Restaurant Review: Sariwon Korean Barbecue

My love of Korean food started since my first taste of the flavorful appetizers and yummy beef galbi dipped in sesame sauce and chili paste, then wrapped in a lettuce leaves. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

Sariwon Korean Barbecue is the most convenient place for me to get my dose of Korean. It's just a stone's throw away from the office - located at the West Superblock of Bonifacio High Street Central. It's just beside Geisha (a japanese restaurant) and above Jumba Juice.

After being seated you will be offered towelettes and some hot tea. The tea is good, you should try it. ^^

A variety of appetizers comes with any meal, and you can ask for unlimited refill. :) I particularly enjoy nibbling on sweet baby potatoes while waiting for the main dish - and I love Kimchi with my galbi. The selection of appetizers changes everyday so don't be surprised if you get a different variety each visit.

Unlimited appetizer selection changes everyday.

Any kind of meat will do, but Ggot Galbisal, being one of the priciest item on the menu, is a definite must-try. You can have Beef Galbi/Seng Galbi for a cheaper alternative. Aside from the food, one thing I like about Sariwon is the smokeless grill, so you don't end end up smelling like firewood after your meal.

Ggot Galbisal (P595) for sharing.

I usually go for plain white rice when I eat Korean, but one day we ordered Dolsot Bibimbap and I knew I wouldn't order the plain rice again. It was delicious!!!

Dolsot Bibimbap P380.

Right after the main meal, they usually serve a complimentary serving of Sikye, a traditional beverage dessert made from rice and malt. It was a bit strange for me to see rice floating in my drink but after several visits I got used to it and now I find it strangely good and refreshing.

Sariwon is currently my Gold standard for Korean dining. The service and the atmosphere is great. A must-try!

Restaurant Review: People's Palace (Greenbelt 3)

It was only my second time dining at People's Palace although I wish I had discovered this place a long time ago. It offers modern Thai cuisine and is located in Greenbelt 3 right beside Via Mare Oyster Bar. I used to just pass by and ignore it, and now it is one my greatest food-related regret. :P

So here are the "tested" menu items. I wanted to take some pictures but food pornography is too obscene when you're in front of great stuff. :P Photos are borrowed from other sites. Please refer to the links for the sources of these pictures.

The very first thing you should order is their superb Prawn Spring Rolls with chili sauce. One taste of this yummy shrimpy treat and you'll definitely know why People's Palace is usually fully-booked during dinner time. It's an appetizer item but it doubles as a main, so it's a great choice. ;)

For the mains, you'll have to try one of the curries. We had the Panaeng Curry of Beef. The curry sauce is rich, creamy and delicious while the beef is very tender. It captures the taste and smell of Thailand. During the previous visit, we also tried the Crispy Lapu-lapu fillets with red curry and basil. The Lapu-lapu was cooked very nicely - skin is crispy and the meat is soft and juicy.

There are several drinks and desserts to choose from. Of course we tried the Sticky Rice with mangoes. One of the mango halves served was a bit too sour but it's still a pretty good choice. :)

It seems like you can never go wrong with any dish in this place. Kudos to the Chef Colin Mackay!

Prices may be a bit steep but it well worth it! Be prepared to pay about 500pesos or more per person. :)

Restaurant Review: Felix (Greenbelt 5)

On this day we weren't feeling particularly adventurous, but on our way to Kai we passed by Felix and decided to look at the menu. The waitress immediately attended to us and "sold" us the best-selling items of the restaurant. We were easily swayed, got a seat for two and were given the menu.

Upon looking at the menu, I immediately thought that it was a bit pricey. We picked some items and waited a bit for someone to notice that we were ready to order. Not attentive, tsk tsk. But after taking our orders, they gave us some bread with butter and a nice dip which I liked.

Here the items we ordered and some comments:

Appetizer: Hanoi - Shrimp and vermicelli wrapped in rice paper with peanut sauce dip
Uhm, it was plain. I can't say it was bad, but I didn't like it too much. Maybe I was expecting something more special than rice paper, sotanghon noodles, lettuce and some little shrimps.

Soup: Clare - Five mushroom with oyster chip; Tomy - Puree of tomatoes with ricotta cheese and baby arugula
The mushroom soup is bland and muddy. Tomato soup was nothing special. You can get it from another restaurant for a better price.

Entrée:
Tango - Duo of seabass with foie gras
This was supposed to be their best-selling entrée but it's hard to imagine why. The seabass is good, but not too good for the price. And duck liver is just not my thing.


Folger - US Angus Rib-eye
Normal US angus steak. It was grilled medium well as we like it. No complaints here.

The mashed potato that came with both entrées is very nice. :)
But unfortunately, they never served the Mango Shake we ordered. :(

The overall experience was disappointing. The food did not compensate for the price and the (lack of) service. We're probably never coming back to this place.

Quiz Night: Murphy's Makati

Tuesday night is quiz night!

If you and your friends are looking for a brain-racking challenge while enjoying nice food and cold beer, this might just be the place you are looking for. It's a perfect team building activity and a refreshing change from the normal karaoke nights. Murphy's Makati is an Irish pub located in VA Rufino St (formerly Herrara). They have a wide selection of menu items from breakfast plates, bar snacks, mains, sandwiches and a lot more. :)

Quiz match begins at 2030H! Categories normally include music, movies, history, sports, literature, geography, science and current events, with 10 questions each. We came here on a good night - there were 6 teams competing for the top 3 positions. Each will have the chance to win 3000, 2000 and 1000 pesos respectively worth of Murphy's consumables. After sucking at history and sports, we managed to get a perfect score in music and literature. In the end, we finished 3rd - hooray!

We need to brush up on sports, geography and history - but we'll definitely go back next week and get that top spot. :P