Early Valentine's

Round and around we drove up the carpark of Orchard Central and slotted into a lot on level 5. We thought we were lucky to find a lot near the elevator (when we went home, we wished the exit from the lot would have taken us a lot less manoeuvers!).

Today, we are here at OC to celebrate love at "Sarang". Get the pun? Well, I happened to spot Sarang's Valentine's special menu in the newpapers and thought, hey, why not? We are always on the lookout for potential joints that offer yummy and authentic Korean food. The website (http://www.sarang.com.sg) looked convincing, in fact, quite enticing as the layout was clean, pictures of the food were well-taken and looked tasty, plus, chefs were Koreans.

When we arrived, there was a strong wind blowing and the sky looked dark. The staff at the outdoor section of the restaurant were busy putting away items that would be blown away if the wind got any stronger or would get wet if the rain came. We were really surprised when we asked for a table for the 4 of us and heard a "gonggg" as we were walking in. LOL. Talk about announcing your arrival. Now we know that the gong there served a purpose and was not purely for decor.

We did not really ponder over what we wanted to eat because we were there for that special menu and were ready to try it. We just ordered an additional "Panda Noodles" for the girls (Jajangmyeon) which came out a little spicy. PapaKim was quite adamant that Jajangmyeon are by default, not spicy, so they should have pointed out that it was spicy. En Bi took a mouthful of the Jajangmyeon and called "Fire"! They took a while to replace the Jajangmyeon (well, we should be glad that they offered to replace it) with a non-spicy version but it was disappointing because the noodles were more bits and pieces rather than 'full-length noodles' the second round.

Our order turned out better than expected and we were therefore, pleased. The efforts in the presentation of the food were lovely.

The joke of the day: PapaKim and I walked out feeling that we could have eaten a little bit more, like something was missing from the course. We thought, maybe that's just the way it is with restaurants nowadays, underfeed you when you order a set meal so that you'll order more. What made us realise that we were short-served our MAIN course was this huge picture of "World Star" pasted right outside the pretty walls of Sarang restaurant. Then it clicked in PapaKim's mind.

PPK : "Hey, the staff asked us whether we wanted chicken, pork, or beef, right?

MMK: "Yar, and we said 'beef'. OHH! They didn't serve us the beef!"

Good gracious! PapaKim was not going to ask for the main course but I was in my "auntie" mood and just refused to leave without trying the Bulgogi. I went up to the manager and just told him politely that we weren't served our main course. Jaws dropped. But his recovery was quick. He told us that he would get the food prepared and pack it for us to bring back. Good fire-saving skills!

We went back exploring the place a little more, with packed bulgogi in hand.

What I liked about this place:

- Really cool ambience;

- Friendly staff;

- "Odaeng" in a cup of radish soup (this pleasantly surprised us) + Seaweed-flavoured crackers for Appetiser;

- Authentic and good-tasting Korean food.

Worth a try!