Korean restaurants in Cebu, especially those in Lapu-Lapu, can be mighty expensive. Korea House Restaurant (Cebu Hanguk Kwan) serves inexpensive, authentic Korean food. For anyone who wants to try Korean food without going broke, this is the place to be. Hurry, so you can still avail of their promo – they give 20% discount for almost all their food choices.
A Korean meal will not be complete without the appetizers, and yes they are usually free and refillable. Appetizers are usually different kinds of kimchi, pickled radish (the yellow one above), bean sprouts, potatoes, and other vegetables. Appetizers vary every day in any Korean restaurant. Sometimes they serve fried dilis, soup with egg or tofu, and vegetables with some pork. Meatloving folks, notably Fedge, might skip Korean appetizers though.
Bulgogi (Php 300) is arguably the most famous Korean dish (and rightfully so). The main ingredient of bulgogi is marinated beef. Different restaurants, at least here in Cebu, have different ways of making them. Korea House Restaurant’s bulgogi is served with glass noodles and, as you can see, lots of vegetables. It also has a lot more sauce than the ones I’ve tried in other Korean restaurants in Cebu. Bulgogi served in Korea House tastes good, but I still prefer the one served at Yu Hee Jeong (also in Lahug).
Samgyupsal (Korean pork belly – Php 200 per set which includes rice and soup) is always present in any Koreanovela. It’s like the national food or something. It also tastes really good. In most Korean restaurants in Cebu, you have to cook this right there on your table or ask the waitress to cook it for you. I’ve always liked the taste of pork with the seasoning (usually seasoned peanut oil) and gochu-jang (red bean paste) wrapped in lettuce – YUM! You can also add kimchi in it. Eating samgyupsal can get messy though, that is why Korean restaurants usually provide good-sized tissue dispensers on every table. If samgyupsal is cooked there on your table, be prepared to smell it on your clothes and hair when you get home!
Samgyupsal in Korea House Restaurant is indeed cheap compared to the other Korean restaurants in Cebu, but they have a minimum order of 2 servings.
This is the first time I’ve tried Jajangmyeon – wheat noodles with diced meat, lots of white onions, and black soybean paste (Php 100). If you’re a fan of Princess Hours and Prince Hours, and hmmm Coffee Prince, you probably wanted to eat jajangmyeon too. This noodle dish tastes a bit bland for me; it is not salty but a bit sweet because of the white onions. This doesn’t have a lot of meat so meatlovers might not enjoy it.
Do you like the Japanese gyoza? Chances are, you’d like Gunmandu too. Korean dumplings (Php 200) served in this Korean restaurant in Cebu is filled with vegetables. It tastes okay to me, but I like vegetables so….
For Php 700, you get a wok full of Haemul Jampung that is enough to feed at least 9 people. Haemul means seafood in Korean. I don’t know the translation of Jampung but I assume it is noodle soup. Korea House’s seafood noodle soup is really tasty, especially if you like spicy soup. If you don’t, you can always tell the cook to lessen the spice. There’s a good mix of seafood in this dish (shrimp, clams, squid), and there’s some pieces of gunmandu added as well.
For the record, we didn’t eat all these in one day. I’ve been to this restaurant thrice in a span of a month – twice with friends and once with my aunt and cousin (above). Would I go back? Sure. Is it my favorite Korean restaurant? No. I still bestow that dubious honor to Yu Hee Jeong.
P.S. Thanks Mommy and Gina for the wonderful treat!
April 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
thanks for this post. i love kimche soup!