Sanchon Korean Cuisine (Shenton Food Hall)

There really seems to be something new at Shenton Food Hall every couple of weeks; it has been not too long ago when we had checked on the new King of Chicken Rice that had opened during our previous visit there. The food hall had recently seen yet another shuffle where a new Chinese mixed economic rice stall had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of GoPizza there — this also marked the closure of the original Chinese mixed economic rice stall named Rice Rice Baby that is situated in the air-conditioned section of the food hall. The vacated Chinese mixed economic rice stall had since been taken over by the new stall serving up Japanese and Korean cuisine named Sanchon Korean Cuisine, which had only started operations at the food hall in May 2022. Visiting Sanchon Korean Cuisine during its soft launch phase, the stall still bears part of the signages that belonged to the former tenant above the ordering counter; the signage behind the counter was also not yet installed during our visit to the stall as well. Much like most stalls serving up Japanese and Korean cuisine that can be found in coffeeshops and food courts in the heartlands, Sanchon Korean Cuisine offers a rather wide variety of items featuring Korean marinated meats served on hotplates, Japanese Bento sets, Bibimbap and Ramen / Udon dishes — just to name a few items that are listed on the menu.

We haven’t had meats served on a hotplate from a Japanese & Korean stall from a coffeeshop or food court for quite some time — the Hotplate Chicken Set just seemed to be an item which we had our eyes set upon when skimming through the menu here. Sanchon Korean Cuisine does serve up their Hotplate Chicken Set with a twist however; they do offer a variant that is named the Hotplate Cheese Chicken Set. Much like most offerings from similar stalls serving Korean-marinated meats on a hotplate, the Hotplate Cheese Chicken Set comes with a set of Banchan (i.e. Kimchi and Anchovies), a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup on the side.

On first look, the cheese included in the Hotplate Cheese Chicken Set from Sanchon Korean Cuisine was a slice of processed cheese — the same sort that one could easily obtain from supermarkets around, being layered atop a part of the meat that is served on the hotplate. Here, the hotplate does seem to be warmed up sufficiently for the meats to stay warm as one is digging into the dish, though there was no sizzling effect — perhaps due to concerns where patrons would need to manoeuvre around tight spaces in the food hall filled with hungry crowds during lunch hours. Overall, the Hotplate Cheese Chicken Set was nothing much to shout about and is pretty much what one would expect out of the dish — the Kimchi that is included as part of the Banchan would probably the most disappointing of the lot, considering we would have wished for it to be a little fresher and more crisp; the anchovies on the other hand comes with a soft chew like how it should be with a bit of spiciness that should do fine even for those with a lower tolerance to spiciness. The marinated chicken were decent; these were certainly tender enough with bright but light zing of spiciness — a little bit more spicy than that of the anchovies served up as part of the Banchan but mostly still manageable for most. Shreds of cabbage beneath the marinated meats and some onions stir-fried with the meats provide a slight crunch that provides a contrast of textures with other elements whilst also cutting through the meatiness and carb-iness of the dish. The Miso Soup served on the side comes with some pieces of kelp; decent, but nothing too note-worthy. Overall, the Hotplate Cheese Chicken Set does start to feel a bit pricey at its price tag of $8.90 — the slice of cheese resulting in a price difference of a dollar from the basic Hotplate Chicken Set. Nonetheless, a decent eat for those who are not too picky with their food.