Food Delivery: Busan Kitchen

I surprised my family with flight tickets to Korea. But I was in for a bigger surprise when Covid-19 put a halt on all international flights. And even if flights pushed through, it was just too risky for us; especially when I'm expecting. Thankfully, we have pretty good Korean restaurants in Manila. A new one that claims serve authentic Korean fare is Busan Kitchen.

Hello, Busan Kitchen.

Busan Kitchen is one of the newest Korean restaurants in town. Founded by Mr. Kim Dong Jun, a Korean national born and raised in Busan, he is committed to serving authentic Korean cuisine to the Manila market. 

Stuck In Seoul: Subway Kimbap

What do you do when you are in Seoul, hungry and quite short in cash? Go to the nearest supermarket and have a buffet with all the free samples! But if you’re heading somewhere, your best bet would be subway food. And mind you, there are some good food finds in subways such as the coffee buns from Sadang. Oh how I miss it! But this entry is all about…

Subway Kimbap.

 

These small rolls saved my sister and I from hunger. We woke up early to head to Le Petit France and since we want to be home in time for dinner, we headed out early and skipped breakfast. But the long walks made us hungry before reaching our destination.

Thankfully, almost all, if not all, subways sell convenient snacks including kimbap.

My sister and I ordered one Bulgogi roll and another with Hamand Cheese (and radish for that Korean flavor).  Each roll cost about 1,000-1,500 KRW.

 

Taste-wise, it was okay. The bulgogi roll was slightly dry but was complemented by the soft and perfectly cooked rice.

 

The Ham and Cheese was better for me. The saltiness of the ham and cheese and the tanginess of the pickled radish were balanced by the beautiful rice. I liked this one more as there were more flavors and textures.

I can’t wait to be back!  

Stuck in Seoul: Food Café

Walking around Gyeongbukgong Palace, N Seoul Tower and the shopping streets of Dongdaemun drained me so much that I almost fainted. Then I realized, I wasn’t really tired… I was hungry. After convincing my mom and sister to stop shopping, we finally got out of the shopping mall and headed to… the tourist information center and asked for a nice place to eat. And the friendly staff mentioned Food Café. So off we go to the place they say that serve yummy Japanese dishes.

Hello, Food Café!

This simple food joint is located near the line of malls of Dongdaemun and the Dongdaemun subway station. And since it has a nice location, it was a bit packed with hungry night owls when we got there. Luckily, we easily got seats (and a table of course!).

After browsing the menu, we decided to go with Cheese in Pork Cutlet (7,000 ₩), Seafood Udon (6,000 ₩) and Vegetable Kimbap (3,000 ₩).

Service was quick and first served was the plate of cutlet.

It looked like your usual crunchy pork cutlet but each bite was delightfully cheesy. The melted cheese sure made this katsu a happy pill for the tummy.

I was looking forward to the seafood udon as I was freezing that night! And it did not fail me at all. It was served piping hot and it definitely warmed me, especially my tummy. 

First Bite: Rolling Bap Korean Rolls House

It was my sister’s big day (by big day, I mean graduation and not wedding) last Saturday and we all had a late start. We were supposed to leave our place at 10 a.m. but we left an hour later. Traffic in Makati was bad too and we got to PICC area past 12 noon. Since we wanted to have lunch first, we decided to explore Macapagal Boulevard and found Hobbies of Asia. There are several restaurants there but most guarantee a fresh scent of lunch to stick to our clothes. After looking for other options, we discovered…

Rolling Bap Korean Rolls House

The place is pretty small and the menu is straightforward. They have the basic dishes covered and we decided to get Regular Kimbap (PHP130), Bibim Mandu (PHP280), Tteokbokki (PHP270) and Bulgogi Rice (PHP250).

First served were the complimentary pickled radish and kimchi. I didn’t try the kimchi but I loved the slightly tangy and crunchy radish.

The kimbap was served next and it was delightful! The strips of kani, egg, ham, cucumber, carrots and radish wrapped in sticky rice and chewy nori was quite filling. 

For PHP130, it was a steal! I also love the mix of different textures and flavors.