The KBBQ Experience at Song Gye Ok Involves The Rarer Cuts Of Chicken

CONTENT: Michelle Ng

Song Gye Ok is famous for their long queues in Korea, with people lining up just for a taste of their chicken. We’re not talking about the renowned Korean Fried Chicken here, but the speciality cuts of chicken. If you’re into chicken hearts and all other parts of chicken, Song Gye Ok has opened their very first overseas branch here in Singapore along Telok Ayer Street.

The menu is very streamlined, with two platters of chicken cuts or ala carte cuts. The Assorted Grilled Chicken Platter is loaded with all six rare cuts, and is good for two to share. The platters comes with boneless chicken neck fillet, chicken gizzard, chicken heart, chicken breast softbone, chicken thigh, and chicken tenders, and are cooked over charcoal grills at your table.

The chickens are organic kampung chickens sourced from Singapore, so the meat is tender and fresh, and we could see the fresh blood from the chicken during the grilling. Even the breast softbone and chicken tenders which are usually tougher were grilled to juicy perfection.

Sides are best shared, and we recommend getting the Bibim Noodles as the cold noodles in a slightly spicy gochuchang sauce and crunchy vegetables as the coolness complements the grilled meats. Other sides include the Uiseong Garlic Fried Rice, a peppery, eggy, umami fried rice with chicken bits, and the SGO Cheongguk Doenjang Stew, a rich soybean stew with tofu.

Condiments on the tablet include garlic chilli, mustard greens, and white kimchi with fermented cheese that unexpectedly paired well with the grilled meats. The meats are grilled by the staff, who have been trained to grill each cut to its best as they all have the ideal grill times to ensure the flavours are at their optimum smokiness.

While the restaurant can improve their ventilation, Jisulife fans were provided at all tables to keep us cool as the tables had all grills working overtime. Or get the Earl Grey Highball, an earthy earl grey-infused gin and sparkling water cocktail that will chase the heat away. Guess this fits in with the brand’s cheeky tagline of “Waiting in Hell, Tasting in Heaven” because I would brave the heat for a taste of that breast softbone any day!

Song Gye Ok is located at 113 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068582. Open daily from 11am-3pm and 5-10pm, reservations are recommended.