MANILA, Philippines — Korean restaurant Chung Dam makes the leap from Malate to Bonifiacio Global City (BGC) in an effort to expand and offer customers the best of high-quality Korean food.
There is a private ambience to Chung Dam as it mostly consists of several VIP rooms of varying degrees. The restaurant prioritizes filling up these rooms until customers can only be accommodated in a regular dining area where the food is cooked in the kitchen.
Bustling in its kitchens are world class cooks Master Chef Jang and Head Chef Kim, the former originating from a decade at fellow Korean restaurant Gaon which was awarded the Seoul Michelin 3 stars from 2015 to 2019.
Each VIP room has an assigned attendant that does the cooking, all of them trained to prepare the many food dishes on their menu, particularly their meats.
The diner does not freeze their meats as flavors are lost when they are defrosted, so instead, they are kept well-aged by being put inside an aquarium with cold water.
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All of the restaurant's meats, whether they come from Korea, the United States, Australia or Japan, have no marinade but they still appear like they do when they are cooked. Highly recommended are the ones from Korea, particularly, soft short ribs.
Other meats to look forward to are the HanWoo (Korean Beef) and the Japanese wagyu that are assuredly of premium quality.
The dining joint also has a wide selection of seafood, highlighted by their humongous live king crabs from Russia and soy picked crabs in their Korean specials.
For those who would rather have their seafood prepared differently, the sashimi collection ranges from Korean halibut fish to fresh samon.
In this restaurant, soups are served last because Korean soups are spicy so having them earlier might affect the rest of the meal, but having them as finishers does not diminish the experience at all.
The newest branch is at the Upper Ground Active Building, 9th Ave. Corner 28th St. in BGC.
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