most sold on the JJM here, but I’d definitely return for the jjamppong, if the small bowl of soup I had with the jajang bap is anything to go by. The Gochu Yuringi is also worth coming back for, if I don’t have to wait in line to get in. With its central location, I’m sure there will continue to be a crowd for this hit Korean eatery.

Check out ilmiri Korean Fusion Cuisine in Clarke Quay for cheese jjimdak; another Korean brand that’s just opened in Singapore is Compose Coffee!

Address: 3 Temasek Boulevard, B1-177/177A, Suntec City, Singapore 038983
Opening hours: Daily 11am to 9pm
Website
Paik’s Noodle is not a halal-certified eatery.

Photos taken by Daryl Lim.
This was a media tasting at Paik’s Noodle.