Review: Seoul Express

I have been a fan of korean food since my college days; I consider it a healthy soul food. My favorite korean food is bibimbap. The local version, since I have not tried the legit one in Korea, consists of ground meat (pork,chicken or beef), veggies (carrots,onions,bean sprouts, kimchi), rice, and topped with sunny-side up egg.

It was a rainy night, I was craving for ramen but all the ramen shops I went to were packed with people so I decided to search for alternatives. I happen to pass by fort strip and saw Seoul Express. I remembered my friend mentioned some carinderia-like-korean-restaurant that offers affordable korean food around the area, so this must be it. The place is quite small with a few tables and it's outside seating just to note if you decide to eat here.

So, I order just the basic Bibimbap.

 I was surprised when the server brought it to my table; the serving was huge! Well, unfortunately, that's only the good thing about it. The veggies are not very fresh, and it doesn't have enough meat, but it has a lot of rice. The gochujang that comes with it doesn't taste good or anything at all for that matter; it's only a lil bit spicy but very bland. Not worth P230 for me. I do recommend their tteokbokki, tastes quite good but still, at P200+, so-so.

Review: Seoulgyupsal

A not-so hidden foodie gem and a breath of life in the near empty Z Square Mall, that is Seoulgyupsal. It is a korean barbecue inspired resto that offers unlimited serving of various kinds and cuts of meat at an affordable price. For P399, you can choose 6 types of meat, pork and chicken, and it comes with unlimited serving of side dishes. Add an additional P50 and you add 4 types of beef to your options.

We didn't have breakfast or lunch, so seeing those side dishes already prepared before we were even seated was a treat to both our eyes and tummies. The side dishes consist of pickled cucumber, baby potatoes, nuts, and dilis drenched in sweet sauce, sweet mashed potato, chapchae, rice, spicy tomato soup, fluffy scrambled egg, and that delightfully sweet and spicy kimchi and radish. I enjoyed eating the kimchi a lot.

To avoid having leftovers and wasting food, you are limited to choosing 4 types of meat per order. We ordered the 3 samgyupsals, and the Dak Galbi Spicy Korean Chicken.

Out of all the 4, we really liked the Yangnum Samgyupsal and the plain samgyupsal. The yangnum samgyupsal is perfectly marinated in sweet sauce, very tender, and actually reminded me of pork barbecue while the samgyupsal is thinly cut and seasoned well with salt and pepper. Both are perfect pair with the lettuce, or ssambap. I was able to consume a tray of lettuce by myself, it's just so delicious.

Quality of food is just half the part of the experience, a good service makes that experience complete. I commend the excellent service that they deliver.

The quality of food, service, at an affordable price, what more can anyone ask for? A place definitely worth coming back.