We Found A $17.90++ Korean Hotpot Buffet With Free-Flow Tteokbokki, Seafood And More

90 Minutes has $17.90++ Korean hotpot buffet in Dhoby Ghaut

I fondly remember my years of being an absolutely broke student, when I’d constantly be on the hunt for cheap buffets around Singapore with my uni mates. If I still was undertaking higher education, 90 Minutes Korean Hotpot at the Rendezvous Hotel would have definitely been picked up by my radar—given their wallet-friendly weekday lunch buffet at $17.90++!. 

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Sequestered on the side of the hotel, the buffet’s location faces the ever-popular I’m Kim Korean BBQ under the School Of The Arts. You’ll only pay $17.90++ per person for the buffet on weekdays before 3:59pm—any later and it’s $26.90++. 

Affordable buffets are increasingly difficult to find in our island home—but cheap ones with high-quality offerings are even rarer. We decided to drop by for their weekday lunch to see if this budget-friendly spot actually delivers a solid spread.

Food at 90 Minutes

If you haven’t been able to tell from their name, diners get to stuff themselves silly for 90 minutes—so we started going ham right away.

We began by piling a huge variety of meats in our metal bowl: the holy trinity of pork, beef, and chicken was our main priority, followed by some interesting seafood additions of abalone, clams, and shrimp.

It wouldn’t be a tteokbokki buffet either without the tteokbokki, AKA korean rice cakes. They came in two delightful colours: original and purple. We also grabbed some quintessential odeng—Korean fish cakes on a skewer. 

There were also the usual suspects of luncheon meat, sausage, and of course, kimchi. Oh, and how could I not forget my beloved cheese tofu?

The carbs here also came in a few different colours, which out of all of them, found the purple instant noodles to be the standout. In all, we felt that the variety of hotpot ingredients was sufficiently varied for all tastes.

For our broth, we went with a mix of a sweet and savoury gungjung and jajang base, with the spice toned down a notch. 

As we let the soup boil, we snacked on a selection of deep-fried foods as an appetiser: fried dumplings, chicken wings, and gimmari (fried seaweed rolls stuffed with glass noodles). 

This was where our first impressions fell apart: the fried foods looked so enticing, but were unfortunately unpalatable. For starters, every piece was ridiculously hard to bite into. Perhaps they were left on the spread for too long?

The oil they were fried in had a particularly strong, heavy taste as well, which made each item rather greasy and unenjoyable. I only managed to stomach a bite of these.

If there was one word to describe the hotpot offerings, it would be “serviceable”. There really wasn’t anything to shout about for the meats, veggies, or carbs, but for a 90-minute buffet, they certainly fulfilled the job of “filling my tummy”. Safe to say that while it wasn’t bad, the hotpot wasn’t anything spectacular either. 

What was interesting about this buffet location was the option to finish off your meal with a portion of kimchi fried rice, cooked in the leftovers of your hotpot broth. While novel and decently tasty, the fried rice felt like an afterthought to the meal, and most diners would likely be too stuffed from the actual buffet offerings to be able to stomach it. 

Also, the drink fountain is free-flow, and you can end off your meal with a selection of Mingo ice cream cups. 

Ambience at 90 Minutes

90 Minutes Korean Hotpot is located on the side of Rendezvous Hotel. The seating space was rather dim, with only the buffet spread illuminated clearly. However, it gave the interior a rather cosy vibe which suits a gathering with friends. The restaurant is spacious, and there was considerable spacing between each table which provided a comfortable seating arrangement. 

90 Minutes Korean Hotpot is a three-minute walk from Bras Basah MRT Station. 

90 Minutes Korean Hotpot – Eatbook review

Though affordable during weekday afternoons, 90 Minutes Korean Hotpot fails to rise above being just another spot to pile up mediocre Korean tteokbokki and meats. The weekday lunch pricing is rather attractive for students who wish to have a chill all-you-can-eat with friends, but I would hesitate to come here at any other timing when the prices are higher. 

For more eats in the area, check out our Dhoby Ghaut food guide. Budget hunters can also check out our cheap restaurants guide. 

Address: 9 Bras Basah Road, #01-01, Singapore 189559
Opening hours: Daily 10:30am to 11pm
Website
90 Minutes Korean Hotpot is not halal-certified. 

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Photos taken by Mordecai Lee and edited by Marcus Neo.
This was an independent review by Eatbook.sg.