Review: The Raw Kitchen

Located along the quiter streets of Tomas Morato is a modest home-turned-to-restaurant, The Raw Kitchen. I haven't heard about this place before I tagged along with my friends. You woudn't recognize that this is a restaurant if not for that "Please Come In" sign on the door. Upon entering, you can already tell that it has a homey feel with all the wood and furnitures. On the otherhand, you can also tell that the place is not well ventilated as you can see smoke everywhere.

They have like 4 to 6 tables in total so be sure to come in before dinner time or after lunch time. You can choose between, P199 sausages only, P249 beef only, P299 chicken and pork, P349 chicken pork and beef, P499 everything. It all comes with unlimited side dishes. We opted for the P499 and it wasn't "sulit" for me. 

First, the food. There are two refrigerators wherein they put the sausages, meats, "baby" lettuce, and what we initially thought was butter, but it was definitely margarine. On one frig goes the meats and "baby" lettuce while the other one houses the sausages and "butter". The beef and pork are thinly sliced like bacon, placed in mini trays while the chicken and sausages are cut into small pieces placed in big trays. The sausages were good, and thus far the only saving grace for this resto. The meats, were not seasoned or anything at all and you would have to request with the number of trays you can consume. It really takes a lot of waiting time because they still have to slice those meat at the spot and you only have a limit of 2 hours to eat. And as for the "baby" lettuce, you can hardly put anything in as it is really small to even wrap a piece of meat. It is better to eat it like chaser. The side dishes are not worth remembering except for the spicy tofu. The "butter" is definitely margarine. There's also a "rice" sign on the counter but there's no rice???. So...

Lastly, the ambiance and service. As what I've said earlier, it feels homey but their ventilation could really use a LOT of IMPROVEMENT. Be sure to bring an extra shirt if you're going somewhere else after as the smell really sticks to the clothes. 

While the servers are nice and all, they tend to forget a lot of the customers' requests. You would also need to constantly remind them that there's no more meat or no more lettuce. At one point, all of them disappeared. The gas on the stove ran out so we can't cook anything and we only have 2 hours to eat. 

Final thoughts? If you're really hungry and on a budget, you can opt for the sausage only, and bang for your buck for P199 if and when they serve rice. Aside from that, better go somewhere else which offers an authentic korean barbecue experience for the same price.