Makchang

I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime “associates,” food, for me, has always been an adventure. 

-Anthony Bourdain

Korean food, some fear it while some crave it. For me, it's a hit or miss. But the Korean place that I will definitely go back to time and time again is this, Makchang Restaurant located beside Robinson's Place Manila.

Having watched many a Korean drama, I have come to know samgyeopsal. Pork belly barbecued over charcoal while drinking soju always done at night, and always after a heartbreak. because of the dramas I have watched I have seen samgyeopsal as something as a comfort food where you turn to when you find out that your lover is your sibling or when you discover that you chaebol boyfreind's mother is against your associating with her son. But makchang changed my perception the minute I walked in.

There were a lot of people, groups of people who were laughing and talking and quickly I found that Makchang was a place to meet friends in, to hang out in. Luckily I came with two of my best friends who i dragged to the restaurant on a spur of the moment decision. 

Menu board

The server started off by taking our orders then setting up the charcoal grill. There was a vent which sucked the smoke but still you are guaranteed to smell like barbecued meat once you walk out of the restaurant. Next served are the banchans or side dishes. Side dishes are unlimited by the way. I especially love their soup which I eat before the meat finishes cooking. They also give you lettuce, garlic, sweet potatoes, doenjang (fermented bean paste) and chilies so that you can make a lettuce wrap if you wanted to.

Our table

The green stuff is really yummy too

We ordered 1 serving of samgyeopsal, and 2 servings of pork galbi. The samgyeopsal comes with sesame oil with salt and the galbi comes with a sweet soy. The samgyeopsal costs 250 pesos per serving as does the pork galbi. Which I think is value for money considering all that comes with it. We ended up spending 750 pesos for our meal that night which we split between us three so the average cost per person when eating at Makchang is 250 pesos. 

Samgyeopsal

Pork galbi

The fun part in eating at Makchang is the grilling ang the assembly of the wraps. We chose to grill our own meat but you can ask some of the servers to help you cook the food seeing as they are the experts and all. We also put the garlic, sweet potatoes and chilies in the grill. There are no rules in cooking the food here, do it as you like since you will be the one eating it. 

Personally we liked the galbi more but maybe that's just because we are not drinking haha. They also serve noodle dishes though we didn't get to try during this visit, maybe next time we will. Another thing to remember is that the place fills up easily. There are two dining options either dine inside on the first floor or on the balcony upstairs. To get to Makchang traverse the rows of Korean groceries on the department store side of Robinson's (sorry I'm bad with directions) and just look for the orange signboard and a server fanning charcoals on the outside. 

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

-Virginia Woolf