On today's food diary, I'm sharing this korean bbq place I've been wanting to try since last year but I only got around to trying it a few weeks ago. I first saw Romantic Baboy through s sponsored ad, lol how targeted can these ads get right?? At that time, the only branch that they had was the one in Tomas Morato and I've heard of horror stories about how horrendous the waiting time is. I mean I love food but I hate wasting time, and personally, I feel that it's a waste of time If I have to line up for a few hours just to eat somewhere so I usually wait for the buzz to die down then I try the place.
Fast forward to 2019, Romantic Baboy now has branches all over the metro. I was thinking maybe this is the right time to already try it since most likely there won't be any queue anymore. So, yep let's talk about that.
THE PLACE
The branch that was closest to my place was the one in Light Mall. We arrived at around 7Pm and the queue was awful. One staff was assigned to take care of the queue and we were on the third page of the notebook she was holding. It was pretty obvious that we won't be called anytime soon so we decided to transfer to a different branch, the one over et Eton Centris. The situation was the same, but wait time was a bit shorter. We waited for about an hour before we got seated. The setup is a lot like most Samgyeupsal places, but their grill already had egg in it.
THE FOOD
What initially lured me to this place was the unlimited cheese. Last year before the entire metro got into a Samyeupsal frenzy, they were one of the pioneer and premiere places that offered unlimited cheese. For P499.00 you get unlimited Pork + Beef with 8 meats to choose from. They also offer unlimited side dish, rice, vegetables and gochujang jjigae. I dined with 5 of my friends and I think it would've been better if we were seated on a table with 2 grills, but since the place was packed, we only had one grill.
The meat cuts are awesome; my personal favorites were the pork neck and the sweet-style beef. It was pretty late when we got seated and they only had about 4 or 5 side dishes available. Of all the samgyeupsal places I've been too, Romantic Baboy has the most authentic cheese dip I've ever tasted. The egg on the side was also refreshing to have but it can also make you more full, hence less money for meat and more money for egg lol so try to limit your egg consumption.
For a place that's pretty busy, service was fast. But I was also thinking if it's because there's a survey given to customers after every meal or if customer satisfaction really one of their priorities? Eitherway, that check and balance does make sure that they do serve their customers efficiently. For the sauce, they offer the typical Samjjang, Oil, salt and pepper, Gochujang and sesame oil.
Aside from the cheese, there really wasn't anything special about the place. For P499.00, there are other KBBQ places that offer so much more. I think with the abundance of KBBQ places lately, the key to making sure you get your money's worth is to look for something else that the place has to offer. Aside from KBBQ, what other specialties can the place offer? If you've noticed, it has been a growing fad among Korean grills lately, with some even offering Japanese food to boot. Would I go back? Not if I have to line up for another hour! I've created a short video to show you how my experience went. Enjoy the video!
ROMANTIC BABOY
Budget : P1000 for 2 people
Open daily from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Eton Centris Walk, Quezon Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Ochi is a twenty-something Corporate Trainer who loves to cook, take photos and videos of her food, eat and travel. On weekends, she's either drunk or snuggling in bed watching her favorite crime drama. 
