SYNC Korean Tapas Bar - The Best of Korean Anju

Serangoon Gardens is a popular dining cluster where you can eat, drink and party without breaking a sweat. You can find almost everything you need here, ranging from daily essentials, lifestyle themes including dry-clean and laundry services, health and beauty stores, restaurants, cafes and bars within the estate. 

SYNC™ has chosen a location away from the busy city and in the charming old residential estate of Serangoon Garden, sits Singapore's first-ever Korean Tapas Bar. Riding on its success of the Korean bistro at Westgate, SYNC™ latest project is a tapas bar and restaurant dishing out a savvy menu of creative Korean fusion tapas and drinks. 

SYNC™ has chosen tapas as it's speciality cuisine style and have assembled a variety of appetisers, snacks, finger food and meals to fit their savvy menu theme. The tapas concept allows SYNC™ customers to share their dishes and to find unique dish combinations that best suits their cravings. 

This all-new SYNC™ tapas bar promises to dole out modern Korean food with a twist, bringing gourmands mouth-watering dishes such as Toppoki ($9.90), the sweet and spicy traditional rice cakes housing a bed of smoked sausages and finally topped with melted cheese. This popular Korean Toppoki snack food is so irresistible, it keeps you yearning for more. 

If you a fan of octopus, go for the Muneo ($10.90) which are sautéed octopuses immersed in SYNC™ homemade kimchi-perfumed jus. These Atlantic sea creatures have a bouncy and tender texture, they are pleasantly chewy but not tough when properly prepared. 

A typical Korean meal will always feature beef, chicken and pork used in a variety of dishes. SYNC™ has developed a modernised culinary style that integrates some Westernised flavours into their Korean-inspired dishes. Featured below are some of their satisfying Korean tapas plus a few decently priced communal meal. 

Korean Kimchi ($9.90 Tapas A)

The Kimchi at SYNC™ are made in-house and they are colorful, crisp, tangy and full of life and flavour. Kimchi are often spicy and sour, but the ones here are non-spicy which work very well for me as I cannot eat very spicy food. 

Crackling ($9.90 Tapas A)

The cracking was actually Umani cod with seaweed sprinkles, thinly sliced and fried till perfection. The crackling cod chips were so crispy and addictive, we emptied the bowl within minutes. This would make a great pairing with SYNC™ draught beers, the MAC's Great White or the Pilsner Erquell. 

Dak-KangJung ($9.90 Tapas A)

Dak Kang Jung (Sweet n Sticky Fried Chicken) is another fried chicken dish that is popular in Korea. The version of the sweet and spicy chicken here was deep fried with chill tempura, green peppers and ricotta for dipping. Even though it is not as crispy as the regular ones, it works as a great side dish. 

Mandu ($9.90 Tapas A)

Crispy Korean dumplings with mushrooms and minced pork, a variation somewhat similar to the Japanese gyoza and the Chinese JiaoZi dumpling, and these Mandu are served with salsa on the side. The dumplings were deliberately made into bite-size instead of a giant pillow, so that you can take easy bites to consume. 

Samgyupsal ($10.90 Tapas B)

Samgyupsal is a popular Korean meat dish that are enjoyed at home or at Korean resaturants that specializes in meat dishes. It consist of thick pork stripes served with leafy vegetable, scallions and chilli yuzu dressing. For those of you that had never had Yuzu before, it is a citrus that tastes somewhere between a lemon, lime and grapefruit. The zesty yuzu is combined with chilli to add spice and flavour that goes with just about anything. 

Sogogi Jowl ($10.90 Tapas B)

Sogogi Jowl, char-grilled Angus beef jowl wrapped in sesame leaf and garlic confit. This is one of the signature tapas and also my favourite. The chef executed the grill and flavours very well, the cubes of beef were tender and smoky in flavour, you don't require much garnishing and could just eat the meat on its own. I would definitely recommend this tapas to every beef lover out there. 

Ssam ($40.90 Shares 2-3)

Another favourite dish, Ssam literally means wrapped, is referred to a Korean dish where leafy vegetables are used to wrap a piece of meat. This is similar to the Asian Pork Sliders, except that instead of sandwiching a piece of meat in the bun, you can tuck the whole pork rib in the bun and chew off the meat from the bones. The pork ribs were cooked up to 8 hours, you imagine how tender it was as the meat literally fall off the bones when I tried to fork it. 

Dak Gar-Bi ($38.90 Shares 2-3) *Photo Credit SYNC™

A version of the classic Spanish Paella, Dak Garbi is a popular Korean dish made by stir frying marinated chicken in spicy Korean sauce with cabbage, onions, mushrooms, sausages and kimchi. The sticky short grain rice and the meat were evenly cooked and flavourful, the lemon wedges added a citrusy aroma to the dish as it was served straight from the pan. The dish is served in abundance and good for sharing among two to three. 

Hotteok ($8.90) / Add $1.50 for a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream

Korea has many amazing street food, Hotteok - the warm sweet dessert pancake is one of the hot street food well-loved by the Koreans. SYNC™ has created their very own twist of the Hotteok - chewy pan fried nutty pancakes served with caramelised bananas and topped with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream. A good take on the sweetness level, but I think I would still prefer the traditional style Hotteok. 

Misugaru ($8.90)

SYNC™ Korean Fusion Bistro the flagship outlet at Westgate made its debut, by featuring the top favourite dessert Matcha Lava Cake that won many hearts of desserts fans out there. 

The new flavour of lava cake at SYNC™ Korean Tapas Bar, Misugaru is a blend of 12 types of Korean grains which balanced perfectly in terms of sweet and savoury flavours. This is an interesting spin from the usual lava cake, and I don't think anyone can resist such a tantalising dessert. 

Soju Mojito ($9.90)

Soju Peach Shot ($7.90)

Feeling a day-long heat wave from work, or after eating too much food, you can refresh yourself with SYNC™ signature cocktails such as the Soju Peach Shot and Soju Mojito which is enlivened by fresh mint leaves. Most of the drinks at SYNC™ are lady-friendly, sweet, balanced and not too strong. 
Nestled in Maju Avenue of the Serangoon Garden Estate, SYNC™ Korean Tapas Bar is open from 3:00 pm till 12:00 am daily. Starting now till the end of December 2014, from 3pm to 6pm daily, you can enjoy these promotions which will be hard to miss. 

3 November 2014 to End December 2014

• FREE coffee or tea with any order of dessert
• Beer at $5.90 
• Beer and Tapas of the day at $9.90

Starting 8 November 2014, only on Weekends from 3pm onwards, you can enjoy a Family Set Meal at only $63.90 (U.P. $72.80) with 4 Tapas and a choice of Dae Garbi or Budae Jigae.


SYNC™ Korean Tapas Bar
Address: 12 Maju Avenue, Serangoon Garden Estate
Tel: 6282-0612
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/syncbistro