Popular Korean-Chinese chain selling jjajangmyeon, Paik’s Noodle opens at Suntec City

Jjajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles) lovers have one more spot in Singapore to add to their list — Paik’s Noodle, a popular Korean-Chinese chain from Korea has just opened its first outlet at Suntec City.

Known as ‘Hong Kong Banjeom 0410’ in Korea, the brand has landed on our shores with a snappier name but with the same well-loved Korean-Chinese favourites.

If the name Paik’s rings a bell, you might have also heard of Paik’s Bibim, a casual bibimbap concept that has been in Singapore since 2013.

Both Paik’s Noodle and Paik’s Bibim are the brainchild of Paik Jong-won, a well-known Korean celebrity chef, with dozens of other F&B concepts in Korea and worldwide to his name.

In case you’re wondering, ‘banjeom’ simply means restaurant and we hear that the numbers ‘0410’ are the last 4-digits of chef Paik’s former phone number. 

Ask any local in Korea and they’d probably have eaten at a Paik’s Noodle or Hong Kong Banjeom 0410 recently — trust us, it’s that popular. 

Paik’s Noodle in Singapore opened officially on October 15 to much anticipation and it’s been commanding a healthy crowd since.

We had an early dinner on a weekday and it didn’t take long before the restaurant filled up with a queue forming even at 6pm. 

Similar to Paik’s Noodle’s menu in Korea, its Singapore outlet has all the quintessential Korean-Chinese dishes — jajangmyeon (S$11), tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork, S$21), and jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup, S$14). 

Spice lovers will also love that it has gochu jajang noodle (S$13) — black bean noodles but with chilli peppers. 

As someone that’s been to HK Banjeom 0410 one too many times in Seoul — plus the social media hype surrounding it — there was a certain anticipation that came with my first visit.

Unfortunately, the star items — the jajangmyeon and the jjamppong — didn’t quite measure up.

While the noodles were al dente and the right amount of chewy, both the black bean sauce and jjampong soup base lacked depth and flavour and most importantly, wok hei.

The black bean sauce could have also been starchier to coat the noodles better. 

We were however surprised by the bokkeum jjamppong (stir-fried pork and seafood noodles, S$17), also known as the dry, stir-fried version of jjamppong — is something we hadn’t tried before.

The bokkeum jjamppong had a good dose of wok hei, was adequately seasoned and had a generous serving of seafood. 

Another highlight for us was Paik’s tangsuyuk, which you can request for the sauce on the side for. It was also disarmingly addictive. 

I personally like my tangsuyuk with thicker batter, but Paik’s version, which had a thin layer of batter coated over its well-marinated pork, grew on me over the meal. 

We also liked that though we had opted for the sauce to be served with the pork, the pork slices didn’t get soggy. 

If you’re looking to try this hot, new spot, be prepared for a slight wait — we hear the wait can be upwards of 30 minutes at a time — and to take note of the short operating hours for both lunch and dinner. 

Want to check out more interesting Suntec City eats? Here are some unique Suntec-only restaurants and vibey date spots in the mall.  

Do explore the new GrabFood Dine-in service for awesome deals.

You can also book a ride to Paik’s Noodles at Suntec City.