5.343 Cham Pong Myun

Cycle 5 – Item 343

14 (Sun) December 2014

Cham Pong Myun

0.5

at Go! Kizip

-Malate, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-

solo

Try Every Korean Restaurant in Ermita and Malate (10) (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.

The sunset on Manila Bay, as seen from my apartment, was a heart-warming sight.

Upon my return from Melbourne this afternoon, after a week-long stuff-face of western food, I wanted to eat some kind of Asian comfort food, something brothy, something with spicy, something like jjambbong.

Go! Kizip is a Korean/Chinese restaurant. Offers Korean table-top BBQ, all-u-can-eat shabu shabu, and a handful of Korean-Chinese dishes. The name of the place is a play on the Korean “gogi jib (고기집) = meat house.” Open 24 hours.

Flies twitching around on the freebie peanuts and eggs.

Unidentified chalky residue on the bottom of the water cup.

Remains of what appeared to be scraps of receipt paper in the pickled radish, indicating that the restaurant reuses uneaten remains of side dishes.

The food was awful. Bits and pieces of overcooked ingredients, probably recooked from leftovers dumped back into the pot. Heavy hand on the spices, probably to mask the otherwise inadequate flavors. Ugh. Even worse, the whole service was so disgustingly filthy. I tried to down a few bites of noodles but got queasy and walked out.

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)