Category: Manila

Last Sunday was one of those fine days when we just wanted to explore and indulge in Korean cuisine some more while not traveling far. MARU Korean Restaurant happened to be the perfect spot as it’s very accessible from our place — outside through the exit of Midtown Wing, Robinsons Place, Manila.

A treat for your senses awaits at this restaurant specializing in both authentic and inventive lick-the-plate-delicious and mostly spicy food. In Maru, Korean food staples are done expertly. Customers are given the option to sit on the floor and dine the “Korean-way,” essentially just how Maru stands by its name; in Korean, it means “living room floor” and the literal translation pretty much sums up the experience.

Review of Maru Korean Restaurant (Robinsons Place, Manila)

Ambiance: ★★★★★

The Korean ambiance was definitely felt through the theme, with minimal accents and monochromatic design. Half of the restaurant had grills on the tables for BBQ. So if you want to grill meat, be sure to tell the staff that you have to get the BBQ table.

Service: ★★★★★

Staff composed of the guard, waitresses and waiters and the restaurant manager were exceptionally courteous, responsive and helpful. All the names of dishes on the menu were in Korean and we couldn’t understand any of them except for the common ones like bulgogi and japchae. The wait staff gave us ample time to decide which to order according to the pictures, and they gave their recommendations off of the menu when asked.

Maru has this cute button that functions like a “nurse call button” that allows patients customers to alert nurses waiters of their requests. I pressed it three times in our entire stay and the wait staff came quickly each time upon hearing the buzz. Cool! 😀

Food: ★★★★★

Before the arrival of the actual entrees, we were served with banchan that included Korean potato marbles, fried banana balls, slices of eggplant, diced tofu, kimchi, picked vegetables, etc. Since these side dishes can be refilled until our stomachs tell us to stop, Mom joked that we can dine in here one day, order only their premium sticky rice and be satisfied with as much banchans as we can have. 😛

Amidst the laughter, Doinjang Jjige (PHp 250), a hot pot stone of traditional Korean dish—soy bean soup boiled with clams, vegetables and other extraordinary spices came gushing next through our delight. The soup tasted so salty and spicy that I couldn’t take it without galloping water and adding rice to each mouthful.

Next we had the Doenjang Jjigae (PHp 250), regarded as one of the representative dishes of food in Korea. This fermented soybean paste stew was super concentrated, flavorful, and pretty salty (expect to drink lots of water or eat spoonfuls of rice in between). As much as it was salty, the soup was numbing and screaming hot (pain = yum). I’m guessing primary ingredients used were: braised beef, tofu and kimchi. We should not have ordered this because it tasted almost the same as the Doinjang Jjige but less sour.

Chadolbaegi or simply grilled beef brisket helped to tame the spiciness of the previous two. This entree came with thin slices of premium fat beef similar to that of a bacon, a bowl of lettuce, special sauce and sesame oil. Normally I hate to eat meat because of the chewy texture and just because I find it eww. But this one I had to try and I had no regrets! 🙂 We liked it a lot and we even have plans now of going back to Maru just to have our second round of chadolbaegi.

Served hot, Jabchae Bab (Korean glassy noodles) (PHp 200) is a must-try in any Korean restaurant. It consisted of stir fried noodles in sesame oil, various garnished vegetables, cooked with flavored soy sauce and sweetened with sugar. A bed of rice and side dishes accompanied the sweet potato noodles and completed the feast.

Finally, we had the Bulgogi Kimbab (PHp 120) which was fresh and succulent. Of good quality, each slice in the seaweed and rice roll was crave-inducing.

This is not the meal to have if you’re in a rush. Korean meals, I suggest, have to be taken in a leisurely, social affair. There are unlimited refills of side dishes anyway. So you can take your time appreciating the different flavors infused to your taste buds and enjoy.

Price for Value: ★★★★☆

We were truly happy with everything in MARU! With generous servings and wonderful standards, the price for value is spot on reasonable. We’ll definitely continue to come to Maru and keep this restaurant in our rotation.

❗ Maru Korean Restaurant is also able to cater to customized private parties and gatherings for more than 30 people. No need to worry about balloon decors and photo booths for your events. For your catering needs, please contact Merchant directly. They now have an ongoing deal (via Ensogo), a treat for 2 or 4 people which you can view here.

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Other branches:

A. Venue, Makati Branch
A Venue Mall, Makati Avenue, Poblacion, Makati
Contact nos. (02) 4039140 / 0917 8064172

HK Sun Plaza, Macapagal, San Jose, Pasay City
Contact nos. (02) 8360404 / 0917 5283034

Tucked away at the second floor of Manila Ocean Park, Makan Makan Asian Food Village deals with super hungry hordes who insanely crave for mixed Asian cuisine, particularly authentic Singaporean, Chinese, Malay, Thai, Indian and Filipino food.

My family and I found out about this “hawker-style” Singaporean dining place only last weekend coincidentally, when we accompanied my sister for her monthly braces adjustment at Vaxcen Clinic (located at the first floor in the same building). We had just finished with lunch at that time. Still, I was urged to take a bite and grab a quick meal here to know how promising their dishes are.

Review of Makan Makan Asian Food Village (Manila Ocean Park)

Ambiance: ★★★★☆

Makan Makan has two entrances: front and back. You can enter from either way and you will see cooks in their own stations right through to the depths of open kitchens, as they showcase showmanship and artistry in cooking and preparing food.

The concept combines typical Singaporean hawker fare which basically consists of a good mix of standalone pushcarts put together featuring different food options that can make you quite dizzy, especially if you don’t know exactly what you want. If you’ve been to Food Republic or Food Opera in Singapore or Hong Kong, you will get a clearer idea and picture the ambiance of Makan Makan more vividly. Why? They are likely the same, except that this localized version has less overwhelming crowd and fewer food stalls.

Makan Makan Asian Food Village offers open dining and free seating to guests (not exclusive to stalls where you order your food from). Theme is vintage, invoking a nostalgic kampong atmosphere.

Service: ★★★★★

The staff were polite and courteous from beginning to end. Unlike the mentioned food courts in Singapore, here, dining customers order through the waiters after reviewing the menu and not through the staff inside each food stall. This non-self-service arrangement gives Makan Makan Asian Food Village a fully decent and classy restaurant setting.

Food: ★★★★★

With so many international food choices on the menu, it was hard for us to decide which ones to order. Finally, we went for my two favorite Singaporean dishes: Laksa (PHp 160) and Char Kway Teow (PHp 175). My mom and my sister didn’t get to taste these before when they came to visit me in Singapore because there were a lot more they sampled. Despite that, they had the inkling and feeling that they won’t like them, especially laksa. :O But of course, that had to change!

Let’s start with the Cha Kway Teow. Cooked in sweet and savory soy sauce and oyster sauce, the kway teow was neither too oily nor dry for anyone to dislike. In fact, it was really delicious! Ingredients used were slices of fish cake, squid, lup cheong (chinese sausage), bean sprouts and egg. I think this was a Singapore-style char kway teow, a darker and sweeter version of its Penang rival.

As for the laksa, the soup and the noodles were superb and flavorsome! The taste of curry and coconut milk with the usual herbs and condiments was very evident, making up for the sour, sweet and spicy concoction. Small prawns, bite-size chicken meat, shredded vegetables and tofu were present in the bowl.

End result? My mom and sister gave positive feedback on the food. 😀

It’s confirmed then. Makan Makan’s food flavors are authentic! I’m so glad it’s here in Manila, so I don’t have to travel far to quell my cry to Singapore and Malaysian food once in a while.

Other must-try dishes are:

• Wanton Mee (PHp 160) – egg noodles in special sauce with asado
• Oyster Omelet (PHp 160) – topped with stir fried spring onions and fresh oyster served with chili dip
• Singaporean Carrot Cake (PHp 160) – stir fried radish cake
• Hainanese Chicken Rice (PHp 500 for half chicken and PHp 900 for the whole) – poached chicken served with sauces
• Crispy Cereal Prawns (PHp 550 for 2-3 and PHp 900 for 4-5) – stir fried prawns in butter and cereals
• Chili Crab (PHp 200 per 100 grams) – stir fried crabs in chili sambal sauce
• Pepper Crab (PHp 200 per 100 grams) – stir fried crabs in chili pepper sauce
• Pad Thai Seafood (PHp 190) – stir fried seafood rice noodle with pickled radish, bean curd and special tamarind sauce

Price for Value: ★★★★☆

When compared to prices of hawkers in Singapore, prices of food in Makan Makan Asian Food Village – Manila Ocean Park are quite the same. Eating here will cost 1-2 diners around PHp 150 to PHp 300, or around S$4 to S$9. Given that it’s a gastronomic paradise filled with specialties from various regions constituting to a proper foodie destination, the rate is affordable and reasonable. 🙂

Note: You don’t need to pay for any entrance fees to the Manila Ocean Park shows and theaters to dine inside.

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Opening Hours: 11am – 9pm daily

Partially because last Sunday was Father’s Day (父亲节) but mostly because this restaurant is awesome, King Chef in Lucky Chinatown Mall in Binondo was completely packed with people. Still, the queue outside seemed unending. Why not? King Chef’s exterior and interior designs shine exuberance while its dishes give every flare and flavor that one would expect from an upscale and authentic Chinese restaurant.

Plenty of à la carte selections are available on the menu, but the fun is in the set or packaged offerings for groups which taste all like the good life…like royalty (including the cost). 😛

Review of King Chef Seafood Restaurant (Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo)

Ambiance: ★★★★★

This branch of King Chef in LCM has just celebrated its first anniversary, after opening last June 8, 2012. After one year, the design and ambiance have been kept quite the same. Everything inside spells “class” and everything in terms of theme is coordinated. Walls, chairs and tablecloths are in gold, as well as the teeth of waiters assigned to your table. Ting!

Nah, I’m just kidding on that last one. 😛

Since time immemorial, we have been eating out at Chinese restaurants with likely the same menu and ambiance. I can probably say that King Chef has about similar rate of grandiose and bright setting as Gloria Maris, Tao Yan, Crystal Jade and Lugang Cafe — where “fine-dining” and “festive” can be put as common denominators.

Aside from occupying the “ballroom” dining area, guests can sit inside function rooms by reservation. We took two tables and were accommodated inside the exclusive Princess Yang Kwei-Fei’s (貴妃) room.

Service: ★★★★☆

There was no hovering and no rushing patrons to leave so they can fill the next table. While the rest of their service and treatment were great, there was one quibbling thing to point out: waiters at times failed to deliver food in a timely manner. However, I can be considerate to acknowledge their busyness. Indeed, there were so many customers and so many orders coming into and from the kitchen. Eating a full-blown Chinese lauriat lunch combo helped make wait time for the arrival of the next dish tolerable; there were still loads of food left on the lazy Susan anyway.

Food: ★★★★★

Large dishes at King Chef take “large” to its very literal sense. Here are dishes we ordered, which were served in this order:

Yang Chow Fried Rice (Large, PHp 525)

Kung Pao Chicken (Large, PHp 875)

Seafood with Spinach Soup (Large, Php 620)

King Chef Vegetarian Hot Pot (Small, PHp 300)

Shellmeat Brocolli (Large, PHp 920)
Cha Misua (Large, PHp 420)

Steamed Lapu Lapu (Large, PHp 960)

Fried King Fish in Mango Sauce (Large, PHp 1160)

Hong Kong Spare Ribs (Large, PHp 750)

Mango Sago (Complimentary Dessert)

With dynamite blend of flavors and textures, everything tasted perfectly — though my favorite was hands-down the staple Yang Chow Fried Rice because it is rice and viand in one.

A beacon of ingenuity, the standout dish had to be the Fried King Fish in Mango Sauce which I’d be glad to get the recipe of. Its glory lies in the textual contrast between the taste of salt and pepper mix and mango. If you can’t imagine that, just take the “more ordinary” steamed lapu-lapu and add sip into mango sago at the same time. Probably that would do justice.

Additionally, every platter of food was technically immaculate, clever and beautifully presented. Yes, presentation added huge value on creativity while sticking to the essence of traditional Chinese food. We ended up with happy tummies before leaving the place. 😛

Next time I’d love to try their dim sum delights. King Chef runs a regular promo wherein prices of their dim sum are discounted at about 50 percent every day from 7AM to 9AM, 2PM to 5PM and 9PM to 12AM. These dim sum (or snacks, in Chinese) go beyond the usual pork siomai and shark’s-fin siomai, mind you, but everything!

Price for Value: ★★★☆☆

Set in a landmark building, King Chef boasts a fine ambiance and service to match, so high prices aren’t exactly a surprise. A number of my friends are asking me for good restaurant recommendations where they can gather for business meetings and celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions.

Well, guys, I have shown you the way. The ball, now, is in your court. 😀

King Chef Seafood Restaurant
2F Lucky China Town Mall, Binondo, Manila
For inquiries, contact (02) 720 8594 or (02) 466 5765
Facebook

Operating hours:
Daily – 11AM to 11PM

Other branch:
989 Banawe St., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 410 4919

Another week has come and gone, and summer is totally here! Ugh, the heat. Swimsuit season is looming but before then, we have to indulge in one final feast. It was my dad’s birthday last April 13, a memorable day as it was also when *I bought my first car! 😛 I won’t spill the beans further on the latter as details might interrupt this review.

I hear bloggers and friends say all good things about Sincerity’s chicken. In fact, Sincerity’s chicken has been dubbed as one of the best fried chicken there is even before my mom was born. So we beg the question: How true is it that Sincerity’s chicken is the best tasting fried chicken recipe ever?

Review of Sincerity Restaurant (Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo)

Ambiance: ★★★☆☆

Since Sincerity was featured many times on TV and magazines, people from all over the country covet a table at any of their branches. This restaurant has been blown up from its humble beginnings into one of the Philippines’ best.

Its ambiance in the Lucky Chinatown Mall branch is better compared to the oldest one in Nueva Street (also in Binondo). From the entrance, you could see the large collage of descriptions, pictures and testimonies about the restaurant. The dining area is L-shaped, while the rest completing a square is covered by the kitchen.

With the small space, it still can squeeze in about 10 groups of people; I would assume that it can fit about 60 headcounts. Not quite so glamorous, but no less worthy of entry in the “modern” category, the vibe here is best suited for casual family dining.

Service: ★★★☆☆

Service was okay. Since it was exactly dinnertime, there were many people in queue to eat in the restaurant. The waiter handed us copies of the menu and he took our orders before we were seated. Chairs were provided to the waiting guests. They merged the tables and brought more chairs to fit our group. Food came in fast and our water in glasses were quickly refilled when requested. I notice one thing that’s missing though: their smile. Their wait staff should establish eye contact more, smile and offer a friendly greeting.

Food: ★★☆☆☆

My first taste of Sincerity’s chicken (PHp 150 for half and PHp 300 for a whole) was with my office mates. This happened early this year when I toured them around the best places to chow in my hometown, a culinary destination they didn’t mind visiting. And Sincerity Restaurant happened to be one of my recommendations.

I don’t know why but I think that my initial sampling was better than this recent one :?:. The difference has probably got to do with the cook. While I had a good taste of its chicken in the former branch, this one was in Lucky Chinatown Mall turned me down. It was not only me but my family didn’t like the chicken served as well. It had flavorful, crispy and crunchy-coated skin and tender meat, yet it lacked something undetermined for now.

Treated as equally main dishes rather than uninspiring accompaniments to the other entrees, vegetables we ordered were Spinach with Garlic (PHp 160) and Polonchay Garlic (PHp 160). Both were tasty however portion of the servings were super small.

To add longevity of life, noodles cannot be missed when celebrating someone’s birthday. In Chinese, long noodles represent a long, unbroken life. We had fried rice noodles or Chamisua (PHp 140) and Sate Beef Chami (PHp 120), which failed the taste test. Sorry!

Following them were two pieces of sliced stuffed shrimp or Rellenong Hipon (PHp 50 per piece) and Fried Oyster Cake (PHp 140). Good thing these warm fuzzy sensations didn’t disappoint. The relyenong hipon is best devoured hot, else I don’t think it would be as delicious. The oyster cake (o-chien in Fooken) was done with a perfect golden brown color and sticky texture, filled with oysters, bean sprouts, onions then fried with eggs.

Price for Value: ★★★☆☆

While all food here don’t cost an arm and a leg, their prices are considered a little steep to me because of the little amount of serving. Also, I can’t help but think that my mom’s cooking of the fried chicken is by far still the best, no joke. Her version of the vegetables, noodles and the seafood dishes also won against all of Sincerity Restaurant’s offering. So why pay a restaurant this much when their specialty has lost against what we have, right?

Everyone has an opinion when it comes to the best, so eat here at your own risk! 😛

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Main branch: 497 Nueva St. Binondo, Manila
For inquiries, contact (02) 241-9990

*Thanks to Uncle Peter for all the help and of course, the dinner treat. 😀