Cafe Chosun for some real good Korean fare

When my New Jersey-based sister came for a vacation in Manila earlier this year, we "lived" for a month at Adriatico Tower, the condo attached to the Robinsons Place mall in Ermita. During that time, rubbing elbows with foreigners of various nationalities was an everyday thing - we ran into them in the elevator, at the grocery, restaurant, and everywhere else. Ermita is no doubt still the metro's tourist district! No wonder, restaurants specializing in different international cuisines also abound in the area. 

One of those that caught my fancy was a Korean restaurant named Cafe Chosun (Yup, I was drawn to it because of the word "cafe". Tee-hee.) So when my nephew asked for my suggestion for a place where our family could have dinner to celebrate his 27th birthday, I mentioned it. He Googled the menu and gave his approval. We were at Cafe Chosun for dinner on a Friday - my mom, us three siblings and six kids. We ordered two set meals and one additional dish, plus rice and drinks. 

Our dinner:

We had two meal sets - one all beef, and the other, meat with sausages, tofu and crabsticks. Everything was delicious and perfectly grilled by our two friendly servers. All side dishes 
are included in the sets, but not rice.

A Korean meal is a lavish spread - there's a lot of side dishes! It's very healthy, too, because there's a whole lot of vegetables like lettuce, mung bean sprouts (toge) and onions. Kimchi, which is touted as a health food on the account of its being fermented, is included in our meal, placed on the grill. We asked for a refill of it and they gave us, at no extra charge!

Grilled Squid.
I love squid whatever way it's cooked. This one's quite spicy and pretty good!  

Clockwise: Water bottle, bowl of rice, miso soup.

My nephew also ordered this alcoholic drink "Soju" which is like gin. 

According to Wikipedia, "Soju is a distilled beverage containing ethanol 

and water. It is usually consumed neat. Considered 'Korea's most popular alcoholic 

beverage' in 2014, Jinro soju was the largest selling alcohol

in the world with sales of 71 million cases worldwide." 

Green tea

Our bill (We were 10 in the group). I think there's another 
receipt for the Soju, though. 

Cafe Chosun at 1555 Pedro Gil St. corner Adriatico St. in Ermita, Manila

It was one great and fun dinner that we had. The kids and even my mom and elder sister were in awe of the food and the way they were served and cooked on the table because it was their first time to dine at a Korean restaurant. The experience was truly something different from our usual family eat-outs when we celebrate family occasions. Well, we usually have either Pinoy or Italian food - the pizza and pasta stuff - when we eat out. Cafe Chosun was the first Korean restaurant we went to as a family. No regrets, only thumbs up!

Try Cafe Chosun, folks! The food is good, prices are reasonable, service is fast and attentive, and the ambiance is homey and relaxing. 

Happy eating!