Hwarang - A Korean Restaurant near Santol and Sampaloc

Bulgogi

Coming from Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs in Rizal, it was already early evening when we reached Metro Manila. During the ride home, we were looking into our options for places to have our anniversary dinner. Since we had a baby waiting for us to be home early, we decided to find a place near Sampaloc so that it would be easier to get home by then.

When you’re living in Balic-Balic Sampaloc, the nearest mall with various food outlets to choose from would be SM Centerpoint. But we go there almost every weekend. So we tried looking for stand-alone restaurants around the area. We reached Araneta Avenue driving towards Quezon Blvd when we saw Hwarang Korean Restaurant on the other side of the road. Since it has been a long while since the last time we had Korean food, we made a U-turn on the next slot. We couldn’t believe there was this kind of restaurant in Santol area. We wondered if there were lots of Koreans living there. 

We were the only customers when we arrived but more people came in the middle of our meal…Koreans, of course. We were still feeling a bit full from our late heavy lunch in Balaw-Balaw Restaurant so decided to just have a light dinner. I wanted my husband to try Bulgogi so we ordered one serving which we were told was good for two persons. I forgot the name of the rice that we chose but it came with one fried on top. Good thing we ordered only one serving since we think it was also good for two persons. 

And since it was a Korean restaurant, the usual side dishes would always be served, often before your order is served. Munching those side dishes already satisfied our stomachs even before the Bulgogi arrived. The Bulgogi and the rice tasted good like the ones I’ve tasted in other Korean resto before. But what made this place special is the intimate feeling of the place (it only had a small area) and its nearness to our house. Given its location, we would definitely be back!

Man with happy stomach!