Love pork belly? Try Soban K-Town Grill’s six-flavor samgyupsal

A quick internet search revealed that like Filipinos, Koreans love their pork and also utilize every part of the pig, from head to toe. Like the Pinoys’ love for pork belly dishes like inihaw na liempo (grilled pork belly) and lechon kawali (crispy fried belly), our East Asian neighbors also love their grilled pork belly dish called samgyupsal.

Also spelled as samgeopsal, the traditional method of preparing the thick slices of pork belly meat does not involve marinades nor seasonings but cooking is always done at the center of a dining table where diners cook, slice, and eat directly from the grill. The meat is best paired with rice, or wrapped in lettuce leaves together with a slice of raw garlic, and ssamjang paste.

Taking the Korean dining culture and the dish samgyupsal one notch higher is Soban K-Town Grill’s offering of a Six-flavor Sampyupsal set.

It is recommended to start the six-flavor samgyupsal set with the Original and finish with the 36-hour marinated Chili pork belly.

Soban, meaning “small tray or table,” breaks the mold of traditional Korean establishments here in the metro by offering quality, yet affordable dishes by weaving Korean ingredients and techniques with American comfort food (fries and ice cream), dashed with Mexican street food culture (K-Tacos and Korritos or Korean burritos).

The interiors have a no fuss design; like most Korean grill restaurants, there are numerous exhaust contraptions hanging from the ceiling to suck out the smoke and fumes from the grill. The minimalist approach, modern chairs, red tongs, and cooking scissors give the place a hip and contemporary vibe.

The first dish presented on our table were servings of the Korean Taco (K-Taco). Unlike traditional ones from Mexico that use corn tortillas, Soban’s version uses soft flour tortilla and contains lettuce, kimchi, sour cream, cheese, and a choice of barbecued spicy chicken, pork, and beef bulgogi.

If I could remember correctly, what we had was the beef bulgogi version. The truth is with all the additional sauces and seasonings, it was hard to distinguish the taste and texture of which meat the taco had. This doesn’t mean that the K-Tacos did not taste good; for P75 per piece, it is a filling and tasty starter that can also double as an afternoon snack.

Another dish from Sung’s Picks, named after Sariwon Korean Barbecue’s restauranteur and Soban business partner Sung Rah, is the Kimchi fries. Smothered with cheese, roasted pork bits, and kimchi, it is a dish that may not please everyone. My dining companion mentioned that the fries could have been crunchier while I thought that it lacked some seasoning and the amount of fries should be more compared to the kimchi.

I like the idea of the Kimchi fries being a comfort food similar to the Canadian classic poutine, so with a little bit of improvement, it could join the K-Tacos as one of Soban’s bestsellers.

For the pièce de résistance, Soban’s staff first laid a long tray containing six small bowls full of pork bellies, each with a label of its own.

It is recommended to start with the Original (no marinade), and then proceed to the Fruity and Wine. Each table comes with an instruction guide to cooking the samgyupsal: grill the meat for 30 seconds on each side seven times for a total of seven minutes (3.5 minutes on each side). Cut the meat up into small, thumb-sized pieces using the provided scissors, and enjoy.

The Original pork belly really goes well with the sesame oil with salt and pepper dipping sauce, while I preferred the sweet taste of the Fruity marinade over the slightly bolder flavors of the Wine. Before continuing with the rest of the samgyupsal choices, a quick change of the grilling plate was a must to prevent the flavors of one marinade from influencing the others.

Soy and Garlic is an ode to the Pinoy palate, while Doemjang or Korean miso is decidedly a traditional flavor from the Land of the Morning Calm.

The pork slices used in the four variants, Fruity, Wine, Soy and Garlic, and Doemjang are marinated for 24 hours but I must admit that they are closer to each other’s flavor.

The final type, Chili, is marinated in Korean chili paste for 36 hours but is not really mouth-watering spicy; just a little bit of heat to tickle the taste buds.

The samgyupsal set that we had is already good for three to four persons, and for P1,420, already comes with 540 grams of pork belly, unlimited white or Kimchi rice, salad, soup, and egg roll appetizers. For solo diners, there are also options for 90g (P315), 120g (P355), and 180g (P405) solo grilled pork sets.

The grilled dishes are best paired with soju, the classic Korean alcoholic beverage or like in my case, a cup of hot tea.

With its crispy skin and tender meat, the dak bulgogi is the best non-pork dish of Soban.

Chicken lovers have two choices: the grilled, dak galbi and the caramelized boneless fried chicken, dak bulgogi. My personal favorite during lunch was the latter with its the crunchy skin, tender meat and sweet glaze. One can’t have just one bowl of rice while eating this chicken delight.

Aside from coffee ice cream, red beans and a chocolate twirl give the Coffee Prince texture and added flavor.

To cap off our meal, we tried two desserts, the simpler looking Ice Cream Medley (Coffee, Vanilla, and Cookies and Cream) with Konggaru (soybean powder) on top and the more elaborate Coffee Prince. Neither dessert was too sweet, and just what every Pinoy needs with this kind of hot, summer weather. —KG, GMA News

Soban K-Town Grill is located at 2/F Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City.