The Food Loft coffeeshop at Blk 721 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 located after Jubilee and opposite the MRT tracks leading towards Ang Mo Kio MRT Station seems to be a hotspot for interesting coffeeshop stalls of the late — the coffeeshop is home to stalls such as El Carbon and Donburi No Tatsujin, and has seen recent additions such as Meng Meng Roasted Duck (hailing from Johor Bahru, and famed for their charcoal roasted duck) and Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu recently. The latter is an “express” concept of SBCD Korean Tofu House, which has outlets at Tanjong Pagar Centre, Millenia Walk and Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC) — also probably one of the first establishments with an emphasis on the Korean Sundubu (Korean Soft Tofu Stew) in a coffeeshop setting. At Buk Chang Dong Soon Tofu, expect a smaller variety of Sundubu dishes available — all items here are also served in sets which includes kimchi, seaweed and rice; pretty much a fuss-free and more affordable concept with prices ranging from $6 to $8.

Opting for the Dumpling Soon Tofu Set, it is noted that each order is made a la minute — there aren’t any buzzers or queue numbers distributed here, and patrons will have to wait at the counter for their order to be cooked and collected. The process didn’t take very long — around 5 minutes though I was the only customer in line. Served in an earthenware just like how it would be in the restaurant, the only difference here is how the seaweed comes served in the pack directly in the original packaging. Whilst I ain’t much of a Sundubu fan and have yet to make my visit to SBCD Korean Tofu House (so take my post with a pinch of salt; I wouldn’t know how the one from SBCD Korean Tofu House would taste like whilst writing about this), I could see how some folks would love this. Yes, no doubt the soup-base itself was on the lighter side; that being said, the flavours do seem to build up slowly here and one could taste that slight hint of savoury and mild hint of spiciness in the soup that made it particularly comforting especially on a rainy day — best had when drenched onto the pearly short-grain rice served in the bowl on the side. Inside the soup comes bits of onions, an egg with a liquid yolk, tofu and two dumplings; could tell they were fairly generous with the items served in the soup — the egg yolk helping to further enhance the flavours of the soup when mixed in, while the cooked egg whites gave a slightly different texture against the smooth, silken tofu. Not sure if the dumplings are made by SBCD Korean Tofu House or if commercial ones are used here; whilst stuffed with quite a decent portion of meat, the fillings are slightly more peppery and provided an added spicy note on top of that of the soup’s — still pretty manageable though. The Kimchi was decent, though my preference would be for it to be served chilled rather than at room temperature for an extra refreshing respite over the hot soup by the side.

Sundubu is quite a niche item to be served, but I guess it’s affiliation with SBCD Korean Tofu House somewhat guarantees the quality of the Sundubu that is being served here — a more affordable, fuss-free rendition that would hopefully bring the dish towards the masses. No doubt the Sundubu here is priced slightly higher than the average hawker fare that one would expect from a coffeeshop, but in an era of change where budding hawkerpreneurs are bringing a more premium experience against the traditional stalls that we are familiar and grew up with, perhaps the Sundubu here doesn’t seem that much inaccessible as compared to the trendy fried rice and chee cheong fun options that we are seeing these days. I am probably not the right person to comment on how authentic or how well-executed the Sundubu is here, but it is definitely exciting to see how coffeeshops are also in the midst of a phase of gentrification; a stall that Sundubu lovers probably should check out.