ERICJAZ FOODIES: MAK CHANG

When we celebrated Andrei's birthday weekend at Sofitel and thinking of where to eat, I suggested MAK CHANG and hoped that my little family would agree to their "matriarch's" suggestion. Well actually they don't really have a choice but who wants to hear complaining and wailing while having dinner right?

And I was just referring to my husband there...

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Anyway, since I am so obsessed with blogger Jin Loves To Eat and religiously read her posts, I have been raring to try one of her favorite Korean restaurants namely MAK CHANG. So it's good that we were in Manila during Andrei's birthday weekend and better that they shared my enthusiasm in trying this restaurant.

Of course it's also "the best" because my husband paid for everything and did not make me shell out a cent which is the usual practice when I drag him along at my chosen restaurant.

See hubbies? It's all about COOPERATION. You guys should all COOPERATE with what the wife wants!

Har de har har!

MAK CHANG!!!

MAK CHANG is your simple eatery that is flocked by diners who want their no-frills but delicious Korean food.

The famous Korean restaurant was jampacked on a Saturday evening and we were about 3rd in line. Good thing that the waiters were fast and efficient that we got a table after only a bit of a wait.

How fast? Imagine what you usually see in a Jetson's episode where at a pull of a lever the family gets everything on their table.

Except at MAK CHANG, there was no lever. Once we sat down, waiters immediately served the condiments and utensils!

It's like, at first you got a bare table then after a second, HELLO, everything was there!!

Unlike other Korean restaurants, MAK CHANG serve limited choices for their ban chan. Come to think of it, they only had 2 -- the kimchi and this spicy sesame spring onion salad which I just LUUUUURVED!

Team Yap roll call!!!

Yub and his lookalike Mati!

Me and my sleepy Andrei...

... who's actually very good at faking it so I don't know if this is real or not. He wanted to go to SM MOA's ferris wheel pronto!

MAK CHANG has a simple menu and it's posted on their wall.

You may think that there's little food to choose from but these are all the dishes that matter!

The speedy waiter recommended that we try MAK CHANG's Woo Sam Kyup (P350.00) which was strips of beef with lotsa fat!

We also had MAK CHANG's Pork Kalbi (P290.00) since we wanted something that was marinated in sauce.

Now as Walter White would say in BREAKING BAD...

"LET'S COOK."

Uh Yub... Could you stop doing the things that make me lose my appetite?

KIDDING! LOVE YOUUUUU!

(BLECH)

ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Waiters swiftly put burning coals inside the grill at lightning speed that I was not able to take a picture of it.

#$%%!

All was forgiven when they offered to help us cook the meats.I love it when servers take it upon themselves to help out lazy diners (like us/me) and not wait for any sort of begging.

I ALSO love it when my husband intentionally takes horrid candid pictures of me.

Everyone was salivating while the MAK CHANG pork was grilling. It let out this appetizing aroma that made me want to reach out for a piece even if it was not yet fully cooked.

Look at me wondering where the pipes go and asking the server about it.

My husband must be thinking "JUST EAT WOMAN!"

Ha ha ha ha ha!

My little picky eater Andrei was intrigued with the glistening pork with savory smell....

FINALLY something made you drool!

Oh yeah... give it to me baby...

And just when you thought those fat pieces of pork can't get any better, the server grills alongside it some green chilis.

OH WOW.

Period.

After the MAK CHANG pork, it's time to fire up the beef!

The strips of beef were just okay but it did give my lettuce wrap a good crunch. Our server cooked it up to a bacon-like doneness.

Excited to EAT!

My boys like eating their grilled meats with steamed rice. Here's Mati dashing some chili powder on it!

I like wrapping it up in greens!

I was so used to just having lettuce in other Korean restaurants so it was a nice surprise to see some shiso leaf for variety. Since it had a strong flavor, I alternate it with the mild lettuce.