ONLY AT BULGOGI BROTHERS

TBW always used to say “I’m not really fond of Korean food”, when urged to try a new Korean restaurant.  Someone spoke to soon, alright.  Because one fine day,  after touring the new food wing of Alabang Town Center, TBW sits in a Korean restaurant and enjoys…nay…loves everything that is served.

Just like any typical Korean restaurant, Bulgogi Brothers served an array of appetizers endlessly at the beginning of the meal.  TBW probably loved this entree because of the melange of familiar flavors ranging from sweet, spicy, salty to sour and the textures from crunchy to smooth and the play of colors.  All close to home.  Nothing too alien.  Plus we had two servings of each. It was a feast for the eyes, palate and wallet.  Love it!

L-R Hot corn tea...drink all you can. Eat all you can appetizers ranging from salad, sweet potato & pumpkin, kimchi, stewed mushrooms, corn, quail eggs, marble potatoes.

We ordered dumplings with a seafood vegetable salad on the side and spicy tolerable sauce and my only favorite Korean dish (then) chapchae or japchae (sweet potato noodles with bits of beef and vegetables).  A mental note was made not to order these next time as the appetizers were more than enough to satisfy.  Also, TBW has had better chapchae.  The most recent being in Bon Chon (more of this in another post).  The presentation though of both dishes were beautifully executed.

Dumplings with seafood vegetable salad and Bulgogi Brothers version of chapchae.

The Bulgogi Brothers special was recommended by our server.  Glad we followed her as food was very good, had value for money as one order fed 4, and interactive cooking was experienced.  A must try!

L-Bulgogi Brothers special on the menu. R-Actual order. Two types of marinated raw beef portions good for 4 or more together with uncooked mongo sprouts, onion and sweet potato on a grill pan are brought to your table. A flat heated stove top is available on each table where the grill is placed. Server cooks for you and voila...freshly cooked beef and vegies dipped in three types of condiments. Bulgogi after all means grilled meat.

Table top grilling.

The Koreans have definitely invaded our country.  My palate included.  I am now a convert.  I love Korean food… but only at Bulgogi Brothers… for now.

MAJOR BOO-BOO AND A VIDEO

Yes, a major boo boo was made by yours truly last week. While uploading photos for the post http://thebutcherswifey.com/2011/07/31/aubergine-revisited-loved/ , a prompt flashed on screen saying that there was no more available space left to continue the upload.  Two choices were given:  To buy more space or to delete photos from the media library completely.  Thinking the photos would still be intact as they were all attached to posts, I went on to delete many of them from the media library.  Ha!  A few days after, I replied to comments received from past posts only to discover that the photos were gone!  A boo-boo indeed!  And now a boo-hoo for TBW as those photos will never be recovered.  Please don’t suggest retrieving from back-up files as they’re gone as well.  Boo-hoo really!

“Look at the glass half-full than half-empty” I always say.  So, an opportunity to do just that was had.

This post http://thebutcherswifey.com/2011/05/28/a-boy-named-emmanuel/  reached a number of people and received a couple of comments raving on how beautiful this boy’s voice is.  Sorry to say, the photos in this post are no longer to be found because of the boo-hoo boo-boo.  Luckily, a dear reader commented and shared a video taken of this very talented boy, Emmanuel and further requested that TBW upload a video as well.  Since there was no video taken by moi, and now, not even a single  photo of this talented boy is available (boo-hoo), TBW is sharing with everyone the video taken by dear reader.  Here it is……

Thank you mucho, Francesca!

A BOY NAMED EMMANUEL

One Sunday afternoon, while walking around Alabang Town Center (ATC), I hear lovely piano music  and a boy’s angelic voice in the background.  I look and I find a man playing the grand piano positioned along the hallway in between Jewelmer, Florsheim, Naturalizer stores.  Beside him is a young boy belting out songs melodiously.  I approach the duo to offer a complement and the piano playing man hands out a business card that reads: Bong S. Lim (The Singer Pianist) Contact numbers: 09205957040 and 09213618328. He actually is a pianist/singer for hire for parties and events.  The boy beside him is his son of 12 years named Emmanuel.

Boy Lim and his son, Emmanuel

As we three get acquainted, the boy tells his father he wants to sing me a song. They look through their repertoire and choose The Way You Look Tonight, a feel good song most people associate with My Best Friend’s Wedding movie.  I am amazed at Emmanuel’s voice for it crescendoes effortlessly and maintains the melody all throughout the song.  He was always in tune.  And what a lovely tune it was to hear.

Father & son performing con gusto

I applaud their performance. Emmanuel whispers something to his Father.  He wants to sing me another song…Fallen.  Of course, I oblige.

Emmanuel singing Fallen. He knows his lyrics by heart and pronounces each word perfectly. Apparently, his father trained him to sing as early as 3 years old.

I thank them both for a wonderful rendition of well-known musical pieces.  And they are happy that  a number of people appreciate their talent.

Happily gifted individuals

I may not have bought anything that afternoon but I certainly brought home a special treat because of a boy named Emmanuel.