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trying out Sariwon Korean Barbecue

Ate Bing, Ate Mary, Carina, and I were all in unfamiliar territory when we went to Fort Bonifacio's upscale area, the Bonifacio High Street (Taguig City, Metro Manila). None of us had really explored the place before and our "feeling sosyal" tour guide (his words, not mine), Manuel, didn't join us on this adventure. Instead of eating dinner in a restaurant we all had tried before, we took our chances with a restaurant that didn't have a branch back in the province BUT with a specialty that some of us are familiar with. On this trip, we went to Sariwon Korean Barbecue.

Figuring that the place would be filled by dinner time, we got ourselves a reservation while the sun was still up in the sky. The building where the restaurant is located wasn't "alive" at that early hour but as soon as the sun had set, the restaurants popped to life; Sariwon was filled to the brim by our reserved time! Getting a reservation earlier was definitely a good call.

Sariwon's see-through facade was inviting.

Soft opening? If the restaurant hadn't put up a sign saying so, I wouldn't have an idea. I mean, the attendants were very helpful and friendly, the service had great timing, and it felt like the place had lots of repeat clients (a lot of them seemed to know the manager/owner). I couldn't help but compare Sariwon's staff's stellar performance on May 5's dinner service with those from Mandarin Palace when I had lunch there in March.

It felt like the staff took the dinner service in stride.

(Of course, the comparison may be unfair, particularly if Sariwon and Mandarin Palace started operating at about the same time. The meal service at Mandarin Palace might be better now.)

The waiter assigned to our table must have noticed straightaway that we were not used to eating in a Korean restaurant. He encouraged us to start eating the side dishes, noticing that we were all just staring at the food. He assured us that we could get second (or third... really up to as much as we could eat, if we're up for it) helpings of the salads, the mashed potatoes, and the fish.

The side dishes were all refillable.

Our first course for the evening was some form of galbi. It is marinated beef that is grilled at the table and then wrapped in a leaf roll (lettuce or any other leafy vegetable) into a bite-sized piece; this wrap is then dipped into ssamjang (fermented bean paste) before it is eaten. So yummy!

Then came a rice vermicelli dish called japchae. It's an interesting mix of textures, from the slickness of the noodles to the crunchiness of vegetables. I think I saw sesame seeds in it as well; that gave it a unique, rounded, flavor.

As we were just starting to feel filled up, the waiter dropped by again to serve the last of our courses: the bulgogi jeongol. It's a hotpot dish, cooked at the table, containing meat, vegetables, mushrooms, and a special broth. We paired it with cups of what I guessed was japonica rice, judging by the texture of the rice grains.

The bulgogi Jeongol was so yummy!

The hotpot was so yummy! I think the broth was the key ingredient in this dish because it tasted a lot differently from the last hotpot I had tried.

As we were sinking into the soup, everyone got a bit quiet, in contrast to the lively discussions we had earlier. Maybe because we were concentrating on finishing the food, perhaps? It did look like the homestretch because it's the last food in our order. Then the waiter came again, with promise of dessert... ON THE HOUSE!

Seriously?!? Carina and I blurted out at the same time. The waiter came back with tea cups containing some brown liquid with rice grains and pine nuts floating on top. I was quite worried because it didn't look like a dessert; like a beverage, more like it. But it tasted so good! The brown liquid turned out to be brewed malt; the sweetness of the liquid was the perfect pair to the texture of the rice grains and the bite of the pine nuts. The owner explained that it takes about ten hours (yes, TEN hours!) to prepare this dessert, called sikhye. Then it is served cold at the end of the meal, believed to aid in digestion. A light, sweet, rounded ending for such a hearty meal we've experienced at Sariwon Korean Barbecue.

The food there is pricey. However, it's a restaurant I thoroughly enjoyed trying out. Sariwon is right up there with Dalcielo's (Los Banos), Antonio's (Tagaytay), and La Cocina de Tita Moning (Manila) in my books. I'll certainly come back in the future. There's a definitely a next time.
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  1. MaryaMay 13, 2012 at 5:15 PM

    hey! si Carina yung kasabay mong nag-scream sa tuwa =) hehe

    ReplyDelete

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