It was a fine Tuesday and I headed to Robinson's Place Manila for an afternoon of chitchat with my college best buds. It was a holiday, so you see they were all free! No traffic, less hassle - I was looking forward to a great afternoon. What made the day extra special was the invite that I got from Matgalne for a dinner feast. Imagine, buffet all you can for free! Couldn't ask for more.
I just recently blogged about Matgalne. It was a pleasant, and burp-ful, experience so when I got the chance to join their blogger feast, I grabbed it as fast as I can. I tagged my pal, Aimee, into the treat. I knew she wouldn't protest.
Straight from an afternoon full of good stories, reminiscing, heart-felt conversations and joyous laugh, Aimee and I headed to Makati for a dinner Buffet. Fatness first all the way! Since we've tried Matgalne before, we basically knew what to expect. We were actually giddy to cook all the meat we can inhale and I was so excited to wrap all the Samgyupsal that I can.
 |
| Ms. Liza from Matgalne's Admin Team! |
When we got there, fellow bloggers were already gathered in a long table. They were waiting for us and for another blogger. We were welcomed by the Admin/Event Organizer of Matgalne, Ms. Lisa. Then we were introduced to the owners - Ms. Windy Park and his husband, Mr. Park. Apparently, Matgalne started operating in 2003. They started out as a normal Korean restaurant, offering a la carte menu. They had patrons and loyalists until they decided to transition to a Buffet kind of place. In my opinion, it was actually a good move. At a lower cost, more people (aside from Koreans) would get to enjoy Korean cuisine. It's also interesting that the quality and freshness of the food they serve were not sacrificed despite the transition. But if you're interested to know what they have other than the buffet, just ask for their a la carte menu. It's still available!
 |
| Chicken Stew - more like Caldereta to me than Adobo |
Mrs. Park introduced a dish to us that was not part of the buffet. I didn't quite catch the name but she described it as a Korean Stew that had almost the same taste as Adobo. We tried it out. It was made of chicken, big chunks of potatoes and sweet potatoes, sesame seeds and chili paste. It was soy sauce based and had an after taste of Adobo but not too strong though. It reminded me more of Caldereta. The sauce was thick and tasty and the chicken pieces were tender. I was surprised that I liked the sweet potato chunks. Never tried it before in a stew.
Then the buffet. We have been wanting this all day long! Take a look at their spread below ---
 |
| If you feel like having some salad, go help yourself! Freshly prepared veggies and a mayo based dressing in the middle. |
 |
| An assortment of veggies in a spicy, Kimchi like, sauce. Then some chunks of fried sweet potatoes, covered in sugar. |
 |
| Another veggie salad - mostly spinach with some red chilis. |
 |
| Oh dear Kimchi! |
 |
| I liked the yellow ones but I don't know how they're called. They're made up of scrambled eggs with veggies, formed into shapes of small Spam slices. |
 |
| Kimbap, of course! |
 |
| More veggie dishes - this one had some meat and was spicy! |
 |
| More like sliced sausages, coated with egg that had some bell peppers. |
 |
| These lovely balls! So simple yet so good - rice balls with dried seaweeds. |
 |
| If you'd like to make your own soup, please.... |
 |
| Japchae! |
My favorite Korean Dish is Samgyupsal. I enjoy wrapping a piece of grilled pork with all sorts of side dishes. Not only that, I like the taste that the sesame oil and fish paste add to the wrap. Crisp and fresh lettuce makes this dish extra special. They have that in Matgalne - two types of lettuces and some other greens.
My Samgyupsal wrap essentials:
 |
| Greens and more greens! This Lettuce type is my favorite! |
 |
| My wrap will never be complete without these - Kimchi, Sesame Oil with pepper and salt & Fish Paste. |
 |
| Grilling Samgyupsal! Whiw! |
 |
Sometimes, I also opt for Chadolbaegi. But you know, I still like pork belly more than these thin strips of beef :p
Mrs. Park was very accomodating. She also made sure that we were enjoying the food. She checked every now and then if we still had some meat grilling, water to drink or stew to eat. The couple were very hands on with their business. Even on our first time in Matgalne, we saw them there in the restaurant checking every single detail.
|
 |
| Here we go with my first plate! |
 |
| And my 2nd plate....and then I got myself serious with eating that I did was not able to take more pictures of what came next :) |
Towards the end of our buffet, they served dessert. It was not in their buffet spread, nor in their a la carte menu. It was a thank you token, prepared especially for us. Thin sponge cake slices sandwiching thick blocks of Cookies & Cream ice cream with chocolate syrup arranged to convey their thanks. Nice!
 |
| Just the right kind of sugar we needed! |
 |
| Aimee! |
If you have been craving for Korean Cuisine or have been wanting to try but hesitant because of the price, try dropping by any of the Matgalne's branches. For as low as 299php, you'll enjoy clean and fresh Korean offerings - all you can!
 |
| Fellow bloggers! |
 |
| With Mrs. Windy Park |
They also have an on going promo ---
--- Matgalne Korean Restaurant : 4768 Kalayaan Ave cor Mariano St, Poblacion, Makati City
***you can also find them here : 2/F Millenium Place Bldg, Meralco Ave., San Antonio, Pasig
I am a workaholic mom who is also trying to be the best wife ever. I am a self proclaimed food lover, a frustrated cook and pastry master. I have a thing for books and scrap booking fills up my free time. Blogging? It's something I do once in a while when I can squeeze in some "me time" in this super busy life.
Definitely worth a visit:) Nakakagutom mga pagkain:)
ReplyDeleteHello Joy! Yes, super sulit ung buffet nila :) Go try it out!
ReplyDeleteChicks talaga ng kasama mo! hehehe. You posted my fatness beauty online, i lavhet! :) and i know i said i wouldn't crave for korean food, but guess what. a day or two after, sobrang nagcrave na naman ako. fatness first talaga.
ReplyDeleteAims, alam ko naman na magccrave ka pa din! ahahhah! Tara buffet pa tayoooooo
ReplyDeleteGreetings Foodies,
ReplyDeleteAs part of the Matgalne Korean Restaurant admin team, we would like to say thank you for helping Matgalne in letting people know that we serve good quality food at a good price.
We have ended the 10% discount and the free buffet raffle promotion. But as we all know, Matgalne has always something new to offer. For our November promo, we are giving away a BRAND NEW Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Costumers will get one raffle entry every time they dine from November 11-22, 2012. But we want to make it more exciting, when they dine on 11/11, costumers will get 11 raffle entry for more chances of winning. And if they are busy and can't come on November 11 we have 100 packed lunch available for delivery.
November 11 is going to be a special day for each and everyone of us. We need help from you in extending our message to the people. Please help us spread the word of our upcoming promo because portion proceeds on 11/11 will go to DTC (Dynamic Teen Company) to be received by no other than Kuya Efren Penaflorida (CNN Hero of 2009). Please visit www.matgalne.com for more information.
Again, we thank you and we appreciate your support!
All the best,
Liza Castillo