Makchang Korean Grill Restaurant in Ermita, Manila

Ermita district in Manila is a haven for Korean food lovers as the area teems with restaurants serving this cuisine. This, I learned when my friend and I dined at Korean Village along J. Nakpil St. last year and walked on our way to Robinsons Place. Such restaurants are lined up from one end of the street to the other. Some of them are big, others almost merely holes in the wall. 
One of the bigger and more decent-looking places is Makchang along M. Adriatico St., just across the street from Robinsons. My sister treated our family and some of her friends to dinner there some months ago, so we were able to appreciate what this place boasts of -- fresh meats for grilling and veggies, 
reasonable prices and good service. 
Our orders:

Samgyeopsal, P300.

Pork Galbi, P350.

Ramen, P150.

Sundubu jjigae, P300.

Sweet-chili scallions -- just among the unli-sides

We also ordered L.A. Galbi, which is marinated beef, but I wasn't able to take a picture of it. Anyway, the food -- everything -- from the Korean barbecue, to the ramen and sundubu (soft tofu stew) -- is fantastic. And I loved that the restaurant crew grilled the meat for us 'coz I dislike having to do it myself, for fear of hot oil splatter. Haha! 

Now we wait excitely for our Korean 

barbecue to be ready

Menu

Interiors

Makchang Korean Grill Restaurant 

at 1547 M. Adriatico St., Ermita, Manila

I recommend Makchang for your Korean cravings, dearies. Pay it a visit one of these days. 

Happy eating!

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! 

Shawarma Snack Center: Ermita's best-kept secret?

Where were you and what were you doing on Good Friday? Me? Food tripping! In between church activities and service, that is. I know those who are Catholic abstain from meat or too much food during Lent, but we born-again Christians have a different practice and particularly at our church, we do have an annual fast 
for three days after New Year's Day. 
Last Good Friday, activities and service in our church lasted from 9 a.m. till 8 p.m. and in between, we had an over two-hour break so I decided to make a little trip into one of those small streets in Ermita, Manila near our church, where one 
can find authentic Middle Eastern food. 
This post, by the way, is Part 2 of my Middle Eastern cuisine journey sharing. In my previous post, I shared about Mister Kabab, where I started that "journey", and also Hassan Kabab and Steaks, and Kebab Turki Baba Rafi. Now, as I've mentioned, I'm sharing about Shawarma Snack Center, which is a gem tucked away in Ermita, 
for those who love Middle Eastern food.

SSC at #484 R. Salas St., Ermita, Manila

We reached SSC by crossing Adriatico St. from Robinson's Place Manila and walking on that alley, R. Salas, toward Roxas Blvd. We crossed Mabini St., too, and then M. H. del Pilar, and then there was SSC in just a few more steps. It's huge, you can't miss it. Also, there's two of them, one in front of another. The one on the right (if you're going towards Roxas Blvd. from Adriatico), is like a carinderia and is not air-conditioned while the one opposite it is much bigger and is air-conditioned. We chose the latter.

Main entrance

We went through this door and seated ourselves. I was a little surprised that the room was almost full and that most of the customers were Middle Eastern-looking foreigners. However, most of them were smoking using a strange-looking apparatus that I later learned to be hookah (they were smoking shisha or flavored tobacco), and I felt uncomfortable. Good thing a server offered to bring us upstairs, saying he knew by the look in our faces that we didn't smoke. Tee-hee. 
But then, it was full upstairs with not a single table vacant so we had no choice but to go outside, in the open-air smoking area, which was huge! Thankfully, we were the only ones there so nobody was smoking. We were handed the menu and 
after some time, we had our orders:

Falafel Sandwich, P85.
I just love how a plate of Middle Eastern food bursts with bright colors from those slices of fresh vegetables and herbs. Very healthy too! I ordered this because I loved falafel the first time I tasted it at Mister Kabab. Falafel, just in case you don't know, is deep-fried mashed chickpeas or garbanzos, and eaten in between folded pita bread. I don't eat falafel as a sandwich, however. I eat the veggie balls and pita separetely. I just bite into those browned patties and tear the pita into small bits and dip them into hummus before munching on it. Well, at Mister Kabab, the dip that accompanied the falafel was hummus. But here at SSC, I forgot to ask, 
though I ate my food the same way.

Pita bread

Turkish coffee, P85.
It was my first time to try this coffee and I was excited, only to be taken aback by the distinct aroma. Also, it was very thick and very strong! I was only able to have a few sips. Turkish coffee, by the way is made and served using a small pot usually of copper material called an "ibrik" or "cezve" that is shown in the picture above.

Beef Shawarma with rice, P195. 
This was my daughter's order, some of which I got to eat. The serving, as you can see, is big! The slices of grilled beef are tender and tasty, much more when mixed with the white garlicky sauce.  Again, lots of veggies which I love!

Menu

      Upstairs smoking area

This is where we were seated. That's my daughter reading the menu.

The "other" SSC across the street.

It was a great foodie experience dining at Shawarma Snack Center, which, to me, is Ermita's "best-kept secret". Here, the food and company you have will make you feel like being instantly transported to the Middle East!  
Happy eating!
*  Next in my Middle Eastern cuisine series, Beiruti Bite!