NOTE: As of 24 August 2011, I received advice from Wencel that they will be closing for a while to venture to wonderful, far away place. We wish you the best Wencel, we hope you'll be back soon!
What I love about restaurants like THE HIDDEN KOREAN PLACE is the privacy of the venue and the personal approach when it comes to service. Sweetie and I felt like we were invited over by a friend to his home! The meals are prepared on the spot - one can hear the whisking, boiling and frying - and smell the aroma of freshly-cooked food that makes you think it would be better met by your taste buds.
This private dining is run by Wencel Angeles (of Biyaheng Pinoy fame) and Chef Robin (he's Korean!). The wooden mat area can accommodate 8 to 10 persons, and the air-conditioned room with tables can cater to a group of 8. Korean songs also play in the background, adding to the authentic feel of the restaurant. While waiting for food to be served, you can walk around or, like me, conquer the games available, like Boggle:
Wencel served us four appetizers (and they're free!) before the main courses. I am already in love with place.
The main dishes are then served:
And then comes my most awaited part of every meal: DESSERT! We pre-oredered their homemade ice cream, sadly it wasn't available (next time Wencel, okay? hehe), so Wencel offered us fish ice cream instead. At first, I was a bit hesitant about the fish and the ice cream used in one phrase. I mean, wouldn't it taste funny?
We ordered it anyway, and when Wencel served us the fish ice cream, I was laughing my heart out. It was an ice cream sandwich - shaped as a fish!
I don't understand Korean, but based on the packaging, there is a sweet bean layer inside the "fish":
We also saw a glass case where Korean beverages are stored, unfortunately we were too full to down even one shot. Next time we will!
The food was great, the servings huge, the venue cozy and private, the prices are reasonable, and we felt like we had our own butlers that night. It was a great dining experience! Thank you! 감사합니다!
Experience Korea in Marikina!
Marikina, aking hirang.
Roni
What I love about restaurants like THE HIDDEN KOREAN PLACE is the privacy of the venue and the personal approach when it comes to service. Sweetie and I felt like we were invited over by a friend to his home! The meals are prepared on the spot - one can hear the whisking, boiling and frying - and smell the aroma of freshly-cooked food that makes you think it would be better met by your taste buds.
This private dining is run by Wencel Angeles (of Biyaheng Pinoy fame) and Chef Robin (he's Korean!). The wooden mat area can accommodate 8 to 10 persons, and the air-conditioned room with tables can cater to a group of 8. Korean songs also play in the background, adding to the authentic feel of the restaurant. While waiting for food to be served, you can walk around or, like me, conquer the games available, like Boggle:
Or read their guestbook! Hehe!
Wencel served us four appetizers (and they're free!) before the main courses. I am already in love with place.
Clockwise from left: Special Omelette, Pickled Lettuce (with a Kimchi kick, yum), Homemade Tofu (my favorite!) and Pickled Cucumbers
The main dishes are then served:
BEEF BULGOGI 불고기
Marinated beef sirloin strips cooked in soy sauce, shiitake mushroom, sesame oil, and secret spices. How do you eat it? Take a leaf or two, put in some meat, and rice, roll it up, and you're good to go! (Sorry no photos of the demo, my hands were full, ha!)
JAPCHAE 잡채
Enjoy light, chewy glass noodles with fun flavors of sesame, veggies and meat! This is also served with rice.
YANGNYEOM CHICKEN 양념치킨
A must-try! Crispy fried chicken smothered with their special red sauce :) Spicy, sour and sweet!
KIMCHI BOKKUM
Our favorite, our favorite, our favorite. Need I say more? :p We loved the spiciness of Kimchi that flavors the hot rice, the soft bits of smoky Korean ham, the runny egg yolk... this dish is perfect! I will order this every time. (Notice the chopsticks too! Cool huh?)
Do you love spices? Then order a glass of SUJEONGGWA. A Korean fruit punch traditionally mixed with persimmon, cinnamon, ginger and even peppercorn. So sweet and spicy. Yummy!!
And then comes my most awaited part of every meal: DESSERT! We pre-oredered their homemade ice cream, sadly it wasn't available (next time Wencel, okay? hehe), so Wencel offered us fish ice cream instead. At first, I was a bit hesitant about the fish and the ice cream used in one phrase. I mean, wouldn't it taste funny?
We ordered it anyway, and when Wencel served us the fish ice cream, I was laughing my heart out. It was an ice cream sandwich - shaped as a fish!
I don't understand Korean, but based on the packaging, there is a sweet bean layer inside the "fish":
Yummy!!! See you again soon, fishy fishy!
We also saw a glass case where Korean beverages are stored, unfortunately we were too full to down even one shot. Next time we will!
SOJU 소주
40% alcohol content... Wow. I think this was what Sassy Girl was drinking when she was ranting at the restaurant and suddenly banged her head on the table. :p
Happy diners
The food was great, the servings huge, the venue cozy and private, the prices are reasonable, and we felt like we had our own butlers that night. It was a great dining experience! Thank you! 감사합니다!
Experience Korea in Marikina!
THE HIDDEN KOREAN PLACE
20 Ipil Extension (near East Drive and UMAC)
Marikina Heights, Marikina City (Reservations required. View map here)
Tel. No.: (02) 544-1684 (NOTE: As of 24 August 2011, The Hidden Korean Place will close for a while.)
Visit their website at: THE HIDDEN KOREAN PLACE
Munching Budget per person: starts at 100 PhP
Marikina, aking hirang.
Roni
Roni, how on Earth do you find places like this one?Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteHi boyd, it's called the foodie instinct ;) Hehe
ReplyDeleteI usually get recommendations or when I pass by a place I take note of it and put it on queue for my next restaurant visits. :D
Wow...Food hunter ka talaga teh.... we're just here in Pasig e... will gonna visit this in Marikina thanks for the review sis...
ReplyDeleteHi Sweethestia, oo parang crocodile hunter lang :p Thanks for visiting! Try the other places in Marikina too. Cheers! :)
ReplyDeleteIkaw kasi Roni, because of you, we're not Hidden anymore. :) Thank you for visiting. Hope to see you again soon.
ReplyDeleteHey Wencel, it seems I have lifted off the mystery location of your resto... :D Yes, see you again soon! Just arranging schedules with friends. We would like to try the Samgyeopsal... and the rice beverage! ;)
ReplyDelete...our next stop!
ReplyDeletehi Mel! awesome. just make sure you reserve before going, okay? ;-)
ReplyDeleteit's sad when you're rooting for a business and it closes down. anyway, the good part is that you got to experience it before it vanished, right?
ReplyDeletehay naku Karl, you're absolutely right. :( i was really happy to discover the place, and the owners were really off to a good start. hope they consider reopening soon. :)
ReplyDeleteYou will be first one to know when we reopen Roni. Thank you for visiting our small humble place. :)
ReplyDeletehi Wencel! we will definitely look forward to that! :) up to now, I get several queries on your place. let us know when you're back! ;) more power!
ReplyDeleteopen na ba ulit ito? :D
ReplyDeletehi Nicole! not yet :( ang dami na din nagtatanong. sana they reopen soon :(
ReplyDeleteAn outstanding share! I've just forwarded this onto a colleague who was doing a little homework on this. And he actually ordered me lunch due to the fact that I discovered it for him... lol. So let me reword this.... Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this matter here on your blog.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to visit my page - weekendje weg texel last minute
Hi Roni, klan daw cla open ulet?
ReplyDelete@anonymous: hi there! thanks a bunch ;-)
ReplyDelete@Diosang Nakatsinelas: hi there! no news yet from Wencel... I'll let you guys know as soon as they reopen ;-) cheers!
ReplyDeletedami na korean restaurant ngayon, isa sa mga favorite ko is yoogane
ReplyDeletehi! where's yoogane?
Delete