Mookata Thai Bbq, Katong

This place has been along the Katong stretch since as long as I remember, and I always recall walking by when I meet my friends for dinner in the area. We have always wanted to try Mookata but there was always some reason that we were unable to do so, mostly because I was having a sore throat or something along those lines. Ended work late last Friday night and met up with the boyfriend much later than usual. We were deliberating where to head to for dinner and I suggested Mookata Thai Bbq at Katong because I did not want to travel too far.

We parked at Odeon Katong as we couldn't find any parking nearer to Mookata and took a quick stroll over. Mookata is opposite the relatively new I12 Katong, a few doors away from Astons. Despite the late hour, there was still a queue in front of the shop but we decided to join the queue anyway. Mostly because we were so hungry, we weren't hungry anymore so we were pretty all right with a short wait.

While we were in the queue, the waitress handed us a sheet and a pencil and told us to tick what we wanted. This was our first time here so we were unsure what to expect so we simply selected what we wanted. We did end up choosing quite a few items though, more than enough for two. 

The place was warm and stuffy as the heat from the charcoal pot filled the shop. You could practically feel the oil in the air and everything was kind of oily, from the table to the chair. Mookata did fix an exhaust above each table so that the oil can be rapidly removed but it did not help too much I guess.

After waiting a long while, we were served. The charcoal pot had a metal grill in the center surrounded by a moat of clear soup. This arrangement is really interesting because the oil and essence from the grilled meat simply flowed into the soup below. This made the soup very tasty but also very oily towards the end. We ordered lots of mushrooms, vegetables, pork belly, chicken thigh, fish and streaky bacon. I would highly recommend the pork belly because it was so well marinated and tender. The chicken thigh was really good too, soft and juicy. Grilling food over charcoal is indeed different from the usual electric grill because the charcoal just makes the food taste so much better!

Service was a little slow but a lady came by and apologized profusely about the slow pace halfway through our meal. Apparently her managers were not working that day, so they were a little short handed and everything was moving slower. 

Mookata was not exactly the cheapest option and we spent more than $60 for our selection of food. The food was good though so I did not really mind. We left the shop feeling really oily and sticky though so if you do intend to try Mookata, make sure you are not heading somewhere else after your meal and go straight home to bathe. 

103 East Coast Road