Although I’ve been going with my family to Korean restaurants ever since I was a child, my sincere and personal love for Korean food started when I started watching K-Drama 2 years ago. These shows just change you! Seriously. There was this K-Drama called Let’s Eat that had a story but in every episode, the characters would gather around meals and dishes that one would them explain. After every episode, I would crave for Korean food. So Korean dishes have been one of my favorites (aside from Filipino dishes) since that time.
In BGC, we tried out this new Korean restaurant at the new One Bonifacio
High Street Mall. The restaurant was surrounded with a floor-to-ceiling transparent glass enclosure, so you could see customers grilling their dishes and enjoying their meals. The retractable Korean BBQ Exhaust and the Charcoal Grill Set was available for use at each table. We (Zeeka, me, EJ and Ate) hurriedly grabbed a seat at the couch in the almost full restaurant.
After ordering, we were given the traditional Korean Appetizers called Banchan.
Banchan (/ˈbɑːnˌtʃɑːn/, from Korean: 반찬; 飯饌; banchan [pan.tɕʰan]) or bansang is a collective name for small side dishes served along with cooked rice in Korean cuisine. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchan)
After a while, our orders arrived. Our main order was the Premium BBQ Combo Set. This set includes the following good for 4 people:
240g of meat per person with other dishes
- 2 orders of Medium Woo Samgyup
- Medium Yangnyeom Tohsisal
- Small Fresh Samgyupsal
- Small Smagyupsal (choice of any flavor)
- 1 Medium Dak Ganjeong
- 1 Japchae
- 1 Panjeon
- 4 unlimite white rice (add Php 20 per peson to upgrade to Kimchi Fried Rice)
- Soup
Have no clue on what thee Korean Meat Variants are? Let’s go through them!
Woo Samgyup (우삼겹) is the USDA Choice Beef Belly. It is marbled beef belly. It usually is sliced thinly, too, and best cooked at “medium” instead of “well done”. I loved this! This was my favorite.
Yangnyeom Tohsisal is lean, juicy and flavorful hanger steak marinated in Korean sea salt according to Soban.
Samgyupsal or Samgyeopsal (삼겹살, lit. three-layer meat) is basically grilled pork belly. The cuts are normally thicker for this meat variant.
These meat are soaked overnight in any of Soban’s 6 signature marinades—Original, Fruity, Soy Garlic, Honey Spiced, Black Pepper, and Gochujang—all formulated in Korea.
For those who love chicken, do try the Dak Ganjeong. Dak Ganjeong is caramelized boneless fried chicken. The picture above is the medium sized order. It comes with the combo set.
We, Filipinos, love this next dish called Japchae. Japchae is stir-fried Korean vermicelli noodles with assorted fresh vegetables and pork bits.
The last dish the was part of the combo set, apart from the soup and the rice is this Haemul Pajeon. Pajeon is a traditional Korean Pancake made with squid, shrimp, Korean Mussels and green onion. I love how Soban K-town Grill prepared it as it was more chewy than the other Pajeons that I have tried. It was also mostly meat than egg!
Since we underestimated the quantity of the Soban’s Premium BBQ Combo Set, we ordered one more dish. We ordered Bibimbap. Dolsot Bibimbap is Korean mixed rice served in a sizzling stone bowl.
Apparently, we OVER ordered and had to bring a lot of left-overs home. But this was really yummy food that we ordered!
We still had room for dessert, of course! We ordered this K-Drama named dessert, Coffee Prince. Coffee Prince is homemade coffee flavored ice cream on a soft graham red bean sandwich. I don’t normally like dishes with beans but this combination works!
Soban K-Town Grill also offers a Mega Meat BBQ Set which is good for two people. This set is only at Php 1000. Ever since our visit, I have been wanting to go back.
I loved that it’s reasonably priced. I love that the food is so delicious and the staff was so accommodating. They explained what the dished were when lil ol’ me kept asking about each dish.
Take your family to the new branch in Megamall (3rd level of Megamall Bldg B.) Order the Mega Meat Set for 2 to feast on Woo Samgyup Beef Belly and Samgyupsal Pork Belly with unlimited rice, soup and side dishes at P550 all in per person. A duo of diners can also choose the flagship Woo, Samgyupsal and Dak Ganjeong P445 all in. Bigger groups can enjoy the Premium Set for 4 for P605 each all in. On a budget? Enjoy BBQ meats for as low as P242 to P423 all in!
Soban K-Town Grill is an original collaboration between award-winning Korean restaurateur, Mr. Sung Rah, of Sariwon Korea and the Happyfoods Group of Sariwon Philippines. All recipes are developed by Mr. Sung Rah, with his team of Korean chefs sent to train their Philippine counterparts.
Apart from the Megamall and One Bonifacio High Street Mall branch that we went to, experience real Korean favor and visit them at Eastwood Mall, Alabang Town Center, Greenbelt 3 and SM North EDSA, Robinsons Place Manila. Visit Soban on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Soban.KTown and follow @soban.ktown on Instagram for more information and promos.
