With the growing population of Koreans in the Philippines (now considered the 2nd largest foreign community next to Chinese), it's but a natural phenomenon for Korean Foods to become popular in the country. Consequently, Korean Stores and Restaurants have began to flourish. Thus, it'll be interesting to sample some of Korea's popular noodle dishes in Metro Manila. Now, were the dishes worthy enough of our day? Read on and have a peek of our Korean Noodles benchmarking activity. Basically, we're in the look for the best Chajang and Champong Noodles. Chajang is a black bean paste which can be served with rice or noodles while Champong is a spicy seafood noodles generously served with chilies and vegetables. Both dishes are normally offered in Chinese-Korean Restaurants. As recommended by a Korean colleague, we raded two restaurants known for serving these foods: China Castle and Pukkyong (Beijing) Restaurant. Yeah, you read them right. Chinese named Restaurants serving Korean Cuisine. You see, just by the Resto's names so much fusion have happened already! China Palace is located in BF Homes Paranaque whereas Pukkyong is in Escriva St., Pasig City (beside Global Academy Culinary School in-front of University of Asia and the Pacific).
First Stop - China Castle - Chinese Food & Bulalo. I'm not quite sure if it does sound right. Now I'm confused, what's really inside this restaurant?
Hand Pulled Noodles prepared only when needed and about to be served... So, yeah they live up to their claim of "fresh noodles" in their menu.
The many spices and ingredients that made the noodles taste delicious and different
A typical Chajang Sauce (black bean paste, onions, napa cabbage and spices)
Kan-Chajang (noodles with black sauce, more onions and vegetables). A little slimy in texture. The noodles used here is thick almost similar to spaghetti that's why they said Chajang is the spaghetti of koreans only the sauce is black instead of red.
U-dong Noodles (Noodles in White Seafood Soup); it's similar to our local Chami or Lomi
Uni Chajang (Pork Chajang; a meatier version of regular chajang)
Samsun Chajang (noodles with black sauce, shrimp, squid and sea cucumber). It has a strong sauted and wok character just like our local Pancit Canton. This one is acceptable and closer to the Filipino palate.
Special Champong (Noodles in Spicy Seafood Soup)
Regular Champong (Noodles in Spicy Seafood Soup)Basically, the taste of these two champong noodles is the same. The only difference is that the special version has more seafoods. If you're a spicy eater, you might just love to add this in your menu list. However, there's not much deep taste or character in there, it's generally mild in overall taste with an overpowering notes of chili. Just a word of caution , whole chilies are added in the noodles which, can bite your tongue real hot! and make you sweat real hard!
Second Stop - Pukkyong (Beijing) Restaurant...
Tang Soo Yuk - deep fried breaded pork in sweet & sour sauce. According to the chef, this is the favorite among the locals. But of course don't you think it's so familiar? The dish is just plain acceptable.
Chajang Noodles (Noodles with black sauce, cabbage and onions garnished with strips of cucumber). This is a more beany version relative to China Palace's.
Jang-Ban Chajang (fresh noodles with chajang sauce, squid, shrimp and chili powder). This one has more body and better profile. Basically, sweet, spicy, beany with very subtle seafood taste.
Champong Noodles (fresh noodles with champong soup, squid, clams, quail eggs and vegetables). Relative to the first restaurant, Beijing's version is more "fishy" (sea-like profile), darker in color and less hot.
Because the gateway of many countries in the world are now widely open for some economic reasons, a great deal of foreign immigrations have likewise emerged. Philippines has its own share of this trend both ways. A lot of Filipinos are migrating to different countries making our culture be known in the world and similarly, a number of foreign minorities have invaded our country sharing with us their own. The one good thing about it, our palate also get its own take of different gustatory experiences and yeah to some extent, satisfaction.
Pad Thai Noodles (stir-fried rice noodles or glass noodles with onion chives, bean sprouts, shrimp, fried egg and peanut); sweet, tangy with strong peanut taste. The authentic Pad Thai has more garnish than noodles. The bean sprouts are bigger but with no earthy taste unlike the Philippines' version. The contrast of sweet and zesty character of the noodle dish made it more appetizing. This is really my favorite in Thai Cuisine! In the restaurants, it is normally served with additional fresh onion chives, kaffir lime fruit, bean sprouts and banana blossoms.
The creamy taste of coconut milk blended with red curry paste makes this dish sumptuous, I can't help but ask for more.
This dish is basically the same as Red Curry. It's also made of coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil leaves and curry paste. Only this time it's the green colored curry paste that is used. Taste wise it's also appealing.
Pantip is the biggest IT Plaza in Bangkok known for housing electronic goods at reasonable prices. It's a 5-storey building that boasts of a huge selection of electronic stuffs with great bargains. You'll find computers, laptops, printers, digital cameras, cellphones, video cams, audio players and other hardware and software accessories. Just to give you an idea on how cheap the products can get here, my colleague bought a Canon Powershot 650 for only Baht 11,900 (Php 15,470). A laptop cooling pad which costs Php1,200 at a computer shop in the Philippines, only costs Baht 490 (Php637). Flash drives cost Baht 630 (Php819) for 2G and Baht 1,200 (Php1,560) for 4G. MP3 Players cost less than Baht 1,000 for 1G. I also found good bargains of branded laptops, the price difference will range from 20 - 30% less than the Philippines. However, make sure to scout the stalls first before making a purchase as prices of some goods are not standardized.
Siam Paragon is the newest, largest shopping mall in Bangkok. It houses most of the popular high end brands. It also has a nice english bookstore - Kinokuniya. The newest tourist attraction in the city is likewise found here, the Siam Ocean World. For a good aquarium and sea creatures experience, Ocean World is waiting for you. And what a good timing we had for our visit, the mall is on sale! Thus, whether planned or not, I managed to get some great buys. These Lacoste Shirts for kids were on sale for only Baht 903 (Php1,174) and Baht 1,112 (Php1,445) for adults size. The price is more than 50% cheaper than in the Philippines. The Lacoste messenger bag below, I got it for only Baht 1,000 (Php1,300). However, it was not purchased from Siam Paragon. I bought it from the factory outlet - Thailand Best at SriRacha (near Pattaya). I heard there's also a factory outlet at Bangkok, you have to check it out! Brands like Lacoste, Guy Laroche, Arrow, Naturalizer, Wacoal, Absorba, and many more are sold at real affordable prices. The only limitations are of course just like any other depots, styles and sizes. But I tell you, it's still worth to chance upon your luck. You won't get out of the outlet empty handed.
If you happen to stay in 
Soft tofu (bean curd) with pork and vegetables. The onion leeks and coriander gave an exciting kick to this soup. It's really tasty!
The best pork satay I've ever tasted so far. This is really superb! The peanut sauce blends well with the grilled pork as well as the cucumber salad that goes with it. Simply scrumptious! Some of my colleagues can consume 40 sticks of this in one sitting. I guess that's enough proof of how tasty this one is!
The photos below show the typical Thai breakfast repertoire. These foods are offered in the Service Apartment we stayed at. Don't they look appetizing? A plate will only cost around 35 Baht (P45). Generally, I find the food in Thailand relatively cheap. A filling sandwich in 7-eleven store will cost 10 Baht (P13) and a coffee good for 2 servings for only 20 Baht (P26). Thais are so blessed to have an abundant supply of agricultural commodities and a wide array of commercial food products. Visiting their supermarkets and groceries is a delightful experience. If not for the chili and the biting hotness, Thai Foods will have my vote for the best Asian Cuisine.
