Love at First Bite: Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus

When I watch Korean dramas or even when I lived in Korea for several months, I didn’t really understood why Koreans are so into jajangmyeon (black bean noodles). But boy oh boy, when they slurp those thick noodles with fragrant black bean sauce, it sure looked scrumptious. But back then, I wasn’t really adventurous with food. I’ll just have bulgogi or samgyeopsal with my mekju (beer) and soju. And I never realized what I was missing until I dined in Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus.

Annyeong, Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus!

This place was recommended by my local friend E. She said that this is one of her favorite restaurants in Dongdaemun and since I trust her taste, off we go to this jajangmyeon restaurant.

And when we arrived, it was packed! Good thing though that one table was available when we got there.

We ordered Tangsuyuk (9,500 ₩ for medium and 15,000 ₩ for large), Bokkeumjjamppong (5,500 ₩) and Jajangmyeon (4,000 ₩, or add 1,000 ₩ for extra size).

Service was pretty fast and our jajangmyeon was served first.

It was HUGE! And I can’t believe that it’s just 5,000 ₩ or PHP200. It tasted divine too with the slightly sweet black bean sauce and well cooked noodles. It was really heavy dish (I can’t even lift a chopstick full without exerting effort) so it is best for sharing.

Restaurant Discovery: O’Rice

Table for one, please.

For some reason, I still feel awkward saying that. But it makes me giddy at the same time. Eating alone doesn’t make me one lonely individual. In fact, there are times that I truly enjoy it. Plus, there’s the perk of ordering whatever I want.

I was planning to have a quick lunch at McDonald’s but it was packed. Since I had to go back to the site (yes, I was in my construction worker mode that time) ASAP, I decided to look for another place to have lunch. And that’s when I spotted O’Rice.

Hello, O’Rice!

The Korean restaurant was pretty busy too though there were still a few tables available. I got a table near the counter and ordered right away. I went with Beef Bulgogi Fried Rice (PHP248), Black Bean Noodles (PHP198) and a glass of Brewed Iced Tea (PHP95).

First served was the iced tea and it sure was sweeeet. Too sweet. I had to wait for the ice to melt for it to be more thirst quenching.

Black Day 2014: Master Bee Chinese Restaurant

In Korea, Valentine's Day (February 14) and White Day (March 14) are pretty important for couples. Valentine's Day is when the girls give gifts to the guys they like and White Day is when the guys give sweets to the girls they fancy. But the 14th of April is also celebrated and it's called Black Day. It's the day those who did not get anything gather and eat black bean noodles together. I like wearing black too on Black Day. And I was so happy that my Black Day dates wore black too this year! 

I have a set of friends who I bug for anything related to Korea simply because we met there. T and K are two of my dearest friends who are game for almost anything Korean and they were both game to celebrate Black Day with me. We also invited two Black Day newbies F and W. (Wow, K and I were with FTW! Anyway...)

We decided to have dinner at this Chinese restaurant named Master Bee Chinese Restaurant  that serves Jjajang-myun (black bean noodles) and then sing like crazy after.

When I arrived, K and F were already inside. T soon followed and we ordered the following: Jjajang-myun (PHP220/bowl), Jjin-Mandu (PHP200) and Tangsuyuk (PHP800).