Since starting as a cloud kitchen concept in Tampines in May 2021, Korean food biz Jeong’s Jjajang has been growing steadily.

Helmed by Daegu-born chef-turned-hawker Jeong Jun Seong, 41, the F&B biz gained popularity for its affordable and authentic Korean-Chinese fare like jajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles), jjamppong (spicy seafood noodles) and tangsuyuk (deep-fried sweet and sour pork) when he opened his first hawker stall in June 2022. It was located in the same Bukit Merah coffeeshop as another popular stall, No. 25 Minced Meat Noodle.

And now, just a year and a half later, it’s upgrading to a restaurant.

Dream to open a restaurant

Jun Seong, whose wife is Singaporean, worked as a chef in Korea, China and the Czech Republic for more than two decades before relocating to Singapore in 2019. After a one-and-a-half-year stint at the defunct Hong Jiajang restaurant at Tanjong Pagar, he started Jeong’s Jjajang.

It has always been Jun Seong’s goal to open a restaurant. Despite doing “quite well” at the Bukit Merah coffeeshop, he decided to take the opportunity to upgrade from a hawker joint when he learned that the kopitiam had changed hands and was closing for a month for renovations in December with an eventual rental increase. Its last day of operations there was on Nov 27.

“I had been mulling moving for a while as many customers had given feedback that the stall’s location in Bukit Merah was not very accessible, and they could only come here on Fridays or the weekends. Also, I can only offer a limited menu here due to the size of the kitchen,” explains Jun Seong in a smattering of English and Mandarin.

Relocating to Killiney Road

This is why Jun Seong picked a central location like Killiney Road for Jeong’s Jjajang's new home. He invested around $100K into the casual eatery, which is slated to open by the end of the year.  

Bigger, more elevated menu

The upgraded location is matched with a bigger and more elevated menu, featuring “around 15 items and booze”. New offerings include bossam (boiled pork served with cabbage wrap), seafood pancake, jeyuk bokkeum (spicy pork stir-fry), as well as dry versions of its jajangmyeon and jjamppong.

Signature dishes like its jajangmyeon and jjampong, for which the noodles are handmade upon order, will be upgraded too. “I could not use some of my original recipes at the hawker stall as there was not enough stove space to prepare ingredients like broth for soup bases, so this affected the taste of some dishes like jjamppong (spicy seafood noodles). But this won’t be an issue with a bigger kitchen at the restaurant,” says Jun Seong.

He adds that instead of using a pre-prepared black bean sauce for his jajangmyeon (like at his hawker stall), it will be cooked a la minute and have “a lot of wok hei”. Dumplings will also be made from scratch rather than using the frozen variety. Jun Seong will continue to helm the kitchen and will be assisted by a small team.

Price increase a concern

Compared to the hawker stall, prices at the restaurant will be “around 20 to 30 per cent higher”. The boss admits that he is worried that the price hike will drive away regulars and has been “spending a lot of time mulling over the pricing”.

“I try my best to keep prices reasonable and where necessary, I make up for it with better ingredients,” he shares.

To soften the blow, the eatery will offer a more affordable weekday lunch menu with set meals and lower prices for signature items. “They will be [somewhat] comparable to our pricing at the coffeeshop,” says Jun Seong.

For example, a bowl of jajangmyeon, which is equivalent to the large portion at the hawker stall, will cost $9.90 during lunch versus $13 at other times. It was previously $8.50 at the coffeeshop. Sets comprising noodles and tangsuyuk start from $17.90. 

Another plus? It does not charge GST, which Jun Seong says, is “hopefully an incentive for customers”.

Kimchi jjigae 

Jeong’s Jjajang is slated to open at 75 Killiney Rd end Dec, S239529.  More info via Instagram.

Photos: Jeong’s Jjajang, 8days.sg