Getting my bibimbap on at K-Pub

MANILA, Philippines - No, bibimbap is not a Hanson song. It’s a Korean invention, a signature dish from the land of Super Junior, Big Bang, 2NE1, Girls’ Generation and 2PM, that has recently invaded Manila, thanks to a not-so-little pub at The Fort called K-Pub. Mixed rice served with vegetables, meat and a raw egg, bibimbap is the bomb, one with many Asian flavors and that distinct Korean spice. It’s not difficult to find here in Manila where almost every district has at least one Korean supermarket, restaurant, school and church.

K-Pub, however, is in a league of its own and the first of its kind in the Philippines. Owner George Pua says that even Koreans claim there’s nothing like it in their hometown. I like to think of it as Seoul on steroids –– high ceiling, bright lights, huge LED screen, and colors that would put a rainbow to shame. It’s a showstopper, this one, and the food is as authentic as it gets with Korean chefs onboard. Consider it our welcoming reception to the over one million Koreans that visit our country annually, and of course, a good way for Filipinos to experience the food.

“You know why Koreans are so slim? Because they eat a lot of vegetables and spicy food,” says George. “Spicy food cleanses the system and increases your metabolism, so eat a lot of spicy food!” Spoken like a true foodie, George loves everything barbecue. “From the inception of my career in the restaurant business, I was always into barbecue. I started with Tony Roma’s, which is a barbecue place, then Thai BBQ, the Macau restaurant, which also has barbecue, and then Modern China, which also has roasting and barbecue. It’s my personal favorite. Even as a high school kid, I would be tasked to cook spaghetti and barbecue for our school fair,” he says.

Get your own

He originally just wanted a Korean barbecue restaurant, an idea inspired by an eat-all-you-can Korean barbecue place that he dined at in L.A. But with such a huge space, George decided to go full-on Korean and adorn every corner of the building with K-Pop iconography: posters of famous K-Pop bands in the Fan Room, K-Pop memorabilia by the entrance, even a K-Pop portrait of himself with some of his Korean staff to greet guests as they walk by it.

“K-Pub is very different from other Korean barbecue restaurants,” he says. “Apart from serving good food and quality meats, K-Pub delivers an experience.” And indeed it does. Grilling your own food is fun –– at K-Pub, you get to do it on a smokeless tabletop grill, but sampling various Korean dishes at their most authentic is the real treat. This is something you and your friends can get to do at only P499 if you opt for their Eat and Run for one hour promo, or P899 for the No Limits eat-all-you-can promo. Both are inclusive of an extensive sampling of banchan or side dishes, and unlimited servings of marinated pork, beef and chicken cooked on an infrared grill. The P899 option includes a serving of premium meats, as well.

It makes for a fun and affordable venue for events big and small because of its unique setting. “We want to target events also because we know we have a good place. We have the biggest video wall and a stage set up. Our ground floor alone can seat 400 to 500 people if you remove the tables and arrange a theater-type setting. We also have the Green Room of Heineken, the first Heineken Bar in the Philippines, and it can accommodate up to 80 people, which makes it ideal for launches and seminars,” says George. “We also want to be the home of K-Pop in the Philippines. When Korean pop group CNBLUE visited the country for a concert, they dropped by K-Pub for some barbecue. They are the first K-Pop group that visited us and hopefully there will be more.”

To me, Korean culture has always been about wacky fashion, the best BB creams and good-looking boy bands. Now I’m all about their food. I don’t even mind smelling like Korean barbecue –– I wear it like a badge of honor. The first major testament to the so-called Korean invasion is a Filipino concept. So I wear that Korean barbecue aroma with pride as I bibimbap all the way home. 

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K-Pub is located at 5th Avenue, the Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, tel. no. 847-1961.