Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine

I'm not a fan of spicy food but Korean cuisine changed that. Through my tutoring of Korean students for several years, I was introduced to their food, a lot of which are spicy in nature. At first, I was hesitant to try, but when I finally did, it seems I can't get enough. I even made my own kimchi for a while. 

Over the years, my interest in Korean food had waned, though, a bottle of store-bought Kimchi will always be found in our fridge. But the past couple of months brought a new curiosity in me to try more of their interesting cuisine. In one of my recent experimental mood, I made Mandu, also known as Korean dumplings. It was a hit with my spicy food-loving family. Currently, there is a packet of cheese-flavored spicy Korean noodle in our pantry waiting to be tried out. 

Last August, my Mama turned 60 years old and she loves K-dramas and Korean food so it is a no-brainer that we will celebrate her birthday at a Korean restaurant. Since unlimited Korean barbeque is all the rage now, we wanted to try that dining experience too. Thankfully, there is one nearby, the Oak BBQ Korean Cuisine, located along the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road. It is right in front of Hyundai-Santa Rosa. You just can't miss its soju-bottles covered facade. 

Photo courtesy of Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine Facebook page

Oak Barbecue Korean Cuisine

Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, Brgy. Don Jose, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna

Restaurant Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM; 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Landline: (049) 307 2574

Facebook: Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine 

Rates: 399 Php - unlimited pork+buffet+iced tea 

           499 Php - unlimited pork & beef+buffet+iced tea

What made Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine unique from the many unlimited Korean barbeque restaurants in the metro now is aside from its grill-all-you-can pork and beef meat you can also get to taste other delectable Korean main and side dishes. Here are some of the dishes available that night:

 Assorted banchan (side dishes)

 Assorted banchan (side dishes)

 Dakdoritang - spicy Korean chicken stew (quite similar to Filipino's Caldereta)

 Nakji Bokkeum - spicy Korean stir-fry octopus

Beef bulgogi - stir-fried thin, marinated beef slices with vegetables. 

 Spicy Beef bulgogi - stir-fried thin, marinated beef slices with kimchi and other vegetables. 

 The buffet station

The soup station

Those are just 2/3 of the available main and side dishes in their buffet station. There are also slices of fresh fruits, egg rolls, steamed vegetables, and of course, kimchi. Unlimited rice and drinks are also part of their buffet. I, particularly, like their raspberry tea. 

The main attractions of Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine are their Samgyeopsal (Grilled Pork Belly) and Woo Samgyup (Grilled Beef Belly). As described in their Facebook account:

Grilled pork belly is one of the most popular Korean dishes. It is mostly enjoyed as an evening meal, which is perfectly understandable considering not many people would enjoy eating grilled pork with fat with their morning coffee or tea. Thick, fatty slices of pork meat are usually grilled at the dinner table without being seasoned or marinated before.

Although the meat is not seasoned or marinated before the cooking process, Samgyeopsal is almost always served with at least two different dipping sauces. One of them is ssamjang, which consists of chili paste(gochujang), soybean paste(doenjang), sesame oil and several other ingredients and the other is gireumjang, made using sesame oil, salt and sometimes black pepper.

Before eating it, people usually cut a slice of the pork belly into little pieces using a scissor. A common way of consuming it is to place a slice of meat on a lettuce or leaf with some rice and ssamjang and eat it. That is usually called sangchu-ssam.

Woo Samgyup is cooked and eaten like Samgyeopsal. 

I don't really watch K-dramas and it's my first time in a "traditional" Korean restaurant (the other Korean restaurants I have tried are fast food in nature) so I, honestly, barely have any idea on how to eat these meat dishes. Thankfully, all of my companions, with the exemption of the toddlers, are quite familiar on how to cook and eat samgyeopsal and woo samgyup due to their addiction to K-dramas so I just followed their lead. (I'm sorry I'm really partial to Hollywood-produced films and tv series.) 

 The birthday girl enjoying her Korean barbeque dinner. 

 We also enjoyed a bottle of soju, a clear, colorless, distilled Korean alcoholic beverage. 

 Happy and full after our Korean barbeque dinner. 

 There are so many choices that even our little Queen B, as well as her cousins Xander and Bella, found something they can eat. She even tried a bite of the samgyeopsal. 

Happy 60th Birthday, Mama! We love you so much!

We truly enjoyed our Korean barbeque dinner. We like that they have perilla leaves, also known as sesame leaves, aside from lettuce as wrappers for the grilled pork and beef. I really like the minty flavor it imparts into the grilled meat. 

I enjoyed my dining experience at Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine so much that I suggested it as the venue of our Life and Legacy graduation fellowship, which was scheduled coincidentally on my birthday. 

GCF-Sta.Rosa's Life and Legacy facilitators and graduates. Photo courtesy of Sis Jenny Fortaleza.

Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine has an ongoing birthday promo. Here is their Birthday Promo Mechanics as stated on their Facebook page:

• Birthday celebrant can avail the promo for 1 whole month as long as within the month of his/her birthday.
• Birthday month celebrant may eat for 50% off the buffet price. 
• On your birthday, the celebrant may eat for free. To avail the promo, the celebrant must be accompanied by a minimum of 3 full paying adult rates without any discount/s.
• The rate of the celebrant is free and 3 regular rate. 
• The celebrant must bring an original, valid government issued picture I.D or Company I.D, Student I.D with the birthdate imprinted on it.

Aside from their grill-all-you-can and buffet, you can also order ala carte. They have an extensive menu of other well-known Korean dishes and based on my observation from the orders of fellow customers, their servings are big. They also sell Korean ice creams, as well as the now-popular spicy Korean noodles. And just recently, they have also included shrimp and squid in their grill-all-you-can promo. 

I'm no expert but I believe Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine offers authentic Korean dishes based on the continuous flow of Korean and fellow Filipinos customers they have during my 2 visits with them. So if you're from the South like me (no need to endure the traffic going north where most Korean barbeque restaurants are) and craving for samgyeopsal, Oak Bbq Korean Cuisine is one place you should definitely try. 

As for me, I can't wait to try my hand at preparing other Korean dishes. As I'm discovering, there is more to their cuisine than kimchi. 

Happily eating with you, 

Lady