Saturday, August 18, 2012

Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ, Katong

Mookata

When I noticed these guys a couple of months ago, I think they described it as Thai yakiniku (103 East Coast Road, 6344-2985). That meant that it featured not just Thai spices and dipping sauces, but also a uniquely convex cooking surface that I had never seen before. The idea is that one takes pork lard and melts it on the surface to not only prep for grilling, but also to help flavor the soup that sits on the edges. Cool - that one I definitely had to come back for!

The good thing was that the pork fat did indeed dribble down into the soup, as did the juices from the meat that we grilled. But it took a bit of getting used to, as the sloping surface meant that one had to position the meat just right so that it didn't slide into the soup. Next time, I'll also know better than to waste money on that tiny portion of kurobuta; the cheaper marinated pork collar was good enough.

Yes, I suppose that I wouldn't mind coming back, but frankly I'm not going to be very proactive about it. The tom yum broth that they provided was a bit sweet, as were their dipping sauces, which featured three different levels of spiciness, none of which really blew me away. The condition of some of the ingredients that came out was a bit of a letdown too, although I suppose that I couldn't expect much of a place that does weekday buffets. I'd be curious to try other places to see if they do their sauce and stock differently.

1 comment:

azariel said...

wow! i just had this too, on a random post drinking night a few days ago.

there is one at geylang, just right next to mongkok dimsum at lorong 8. it turned out better than expected, though they provided a chicken based broth...but they had a kick ass chilli dipping sauce that you could zing up with raw garlic, lime and more chlli.

and the lard...after they got charred on top omfg. melt in your mouth orgasmic goodness.