Gen Korean BBQ House: A Never-ending Variety of the Best Meats and Marinades
Metro Manila has been infiltrated by an astounding number of new Korean barbecue joints. The latest player in the industry does not even come from Korea itself. Gen Korean BBQ House is a U.S. born food concept that has made its way across the Pacific and into Philippine shores.
The sprawling restaurant is located at SM by the Bay, just across the Conrad Hotel. The massive space houses 100 tables that can accommodate up to 500 guests. The number of tables isn’t the only thing that’s extensive at Gen. The variety of available meats and marinades is unmatched by any other Korean joint in the country.
The extensive all-you-can-eat selection starts with a package of 12 meat choices. If you’re looking for more variety, you can choose the package that lets you have free reign over up to 35 Premium US meats and seafood.
They also offer the possibility of having unlimited non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks. If that’s not a good deal, I don’t know what is!
Now, let me tell you more about the meat selection. I went with a few foodie friends and we tried out some of the items on the menu. Let’s start with the samgyupsal. The most basic pork belly Korean barbecue meat can be sampled here in a variety of flavors. We tried the red wine, smoked, garlic and cajun marinades.
My personal favorite would have to be the smoked samgyupsal. I have an inclination towards all kinds of smoked meat and I was very happy to see this on the menu at Gen Korean BBQ House.
The pork cuts were thick and generous. Each piece is actually enough for someone’s lunch. Luckily, I worked up an appetite before coming here.
Beefy favorites are the bulgogi and the thinly sliced brisket called Premium Chadol.
A Korean BBQ meal won’t be complete for me if there are no bone-in short ribs. The ones here are tender and beautifully marbled.
Apart from the usual pork and beef cuts, Gen also offers a selection of chicken dishes. I tried the Cajun Chicken, which was marinated in a tangy, spicy sauce. It looked good enough to eat straight off the plate but I was quickly reminded that it’s still raw…oops my bad. I got too excited. Haha.
Of course, every meal comes with a refillable selection of banchan or Korean side dishes. I personally loved the sweet potatoes and the kimchi. Their kimchi here is a lot milder than what you would find in many Korean restaurants. That meant that I ate quite a lot of it because the taste wasn’t overpowering. That flavor aspect is clearly adjusted to suit the Western palate since this is an American brand after all. Korean food newbies won’t have a problem eating here as an intro to the more intense Korean flavors in other places.
At the top corners of the picture above, you’ll also see large and small ox intestines that have been marinated in teriyaki sauce. Isaw lovers unite! It takes a while longer to cook these to perfection but the chewy, fatty goodness is so worth the wait!
If you’re not feeling like having all that meat, there’s also a lot of seafood on the menu. I’m allergic to most shellfish so I opted out of that. But hey, I’m not stopping you! They even have a special promotion for the Holy Week:
I’m looking forward to coming back to try the rest of the items on the menu. Unfortunately, I can only consume so much! There are so many more meat cuts and marinades to try! Definitely a place worth checking out if you haven’t already!
you can see the full list of items to choose from on Zomato: