Cafe in our club was closed for renovations, Princess wanted some “KFC” (Korean fried chicken) so we headed to Tanjong Pagar after our gym session for dinner.
Sin Manbok a restaurant that is located in Tanjong Pagar that serves Korean favourites and BBQ. Its name Manbok 만복 can be translated as 万福, and Sin is “new” so they must have originated from somewhere else, so to be able to survive along this street meant something. The Korean owners were out at the door soliciting for business, which gave it a really nice vibe reminding us of Seoul. We decided to go along with the recommended crowd favourites.
They claimed they made their ganjang gejang (soy sauce marinated crab) in-house. We were so disappointed by the dish. The swimmer crabs were not marinated from live crab, as the marinate was only one the surface and not permeated into the flesh. Also the marinate was very watered down, indicating the crabs were frozen and then thawed, thus watering down the whole taste. Not recommended.
We ordered a BBQ pork belly set that comprised of unmarinated pork belly plus one more pork cut of your choice. We picked the 2mm sliced pork belly, which is like unsalted bacon. We also aded an a la carte order of beef kkochsal (꽃살) or “flower meat”, a premium cut of Korean beef (like boneless short ribs) famous for rich, flower-like marbling that melts on the grill.
All the sets came with kimchi cheese noodles, steamed egg, mushrooms and vegetables, as well as kimchi soup (which they forgot). They tried to give us more meat in lieu of the soup, but we were too full to take any. And like all KBBQ, the meal came with refillable banchan, which is what we love so much about Korean meals. The banchan was alright, and the kimchi was homemade and slightly sweet in a nice way.
Here you do not need to do the grilling yourself – there are the professionals to do it. When the waiter was too busy, the boss himself came and service us. Everyone was on deck to attend to the tables, which was turning very quickly during the meal hours. And to make the meal even better, the boss treated us to complimentary soft drinks. The quality of the meat was not top grade, but given the price we were charged, these were what you get.
And the main thing we came for, KFC. We got the half-and-half, which included the soy marinated chicken, as well as the spicy marinated chicken. Korean-style fried chicken, lovingly referred to as KFC, are garlic flavoured deep-fried dark meat (thighs and drumsticks) that gained worldwide popularity because K-drama. I forgot to ask for the unflavoured ones, which were simply fried chicken, as I was not so hot about these hot wings style chicken.
The service was attentive and genuine, but the food was normal at best, and the KBBQ was not at par with many others along the street. The fried chicken was alright, and the looking at some of the rest of the table, the marinated KBBQ choices looked legit too. Not coming back anytime soon, but still not bad for a late night supper if you are craving for KBBQ at before 3am.
Sin Manbok Korean Restaurant | Sin 만복|
81 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088502
Visited Jul 2026
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