Updated: 3rd Feb 2015; This restaurant is closed.

Someone else’s rice cake looks always bigger
~ Korean Proverb

Helen was telling Suanne about a good Korean restaurant that we absolutely must try. She told us that the restaurant is located behind the Sheraton on Alexandra Road and is called something like Mother-in-law Restaurant. She also told us something interesting about the Korean culture — when the husband visits the in-laws, the husband is normally treated very well … so well that the mother-in-law will prepare a feast for the son-in-law. Hence, the best feast is referred to as the mother-in-law special. (Any Korean able to verify this?)

It was really confusing for us locating this place. It is because the English name of this restaurant we went to is called the Jang Mo Jib Restaurant. We couldn’t read Korean but at least Suanne recognized the small Chinese translation on the signboard.

Walking in, we were impressed because the decor was very nice with large wall-to-wall pictures of Korean lifestyles. Helen told us the price for each dish were on the average $7-$8 and looking at the settings in the restaurant, it sure looked more expensive. Reading the menu, most of the dishes were indeed as Helen said although there were some dishes that were over $20 per person. We stuck to the cheaper dishes and ordered three different dishes.

Sul Lung Thang (Soup)

The Sul Lung Tang is a soup of cow bones and meat, simmered for several hours in a jumbo Korean iron pot until the soup is milky-white. This dish is served with two smaller bowls of coarse salt and chopped green onions. The coarse salt is used to season the soup depending on how you like it. Without the salt, the soup is quite bland.

The soup also has some glass noodle and thinly sliced beef. Serving is large and more than enough for an adult. If you have never tried the Sul Lung Thang, you should. This is the restaurant’s signature dish. Price? $7.95.

Soon Doo Boo (Tofu Soup)

The Soon Doo Boo is a thick spicy stew made with soft tofu. There are several types of Sonn Doo Boo — we ordered the Assorted Seafood and Beef version which contain prawns, mussels and eggs. You can order this dish either extra spicy, mild or not spicy.

The dish is served with steam rice and five separate side dishes. This is what is typically referred to as a Banshang setting. That was a lot of food and the dishes almost filled the entire table. This dish is truly value for money ($8.95). We like Kimchi a lot and were glad to see a good dish of kimchi served — very crunchy and not too acidic. For the first time eating in a Korean restaurant, the kimchi were served with a pair of scissors (used to cut it in bite-sized pieces).

Kahl Gook Soo

The Kahl Gook Soo is boiled flat noodles, usually in a broth made of anchovies and sliced zucchini. We ordered the chicken soup version which costs $7.95.

The bowl is really huge. It’s a nice bowl of noodles in warm soup. It’s kind of hard drink the soup with the wooden spoon — which is shallow and the handle is extra long. Chinese is used to soup spoon which has a short handle and is deeper.

It was a good place for lunch — highly recommended! We’ll come back again to try the other dishes and will definitely order the Soon Doo Boo again.