Let's Lunch at Bulgogi Brothers!

I really miss Korea. The cool weather, the clean surroundings, the super organized transportation system and the FOOD! I miss the street snacks being sold in Myeongdong, the endless Korean barbecue and fresh unlimited refills of kimchi! Allow me to tell you more about my Seoul adventure next week.

Every since Paul and I got back from our trip, we have been stuffing ourselves silly with all things Korean. Frequenting Korean barbecue places, filling our cupboard with Korean snacks and a lot more. This, I guess, was our way to happily reminisce on how fun Korea was. Do expect that we will definitely go back soon!

One Sunday as Paul and I double-dated with my parents, we headed to Greenbelt 5 to have lunch at Bulgogi Brothers. It was upon an invite from the cool folks of BB as they wanted us to try their three new lunch sets which are available everyday from Monday to Friday. We went on a Sunday thus we were given a special preview. Thank you! Each set was good for two and sadly Pan and Elton couldn't join us thus we agreed to just get two sets to be shared among the four of us.

For starters, we were served with a complimentary set of steamed corn, sweet potato and quail eggs. Of course, the first thing that I tried was a quail egg. Quite bland on my first bite thus I dipped it into the kimchi sauce. Mmm.. We also loved the boiled sweet potatoes which we happily enjoyed all throughout the meal.

In addition to the boiled appetizer platter, they also have three banchan saucers filled with kimchi, pickled eggplant and radish. I was only able to try the kimchi which I love love love. ♥

My only wish though is for Bulgogi Brothers to have more banchan varieties as this pales in comparison compared to the other Korean restaurants out there.

We also enjoyed the Spinach Salad which was spicy but quite tasty too.


For our drinks, Mommy, Papa and I had the Oksusu Tea (Corn Tea) which was also complimentary. I love the sweet flavor of this very mild tea. One of the very few things made with corn that I can take.

Paul, who doesn't drink tea, had some Fresh Lemonade (Php. 120) as he badly needed a lot of Vitamin C since he has been coughing for more than a week already.

Our first lunch set was the Seoul Style Set (Php. 995) which consists of their complimentary appetizers, a special salad called Chicken Naengchae, Japchae noodles and two bowls of steamed rice.

The Chicken Naengchae salad had a generous serving of grilled chicken covered with sweet barbecue sauce. Sadly, I still prefer the Spinach Salad over this. I just ate the chicken fillet and left the veggies behind. I find it a bit too dry for my taste.

The Seoul Style Bulgogi was a big serving of sliced beef with a mix of vegetables. What made this special and unique versus other bulgogis in town is their special broth made of fruits, onions and soy sauce. Mommy is not a big fan of beef but I was surprised that she couldn't stop raving about this. I don't blame her, it was really yummy in fact it's one of the best beef bulgogi that I've had in Manila so far. We finished this dish down to the very last drop of soup.

Together with the Seoul Style Bulgogi, we also had Japchae (a.k.a. Chapchae). A well-known Korean noodle dish made of clear vermicelli noodles, beef, onions and bell pepper. I really love japchae and this one was just okay. I'm not sure if it was because the noodles were served not piping hot anymore that it ended up lumping together making it quite challenging to get. Nonetheless, the flavor was good and we were happy we had two small servings of japchae which were included in our two sets.

Our second lunch set was the Chicken Set (Php. 895). Similar to the Seoul Style Set, this one is also good for two. It comes with a set of appetizers, japchae, two bowls of rice, Dubu steak and spicy Chicken Bulgogi. This is perfect for the non-beef eaters in the house.

Before I talk about the Chicken Bulgogi, let me talk about the Dubu Steak. This is very similar to the Japanese Tofu Steak where you get six to eight pieces of fried crispy tofu slices with teriyaki sauce and bean sprouts. For the past two years, I've been staying away from all soy products thus I wasn't really planning to try this. However, after constant prodding from Paul who assured me that it's really good, I gave in and tried a small piece. I loved how the outer coating was so crispy and the inside stayed so silky soft. The sweet teriyaki sauce also perked up the normally bland flavor of the tofu. Paul was right, this dish was indeed very good and I highly recommend it.

After enjoying the Seoul Style Bulgogi, we were excited to try the Chicken Bulgogi this time. As it was being prepared on our table, it reminded me of this particular restaurant in Myeongdong that specializes in Chicken Bulgogi. I will tell you more about it next time but I got to say that their bulgogi was so good that despite turning really red from the spicy flavor, I still ended up eating a LOT! BB's Chicken Bulgogi was pretty mild. Sure there was the spicy kick but it immediately goes away after a few minutes. I loved that it has my favorite ddukbokki (rice cakes) included and the chicken fillet was really tender. This was a pretty good dish but choosing between the two, my heart goes all out to the Seoul Style Bulgogi.

Lastly, we had a plate of Haemul Pajeon (Php. 350) too. This is another staple dish that I always get whenever dining at a Korean restaurant. We enjoyed the thin and crisp seafood pancake but I think it would tastes even better if only they had my favorite salt and sesame oil dipping sauce. *evil grin*

To cap off our delicious bulgogi lunch, we had some Korean Ice Cream for dessert! I find their presentation so cute! We each got our choice of ice cream and happily enjoyed it.

I'm glad that we all enjoyed Bulgogi Brothers and it's really a great idea to offer lunch sets for two as this allows you to enjoy their famous bulgogi dishes together with a number of their must-try appetizers and side dishes too. I can't wait to go back to have the Seoul Style Bulgogi again!

Bulgogi Brothers is located at the 3rd level, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center in Makati. Call them at 621-62-16/621-5289. They also have a branch at the Lower Ground Floor, New Wing of the Alabang Town Center Mall.