Ajumma’s

This Korean restaurant is tucked into a corner of Cathay’s basement, just beside Popeye’s. So while you eat you can see the hordes eating (comparatively) soulless fast food.
I’m undecided on labelling it as «Casual» place — this is Singapore after all, where Casual is both the old and new Black, but you order and pay at the counter before you take your seat and you don’t get a free flow of banchan (the small side dishes) so I suppose it counts.
Let me first deal with the most important item: there being no free flow of banchan.
Yes, this is important! Most Korean places (at least in Singapore) offer this, so it’s practically a requirement for a Korean restaurant. I’ve tried asking for a refill before but have been refused. While this is disappointing at first, on reflection one might realise that Korean food at places which offer a free flow of banchan is usually somewhat pricey, so the cost of the dishes is really cross-​subsiding your «free» banchan. I just wish they’d let me pay $ 1 (or so) for a refill, though.
Anyhow, the quality of the banchan is good. You get 4 dishes, which I don’t think have changed over my several visits over a few months: kimchi, corn in a creamy sauce, seaweed, thinly sliced pickles. They taste fresh (not spooned out from a tub kept in the fridge for days) and are quite tasty too.
The pork bulgogi is great. It uses good cuts of meat and is fresh, tender and very tasty. The portion size of meat is good also. I’ve had their headline item of beef galbi (grilled beef) before and it was similarly tasty and fresh.
Their mandu (Korean gyoza) is always a bit overfried, but still nice, not being too dry inside. They’re a bit small and don’t have much stuffing inside, but maybe that’s how mandu are meant to be.
I’m not a fan of Korean stews (a friend of mine memorably described Korean food as «either kimchikimchikimchi, or a whole bunch of ingredients thrown into a soup») but I am told they’re quite good. too.
My favourite item at this place, though, is the Honey Cinammon Pancakes, which I haven’t seen elsewhere in Singapore. The skin is thin and crispy, the inside is light and they’re stuffed with a honey cinammon paste which is light and not too sweet.
The drinks selection is the same as every other Korean restaurant in Singapore: rice punch, peach drink, pear drink etc — down to the brands. Does everyone get their drinks from the same supplier, or something?! Or maybe there’s one big factory in Korea that makes Korean canned drinks for everyone in Korea and the world.