K-Town comes to Manila

Have you ever wondered why most Korean restaurants have built-in barbecue grills on the table?

Well, that’s because Koreans value their privacy. They don’t want strangers to eavesdrop on their conversations while enjoying samgyupsal or galbi.

“We’re used to preparing meals all by ourselves,” explains Sung-Rah, Sariwon Korean Barbecue’s award-winning restaurateur from Seoul. “And since we love to bond over Korean barbecue, the ‘grill up-yourself’ resto concept became a custom. Another reason is that labor cost is very expensive in Korea. So we were trained by our parents to fend for ourselves even at a young age.”

Sung-Rah flew into the country recently for the opening of Soban K-Town Grill, an original resto concept he helped develop with Diana Tan-David, Donna Tan-Ng and Dorothy Tan-Dee of the Happyfoods Group, the sisters behind Sariwon Philippines.

Soban K-Grill features K-Town cuisine.

“Soban K-Town is inspired by the Korean food evolution happening in K-Town communities in Los Angeles, New York, even in Hong Kong,” says Dorothy.

It is a place where one can grill pork (samgyupsal) and chicken (dak galbi) barbecue, explore a lineup of delicious K-Tacos (Korean tacos), beef korilog (Korean tapsilog) and Korritos (Korean burritos).

“We actually envisioned Soban K-Town Grill to be Sariwon’s cool younger brother. It’s targeted to a younger and more adventurous crowd,” notes Diana.

Savor The Deliciousness Of K-Town

Soban K-Town Grill is a totally different concept than Sariwon, which offers authentic Korean food in a fine-dining setting. It specializes in grilled pork belly and chicken.

“But we elevated the flavors of our food offerings. Normally, samgeopsal (the traditional method of preparing slices of pork belly) does not involve marinades or seasonings. Mr. Sung-Rah suggested to marinate the pork and belly and chicken,” explains Donna.

Meaning “small try or table” in Korean, Soban K-Town Grill’s menu reflects the owners’ culinary vision of providing quality yet affordable food by weaving traditional Korean ingredients and techniques with American comfort food, sprinkled with Mexican street food culture.

“Mr. Sung-Rah studied in the US so he’s very familiar with K-Town food,” Donna says. “During his college days, he couldn’t find a joint that served authentic Korean dishes, so he would opt for Korean-Mexican fare like kimchi tacos and kimchi fried rice. Young diners love these dishes so we decided to offer them here at Soban.”

First-time diners can start their gastronomic adventure to K-Town with the 6-Flavor Samgyupsal Set, 540 grams of grilled pork belly goodness. Good for three to four persons, the house specialty comes in Classic Original, Fruity, Soy Garlic, Doenjang (Korean miso) and Wine flavors. A steal for only P1,420, the set comes with refillable plain or kimchi rice, salad, egg rolls and soup.

Diners with not-so-big appetites can opt for the Solo Samgyupsal and Dak Galbi Sets, which are available in 90g, 120g and 180g servings.

I love the K-Taco, which is loaded with beef bulgogi, lettuce, kimchi, sour cream and a generous amount of cheese. The Kimchi Fries are quite interesting, being crisp, sour, spicy and cheesy all at once.

Tapsi lovers should try the Beef Korilog rice bowl, beef bulgogi with kimchi fried rice topped with fried egg for only P135.

Soban’s servings are generous, but most important are the taste and experience.

Here, Koreans and locals can grill their own food and dig into flavorful K-Town dishes in the privacy of their own soban.

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Soban K-Town Grill is located on the second floor of Eastwood Mall in Libis, QC.