eum•ma•ne

Korean food has always been one of my favorites.  Had my fair share of good and bad Korean food, ranging from the cheap fastfood ones to the expensive ones that can be found in places that you have to specifically go to.  So one random night in Capitol Commons where Hubby and I were looking for something different from the usual (no noisy crowd), we decided to try eum•ma•ne. 

Half Moon Mandu Dumplings

Four pieces of pan fried dumplings fried to a crisp with a juicy pork and beef filling

Never tried Korean mandu dumplings before.  And on the first try, I must say it tastes quite fantastic.  The outside was crunchy and the insides were a mix of ground meat and vermicelli, which were pretty good.

Baked Bacon and Cheese Mandu

Korean pork and vegetable dumplings smothered with a rich Mornay sauce and bacon then "gratinated" with more grated cheese.

Was not impressed with this one.  We had our hopes up after trying out the mandu dumplings, so we thought this was going to be even better.  Sadly, it wasn't.  There was just too much going on.  I felt that the flavors did not mix well.

Bulgogi Ribs with Sweet Potato

Slow baked and grilled Bulgogi pork ribs doused with miso barbecue sauce served with sweet potato and Korean pickle salad, fresh kimchi salad and seaweed dusted corn on the cob.

Now THIS, was a pleasant surprise.  When we ordered this I initially thought that this was going to look like the usual Korean beef stew.  I even thought they got our order wrong when this arrived!  eum•ma•ne's version of the pork ribs, was fall-off-the-bone-tender and really really flavorful.  2 thumbs up!

The verdict?  I'd give eum•ma•ne 4 out of 5 stars.  A fair warning though:  This is not your usual Korean restaurant.  They call it modern Korean, so don't expect the usual fare you'd find in normal Korean spots.  There is no banchan (free appetizers) here either.  But hey, if you're up for something different, go give eum•ma•ne a try!  

eum•ma•ne is at the Ground Floor, Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Pasig City