You will know by now that K-BBQ place Koggi- at Suntec City- is a particular favorite of mine.
How many times I've written about this place, I don't know, but I make an occasion out of every trip that we dine there, and never one time has it been that I fail to take a picture, or- to the very least- try.
Some of you will be wondering just what it is that makes me take pictures of what seems to be the same food every time.
But, see, F&B is never constant, and in the same way, the offerings here at Koggi are not necessarily always the same.
If you don't know yet, Koggi is one place that offers not just meats for your at-table charcoal grill, it also offers the condiments, the vegetables, and- most significantly- the cooked food.
it has become an expectation that every K-BBQ place will offer you a variety of kimchi (cucumber, radish, cabbage, the like), that there will be heaps of lettuce (to wrap your meat in), and the abundance of sesame oil, and salt, to dip your meat in.
But, cooked food, now that's another matter altogether.
It's not always available everywhere.
I have made no bones that the cooked food selection is one of the main reasons why I like coming here.
So it might not be the culture-rich foods of Korean banchan- the side dishes that they are ubiquitous for- but there's something very charming about walking in and seeing a huge serving bowl of well-fried chicken nuggets, plus another huge serving bowl of crinkle cut french fries, along with steamed rice in the cooker, and soup in the pot.
In the same way too I am often charmed by the rest of the cooked food they offer.
On some days there's japchae. On other days there's spaghetti. There might be times where you get braised pork belly. There might be times where you get deep fried battered chicken fillet.
It's not always the same.
I won't say I don't fancy spaghetti, but I have a stronger liking for the japchae, and I always end up with two bowls of them sweet potato noodles whenever they're there.
But if they not be there, I am a big fan of the tteokbokki which over here they include spongy bean curd skins all stirred within the sauce of red pepper gochujang.
Of course I won't miss out of the macaroni salad- thankfully they always seem to have it- and although it's kinda Western, it has become one of my favorites, and I love it sprinkled with sea salt that I get from the other counter there.
This afternoon I helped myself to the tteokbokki, the macaroni salad, and a couple of the fries.
I know, it's funny to fill oneself up with the carbs of potato french fries, but those crinkle cuts looked fun, the fries looked like they had a nice bite, and I really wanted to try.
I am not here just for the cooked food alone, of course.
There are the meats.
Koggi's meat menu for the BBQ buffet includes Beef Thin Sliced Short Plate, Thin Sliced Pork Belly, Pork Belly, Soy Sauce Marinated Chicken Galbi, Spicy Marinated Chicken Galbi, and Soy Sauce Marinated Pork Collar.
I think we've tried everything- pork collar all- but these days we've whittled it all down to our favorites- the Thin Sliced Pork Belly, the Soy Sauce Marinated Chicken Galbi, and the Beef Thin Sliced Short Plate.
Simple as it might sound, it's just something that we order time after time after time.
Do I sound like I'm complaining?
No, absolutely not.
Tis' a blessing, I say, to be able to have a few platters of our favorite meats every time we come.
I love how they always bring the meat perfectly stacked, perfectly rolled, perfectly chilled to our table. It makes the diner feel better knowing that the meat is out fresh from the freezer, not sitting out there in a tray under a cover for some time.
Come to think of it, there has never been a time where our meats came out sloppy and half-thawed.
It is a different story though as we grill through all them different plates of meat. Sometimes we manage to grill four, five slices at a go. Other times, however, we do a mix- two of this, two of that- and watch- one eye on the grill, one eye on the serving plates- as the slices become floppier whilst they thaw under the warm wisps of smoke emanating from the grill.
I don't usually eat my meats with the salt and sesame oil (although I sometimes do) but a regular dip of Greek style plain yogurt stirred with miso paste, and garlic powder that make the meats taste marinated when they actually aren't.
Yogurt aside, there's one more thing that I love to eat my meats with.
Kimchi.
A single piece- Cabbage usually- placed into the slice of the gorgeously grilled meat, rolled up, has become one of my favorite ways to have K-BBQ.
I love how the juice bursts out from the fermented vegetable as I bite into the meat.
I love how the flavors of the beef or pork get mixed with the spicy, sour flavors of the kimchi.
And I love how comfortable it is to feel the mush of the vegetable blend with the chew of the meat.
Honestly, it doesn't matter whether or not the kimchi is fresh kimchi, or store-bought chilled kimchi. The effects (especially the digestives) all work the same.
But after this one time when they began serving a huge dish of fresh kimchi, the taste, oh my goodness me, so different.
Gotta admit, I think I like the crunch, and the taste, of fresh kimchi better.