Having decided to take our "Christmas-vacation-rest-stop" at Holiday Inn Manila Galleria, I took time to search special dining finds for our family to enjoy. I guess we had enough of all the fast food joints that's easily within reach. Please don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with fast food joints... yes, we love them! But there are times when our palate is seeking out something new... something exciting... something worth discovering. And guess what! My searching didn't fail me. We started our food adventure from DAY 1.
DAY 1 Dinner-Dining-Sweet-Find!
GANGNAM WINGS with it's motto "The way Korean fried chicken should be" is located outside SM Megamall A. Exact location is at the mega strip, unit 1-114 ground floor building A of SM Megamall. Even with this information, I had to ask 2 guards where it is exactly located. The first guard, doesn't even know the restaurant. It's a good thing the second guard knew and told me to go outside. No wonder only a few knew of this place, it's more or less hidden from everybody's eyes. Although you might say that it's outside and it's in plain view but people pass by it without really taking time to notice. If I didn't research it myself, I wouldn't have put an effort to take time out and visit.
Being a crazy-fan of "Koreanovelas", this place is like a bit of a haven for me. "A bit" because the place where we sat, I'm facing a flat screen tv showing OST song of tv series I've watched and fallen in love! Haha!!! Who hasn't watched or fallen in love with Song Joong-ki and Song Hye Kyo's "Descendants of the Sun" or Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun's "Goblin", these are to name a few. And yes also alas, they are playing OST songs only... I would have gone gaga over movie clips with OST songs. Haha!
This Korean restaurant is more on the "Fried Chicken" category restaurant. If you're craving for local fast food fried chicken but wants it to be different in ambiance and taste, this can be an alternative. The ambiance is more on the cozy and rustic feel to it. And for those who are Koreanovela fans like me, have you ever wondered what the chicken taste like when they say in the television series "chicken" "chicken"...? Well now is your chance to taste it!
After looking through the menu, I had to just try the fried chicken. By the way, I'm going to make another blog for the entire menu. I was curious as to how big the chicken was, so I asked the lady server if the chicken are small in size? She said yes, that led me to order a dozen chicken thinking small bite size portions will be just right for a small family like us. But I was surprised when I saw the chicken, they have quite medium portions that 1 or 2 chicken parts will be enough accompanied with rice. Or maybe we are not that big eaters but for me they were more than enough. All in all we ordered fried chicken, pancake, kimchi rice, plain rice and of course bingsu.
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| GANGNAM WHOLE-CHICKEN - GANGNAM DRUMSTICK CRISPY (Original / Spicy) "Enjoy the original crunch on your first bite" |
We ordered the "Gangnam whole chicken", original because my child doesn't want spicy. It's a whole chicken chopped into 12 pcs. Which I belatedly found out. I could have ordered the 4 pcs. instead. But anyway, the chicken were indeed crisp to the bite; soft, tender and juicy in the mouth. Accompanied with the 3 sauces of soy, sweet chili and spicy... it's a foodie's choice of flavors indeed. Another alternative to our everyday fast food fried chicken. Costs about P688.00.
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| SEAFOOD (PA-JEOM) PANCAKE - Shrimps, squids, onions, prepared w/ Korean batter mix |
The "Seafood (Pa-Jeom) Pancake" was another different experience to the taste buds. Like the pancake we eat, the ingredients of shrimp, squid, onions and probably leeks or onion leaves are mixed in Korean batter thus giving it the savory taste. If anyone of you have a taste of the Chinese oyster cake, its more or less closer to that but more thicker. This is definitely to share. Costs about P288.00.
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| KIMCHI RICE |
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| PLAIN RICE |
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| MANGO BINGSU - Mango w/ snowflakes, mango ice cream, mango syrup |
And of course, the most awaited dessert... bingsu! I ordered "Mango Bingsu". Actually, I first ordered the "Rockmelon Bingsu" but unfortunately it was not available and I opted for "Mango Bingsu" instead. Frankly, Philippine mango taste way much better than the mango I tasted. I'm not an expert, but from what my amateur tastebuds could tell, the mango tasted more like apple-mango. I'm not a big fan apple-mango because the taste doesn't sit well with me. But the ice cream was vanilla though it says on the description "mango ice cream", it was definitely vanilla ice cream! The vanilla ice cream was just heaven, creamy and just... yummy! The snowflake ice with mango syrup complements each other except for the apple-mango. But nevertheless, for a sweet lover like me... haha... you guess it right, I finished it even with the apple-mango. Can't bear to let it go to waste.
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| Gangnam Wings Wall of Fame |
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GANGNAM WINGS
Address: The mega strip, unit 1-114 ground floor building A, SM Megamall,
Mandaluyong City
