The family went to the Jewel for some KFC before I boarded for my plane. Not Colonel Sanders’ but Korean Fried Chicken.

Don’t get me wrong, I love you Colonel Sanders. You were my childhood memory – sit-down restaurant in Kallang Drive-way. White melamine plates with proper steel utensils. Table service. I used to eat six drumsticks in a seating when I was 5. You are partly to blame for my CABG later in life. Now, with KFC going fast-food, I have eaten less and less of you. Instead, I turned to Southern fried chicken from Yardbird, and now Korean fried chicken.

American-Korean Food

Koreans, more specifically South Koreans, have a love-hate relationship with the Americans. The American helped fought the civil war that result in a truce that is still in effect today, therefore technically the Korean Peninsula is still at war. American GIs brought their food culture to South Korea as they built their military bases around the country. Spam became a Korean (and Okinawa) thing. So has fried chicken and pizza.

KFC or Korean Fried Chicken

Korean fried chicken, usually called chikin in Korea, refers to a variety of fried chicken dishes from South Korea, including the basic huraideu-chikin and spicy yangnyeom-chikin. In South Korea, fried chicken is consumed as a meal, an appetizer, anju, or as an after-meal snack.

Korean Pizza

Since the arrival of pizza, primarily through big American brands like Pizza Hut, which came to the Korean Peninsula in 1980, the culture around it has evolved. The country’s pizza scene continues to grow as more Koreans travel abroad and return home to set up different ventures, coupled with increasing demand from the growing foreign population. Today, there are the Koreanized chains, upscale eateries, places doing Neapolitan-style pizza, and casual spots to eat New York slices.

Pizza Maru

Pizza Maru, a popular restaurant chain in South Korea with more than 600 stores internationally, has opened restaurants in Jewel. Besides the famous Korean-style pizza, Pizza Maru also offers a range of pasta and fried chicken as well as snacks and beverages.

Pizza Maru is famous for its premium nutritious pizza dough made with green tea, chlorella and different kinds of cereals (such as rye, black rice, barley and oats). It has classic pizzas, Korean style pizzas and a selection of rather special black rice long edge pizzas. It also offers an interesting range of pasta and fried chicken as well as mocktails and floats.

Maru Combination Pizza

Fancy corn in pizza? What about a mozzarella cheese base? That’s the whacky toppings and base typical of a Korean pizza. The house Maru Combination is made with pepperoni, chicken ham, onion, bell pepper, black olive and (get this) corn.

Made with a cereal dough, the pizza is chewy and needs some getting used to. The cheese filling tasted like mozzarella cheese with rice cake.

Garlic Dak Gangjeong Chikin

I like the fried chicken, an order would include 6 pieces that included a thigh, a drumstick, two breast meat, a rib and a chicken wing – exactly half a chicken. The original batter is very crispy and savoury, but isn’t KFC. The sweet chilli, garlic sauce smothered on the chicken added the flavours.

Onion Tartar Chikin

Similarly, it has half a chicken but topped with a sweet onion and mayo sauce which they called tartar. I rather not have the sauce, but princess loved it.

Honghae Pasta

The sweet tomato base seafood pasta has a generous amount of mussels, shrimp, and squid, and strange inclusions like cabbage and red peppers. I would prefer it has more spaghetti.

Spicy Kimchi Bulgogi rice tower

This was my favourite for the meal, the deconstructed bibimbap with bulgogi. Crisp was provided by the deep fried onions and noodles bits, heat from the kimchi, and savoury beef bulgogi on warm rice. Very nice.

I was expected a proper root beer, but we were served A&W from a can. But the fruit tea did not disappoint. Service needs more training, our order taker did not know the answers to most of our questions. The location was in the middle of the corridor on the 4th floor of Jewel so you get curious passer-by looking at you eat, especially if the crowd at the Pokemon store gets bigger and starts standing around the restaurant.  Price is reasonable for Jewel, so I suspect it would be one of the more popular joints there soon.

Pizzamaru Jewel
Jewel Changi Airport #04-222.
Tel : +65 6612 4657

https://www.facebook.com/pizzamarusg/

Date Visited : Aug 2019