We ♥ Korea : Kogi Bulgogi at the Eastwood Mall, Quezon City
Ever since I got back from my trip to Seoul, Korea; I now share the same fascination and love for this beautiful country with my colleague ML. From the pretty cherry blossoms to the food...the FOOD! Every meal was truly a delight and every meal that we had from the corner street cart to the more upscale restaurant all left a wonderful memory for Paul and yours truly.
I have yet to share with you my complete Korean adventure. I promise I'll have the out soon...
Paul and I loved Korea so much that we are actually planning to go back again next year. Crossing my fingers on that! Meanwhile, I have to satisfy my sudden Korean food craving with what we have locally. Luckily, more and more Korean establishments and franchise have been coming to Manila making it easier for us to have some good Samgyeopsal or a yummy piece of Pajeon at any given time.
ML and I headed to Kogi Bulgogi for a quick lunch one day. It was a good thing that we were at the Eastwood Mall for an event allowing me to finally be able to try this restaurant. It has been on my list for years! Shameful, I know but there is just so little time and a whole lot more restaurants to try.
We quickly went through the menu and placed our orders. While waiting for our food to arrive, we were given a couple of Banchan (appetizer). It's a mix of salty fish, kimchi, potato salad, beansprouts and a couple other more. I wasn't very impressed with their banchan as I would love to have some spinach and the beansprouts to be more flavorful.
I guess we were both hungry as we both ordered two dishes each. ML had some Bulgogi rice toppings and a cold noodle dish. I had the Nude Kimbap (Php. 188) which is one thing that I truly enjoyed having in Korea. This is very similar to a Japanese sushi except that it has strips of beef inside together with some Korean veggies too.
Sadly, I wasn't so happy with my Nude Kimbap as it's a far cry from the authentic kind. Kimbap normally consists of spinach, carrots, seafood cake, bulgogi (beef strips) and pickled daikon radish. In Kogi Bulgogi, they just got three ingredients correct and replaced the spinach with baguio beans and the seafood cake was totally missing. Well I guess I can't complain much given that it's pretty reasonable as you get 8 plump slices per order.
My next order was the Yuk Hoi Dulsot (Php. 188). As mentioned in the menu, this bibimbap should consists of raw beef and raw egg. As I am trying to avoid taking in too much raw food items, I requested the kitchen to thoroughly cook the beef and egg for me. I'm glad they said yes and here's what my Yuk Hoi Dulsot Bibimbap looked like.
Don't be fooled by the size as it was very filling. I enjoyed this very much as the beef strips were plenty and the rice fragrant as it should be. Next time, I'm excited to try the other Bibimbap variants such as the Sae-u (Shrimp) and the Salmon Bibimbap too.
Too bad we were both rushing to head back to our event. Kogi Bulgogi also sells some Korean Ice Cream which would make a great dessert after our meal.
While Kogi Bulgogi may not be the most authentic Korean restaurant in this side of town (there are actually a lot more along Libis), it's a good choice should you want something quick and totally budget-friendly.
Kogi Bulgogi is located at the 2nd Level, New Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City, E. Rodriguez Ave. (C-5) in Quezon City. Call them at 470-6884 to 85.
I have yet to share with you my complete Korean adventure. I promise I'll have the out soon...
Paul and I loved Korea so much that we are actually planning to go back again next year. Crossing my fingers on that! Meanwhile, I have to satisfy my sudden Korean food craving with what we have locally. Luckily, more and more Korean establishments and franchise have been coming to Manila making it easier for us to have some good Samgyeopsal or a yummy piece of Pajeon at any given time.
ML and I headed to Kogi Bulgogi for a quick lunch one day. It was a good thing that we were at the Eastwood Mall for an event allowing me to finally be able to try this restaurant. It has been on my list for years! Shameful, I know but there is just so little time and a whole lot more restaurants to try.
We quickly went through the menu and placed our orders. While waiting for our food to arrive, we were given a couple of Banchan (appetizer). It's a mix of salty fish, kimchi, potato salad, beansprouts and a couple other more. I wasn't very impressed with their banchan as I would love to have some spinach and the beansprouts to be more flavorful.
I guess we were both hungry as we both ordered two dishes each. ML had some Bulgogi rice toppings and a cold noodle dish. I had the Nude Kimbap (Php. 188) which is one thing that I truly enjoyed having in Korea. This is very similar to a Japanese sushi except that it has strips of beef inside together with some Korean veggies too.
Sadly, I wasn't so happy with my Nude Kimbap as it's a far cry from the authentic kind. Kimbap normally consists of spinach, carrots, seafood cake, bulgogi (beef strips) and pickled daikon radish. In Kogi Bulgogi, they just got three ingredients correct and replaced the spinach with baguio beans and the seafood cake was totally missing. Well I guess I can't complain much given that it's pretty reasonable as you get 8 plump slices per order.
My next order was the Yuk Hoi Dulsot (Php. 188). As mentioned in the menu, this bibimbap should consists of raw beef and raw egg. As I am trying to avoid taking in too much raw food items, I requested the kitchen to thoroughly cook the beef and egg for me. I'm glad they said yes and here's what my Yuk Hoi Dulsot Bibimbap looked like.
Don't be fooled by the size as it was very filling. I enjoyed this very much as the beef strips were plenty and the rice fragrant as it should be. Next time, I'm excited to try the other Bibimbap variants such as the Sae-u (Shrimp) and the Salmon Bibimbap too.
Too bad we were both rushing to head back to our event. Kogi Bulgogi also sells some Korean Ice Cream which would make a great dessert after our meal.
While Kogi Bulgogi may not be the most authentic Korean restaurant in this side of town (there are actually a lot more along Libis), it's a good choice should you want something quick and totally budget-friendly.
Kogi Bulgogi is located at the 2nd Level, New Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City, E. Rodriguez Ave. (C-5) in Quezon City. Call them at 470-6884 to 85.
