As I'm typing this, it's raining cats and dogs which just makes this post more apt! It's no secret I love Samgyupsal but I don't think I've mentioned how I'm also in love with hotpot and shabu-shabu! We all know the weather hasn't been that kind to us lately giving us a lot of gloomy mornings and rainy evenings, and while it makes it even more difficult for most to get up and go on with the dailies, I personally enjoy it because then I get to have soup hah! I mean, I know it's a small thing but enjoying soup in a tropical country can really be quite tedious because who would want soup in the sweltering heat, right? Definitely not me. But anyway, I talked about loving the rain extensively because my next discovery was a product of that. 

One rainy day in Malolos, Bulacan of course my typical self was craving for samgyupsal. A quick google search led me to 1970 Korean Grill and Shabu-Shabu and shabu-shabu + samgyup sign me up! Initially I was a bit confused about the difference between hotpot and shabu-shabu and this is what I came up with : Hot pot is cooked in shallow iron pots with sake, mirin, soy, and sugar. The one-dish meal frequently features ingredients dipped in beaten raw eggs prior to cooking. Shabu-shabu features a different cooking style, which is the main difference between the two cuisines. All thinly-sliced ingredients are swished around the pot — the phrase ”shabu-shabu” actually translates to “swish-swish.” (via)

THE PLACE

The restaurant is fairly spacious, the only thing that I didn't like about it is that there's no exhaust per table. The exhaust was installed on the wall and that goes for the entire restaurant so you can bet you'll smell like grilled meat once you step out, Service was okay since most of them are pretty attentive. Not sure if the restaurant is fairly new but the lady who served us was pretty clueless about the samgyup + shabu-shabu deal. We had to clarify several times what was included. She also cooked the entire shabu-shabu in one go and not fondue-style which made me rush my dining process for dear of overcooking the veggies and noodles. 

THE FOOD

The food was generally okay. I mean for the price I ain't complaining. Nothing utterly special about the shabu-shabu or the samgyupsal but definitely worth the price. Most of the hotpot/shabu-shabu + samgyupsal places I’ve seen go for P600++. I particularly loved their beef cuts because not all cheap Korean grill places offer good beef strips. I wasn’t able to enjoy the hotpot thought because as mentioned, the staff that was assisting us cooked everything in one go and seems like she wasn’t familiar with how shabu-shabu usually works. 

Also, if you opt for the shabu-shabu you can't get the budae jjigae anymore. I was assuming since it's unlimited I can get both at the same time, but maybe next time since it looked so appetizing.