SBS Inkigayo Sandwich is in Manila

KPOP fans would be familiar with the SBS music show Inkigayo which is a similar concept to KBS's Music Bank. But one thing Inkigayo has that Music Bank doesn't is a famous idol sandwich. Inkigayo sandwich became a popular snack thanks to the KPOP stars who seem to be fond of it. And though the coleslaw, egg salad and strawberry jam combination sounds as weird as the English translation to some of our favorite songs, it surprisingly works!

Hello, Inkigayo (인기가요) Sandwich. 

The hottest Korean Idol sandwich Inkigayo is finally here in Manila! 

When in Korea: Raccoon Café Kkukkune

I've been to various kinds of cafés. There are the common ones like dog and cat cafés and more interesting ones like owl café. But on my trip to Seoul, Korea, I chanced upon another quirky cafe. A raccoon café! 

Hello, Raccoon Café Kkukkune!

Apparently, raccoon cafés are now the craze in Korea and we were lucky to experience this one of a kind trend during our stay in Seoul. 

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!  

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.

Green Tea Heaven: O’sulloc Tea House

Hipster. That’s how R described this quaint tea shop known for its wide range of teas from Jeju Island. Yes, I’m talking about O’sulloc Tea House.

Hello, O’sulloc Tea House.

The two storey high tea shop was quite packed on a rainy Saturday night.

It has a wide range of teas and sweets displayed on the ground floor. The packaging of its teas is also so adorable, perfect as Christmas gifts! (I personally love its Wedding Tea. It smells so great!)

Since we were still full from our Jjimak dinner, my mom and I decided to share a glass of King O Fredo (8,500₩) while my sister opted to get Jeju Milk Ice Cream (6,000₩).

While waiting, I explored the tea shop and went up to the second floor.

And it has a different feel to it. It was warmer with its wooden interiors. It also has interesting wall details and I spotted a door that says OSULLOC LABORATORY. It must be where tea magic happens! *drools*

When in Seoul: Andong Jjimak

Living in Seoul for 5 months on a student budget was tough. I survived thanks to milk, free study-hard noodles, and those “military” tasteless free biscuits given out in Myeongdongs. (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit here as I also get to occasionally buy $5 pizza from Pizza School and splurge a bit with a cup of Dunkin Donuts Caramel Macchiato.)  This is why I promised myself that I’ll buy a fancy (or at least good) meal or two when I visit again. And when I finally did, we had a nice start with…

Andong Jjimak.

Thanks to my good friend, R who happens to be a very fluent and you’d-think-is-local, we got to discover Andong Jjimak. He said that it was one of his favorite restaurants in Myeongdong and even thought of bringing it in Manila. Hearing these from him made my expectations really high.

And seeing the place packed seems to prove it. We were lucky though as the diners eat fast here.

We opted to get Jjimak (37,000 ₩, one and half order good for 3-4 pax) and four bowls of rice.

While waiting, we enjoyed the free appetizers—pickled radish and spicy kimchi.

The pickled radish was pretty refreshing and cleanses the palate while the spicy kimchi was…spicy. One bite was enough for me as it made me gag. (Yes, my tolerance for anything spicy is very low.)

Service was pretty quick and our huge bowl of jjimak was served in less than 10 minutes.

Restaurant Discovery: Matgalne

Korea has stolen the hearts of many Filipinos—from dramas to music to food. I’d say, I have this long-term serious relationship with samgyeopsal. Throw in the word “unlimited” and I am yours!

Eat-all-you-can samgyeopsal for only PHP299 for lunch (11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and PHP399 for dinner (5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.), then throw in more than 20 side dishes, not a bad deal right? I was lucky to receive an email from A about this place called Matgalne that serves Korean dishes at friendly prices. Since curiosity got the best of me, I decided to pay Matgalne a visit during elections.  

It was rather hard to find the place if you’re not familiar with going around Makati but one landmark to remember is St. Giles Hotel and you’re almost there. I was lucky that I could read Korean as we totally didn’t notice the hotel’s signage. But for easier reference, here’s a photo of the façade. :)

When we arrived, I was surprised that the place was quite packed. Yes, the restaurant was slightly small, similar to how most hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Seoul are but this one could easily seat around 30 people and almost every seat is occupied by a hungry customer. Again, I was lucky as I instantly got a seat as I was in touch with A.

My only shot of the spread as I got too excited to eat right away!

Soon, I started to fill my plate with side dishes. First one I took was the Chapchae (or jabchae), one of my favorite dishes! I love that the sweet potato noodles (Korean 101: Sweet potato noodles is called dangmyeon in Korean) are not as oily and the vegetables included were fresh and quite crunchy. I just love it.

I also got some Jumeok Bap (Korean 101: Bap means rice). It was really yummy! I love the sticky texture and the saltiness of the seaweed.

See that little ball covered in nori? Yes, that’s Jumeok Bap!

There were also a lot of “jeon” available such as ham jeon, mushroom (Korean 101: Mushroom is called beoseot in Korean) jeon, and zucchini jeon. The key ingredients namely ham, mushroom and zucchini were [separately] batted in eggs and flour. If you adore fried oreos, pancakes or anything batted in eggs and flour, you’d like these.

I have mentioned several times that I do not like spicy dishes but some manage to be my “exemptions” and one of which is Matgalne’s Dak Kang Jung (Korean 101: Dak means chicken), sweet and spicy chicken. It was flavorful and it wasn’t very spicy at all. It was just right, and an instant love!

Place I Love: Caffe Bene

I miss Seoul. I even miss the intense walking (or should I call it hiking?) and trekking to the university. I miss the cold breeze. I also miss all those people I met and saw who were so carefree and do not care what others think about them as long as they are having fun. I miss the adventures and misadventures. But I have this feeling that I’ll get to experience that again soon, may it be in Seoul or not.

I was thrilled when T told me that one of our favorite coffee shops in Korea is coming to Manila. Caffe Bene (yes, that’s with two Fs), I have been waiting for you! 

 

When our good friend E went back to Manila, we decided to have a mini reunion and Caffe Bene seemed to be the perfect place to go to.

 

Okay, words can’t explain how giddy I was when I stepped inside. I was taking photos of everything I see. Having fun is an understatement. The interiors, the cute clock, the brick walls, the unfinished look, the wooden stairs… love~~~<3

A Fangirl's Heaven: Subspace

Ever since my colleague told me that there was this new coffee shop in town called Subspace (that was oozing in cuteness as one of the co-owners is no other than one of Real Living’s contributors, Wilmer Lopez), I wanted to jump to Ortigas and check it out. However, with a food trip packed schedule, I can’t seem to squeeze it in… until one Saturday.

It was an extremely hot day for me and T. We were sweating like crazy walking from Market Market to the Bloggers United event, back to Market Market to catch the bus going to the MRT and walk from Ortigas Station to Grand Emerald Towers to finally visit… SUBSPACE.

Cute interior. Hongdae feel. Lovely menu. Friendly staff. I LOVE IT HERE!

What's so special about 11-11-11?

I would have never thought that the number 11 will make me so happy this year. 

I’m sure that most of you saw several posts about 11-11-11. Some would go like this, “Happy 11-11-11!!!” or “Don’t forget your 11 wishes at 11:11am and 11:11pm this 11-11-11”.

So what’s so special about 11-11-11? 

For one, it is one nice date to remember. You could tell your grandchildren, “Kids, during 11-11-11, I was at… doing… eating…” Hey, it sounds like a cute story to tell.

But for some of us, 11-11-11 means… ULTIMATE PEPERO DAY. (Pepero huwaat?)

Familiar with Pocky of Japan? Well,  Pepero is the Korean version of Pocky. 

Pepero Doughnut from Mister Donut, Korea

360 degree approach of Korea (part 2)

Today’s spotlight is on the Korean snack *drum roll* PPEPPERO…

Ppeppero is quite similar to Pocky (the Japanese snack brand). It has various (uh) flavors such as almond, plain chocolate, and hallow pretzel with chocolates as shown below.

I’d say that my heart still belongs to Pocky since it is sweeter than Ppeppero. Aside from that, I find Pocky to be crunchier and more addicting. Also, Pocky has a wider range of flavors compared to Ppeppero but it seems that Ppeppero is getting more and more popular with the help of the KPOP craze. The fact that there is Ppeppero Day also adds up to its popularity.

To those who are not familiar with Ppeppero Day, this is the November version of Valentine’s Day. Celebrated every November 11 (or 11-11), girls and boys give each other Ppeppero boxes to show their love to one another. Interestingly though, this day began differently. It all started in Busan where two high school girls gave each other Ppeppero with a promise that they will be as thin as Ppeppero. No connection to how it is being celebrated now right? J

There is also a TO and FROM on the box since it is often used a gift

Where's the chocolate?

Anyway, I think a lot of people, especially the lovey-dovey ones are waiting for the ULTIMATE PPEPPERO day which is on 11-11-11. I am excited myself. This is the day I could have all the Ppeppero I want and have the “Ultimate Ppeppero Day” as my excuse.