a bite of brownie

As if we needed another buffet (well, if you’ve read my last post, we kinda do), here’s another one: Hong’s Family Restaurant in Lahug, Cebu City. ReiMart and I went here after watching Sinulog and I think that’s a good excuse already. Since we did a lot walking and we missed breakfast!

Hong’s is like an old house transformed to a restaurant, at least that’s the vibe I got from it. They had basic chairs and tables, small crew, and a guard outside. The menu was provided right away and we were informed that both of us should pay for the same unlimited dishes if we wanted to get those. You could also ask for the combo, a mix of Chaldobaki (beef) and Sam Gyeop Sal (pork) cuts, instead of ordering each. Unfortunately, they did not have the combo *sadness* so we were forced to get the Unli Sam Gyeop Sal. And of course, we ordered Bibimbap! Just because.

Like typical Korean restaurants, they served the sides first. They had bean sprouts, potato strips, and kimchi to name a few. You can also ask for refills but you have to call and tell them every time by using the buzzer haha! The sam gyeop sal arrived and I thought to myself, these are like huge, fat strips of bacon. Really, huge cutsof pork belly, as in 8in pork belly cuts. ReiMart had to cut them to smaller, bite-size pieces so they would cook faster. There was a stove in the middle of the table, but for some reason, we didn’t use that. They provided us with a portable stove instead. So ReiMart, being the chef between the two of us, did all the cooking and I just hunted for the cooked cuts haha! 

The Bibimbap had better chances of raising the rating for Hong’s. Although it lacked the finesse of an authentic Korean bowl of bibimbap, the flavor was spot on. The rice at the bottom had crisped up and they put enough spice that it didn’t overwhelm the dish.

Verdict: 2/5
I’ve been to Korean restaurants before and this is my first time seeing a cut like that. It was just too thick and we spent some time trying to cut them to smaller and thinner strips. The side dishes were ok, we liked the bean sprouts and kimchi and had multiple refills of those. The bibimbap was very good. Maybe go here if you’re really hungry and hope that they have everything on their menu.

When I think of Korean, I usually think of Korean Beef BBQ, Bibimbap, and lots and lots of vegetable side dishes! And of course, that’s what I got from Soban K-Town Grill. The restaurant is located at the posh Ayala Corporate Center in Alabang. The restaurant is good for group or solo patrons and it was just my luck that there’s some sort of an on-going celebration three tables down from me.

I had the Woo Samgyup a la carte, all 180g of thinly sliced beef belly goodness. The sizzle on the grill was intoxicating and I had to forcibly remove myself from the trance so as not to overcook my beef (oh but I did, on some slices haha). This plate came with all assortments of Korean side dishes which is a joy to look at but a pain to actually finish.

The Chicken Teriyaki Bibimbap was just something you have to order to see how beautiful they set up a bibimbap. Sadly, it wasn’t that pretty. Which reminds me, I just recently watched a MasterChef challenge on this dish and wow, the homecooks really took it to heart! Well, some.

Oh and don’t forget to try their Green Tea Iced Tea, it’s a house blend. Don’t be shy, order the refillable glass! You won’t regret it.

Verdict: 3/5
Giving it a 3 as I really loved the Woo Samgyup, I had second servings of their lettuce wraps to really enjoy the strips down to the last bite. Maybe I should have stopped there, the bibimbap was just so-so and a little lacklustre.

Amidst the line of Korean restaurants in front of IT park, this restaurant is one of the few establishments that actually has parking spaces for its customers.


This food shack caters to local Koreans and foreigners alike with its specialized staff. Courteous and polite, the servers of this busy restaurant attends to each customer's needs as quick as possible.


The food is good, not to mention the fact that any grilled dish lets anyone have a free cold noodle in addition to the easily replenished appetizers. These range from egg omelets, crispy anchovies, Kimchi, peanuts and salad.

Depending on the space available on the table, guests may opt for a built in grill on the table or a gas operated stove.

Of course, they also have other ala carte meals that you can order if you're fed up from all the meat that you ordered. ;D

Then again, with all the different side dishes that they offer, you practically don't have the option to get tired of those deliciously grilled meat on your plate at all!








Cebu Chosun Galbi Korean Restaurant
Salinas Drive, Lahug


Verdict:

A: 4/5

A bit pricey as opposed to other korean restaurants sprouting within Cebu, but still worth the experience. Ingredients are fresh and served upon request. Good service too.

Too bad that the branch at IT Park closed down.

N: What can I say, I'm a sucker for Korean BBQ and AYCE at that :) so for my birthday I invited my friends to try out this restaurant, partly to try out the place but mostly because birthday celebrants eat here for free if they bring at least 5 friends with them haha

they say that if you ever visit los angeles, you shouldn't miss stopping by at any korean bbq all you can eat resto. not only is it cheap but the quality and variety of meat is impressive. the resto we picked didn't have a very decent sign from outside. a very loud music was also booming from outside that will make anyone deaf. i guess it's the restaurant's way to advertise itself through loud and distracting music. we waited around fifteen minutes before we got a table considering it was lunch time on a work day. we chose set c which had 16 options of meat, the most options of meat they had for $15.99. the bad thing i didn't like about this place is customers are limited to 4 meats per order. we probably ordered almost all in their menu except for three items. 

1. Beef Brisket
2. Sliced Pork
3. Chicken with marinate
4. Pork Chop with marinate
5. Sliced Beef with marinate
6. Squid with marinate
7. Beef Intestine
8. Sliced Beef
9. Pork Steak
10. Spicy Sliced Pork
11. Beef Tongue
12. Skewer Fresh Steak
13. Boneless Ribs
14. LA Short Ribs
15. Shrimp with marinate
16. Boneless Ribs with marinate

the beef brisket was like bacon. i like it the most maybe because it was so easy to eat. i enjoyed the squid and shrimp too. the sliced pork, boneless ribs and steak were good too. after our last order, i felt i had too much already that it was difficult for me to finish the food even though i barely touched my rice.

Castle II Korean BBQ
3600 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Verdict: 4/5 (-1 for limiting customers to order 4 meats per batch) 

This unique all you can eat Japanese style restaurant has tables equipped with grills well as an overhead movable exhaust fan that suck the smoke out of each individual dining area. Their menu consists of a mix between Korean and Japanese cold cuts as well as raw food. Of course, depending on how much one can eat, any customer can order as much as they want.

The restaurant boasts its wide assortment of US, Aussie, Korean and Japanese meat, not to mention some seafood and a side dish of kimchi on the side. They also have traditional sake and shoju, in addition to local drinks, juices and shakes.


Verdict:
A = 4/5
I can't really say much about the food because the customer decides how he wants his meat.I have to reiterate that they serve bowls of delicious Korean cold noodles.

So what did I miss about Vancouver? Why, Korean food, of course =p and the people who eat it with me ^^

N: 3/5 I've had better galbi...

Da Rae Oak Korean Restaurant
3510 Kingsway,
Vancouver, BC V5R5L7

we celebrated valentine's day by feasting at "joy yee's noodles." it's a pan-asian cuisine. it serves korean, thai and chinese food. we did not order noodles there though. we ordered the soft-shell crab, korean barbeque spareribs and shrimp with walnuts. the soft-shell crab is very good and the korean spareribs is consistenly good everytime we order it. Their shrimp with walnuts is comparably the same with the other restos in chinatown but still good. joy yee is also known for its wide range of unforgettable fruit shakes and tapiocas.

Verdict: 5/5

Joy Yee's Noodles
521 Davis Street
Evanston, Illinois

Still not done with my fill of Korean food, so I visited this quaint little place just across NCIX, right after I checked out the D10. I remember eating here once with a friend and I ordered the same dish I ordered before. What else would I want from a Korean restaurant? Galbi of course.

The neat thing about this restaurant, or probably it's a standard in any Korean food place, are the side dishes. I got five - soup, kimchi, bean sprouts, broccoli and sweet potato. While I did like all of them, I would have traded the bean sprouts and sweet potato for radish kimchi or other vegetable side dish.

I would definitely come back to this place and try something else from their menu, everything looks good!

Verdict
N: 4.0/5.0 [-1 because I think the Cho Sun sweet potato is better than this version]

Happy Day Metro House
5021 Kingsway in Burnaby, BC

is my all time favorite food, it's in my top three with sushi and Spanish cuisine. What I love about Korean restaurants are the small side dishes, and kimchi of course, well I can eat kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner =)

So for two days in a row I dined at Cho Sun with two different sets of friends. It never gets old. One friend even asked if we were on death row, what would we order for our last meal, and I said galbi!! =)

On Friday lunch, we ordered beef ribs and chicken BBQ, jap chae, deep fried chicken with veggie and dumplings (I should research the Korean names). Everything was good except the beef was too tough, old cow.

On Saturday dinner, we ordered beef ribs, pork and chicken BBQ, deep fried beef with sweet and sour sauce and mixed veggies. The beef ribs BBQ was better this time. We had a blast and consumed four sets of BBQ plates. Wow and I finished maybe 3 bowls of kimchi. I smelled like smoked meat when we came out.


Verdict:
N: 4.0/5.0 [-1 because the beef ribs was not that fresh on Friday lunch time]

Cho Sun
3486 Kingsway Vancouver, BC