A Korean Dinner at Kaya Restaurant
Posted by Lauren | Under Restaurant with 1,185 views
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Monday Nov 16, 2009
The Broadway musical Avenue Q has a song that goes, “Everyone’s a little bit racist sometimes.” I’ll be honest and say that I haven’t been too crazy about Koreans after I had an emotionally traumatizing scuffle with one of them in San Francisco. My boyfriend, however, is crazy about Korean food and managed to convince me to try it for the first time in my life. A few months ago we had dinner at Kaya, where I realized that Korean food is good enough to make me become a little more understanding and tolerant about their cultural quirks. Last Saturday we had another Korean dinner at the same restaurant because I had cravings for their food that demanded immediate satisfaction.
The particular Korean dish I was craving for was pajeon, an onion leek pancake with squid (P160). Pajeon tastes a little bit like takoyaki if you cooked them flat, except you soak pajeon in a soy/vinegar sauce before popping it into your mouth. I love everything about pajeon – the chewy strings of squid, the subtle flavor of the leeks, the sweet tartness of the sauce. It looks fairly simple to make too – I found a recipe that looks idiot-proof enough. I’ll try to make it for my boyfriend one of these days.
I was also in the mood for something ramen-y, but the only noodle soups on the Kaya menu were spicy. My only experience with Korean noodle soups are the instant variety, the kind that make me tear up uncontrollably after a few spoonfuls. The server assured me that the noodle soups in Kaya were only mildly spicy, so I took her word for it and ordered a bowl of yook gye jang (spicy beef and vegetable soup, P170). She was right – the spiciness was more like a subtle yet sharp after-effect. I wolfed my soup down in minutes.
As for my boyfriend, he had a dak bulgogi – a grilled spicy chicken fillet (P160). Like my soup, the bulgogi wasn’t unbearably spicy; it was very flavorful if a little bit oily.
Overall, our dinner at Kaya was incredibly satisfying; ordering the soup was an excellent call. I was tempted to order a second pajeon once we were done, but I figured I’ll just come back for more some other day.
Kaya Korean Restaurant can be found at Megamall, the Podium, Jupiter St. Robinson’s Place Manila, Paseo Center, and Glorietta 4. Anyone else know good Korean restaurants we can try out?
I used to teach music to a Korean pastor’s kids at their house, and on my first day there, I was served soup–with ice (it was summer). Yikes. After that I’d eat only omelette at their house. That dak bulgogi and pajeon seems like something I’d enjoy, though. I think it’s time for me to try a Korean restaurant. Thanks for this post.
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Ooooh! Korean food!
Our favorite Korean restaurant’s a little hole-in-the-wall place called “New Korea House” in Malate. Small and cozy, with great food and terrific service. I’d try Kaya, though, after having read this piece.
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