Taan 炭 @ Bugis

Landed in Singapore after a week in Malaysia and headed directly to a farewell party. This was the first time to Liang Seah Street, and I was surprised how living it was.

I was surprised that the whole Liang Seah Street was closed and the eateries spilled onto the street like the good old days. And before long, the grills, hotpots and bars along the short street opposite Bugis Junction came to live. The air was filled with an eclectic mix of smells of Sichuan, Japanese and Arabic spices fighting to entice you over.

Taan 炭 is the only Izakaya that I know that offers over 50 skewers and other signature selections with a choice of four styles (Japanese, Korean, Sichuan and local) seasoning to satisfy every taste bud all under one roof. 

And being an Izakaya, they have a properly stocked bar. I even spotted some Jinmen Kaoliang wine on the shelf – bad memories, avoid at all cost.

Besides the usual beers and stouts on taps and bottles, Shochu and highball towers, they have something uniquely to their store – frozen Kirin fruit beer. Honestly they tasted nasty, like Icee with alcohol. But we could not resist ordering them because they were so cute.

Mouth Watering Chicken

Smashed Cucumbers

Stir Fried Okras

I was surprised to find these Sichuan appetisers on the menu. One of the chefs must be from Sichuan, because the stir fried okras were spot-on!

BBQ Skewers

You get to choose the ingredients and the way you want to grill them. You can grill them Dongbei style (with a spicy mix of cumin, paprika and other aromatics), Japanese style (soy sauce based tare or miso based sauce), Korean style (with a spicy Gochujang sauce) or straight up with salt. Excellent!

Assorted Local Satays with Peanut Sauce

Even the local satay made its appearance. factory made ones, but they were quite nice and not overpriced for an Izakaya.

Grilled Eggplant With Garlic Sauce

Very nice, have to try this mix of garlic, ginger, soy and oil over eggplant at home.

Kimchi

Simple palate cleanser.

Oyster Minced Garlic

Tiger Prawns Lightly Salted 

This was the most expensive item on our order that evening, but the tiger prawns were quite big, almost the size of 1.5x the length of the skewer. Yes, they stick through half a skewer through the head to keep the prawn in shape for ease of grilling. Be warned, it was not “lightly salted” as claimed in the menu.

Enoki Mushroom With Garlic Sauce

Even though this is not a fine dining restaurant, they need to understand some folks may be allergic to shellfish. So we were surprised when we saw clams with our enoki. Not that we were complaining, it was absolutely delicious, if you are not allergic to shellfish that is.

Dumplings

Sichuan Mala Crayfish

This was a surprising item on the menu, I didn’t expect they would serve these little crayfish here in an Izakaya. Although they were frozen ones, it brought back memories of summers in China eating whole basins of these and drinking beer with friends. And what made this even better was the addition of bits of pipe intestines in the lot. Yummy.

A very joyous place for an after-office hour gathering or friends meeting up for the weekend. Noisy atmosphere, so not for date nights. Given the hot weather, I recommend a reservation for a table indoor (very limited and very squeezed), else you will be out on the street.

Taan Asian Grill Bar 炭 亚洲烧烤吧
30 Liang Seah St, Singapore 189051
Tel : +65 6837 0085

Visited May 2023

#taanasiangrill #taan.sg @tann.sg #taansg #炭亚洲烧烤吧 #taanizabar #liangseahstreet