Cycle 5 – Item 205
29 (Tue) July 2014
Haemul Pa Jeon
2.0
at Korean Palace
-Malate, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with colleagues
11/9/5 (see also 11/9/5)
Over the course of 11 days, through a combination of personal and professional travels – relating primarily to a mission to Spain – I was in 9 localities across 5 countries, eating and documenting at least 1 meal in each of them.
Today is Day 11 / Locality 9 / Country 5.
Good to be back home.
Try Every Korean Restaurant in Ermita and Malate (6) (see also TEKREM)
Surveying all the Korean eateries, including those serving Korean-Chinese fare, located in the neighborhoods of Ermita and Malate, nearby work and home. Minimum of 1 dish per place. Currently 45 establishments. Though anticipating that most of the places will be mediocre, I look forward to exploring more of my environment.
Korean Palace is a Korean restaurant. Like most Korean restaurants here, or anywhere outside of Korea, the menu offers a wide range of favorites, from barbecue to soups and rice dishes.
Haemul Pa Jeon (해물파전) is a Korean dish. A type of pancake (jeon) consisting of minced seafood (haemul) – typically bits of squid, clams, maybe shrimp – and strips of scallion (pa), mixed in a flour and egg batter, cooked in oil into a flat disc.
The food was edible. Localized flavors – can’t put my finger on it, but everything’s just a little different – explains why Koreans don’t really seem to like the place, even though Filipinos and non-Korean expats do. In fact, I’ve been here on two prior occasions, both at lunch, at the invitation of Filipinos and non-Koreans. Anyway, the haemul pa jeon, like the rest of the spread, was decent enough, though falling short in authenticity. It was also too light on the haemul and pa. Whatever.
(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)
This post about Korean Palace, takes me back, all the way back to the ‘90’s. Back then, this place was our weekly go-to place, after late night practices. “Our” being the Philippine National TaeKwonDo team, players and coaches. Our Korean head coach back then is now the president of Kukkiwon, last I heard. Master Hong often treated the team to dinners at this restaurant, where I had my first introduction to Korean food (prior to having the real deal in Korea during for bi-annual summer training) and where I started a life-long love affair with it to this day. In fact, I was on a quest for posts and recipes for Dubu Kimchi, when I chanced upon your blog entry and I was hooked. Happy that the place survived all these years, a little sad it’s a shadow of its former self in terms of food quality. Thank you for the (food) trip.
So sorry, just now seeing this comment!!
In present day, the neighborhood has so many Korean restaurants (upwards of 40), so competition is fierce.
Thanks for reading!