MODU Korean Restaurant Review: Viral Samgyetang Spot in Orchard

MODU has been popping up on my feed constantly, so I finally caved and checked out this Korean spot in Mandarin Gallery. The focus here is samgyetang, which is Korean ginseng chicken soup and not something you see that often in Singapore’s Korean food scene.

What We Ordered

Potato Pancake 💰 $18 · ⭐ 100000/10💰 $18 · ⭐ 100000/10

This was super crispy on the outside, fresh tasting, and the truffle mayo pairing was spot on. If you are only ordering one thing besides the mains, make it this! The contrast between the crispy pancake and creamy mayo was so good.

Perilla Seed Samgyetang 💰 $38 · ⭐ 7/10💰 $38 · ⭐ 7/10

The broth was impressively thick and creamy, almost like a Korean porridge consistency. Flavour wise, though, it was quite bland, which is apparently closer to traditional samgyetang. The chicken was incredibly tender and fell right off the bone. For $38, I expected a bit more.

Collagen Samgyetang 💰 $35 · ⭐ 8/10💰 $35 · ⭐ 8/10

This version worked better for me. The broth was less thick than the perilla seed one, but it had more flavour and felt lighter to drink. You get a whole chicken here too, and it was just as tender. The salt and sauce pairing helped a lot. That said, do not expect a lot of meat despite it being a whole chicken... or maybe I was just extra hungry that day.

Fried Pollack ⭐ 8/10⭐ 8/10

Solid dish that paired well with the honey mayo sauce. Nothing too unique, but it was done well and balanced out the heavier soup dishes nicely.

Overall Thoughts

MODU does deliver on the samgyetang experience with tender chicken and a more traditional Korean style, even if some of the flavours lean milder than I would have liked.

Would I return? Probably not, but I do think it is worth trying once if you are curious about samgyetang.