Cycle 5 – Item 22

27 (Mon) February 2014

Wagyu Course

2.0

at Haesong

-Bel Air, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines-

with Uncle CS, STH

Hae Song is a Korean restaurant.  An old school joint.  Perfect for a sit-down of old-timers.

STH is a former and currently emeritus Regional Director of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.  One of the first Korean nationals to make a splash on the international medicine/health scene.  Splits his time between Manila (during the winters) and Seoul (during the summers).  I’ve been volunteered to write his Wikipedia profile in English – yay.

The occasion was a reunion of sorts between two families.  CS (and I) representing Hahm and ST representing Han.  Turns out that CS’s father (my grandfather) and ST’s father were BFFs.  While I’ve met ST several times over the years, I hadn’t known about the personal connection until my aunt recently learned about my work at WPRO and noted that “Mr. Han’s son” used to be “some kind of bigshot there.”  At lunch with him a couple days ago, I confirmed that he was the guy.  And when I told him that my uncle also happened to be in town, he was eager to meet up.  In fact, though the fathers were so close, the kids had never met, for whatever reason.  So, I set it up.

The food was just okay.  Given the special circumstances, my uncle ordered the special wagyu course meal.  1,050 pesos per person.  It also eliminated the hassle of having to decide on individual dishes.  Turned out to be a hodgepodge of Korean-Japanese-Chinese.  For the most part, everything was neither very good nor very bad – though in the Philippines, where food can be unpredictable, that’s saying a lot.  Unfortunately, the beef itself was strictly meh, dry and flavorless – Australian beef usually is – but at least it wasn’t gamy, as beef here tends to be.  So, for reliable mediocrity, this would be the place.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)