Need for Speed: Bulgogi Brothers, Alabang

Last week, we celebrated my tita's (aunt's) birthday at Bulgogi Brothers, Alabang Town Center. It being a Tuesday night, we didn't expect the restaurant to be full. We arrived to find a bustling restaurant, filled almost to capacity. There were two or three just-vacated tables, and one of them was to be ours.

We spoke to the lady at the reception table, and she informed us that our table just needed to be cleaned. Through the glass walls of the restaurant, we saw our table and expected to be seated shortly. As the minutes ticked by, we started to grow impatient and a little frustrated. After 5 minutes of waiting, no one has made a move to clear the table. Finally, someone took some of the empty dishes but didn't return to get the others. After the table had finally been cleared, it was a while before someone came by again to wipe down the table. It took them about 20 minutes before they could seat us--and all they had to do was clean a table that was already available, which should have taken no more than 5 minutes. Not a single menu was offered to us while we waited. Worse, no one even paid any attention to us. Quite the opposite, in fact: The staff seemed to purposely avoid eye contact with customers who were growing antsy while waiting.

There were 7 of us, and we were seated at a table meant for 6, so it was a little crowded. By that time, though, everyone was hungry, and sitting at a crowded table was a minor inconvenience compared to having to wait another 20 minutes for them to clear a bigger table. So we decided to just enjoy each other's company--lack of personal space and breathing room and all--and order.

We ordered the Dubu Steak (tofu steak); Haemul Pajeon (seafood pancake); Sogogi Japchae (glass noodles with beef and veggies, 2 orders); Bulgogi Bibimbab (meat, vegetables, and rice); Galbi Tang (clear soup with beef); and Kimchi-jjigae (stew with kimchi, pork, and tofu). We also got two platters of raw meat to be cooked at our table: the Bulgogi Brothers Special (combination of thinly sliced beef with beansprouts and ground-beef patties) and Premium Boneless Shortribs. Korean appetizers are complimentary. Most of the items on the menu were new to us and in a foreign language, and the servers were very helpful in describing the menu items, making recommendations, and letting us know whether we had enough food.

Our longer-than-expected wait time (the 20 minutes it took for us to be seated, plus another 10 minutes before someone came by and took our orders) had us incredibly hungry, and we were eager for the Korean appetizers to arrive. But for some reason, these weren't served immediately. Instead, the staff waited until the rest of our orders were ready and served the appetizers at the same time. The whole point of appetizers is to have something to prep the palate and the appetite before the meal, right? It's not as if the appetizers required time to make/cook, because most, if not all, of them are already prepared ahead. I also couldn't understand why the raw meat took so long to be served; it's cooked at the table, so there's almost zero preparation time involved.

They say good things come to those who wait, and in this instance, the saying rang true. The salad had ordinary lettuce that was fresh and crisp, but what made it good was the dressing, which I can describe only as, well, Korean. The kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), eggplant, and pickled kangkong (water spinach) were fresh and flavorful too. The platter of corn, kamote (sweet potato), and quail eggs, I stayed away from because I knew they'd make me too full, but they looked bright and fresh and lovely, and my mom enjoyed them. Besides the appetizers, which, by the way, you can ask for refills of, they also serve complimentary house tea upon request. I believe they rotate teas daily, and when we visited, their tea of the day was corn tea--a welcome change from the usual green or black teas.

Appetizer: salad

Appetizers, top to bottom: kimchi, eggplant, pickled kangkong
(water spinach)

Appetizer: corn, kamote (sweet potato), and quail eggs

Tea of the day: corn tea

On to the mains: The Dubu Steak was wonderful, with a lovely crunch on the outside, tender tofu on the inside, and a flavorful (and spicy) sauce. I had no interest in the Haemul Pajeon (PhP 450 [~USD 11]), which is probably why I forgot to take a picture of it. The Sogogi Japchae was pretty good, albeit unmemorable (except for the sticky white tubes mixed into it, with a texture kind of like tikoy [glutinous rice cake] but firmer, which I found interesting and enjoyable). The Bulgogi Bibimbab was up to par, with well-cooked rice, fresh ingredients, and good flavor. The two soups/stews were interesting, especially in that they tasted quite similar to two Filipino dishes. The Galbi Tang tasted a lot like nilaga (beef and vegetables in clear broth), and the Kimchi-jjigae was a bit like sinigang (meat/fish and vegetables in a clear, sour, and savory soup, often tamarind based) with its spicy-sour flavor. I enjoyed both, but more so the Kimchi-jjigae, which I'd definitely order again; the Galbi Tang, probably not.

Dubu Steak, PhP 395 (~USD 9)

Sogogi Japchae, PhP 350 (~USD 8)

Bulbogi Bibimbap (unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a picture of the presentation
before the server mixed all the ingredients together), PhP 395 (~USD 9)

Soups/stews: Galbi Tang (left) and Kimchi-jjigae (right)

Up close: Galbi Tang, PhP 420 (~USD 10)

Up close: Kimchi-jjigae, PhP 395 (~USD 9)

The grilled meats were delicious, tender and nicely seasoned. The servers stood by our table and did the cooking for us, which I guess was nice of them, but we might've had more fun had we done it ourselves. The Premium Boneless Shortribs (PhP 895 [~USD 22]) were nice and juicy (picture to follow; it's with my sister). The Bulgogi Brothers Special received mixed reviews. Everyone enjoyed the thinly sliced beef (which, by the way, looks like it's not much on the serving platter when raw but really is a lot when cooked). However, the consensus on the ground-beef patties was that they weren't worth it. I actually thought they tasted good, but they fell apart too easily. Rice was complimentary, and each one of us was also given a trio of dipping sauces. I didn't think the meat needed any extra flavor, but it was nice to have those options.

Bulgogi Brothers Special (doesn't look like much here, but see below), PhP 1,495 (~USD 36) 

Bulgogi Brothers Special: ground beef patties cooking 

Bulgogi Brothers Special: thinly sliced beef and beansprouts cooking

Trio of dipping sauces (the one in the middle is an herbed salt) 

Another dipping sauce

Usually, after the meal, the servers bring a basket of different Korean ice creams to choose from, in case anyone wants dessert. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't do this for us; perhaps it was late, and they were tired and just forgot. They were, however, nice enough to take a cake we bought elsewhere, stick a candle on it, come to our table, and sing happy birthday to my tita. They also provided a knife, clean plates, and dessert forks. (The restaurant does offer a birthday freebie: a birthday seaweed soup. We got around to asking about it only at the end of our meal--it would've been weird to have soup then--so we declined. We're so used to the birthday freebie being a dessert, but perhaps next time, I'll get around to asking before the meal even starts.)

The damage? Our bill was around PhP 5,800 (~USD 140) for the food plus 4 drinks, which is a bit steep. It was a good meal, delicious and filling, but I'm not sure how willingly I'd pay PhP 5,800 for 7 people for a meal that isn't all-you-can eat, doesn't include dessert, and doesn't include any particularly high-value items; it was good but not worth PhP 800+ (~USD 20) per head, in my opinion. Good thing Citibank had a promo (which was why we picked Bulgogi Brothers in the first place): 50% off the total bill (minimum of PhP 2,500 and maximum of PhP 5,000) if you use a Citibank credit card. (Come to think of it, maybe that's why there were so many people on a Tuesday night, and perhaps the service was so slow because they didn't anticipate a weekend-volume crowd and were staffed for a weekday.) There is a limit of one transaction per card and one card per table only, meaning we should have had to pay (PhP 5,000 / 2) + PhP 800 = PhP 3,300. However, since there were multiple cardholders in our party, the servers were nice enough to split the bill into two so that we could get our entire bill at half off: PhP 5,800 / 2 = PhP 2900. Now at that price, our dinner was a steal.

At regular price, I don't know if I'll be eating there again, even they improved their attentiveness and the speed of their service. The food is really good, but it's just too expensive for what you get. I'm not against saving up for an expensive meal to celebrate a special occasion or for a special treat, but for such things, I'd probably pick a much nicer place, with a better ambiance and food options that better justify the price tag.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I got to try Bulgogi Brother, thanks to Citibank. And though it's doubtful that I'd go back at full price, if a similar promo did come up, I'd definitely grab the opportunity and eat there again.

---

Bulgogi Brothers, Alabang Town Center (Lower Ground Floor, New Wing)
+63 2 919 6840

Opens at 11 am, till 9 pm on weekdays and 10 pm on weekends