Stumbled upon Ajumma’s two years back when I was at Cathay looking for somewhere to have lunch before catching a movie. And this inconspicuous Korean eatery located at B1 level has since become one of my two to-go casual Korean restaurants in the Orchard area. The other one is Kim Dae Mun at Concorde Hotel. 🙂
Took this pic before their renovation in case anyone wonders why it looks somewhat different. 
Ajumma’s has a refreshed menu board now. Prices remain the same as indicated in this post at time of publishing. 😉
For the full menu in pdf format, please click here.
Decent food at reasonable prices
I would say prices are quite reasonable at Ajumma’s as compared to some other Korean restaurants that may charge way higher prices for the same food. Authenticity wise, they aren’t far from what I have tried at other Korean restaurants but if you’re looking for a no-frills Korean meal at wallet-friendly prices, this is a not bad place to check out when in town.
Always love this Sac Sac Pear Juice ($1.90). Super refreshing. And for those who prefer non-sugared beverages, you have the option of Heaven and Earth Ayataka ($1.90). Over here, drinks are served as is. No cups and/or ice will be provided.
With every order from the Meat, Rice & Ramyeon and/or Stews & Soups section on the menu, you’ll get a bowl of white rice and 4 different banchan – pickled radish, kimchi, sweet corn and seaweed.
Seafood Pancake ($11.90)
Loved that evenly fried golden crust on this pancake. So crispy on the outside. There was quite a lot of ingredients in this pancake – squids, prawns and spring onions. Good flavours but slightly on the salty side. The dipping sauce on the side was merely pure soy sauce which really wasn’t needed as the pancake was pretty well seasoned. Would be perfect if the dipping sauce could be made a little sweet and tangy – that would have helped to cut the greasiness of the pancake.
Fluffy Steamed Eggs ($5.90)
Steamed eggs is one of my must order dishes at any Korean restaurant. Well, ‘cos I love eggs! Can never resist, lol. 😀
This steamed egg dish wasn’t heavily seasoned. Could really taste that natural eggy goodness. Very comforting to dig into it.
Sweet Spicy Fried Chicken & Crispy Toppoki ($8.90)
This fried chicken and toppoki dish wasn’t the best I had (Chir Chir does it better) as the rice cakes were too chewy. Also, that coating sauce tasted like plain gochujang (Korean chilli paste) without other condiments. Hence this dish tasted quite flat with no depths of flavour. I liked the chicken chunks though as they were moist on the inside.
Beef Bulgogi ($8.90)
My most preferred dish of all had got to be this Beef Bulgogi. Perfectly seasoned. The beef was really flavourful as the marinade thoroughly penetrated the meat. Though the meat was lean with hardly any fats, it was tender and not chewy at all. I could easily finish a big bowl of rice with just this.
Kimchi Pork Belly Stew ($13.90)
The Kimchi Pork Belly Stew came with a hearty portion of meat, kimchi and tofu. It had a very strong porky flavour. Didn’t taste like fresh broth. Probably powdered stock. The meat was hard but not chewy. Overall, it was still a warm and comforting stew/soup to have. However, it was laden with too much MSG and/or salt so it left me feeling thirsty for the rest of the day.
Hits and misses
You just gotta try different dishes and find out which ones you like. Overall, I wouldn’t say this was a spectacular or amazing meal but it was still satisfying. Just give me the seafood pancake, steamed eggs and bulgogi beef. I’m happy. 😀