CHEF’S NOODLE: KOREA’S BEST TASTING NOODLES IS NOW IN THE PHILIPPINES

Chef's Noodle at Universty Mall in Taft Avenue, Manila.

Fresh and healthy are bywords you often hear as trends in the culinary world. The newly opened Chef’s Noodle at the second floor of the University Mall in Taft Avenue, Malate Manila aims to provide their customers and guests with a wide selection of fresh, healthy but very affordable Korean cuisines. I know it seems like I’m always badgering my readers to eat this, cook this, or go to this restaurant. Not that this post is any different, but call it a luxury for your taste buds, if you will. At Chef’s Noodle, your taste buds will have one roller coaster of flavors: pungency, sourness, spicy, saltiness and sweetness—all these will definitely please even the most distinctive palate.

Starking Fire Sushi torched right before your eyes.

Made from the freshest ingredients.

 The first time I heard about Chef’s Noodle, I thought all they served was noodle-based dishes. But upon seeing the menu myself, I found out they had a lot of interesting dishes to try. The store does not disappoint with its menu. They had Korean sushi such as Kimbap (Seaweed Nori-wrapped rice rolls with Korean ham, radish, cucumber and egg), Kimchi Kimbap (Seaweed Nori-wrapped rice rolls with Kimchi, Korean ham, radish and egg), Bulgogi kimbap (Nori-wrapped rice rolls with beef and leeks) and Chef’s Noodle specialty sushi called Starking Fire Sushi (Sushi rice topped with thinly sliced Australian beef torched and served with a special sushi sauce made specifically for Chef’s Noodle).  We were able to try the Kimbap, Kimchi Kimbap and the Starking Fire Sushi. And I must say that they were really good. Surprisingly, even if the Starking Fire Sushi was still raw when it was brought to our table (it was only torched right in front of us)—and cooked right before our very eyes—the thinly sliced Australian beef was tender and juicy enough (mild rare). It perfectly complements the sweet vinegared Korean rice.

Chef's Noodle staff torches the Starking Fire Sushi right before the customer's eyes.

Chef's Noodle--the resto's specialty.

Beverages: Chef's Noodle signature Iced Lemon tea or Strawberry Tea.

Starking Fire Sushi with Australian Beef strips.

Seafood Pajun (pancakes)

Kimbap Sushi

Chef’s Noodle also had Bulgogi Leek Jun (Korean Bulgogi Pancakes), Seafood Pajun (Korean Seafood Pancake), Leek Shrimp Twigim (Deep fried leeks and shrimp in a special tempura batter), Kalbichim (Korean Beef Stew) and Wanja Steak Jun (Fried Beef pancake topped with cheese and egg). These pancakes may be eaten with rice or ala carte.

Of course, they were named as such because of their delicious Korean noodle recipes such as Jjampong (in mild spicy or Korean spicy fresh seafood ramen), Bibim Noodle (Korean cold noodle in sweet, spicy and sour sauce topped with egg roll, bean sprouts and bulgogi), Japchae (traditional Korean glass noodle dish with beef and vegetables) and of course, the restaurant’s specialty Chef’s Noodle (Korean Fresh Noodles with beef broth topped with vegetables. Bulgogi and tamago). 

Korean Japchae Glass Noodles.

A word of caution though, if you’re not into spicy things, I suggest you to skip the Bibim Noodle. But if you love spicy stuff, by all means go ahead—it will surely bring you to spicy heaven. Make sure you have a glass filled with iced tea or perhaps a pitcher of water beside you when you order Bibim Noodle. It tastes really good except that it may not be for everyone, especially if you have kids with you. Others may not appreciate its spicy and tangy taste. But it sure is Korean’s own version of Italian spaghetti. But knowing fully well how Filipinos love anything sweet in their pasta or spaghetti dish, they may not like this dish.

Spicy heaven Bibim Noodle

I would highly recommend Chef’s Noodle to anyone. It had a huge serving that you could share for up to three persons. And it’s really affordable at Php150 per order; I mean that’s true value for your money! Plus the soup broth is refillable (at no extra charge), so you can make sure everyone gets his share of its tasty hot broth.

Beef broth that's refillable. 

If there’s one thing I’d like to highlight about Chef’s Noodle, it is the shift towards fresh cooking. It guarantees freshness of the dishes because the food will only be cooked upon your order. And the Chef’s Noodle soup broth was made for more than ten hours to guarantee its excellent umami taste.  Imagine more than ten hours in the making? And it’s all just for the broth, guys! No wonder that Chef’s Noodle soup broth has that rich flavorful beefy goodness in every slurp.

According to Ms. Ana Lampa, Chef’s Noodle marketing executive, “Chef’s Noodle works with local ingredients like we sourced our bean sprouts from Baguio City.  However, we do not compromise the quality of the authenticity of our Korean dishes. But more importantly, we are very particular with the freshness. You can bring out the best flavors of the ingredients if you know how to cook them right. At Chef’s Noodle, we ensure that we have authentic Korean meals; especially since popular Korean chef Choi In Sun (who created the entire Chef’s Noodle menu dishes in Korea) had trained our Filipino staff and chefs.”

They are collaborating on additional menu, so expect more changes as the Chef’s Noodle menu continues to evolve. “We’ll always maintain the signature dishes as well as keep developing new ones. But we’ll guarantee to always make our selections as delectable, innovative and exciting as possible,” says Lampa. Although fairly new, they’ve been getting very good feedback from their clients and customers daily.

Most Korean restaurants say they have very good authentic food, but Chef’s Noodle not only have excellent and authentic Korean food at prices that are very reasonable, not to mention fast and efficient service. Here, you don’t just get what you pay for because the food and services are worth so much more. And since they are located within the vicinity of the De La Salle University-Manila and College of Saint Benilde, they also offer combo meals at student-friendly prices.

The friendly counter at Chef's Noodle ready to take your order.

I am making it a goal to try each of their dishes. Hopefully, I could get to try their spicy Ddukbokki (spicy and sweet rice cake seasoned with various fruit and vegetables) soon. Chef’s Noodle is sooo worth the trip if you’re not from the Manila area. But having tasted their array of dishes, I’m sure there’ll be a branch near you in the near future. 

Chef’s Noodle is located at the 2^nd floor of University Mall, Taft Avenue, Malate, Manila. It is open daily from 10AM to 9PM.

Chef’s Noodle also has delivery express and pickup branch at the Atlanta Center, 31 Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan.

For Delivery, please call 708-9520/405-0129 Mobile: 09328715560

Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/chefsnoodlephils and follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/chefsnoodlephil

For further information, please log on to their website, www.chefsnoodlephils.com

Security Blanket thanks Ms. Anna Lampa and Ms. Nancy Go of Chef’s Noodle Philippines, Ms. Ana Liza Bautista and Ms. Michelle Acantillado of Penser Q, and Ms. Darryl Dial-Villena.

Disclaimer: I am not compensated for this post. Opinions expressed are 100% my own.