When we think about Romantic Baboy, immediately two things come to mind: unli samgyupsal and long queues! This was especially true during the first months of this Korean barbecue restaurant in their Tomas Morato branch. We live nearby and even at non-peak meal hours, we could see that the line outside was still considerably long. We noticed that it usually requires almost 2-3 hours of waiting before you could actually get a table. They don’t accept reservations and they can’t hold an empty table.
I don’t have the patience to wait long. Fortunately, Romantic Baboy has been branching out to more areas since last year. People continued to line up, and it’s just one solid proof that cooking meat right at your table is fun and great for an affordable group outing or an out-of-the-box date. We tried our luck one Saturday in their Retiro (Amoranto Sr. Banawe, Quezon City) branch, and we finally got a chance to dine in. 🙂 Here’s a review and a sharing of our Korean bbq experience.
Review of Romantic Baboy (Banawe, Quezon City)
Ambiance:
Romantic Baboy plies quite an extensive menu of traditional Korean grill barbecue meat (pork and beef) in a no-frills atmosphere. Seats aren’t cramped but rather comfortable for large groups. Rightly so, each table is fitted with an exhaust grill hood. The restaurant looks spacious despite being packed, and the vibe exudes a feel-good facotor where everything feels right. Casual, convenient, and friendly, this is the spot to be.
Service:
The staff greeted us nicely and led us to the table, handed out the menu and explained that we can order only two things at a time for our unli dishes. Fair enough! Banchan was first served, then the soup and rice. We followed the simple instruction and gradually we were able to try everything on the unli menu. A la carte offerings (optional) can be seen on the flip side of their menu. Since we were already too full, we didn’t get any from there. Overall, service was speedy, courteous, and considerate of our needs.
Food:
It’s fascinating that ROMANTIC in Romantic Baboy actually is a made-up acronym for the names of the dishes available on their unlimited pork and beef menu. (See their menu below for reference.) We had a couple servings of Daepae Samgyupsal and Woo Samgyup, and one each of the rest.
We started to cook meat as soon as they were served on the table, without realizing that some pieces would take longer to cook than others. Anyway, cooking was a breeze. While things were grilling, we dove into the side dishes and then wrapped some cooked meat with lettuce, aiming to make each wrap a two-bite affair. My favorites were the curry beef (very aromatic and savory – the curry flavor worked well), romantic bulgogi (sweet and perfectly marinated), and the daepae samgyupsal (I really appreciate the thinness of slices). Tempered by a lovely touch of char, the herb flavored pork belly was also interesting as it arrived herby indeed.
Romantic Baboy Unlimited Korean Grill is an answer to your Korean bbq cravings = food coma! We savored the goodness of meat as we dipped them in cheese and ate some with kimchi. These accompaniments provided a depth of flavor that further heightened the intrinsic goodness of the samgyupsal.
Price for Value:
There’s no doubt that Korean bbq has entered the foodies’ lexicon and it’s up there with milk tea and mango float. At only P499, we were pretty satisfied with our experience at Romantic Baboy. It offers a good price given the value, quality, and selections of their meat, and suffice to say, it’s the type of restaurant you need in your arsenal. This kbbq trend shows no sign of waning as there’s more restaurants being opened every month. This chain, most especially, is growing too quickly, and patrons are all happy with their expansion. More reason to cheat from your diet! 🙂
Here’s a copy of Romantic Baboy’s Menu (from their Facebook page). Enjoy!
The bill came with a pink rose. How romantic! ♡
About Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco
Health and technology freak. Food and lifestyle blogger with a large appetite for food and travel.
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