I had dinner with a couple of friends last Saturday at Seoul Fusion Korean Charcoal Grill Restaurant. This authentic Korean place offers the most affordable food and alcoholic drinks among Korean restaurants I have visited so far.
Since I was out with friends, we had a couple of drinks. Instead of our usual soju, we had two different types of makgeolli 막걸리 or Korean wheat/rice wine. It’s not really as alcoholic as soju with only around 6% alcohol in it and tastes sweeter so I think more of you can try drinking it. There are two types of makgeolli available at Seoul Fusion, the ordinary rice wine only and the wheat wine version. The rice wine version is P200 per bottle while the wheat version is P300 per bottle. Interesting enough, the special makgeolli that they serve here is the type imported to Japan since Japanese people have grown fond of makgeolli as well.
Since we were drinking that night, we wanted to have samgyeopsal 삼겹살 or grilled pork with our makgeolli. However, it wasn’t available since it ran out with so many Koreans eating and drinking that night, as well. So we decided to have chadol baki 차돌박이 or thinly sliced grilled beef instead. I personally like samgyeopsal more but this is a little bit healthier. ㅎㅎㅎ For those who do not know, chadol baki is essentially similar to samgyeopsal except that it is beef.
After grilling you dip the meat into gireumjang 기름장, which is a mix of salt and sesame oil. Then you roll it in sangchu 상추 or lettuce with garlic, green pepper, raw onions, and ssamjang 쌈장 – a paste made with gochujang 고추장 or chili paste, doenjang 된장 or soybean paste and sesame oil 참기름. You can also roll it instead in kkaennip 깻잎 or perilla leaves.
Aside from these, we also ordered japchae 잡채, the traditional dish you all know looks like Filipino pancit. This is made with sweet potato noodles stir fried in sesame oil with various noodles.
We also had chicken tteukbokki 떡볶기 with kkaennip. This dish is made by cooking chicken with tteukbokki 떡볶기 or rice cakes with kkaennip in gochujang 고추장 or pepper paste.
All in all, we spent around P2500 for 8 people. That’s quite affordable since we had several servings of the grilled beef dishes although the bill would have been higher if we continued drinking. (*^^*) The place is well-ventilated although of course, we still smelled like charcoal and beef after. Service is also quite good since there are both Filipino and Korean staff who are more than willing to help you out with a smile.
So for those looking for a great drinking place or dining place that is very affordable with a nice ambience, I highly recommend Seoul Fusion. It’s located at the Ortigas Home Depot in Julio Vargas, Ortigas.
joon 