Plaza Singapura is one among my most common haunts. On my most up-to-date go to, I observed a brand new Korean restaurant within the basement, and shortly came upon that it was Pocha!’s latest outlet, which opened on 14 Nov 2022.

Man, let me let you know— I’m past stoked that this pojangmacha-inspired Korean restaurant has lastly expanded to a extra central location! I used to be fortunate sufficient to have visited its first outlet in Northpoint City which opened on 5 Jun 2022, and its genuine Korean meals blew me away to the purpose that I had dreamed of its sundubu in my sleep. Not kidding.

P.S. Flash the photograph on the finish of this text for a free plate of Tteokbokki (price S$10.90)!

I’ve walked previous this actual pair of escalators a lot that it shocked me to see one among my favorite Korean eating places right here. 

You undoubtedly can’t miss Pocha!’s latest outlet. Apart from it being the closest pair of escalators from the MRT that’ll lead you to the higher flooring of Plaza Singapura, Pocha!’s vibrant crimson decor and neon-lit signages will definitely catch your eye.

Pocha! is impressed by Korea’s pojangmacha scene, and for those who’ve ever been to Korea or watched sufficient Korean dramas, you’ll know precisely what I’m speaking about. 

It’s these small tentages alongside the road that promote quite a lot of avenue meals akin to jjajangmyeon, tteokbokki or gimbap, and it’s typically the place the place your favorite oppa, hyung or eonni head to on a wet night to drown their sorrows with a number of bottles of soju. Behind the folds of the plastic tarp is an ajumma, bustling round a steaming range.

Pocha!’s atmosphere is impressed by that, and you may undoubtedly see parts of the everyday pojangmacha by way of its decor— fairylights streaming throughout the ceiling, neon-lit signages, tent-like buildings with “wheels”, and a handful of murals depicting scenes from a pojangmacha.

What I attempted at Pocha!

The first dish I began out with was Pocha!’s Tteokbokki (S$10.90). 

Also generally known as Korean rice muffins, this can be a conventional Korean avenue meals merchandise, and is a must have everytime you’re visiting a pojangmacha. Pocha!’s rendition encompasses a house-made spicy sauce, which is doused over rice muffins, fish muffins and half a boiled egg.

Saucy and spicy, every mouthful was paired with deliciously chewy rice muffins which jogged my memory of mochi. I may style the thickness of the gochujang paste, which added a candy pepperiness. 

This was such an indulgent aspect dish that I’d gladly order once more, particularly when sharing with a bunch of buddies.

Pocha! additionally gives Chunky Tteok (S$18.90), which is actually zhng-ed tteokbokki, because it contains the addition of huge chunks of boneless fried rooster and torched mozzarella cheese.

Though the cheese pull impact wasn’t there, as a fried rooster sort of lady, I’ve acquired to say that the inclusion of those thick, enormous sq. chunks of fried meat added such a considerable meaty chew to your complete dish. Not to say, the mozzarella cheese gave a tinge of milky creaminess to the thick sauce, chopping by way of its richness.

One of Pocha!’s signature dishes is its Bulgogi, aka Korean stir-fried meat. These delectable slices of meat can be found in three varieties: Chicken (S$9.90), Pork (S$11.90) and Beef (S$12.90), with flavour choices starting from Kimchi, Spicy Jeyuk, Bulgogi Sauce to Hangari.

We tried the Pork Bulgogi in Spicy Jeyuk sauce. 

Marinated in a mix of gochugaru, gochujang and loads of garlic, this turned out to be one among our favorite objects of the day due to how succulent every slice of pork was. It had been stir-fried over an open flame with onions and leek, creating a mixture of mildly spicy and salty flavours.

Another flavour choice it’s best to undoubtedly strive is the Hangari. Hangari is a conventional Korean earthenware jar that’s generally used for preserving fermented or pickled meals and sauces. 

In this explicit pork stir-fry dish, Pocha! used its house-made hangari soy sauce to create tantalisingly candy but savoury slices of tender pork. It jogged my memory of roasted soy sauce or teriyaki, and went fantastically properly with a bowl of white rice.

Similar to Pocha!’s Northpoint City outlet, its latest location at Plaza Singapura additionally gives a variety of soups and stews, starting from the all-time favorite Samgyetang (S$18.90) to my private favorite, the spicy Sundubu (S$14.90).

I loved the Sundubu’s wealthy, full-bodied and spicy flavours, which warmed my stomach immediately. I additionally liked how there was all kinds of elements within the stew, starting from minced pork, clams, zucchini, enoki, and thick and tremendous satisfying chunks of sentimental tofu (my private favorite).

If you’ve watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo (particularly Episode 14), you may recall that our favorite attorneys had launched into a mission in Jeju to search out the unique chef behind a bowl of noodles.  

Well, the oldsters behind Pocha! (who’re clearly avid Okay-drama followers too) have been impressed by the bowl of noodles in that episode and determined to give you their very own model: Jeju Gogi Guksu (S$17.90), aka black pork noodle soup with pork stomach.

This dish makes use of pork bones to create a broth that’s amazingly mild, milky and mildly candy. I may style hints of ginger, which helped so as to add an appetising perfume to every sip. 

It jogged my memory of broth at first of a steamboat session— clear and lightweight, but barely candy. This is certainly extra suited in direction of of us preferring milkier soups that aren’t so wealthy or flavourful.

Because of the broth’s intensive cooking strategies, do observe that this dish is out there in restricted portions per day.

To fulfill all of your carb cravings, Pocha! gives two varieties of rice dishes: Bibimbap (Korean blended rice) and Bokkeumbab (Korean fried rice).

We determined to strive the Hangari Bokkeumbab (S$9.90), and went with Chicken (+S$3) for our selection of protein.

This plate of Korean fried rice got here with Pocha!’s signature hangari soy sauce, and had been stir-fried over a wok to deliver out acquainted smoky wokhei flavours in every chew. No surprise this tasted much like XO fried rice from zi char stalls! I liked the inclusion of seaweed, which added a candy umami contact, in addition to the beneficiant quantity of silky crushed egg. 

The final dish that we acquired to strive was a Korean avenue meals favorite: Corndog (S$6.90), which encompasses a deep-fried Korean corndog filled with cheese and sausage.

This was such an attention-grabbing dish. The high of the corndog was filled with cheese whereas the underside was crammed with a rooster sausage, so there was a possible for one thing new with each chew. The thick and crunchy corndog batter was an actual surprise, and made for a brilliant satisfying mouthfeel.

What’s a Korean meal with out some soju? 

Pocha! gives two varieties of soju: Jinro Chamisul (S$18.90) and Jinro Green Grape (S$18.90), however for those who’re up for it, additionally they provide the all-time favorite Make Your Own Soju Bomb (S$28.90), which comes with a bottle of Jinro Chamisul and two bottles of Terra Beer.

With a easy knock of a glass, the photographs of soju fell over and landed within the glasses of beer! This was an actual crowd-pleaser, and you may guess that I whipped out my telephone to seize the second on Instagram. 

I particularly liked that Pocha! had used somaek glasses which indicated the proper ranges of soju and beer, such that we may high up our glasses in a while our personal.

As a thanks to SethLui.com readers, the oldsters at Pocha! might be giving out a free plate of Tteokbokki (aka Korean rice muffins, U.P. S$10.90). All it’s a must to do is flash the above digital voucher to the workers, and voila!

Note that this promotion requires a minimal spend of S$20 and is proscribed to 1 plate per desk. This promotion might be obtainable at each Pocha!’s Plaza Singapura and Northpoint City retailers until 15 Dec 2022. 

Final ideas

If you’re on the lookout for genuine Korean avenue meals, remember to pop by Pocha!’s latest outlet at Plaza Singapura. Seriously, I can’t start to let you know how excited I’m that this fabulous Korean avenue meals eating restaurant has lastly expanded to someplace extra centrally situated. This manner, I don’t have to journey to Yishun anymore to fulfill my tteokbokki or bulgogi cravings.

Out of all of the dishes I attempted at Pocha!’s Plaza Singapura outlet, those that impressed me essentially the most have been its Chunky Tteok and Pork Bulgogi. All that’s left is to pair it with one more bottle of soju, and that virtually fulfils the situations for a superbly good time.

Expected harm: S$14 – S$25 per pax

* This article was dropped at you in partnership with Pocha!.

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