Choose to sit indoors, dark and sexy, or…

Al fresco, which overlooks Clarke Quay.

No expense is spared in the industrial chic decor. Almost everything in the restaurant is customized, from the plates to stoves. My favorite part is the stools: lift the cover of the miniature oil drum stool and you can store your bag in it! Secret hiding place, super fun!

A full-service restaurant, the servers grill the meats for you. The ban-chan (side dishes) are made in-house daily. The restaurant is named after its 8 colors set ($98 for 3-4 persons, pictured above). Each set has (a) 8 thick strips of Berkshire pork belly (70-80g each), marinated for 6-8 hours in different sauces, wine, original, ginseng, garlic, herb, curry, miso, and red pepper paste; (b) seafood bean paste stew and (c) scorched rice soup. You can order additional rice ($8) to be fried in the stew pot or on the grill. (There is also the 4 colors set [$58] for two persons.)

Some of the banchan are placed on the hotplate with the pork belly.

Our favorite flavors from 8 strips of belly that day were the stronger flavored ones that came through the lettuce wrap: wine, curry, miso and red pepper paste. (Tip: if you order the 4 colors set, pick the ones we recommended!) The bean paste stew (pictured below) is a little mild for us, and we’d prefer it to be bolder and spicier.

I’d definitely recommend the Chul Pan specialty hot grill (pictured below), available only during lunch.  The Chul Pan is a visual feast: an elegant tower of thinly-sliced meats on top of assorted vegetable with red pepper paste (not spicy), stir-fried in front of the customers.  There is a minimum order of two portions of meat including chicken ($15), pork belly ($16) and beef brisket ($17). (All beef in the restaurant is USDA grade or comes from Australia.)

We had the beef brisket, which was decent. A better way to eat is after the beef is fried, add rice to it, fry the rice with the beef so that the rice caramelizes slightly at the bottom, and then eat everything together. Carbs make everything sedap!

There have been some amazing Korean restaurants opening in Singapore for the past years and by now, I have my favorites. While 8 Korean BBQ doesn’t make my Top 8 list, it offers sincere, quality food at a reasonable price in a dark and sexy setting with happy k-pop songs. If you find yourself in Clarke Quay, not knowing what to eat, Eight is a good option.

Eight Korean BBQ Singapore

6 Eu Tong Sen St, #02-79/90 The Central, Singapore 059817
T: 6222 2159
11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-11pm

Rating: 3.095/5 stars

ps: Thanks, Chenyze and Hsien Ming, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.