Sumptuous Sundays: Yoree Korean Dining

Korea is a slowly becoming an IT destination for a lot of people and this makes me want to visit the country very soon-I don't want to be left behind LOL. Kidding aside, Korea is a beautiful country, as I've seen in photos, and I am really looking forward to experiencing what makes it lovable and most of all, sailing to Jeju Island and basking in its natural beauty. 

Another reason why I am dying to go to Korea is the food. Blame it on Yoree Korean Dining, me and my BF's latest addiction.

Yoree is a fairly new restaurant that offers an authentic Korean dining experience. I read that Koreans can eat as much as a 10- course meal per day and at Yoree, you can experience that along with delicious cooking. That may sound a bit too much, but I love the concept-it is a great way to celebrate eating and food!

PRICE RANGE: Ala Carte dishes start at P130.00 to P850.00; Set Meals start at P750.00

Food is served fresh and cooked right in front of you. You can opt to have a server assist you or you can do it yourself, like the Korean nationals and tourists, the regulars of Yoree. On weekends, Yoree can get really packed so making a reservation is a better option than just walking in and taking your chances.

Yoree grills their food on hot coals, the reason why their food taste really flavorful and have this yummy, smoky taste. FYI, the chefs of Yoree are Korean nationals!

Yoree has ala- carte and set meals. The one that my BF and I would usually order is Dinner Set B that costs P980.00/person. There are lunch set meals and premium set meals as well, and price varies. Minimum order for the set meals is two. Ala carte meals are a bit pricey in Yoree, not to mention portions are quite small in my opinion, thus ordering the set meals will come out cheaper, unless of course you can't really finish a 10- course meal.

Wanna see what a 10- course meal at Yoree looks like? Click READ MORE now!

So I'm featuring Dinner Set B below. But first, feast your eyes on Yoree's appetizer selections:

As the server prepares the grill, another server arrived and handed us seven types of appetizer namely sweet and chili anchovies with peanuts, Kimchi, White Kimchi, Egg strips, julienned Radish, sour pickles, and Watercress Spinach (Kangkong) that seemed to be doused in vinegar. 

The kinds of appetizer vary depending on, I don't know, what they feel like serving on a certain day perhaps--it's possible that when you visit Yoree, you may or may not get the same appetizers, or you may get almost the same thing, except for one, two, or three different variants.

The appetizers are generally sour and spicy, the perfect combination to wake up your taste buds. My most favorite in here is the sweet and chili anchovies with peanuts!

Juk

- Korean rice porridge. It's small and tastes lightly salty, has veggie chunks, but no meat-it's good enough to calm an angry tummy while waiting for the rest of the food to be served. The amount of porridge in the cup is like two and a half tablespoons only. I was about to complain about the portion then I realized, I still got 10 meals ahead! :p

The 10- course meal starts now!

First Round: Side Salad

- Fresh, crispy greens tossed in spicy, Kimchi- like dressing. It was my first time to eat a spicy salad. It was okay, but oftentimes, it could get too spicy for me. :p

Second Round: Jap Chae

- It's good ol' Jap Chae, what can I say? :D I like that Yoree serves their Jap Chae wrapped in paper and is scissored open right before you-this way, the dish stays hot and the flavors stay intact, and the paper acts as an oil- absorber as well.

Third Round: Gyeran Jjim

- Steaming egg with Scallions on top. Oh, this egg dish is beautiful, yummy, and hearty! This dish is served in a hot plate though so be careful! :D

Fourth Round: Hae Mool Pa Jeon

- Korean pancake, one of Korea's staple dishes. It's savory pancake with a crepe- like lining, octopus, chilis, shrimp, and clam meat in the middle, and then the whole thing is covered with egg. This is a very interesting dish: it's creamy and savory at the same time, but it was just too spicy for my liking the first time I tried it. In my second visit, I asked the server to tell the cook to go easy on the chili and they did just that. The result is perfection! :)

Now here's the main event: Charcoal- grilled meats! At Yoree, you will eat meat the way Koreans do it and that is with greens. I hope you can spot the pot of lettuce in the photo-those crispy greens are what we primarily ate with the meats and I will show you later in the post how to eat them.

Here are the meats included in Dinner Set B:

Fifth Round: Woo Samgyup

- Sliced Beef belly. It's nice 'n tender, and it is marinated in a citrusy sauce that is quite tasty. I was happy to have this break from all that spicy food.

Sixth Round: Wagyu Deungsim Gui

- Premium Wagyu Ribeye steak minis with button mushrooms and fresh Garlic cloves in oil. The steak is bare with only a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste. The meat tasted juicy and like, you know, real meat. I wish the portion were bigger though!

Seventh Round

I forgot to take a photo of this dish, not to mention I completely forgot what it was called, but all I remember is it was Beef and Yoree didn't have a stock of it so they just replaced it with another Wagyu dish.

So this is how Koreans eat their meat: Grab a leaf, put a sliced meat in it, season with sauces (not in photo), add the button mushrooms or a clove of Garlic, roll the whole thing, and take a bite. Of course this is just how I do it-you can definitely personalize it!

This combination is actually very healthy and low in calories, perfect for those who are counting calories, who are on a low carb diet, and who are increasing their protein intake (most especially men). This is sooo nice and why didn't I think of doing this at home ever? :p

Eight Round: Gal Bi Jjim

- Braised short rib stew. It's sour broth with mushrooms, sliced beef strips, and a bunch of veggies. It's cooked on the electric plate on the table. It's like Korean "Sinigang" that's very spicy, but you can ask the server to inform the cook to minimize the spiciness. :) By this time, my tank was 90% full already.

Please note that the soup that come with the set meals vary as well.

Ninth Round: Mini Jeonju Dolsot Bibimbab

- Where's the rice, you ask? Here. This is a mini version of their ala carte bibimbab. It's 1/4 cup of rice with veggies, veggies, more veggies, seafood and beef strips, mushrooms, a dollop of spicy sauce, and cheese. This is the best Bibimbab I had so far.

Tenth Round: Pat Bingsu

- Shaved iced with Red Bean paste and ripe Mango chunks. It's simple, nice, and pretty guiltless as it's a low- calorie dessert.

Extra Round: Samgyupsal

- The BF and I decided to have more meat during this visit so we ordered their best- seller, Samgyupsal or sliced Pork belly with Kimchi leaf. It was okay-nothing special plus it was more bony than meaty so we didn't order it in our next visit.

The set meals have very small portions, even smaller than the ala carte meals, but I assure you, you won't notice that once you get to the 6th or 7th dish. :p

Yoree is a wonderful food experience: I love the variety, the sheer number of dishes, how every round is like a gastronomic adventure, and everything is healthy. 80% of the food is spicy though and I am not the biggest fan of spicy stuff, but for Yoree, I can love spicy food even just for a moment. I think I found my favorite Korean restaurant and I'm looking forward to my fourth visit! :D

Must- Try in Yoree Korean Dining:

1. Jeonju Dolsot Bibimbab

2. Hae Mool Pa Jeon (Korean Pancake)

3. Gyeran Jjim (Steaming Egg)

4. Woo Samgyup (Sliced Beef Belly)

Yoree Korean Dining is located in The Forum, 7th Avenue Corner Federacion Drive, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.