六十一：Moshi Manju Korean Cake

I'm reviewing yet another Korean food. This time it's a Korean snack from a kiosk named Moshi Manju. 

Moshi Manju says on it's description, is a Korean cake. 

Big Box of Moshi Manju, 24 pieces for 92Php.

I'm not sure if it's really called manju in Korean because from what I researched, manju is actually a Japanese snack made of mochi but has filling in it.

The so called Korean cakes are small about slightly more than an inch in length and about half an inch in thickness.

The shape of these mini cakes are oval and has a corn pattern design. The mini cakes do taste like corn, almost like a corn muffin and are filled with different sweet fillings such as chocolate fudge, mocha, and pastillas.

Since it is called manju I'm assuming it has glutinous flour mixed in it but I doubt that they do because I've tasted mochi breads before and the texture is different.

Nice corn pattern.

The manjus are sold in 4's, 8's and in boxes 15's and 24's and you can choose the flavor depending on what is available for that day.

I bought the 24 pieces and the flavor available were chocolate and pastillas which is like thick sweet custard more like our yema. The 24 pieces is 92Php.

Chocolate fudge filled manju.

By the way. the stalls usually have the cakes cooking right in front of you. It's actually fun to watch and smell how the cakes are made.

Pastillas filled manju.

I should also warn you not to eat the cakes right away if it's given to you freshly bakes because it will burn your tongue because the filling can be really hot and this is based on my personal experience. LOL!

Anyways, even though the name is confusing, it's a really good snack. What I don't like about it is that once it gets cold, the cake becomes a bit tough so I usually reheat it in the microwave to soften it and again, don't eat it right away once you reheat it.

Price:

4's - 18.00Php

8's - 15.00Php

15's -  60.00Php

24's - 92.00Php

Location: SM Megamall Basement of Building B near Luk Yuen

六十：Sushi-Ya Japanese Restaurant and SM Megamall Robbery

Sushi-Ya

    I like noodles and so I like ramen. I like Japanese cuisine in general.

There's always something to remember when I eat at a restaurant but when we ate at Sushi-Ya, it was very memorable. It was the time when SM Megamall was robbed by armed thieves stealing jewelry at the department store and the whole mall was locked down.

Luckily for me and my friend, we were able to enjoy our food first before the horror started.

Sushi-Ya Menu

To start the story, let me make a review of the restaurant first.

My friend and I wanted to eat noodles. We were thinking of Komoro Soba or Rai Rai Ken because I've tried eating there before until we ended at Sushi-Ya because the prices seem reasonable and they have the noodles that we wanted.

Sushi-Ya interiors

We asked the waiters regarding their bestsellers and they were nice enough to answer all our queries.

My friend and I decided to order Miso Ramen, Gomoku Ramen, their mixed maki combination 2 and bottomless iced tea.

Of course the iced tea were served right away.

Mixed Maki Combination 2

Next came the sushi platter. We chose Mixed Maki Combination 2 (225Php) which has  4 Cali Maki, 4 Tekka Maki, 2 Shake Maki, 2 Unagi Maki.

We chose combination 2 because of the Unagi Maki which is actually grilled eel. 

Unagi or grilled eel is actually tasty, very delicious and it's quite expensive. It's like fish but more flaky and the Japanese season it with sweet soy sauce.

Miso Ramen

Then came our noodles served in large bowls.

My friend ordered the Miso Ramen 150Php and I ordered the Gomoku Ramen 150Php.

We ate the sushi first and enjoyed every piece of it.

We then tasted each of the ramen that we ordered.

Gomoku Ramen

The Miso Ramen is very tasty, more salty than the Gomoku Ramen and I think it is more on pork based broth while the Gomoku Ramen has white broth and has lots of seafood in it like shrimps and squid.

I think both ramen use the same type of noodles, the long egg noodle type which are also delicious.

My friend and I really enjoyed the food and surely I don't mind eating there again to try the other dishes.

Price Range (50-400Php)
Sushi-Ya Megamall Location:
G/F Building B, SM Megamall, Julia Vargas Avenue Corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63(2)6319998

To continue with the robbery story...

After we ate, we went to buy the caramel cake at Goldilock's. After buying the cake, we went to the toilet and then while inside the toilet, I hear the sound of a stampede and some people screaming. I actually thought there was an earthquake. 

There were also people going inside the toilet and so we asked them what was happening. They told us that they heard gun shots and they were just trying to hide for safety.

My friend and I got scared and started texting our relatives. After a few minutes, when some of the people who were talking to their relatives outside the toilet said it's clear, my friend and I tried to go out so we can go home.

When we got out the toilet, all establishments were closed.. the whole mall was locked down and when I checked one of the restaurants, I saw people with scared faces all packed at the corner because the restaurant has glass walls.

We went back to the toilet and saw a fire exit. There was also a family who decided to join us and a foreigner. We went down the fire exit and safely got out.

Outside there were police and lots of people who aren't really there to help but are more of a nuisance. We even saw a group of people taking pictures of themselves smiling beside a police car. How insensitive can you get?

Long story short, my friend and I were able to go home safely and saw in the news that thieves robbed the jewelry stand inside the department store and they had a gun which they fired just to scare people away.

It was a really scary experience but at least no one got hurt and at least we were able to enjoy the food before we got scared by the incident. ^_^

五十九：Mr. Kimbob Korean Health Food

Filipinos are fast adapting Korean cuisine in our culture mainly because of the increase in numbers of Koreans in our country. Mr. Kimbob is one of those fast food service restaurants that serve Korean dishes.

Mr. Kimbob can be found mostly in SM Mall Food Courts. They serve typical Korean dishes such as chapchae, kimbap, and bibimbap. some of their branches even sell Korean novelty frozen treats such as the famous Melona popsicles.

My friend and I tried this when we had our lunch at SM Megamall. We ordered their donkatsu meal which is like the tonkatsu of the Japanese. It's pork that is breaded and then fried. It comes with a cup of white rice and some minced carrots. If I remember it correctly it's 85Php with the iced tea.

My friend and I also ordered their dumplings which is I think around 50Php. It tasted like our fried lumpia.

I've tried Mr. Kimbob's Bibimbob (bibimbap) before which is the Korean rice dish with vegetables and a little meat and I liked it. Unfortunately for their donkatsu, it was very dry and even their dumplings were too oily. 

In short, I was disappointed but I don't mind trying their other dishes next time like the Japchae.

Price Range: 50 - 100Php

Location: SM Food Courts