Note: K-Tower Seafood Tower has closed down!
About K-Tower Seafood Tower
If you have been to Seoul and you miss eating (or have yet to check out) at the 9 Layer Steamed Shells Restaurant (located at 924-40 Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea), you can now get that rather similar and local live seafood experience when you visit K-Tower Seafood Tower (located at 74 Amoy Street) which just opened around December 2016.
What Is This Seafood Tower All About?
If you like steamed assorted clams and various seafood, ordering a Seafood Tower gives you a different kind of eating experience especially when you, for the first time, see the staff carry 9 layers of stackable food tray out from the kitchen, set up your gas stove and lay them on top to steam. Each layer usually reveals a different food type like Big Prawns, Clams, Squids or Mussels and lastly a broth in the last layer which is meant to collect all juices from the previous layers (smaller items are usually on top and those with a stronger taste are in the middle or the last few) and give you that shiok experience when you drink it.
Most of the food items are usually steamed beforehand so there’s no worries of undercooking them and you can eat straight away once they are presented. 9 layers is usually catered for large eating group and there are other options like 3 or 5 layers to go for if you have a smaller stomach for it.
Our Review Of K-Tower Seafood Tower
We discovered this restaurant through Facebook and decided to try them out by reserving a Lunch Table for 2 on a Sunday, just 2 days before Valentine’s Day. One other reason of checking them out is that we are driving and Amoy Street (CBD area) is almost like a dead town on a weekend so finding a parking lot is definitely not an issue.
Similar to most Seafood Tower Restaurants, K-Tower Seafood Towers offers options like 3, 5, 7 and 9-Tiers with Live Seafood Items like Prawn, Shellfish, Scallop, Oyster, Fish, Sea Cucumber and other addons like Abalone, Crab and Lobster. For steamboat lovers, you also get to order basic items to go with the Soup Base (Seafood, Kimchi +$10, Army Stew Soup +$10 and Ginseng Chicken + $20). There are also other sides that you can order like Seafood Pancake ($14.90), Fried Chicken Wings ($7.90), Fried Rice Cakes ($7.90) and Seafood Gyoza ($6.90). You can check out their online menu here but note that menu may change according to occasion.
This was the list of items that we ordered:
- A 3-Tier Premium Seafood Tower with Seafood Soup ($88) (different from the $58 3-Tier listed online)
- Shake Shake Rice Box ($9.90)
- Fried Assorted Rice Cake ($7.90)
- Apple Soda ($3.90)
- Peach Soda ($3.90)
The Food Items – It’s Time To Eat!
This is their corner where you can get a Free Flow of Pickled Radish, Kimchi and various sauces which include:
- Korean Wasabi Sauce
- Korean Soya Sauce
- Belachan
- Gochujang Sauce
He: If you are looking to really whet up your appetite, go for a few servings of the Pickled Radish and Kimchi. The sour level for the Radish and spicy shiokness level for the Kimchi is just right. The Kimchi also goes well with the sauces and with the other dishes.
The Apple and Peach Soda ($3.90 each).
He: If you want something different than the usual soft drink, tea, coffee, go for these. They are tasty, not too sweet and not so gassy as well. If you like alcoholic drinks, they have Sojus as well but remember not to drink and drive. Safety comes first.
This is their Shake Shake Rice Box ($9.90). A healthy serving of vegetables, rice and a tasty mixing sauce.
He: Give the Shake Shake Rice Box a really good shake and you get this outcome and this is even before any manual mixing. Each scoop goes well with the free-flow of Kimchi. If your partner is one of those whom does not like to eat vegetables, you can order this to ensure that he/she has their daily intake
She: I had a fun time shaking the box. Originally I did not think I will get an even mix (imagined clumps of rice, vegetables get stuck to one side, etc.), but everything was as the picture above. I’m not a vegetable lover but this dish was flavorful enough and it goes so well with their Kimchi! I will probably come back for this. *drools*
He: Well Done!
The Fried Assorted Rice Cake ($7.90)
She: What is Korean food without rice cakes? I ordered this as I was curious about flavored rice cakes. Not very impressed with this. However, if you really need your rice cake, it was in one of the tiers.
He: I am okay with this Rice Cake. The Texture is like Muah Chee but without the Peanuts and the Sugar Coating. The flavors are different from the tiers though and the sad thing is that I cannot remember their taste. This may be due to the Shake Shake Rice Box which has a stronger taste.
He: This is the first tier of the Seafood Tower which consists of clams and baby mussels. They are rather chewy and tasty and goes well with the Soya Sauce and Belachan. I was hoping not to find any sands in the clams but I still got it in my last clam. There were also some shells that are not opened. Too bad we can’t get any discounts for that.
She: I think he is just unlucky. Mine were okay and I preferred the lala to the mussels as they were semi cooked just as I liked them to be.
This is the second tier which consists of a small Lobster, Rice Cakes (Purple – Yam, White – Cheese & Yellow – Pumpkin) and Mixed Meat-Vegetable Dumplings. You are provided with gloves (not very useful as the lobster will still poke through), scissors and a crab cracker.
This is the last tier which is the seafood soup consisting of cabbage and carrot which are very soft, probably due to prolonged steaming. We threw in some clams and mussels to give the soup some extra taste. It is safe to drink the soup as there’s not much (or no) MSG and you don’t get thirsty as well. You can also ask them for refill if you like the soup.
She: By the time we reached this tier, I was quite full (all the rice and rice cakes in the stomach) Nonetheless, I had to take a few sips as I cannot resist soups. The seafood taste was not strong though I think I can taste the lala.
He: I think this is the disappointing part as I have expected the soup to have absorbed all the juices from the clams and mussels with all the steaming but somehow the soup is just too overwhelmed with the cabbage and carrot taste. Adding the clams and mussels to the soup is actually a good idea. A Suggestion: you may want to ask the staff on how to control the heat of the electrical stove when you are on the 3-Tier. Turning up the heat will re-boil the soup and may just get more ‘sweat’ quickly on the top tiers and get them down to the soup base.
Our Verdict:
If given a chance to order the Seafood Towers again, we would have preferred to go for the $58 3-Tier option (can’t really remember if this was in the physical menu) than the premium (Lobster) $88 version. The Scallops, Oysters, Prawns and Corns might have provided a better and stronger taste as well as there are more varieties.
Otherwise, the Shake Shake Rice Box, the free servings of Radish and Kimchi are highly recommended. For A-la carte menu, we would go for the Army Stew and the Ginseng Chicken soup. One source mentioned that they have a ‘secret’ compartment for throwing all the shells which we were not aware of so we will definitely want to check this out.
Food: 3.5 / 5
Service: 3 / 5
Ambience: 3 / 5 (expect a lot of K-Pop songs)
How To Get There:
K-Tower Seafood Tower Address:
74 Amoy Street, Singapore 069893
Tel: +65 6221 9928 for booking
Opening: 11.30 am – 2.30pm, 5.30 pm – 10pm daily
If you are taking public transport, it is a 10 mins walk from Tanjong Pagar and Telok Ayer MRT stations. For drivers, the nearest Carpark is this Amoy Street Car Park No. A0021 and parking is not free even on public holidays and weekends.