Dating Don Galbi

Samgyupsal?

Galbi?

What the heck are those?

Well for one, those are Korean food. And two, you might just be excited to find out that you’ll be cooking on your dining table while eating them! I’m talking about the Korean restaurant in Ledesco Village, Lapaz, Iloilo City called Don Galbi where, for the first time, I ate Galbi which is grilled beef and Samgyupsal which is grilled pork belly. 

In case anyone is interested to know this

Let’s talk about my gastronomic exploit on this. At first, the waiter gave us a bunch of side dishes including lettuce, radish, kimchi, hard-boiled egg in fish sauce and mung bean sprouts (aka togue). Then, he placed this silver container which had sticky rice in it plus water served in a tiny silver cup. I thought everything was set so I ripped open my chopsticks only to be interrupted yet again by another waitress who turned on the oven attached on our table. She fired it up and placed strips of pork belly on the pan. My sister, whom I accompanied (more like third-wheeled), and her boyfriend began placing the cloves of garlic on the pork, sautéing the sexy slab. When it was cooked, the waitress came back again to cut them into small pieces. 

Samgyupsal with some of the side-dishes.

I thought this was finally it. I could eat, but then again my sister beckoned me to grab one lettuce leaf, chopstick-pick around the side dishes then take one piece of the pork and dip it in this savory orangey paste (I don’t know what it was made of but it was good). Wrap them around like a Quesadilla and voila, you can finally eat!

Eating Galbi like a quesadilla

The Galbi story was quite the same only of course, it was beef this time around. The Galbi, unlike the Samgyupsal, was marinated. I’m not so discriminatory when it comes to food but I’m just used to eating my pork belly marinated in fish sauce, salt, calamansi or Lea & Perrins sauce. The pork was fine though and the beef was even better!

Generally, I felt an okay level of satisfaction despite the unlimited serving of the side dishes probably because I’m more drawn into the Filipino flavours which I’m yet to define (verging on a brilliant mix of sweet, onion, garlic and spices). I think I also lost a bit of my appetite from the routine of picking from this side dish to that. While it was interesting, it became such a chore. Haha!

 Aside from the two dishes we ate, the restaurant also offers Tofu noodles, Ramen, Bibimbap and others which I can’t quite pronounce decently and recall. Most of the meals cost Php 250 and one order would be good for three or two persons, relatively speaking. They sell Soju and Rice wine too although they’re a tad bit pricey.

Literally, the menu board but pardon the poor quality of my phone camera

Also, before you enter Don Galbi’s dining area, you have to replace your shoes with their slippers. I’m such a Cinderella that I couldn’t find the right size for me so I grabbed a random one. My sister (yes, she’s a fan of this place and been here since forever) told me that people can actually go barefoot inside although it’d still be better to wear their slippers for sanitary purposes as in possible visits to the comfort room. Anyway, the slippers seemed neat of course they probably have microorganisms in them but, excuse me, yes we’re talking about food.

They don't have size 5.

So you if you’re into things like cooking on the dining table, Korean food, changing shoes for dinner, and all that jazz, try Don Galbi! It doesn’t close till 10PM (we were there Friday night).

The interior of Don Galbi at Ledesco Village, Lapaz, Iloilo City.