So, St Valentines. Where to go for a special dinner. If anywhere. We ended up following our usual Sunday afternoon routine of strolling around downtown Davao then on to San Pedro Cathedral for the 6pm English mass. St Valentines is a big thing here it seems and also being a Sunday the crowds we well and truly out and about, not to mention the stalls and street traders selling flower stems, ballons and red hearts on sticks. After the Mass we strolled around for a while soaking up the atmosphere before heading off to our usual Sunday Evening eating place Itaewon Korean Restaurant. There's a very tasty and extensive a la carte Korean menu or their speciality grill For P200 per head you get unlimited grill. Cooking for yourself at your table. This includes Beef, Chicken and Pork, rice and unlimited side dishes of all the best Korean cuisine. There's a choice of either unlimited rice or unlimited lettuce. We always opt for the lettuce which we use as a wrapping for our cooked meats with added spices and, our favourite Kimchi. The restaurant is very clean, modern and minimalist. Usually is not overly crowded but the atmosphere is perfect. Of course being Valentines it was full when we arrived but just a short wait of 15 minutes and we were invited inside to our table. Of course just like any Korean Restaurant there's always a good supply of the coldest beer. Just beats me how an 'all-you-can-eat' menu such as Itaewon at P200 per head provides a decent business model.
I am very fond of Kimchi, and Korean food, it usually costs me about 1200 peso for 2 main courses and a couple of drinks at the Korean Palace at the corner of Remidios circle in Malate and I always considered then to be great value, that you are getting 200 peso a head is fantastic value The thing that is so good about Korean food is all the little side dishes And yeah the lettuce
I finally found a shop in Liverpool that sells real Kimchi exactly the same as that shown in my first picture above. The shop is right next door to Mattas in Bold street and the pack of Kimchi is equivalent to only about two of the portions shown above and costs about 100 peso for just that small pack
You certainly captured Korean food with your pictures Jim, reminds me of always being hungry while working in South Korea, I sometimes had to order two main courses to fill up as I don't generally like to fill up with the dishes you have portrayed. I do like how the meat is cooked in front of you on your own little personal grill which is built into the dining table. It has always surprised me just how many Korean restaurants there are in the Philippines, extremely popular
The beansprouts, the little tiny fried fish, the tofu and the chilli radish and that other green one at the front right in the first pic are the best bits for me and of course the stunning Kimchi! Meat wise I tend to go for Bulgogi or Dak Bulgogi and I don't find the Korean menu to have that much variety but what they do have is really good. Samgyeopsal which is what we had in the second picture (pork belly) is the traditional lettuce wrap dish and very nice it is too but it is nice to have a second dish as well. As per Philippine tradition we will usually have a plain or fried rice too, as while I like the veg and leaf I need something substantial as well The Phils is a cheap holiday destination for Koreans and it is also an educational destination for Korean students a lot of them go there to the Universities, it would seem that a lot of Korean's have moved there and set up businesses over the years. When we lived in the condo there were a lot of Korean's in the building too and that was a very large condo development over thirty floors and two towers.
There were so many Koreans in Cebu but not many Korean restaurants like here in Davao? Strange. Or maybe I did not look enough. I should visit Itaewon myself. I believe this is in Matina, beside Ateneo de Davao high school, right.
Hi Jenibele, It's almost directly opposite MTS (Matina Town Square) Which, incidently, has been renamed DTS (Duterte Town Square) For whatever difference it makes, there's a pedestrian crossing there
Has MTS been renamed? Wow. I didn't know. Haha. Yeah I have indeed seen it. Thanks. Can't wait for Beef bulgogi and kimchi..
Probably only temporarily during election period It's a new huge sign easily seen from a moving vehicle
