Have there ever been moments in your life in which you felt such deep emotional attachment?
The scent of perfume can transport you back to when a particular feeling could have triggered you to date someone. Songs that bring back happy memories of hanging out with your closest pals. Pictures of gathered high school moments. Movies that you grew up watching and found comfort in. A spot where you used to hang out with your friends and eat. That those tactile cues could transport you to a different temporal dimension struck me as strange.
On my way to my alma mater, Columban College, Inc., in Olongapo City, I walked by a restaurant where I usually eat with my college pals. Abruptly, I was reminded of all the beautiful times we had spent together, but I was also saddened by the thought that those will always be in the past. Thus, even though I'm alone, I've chosen to eat here.
My friends and I have enjoyed dining at Nara Kimbop since we developed a love for Korean cuisine.
Korean food is trendy in the Philippines. You can quickly satisfy your cravings for bulgogi, kimchi, and samgyeopsal in practically every city in the nation. Furthermore, this is wider than the metro.
In traditional Korean BBQ, meat dishes are grilled on a metal plate over a charcoal burner. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that. I adore some deliciously grilled meat wrapped in lettuce and dipped in ssamjang over charcoal! I was drawn to one local business because it employed a different strategy.
By focusing primarily on kimbap—a seaweed rice roll with various fillings—Nara Kimbob dares to break with convention. Offering something novel and unique to the Olongapo City community is risky, but Nara Kimbob turned out to be a big hit, growing to several more locations. What makes them unique, and what aspects of their cuisine appeal to the locals?
On this particular day, I ordered a familiar dish with a slight twist: tuna kimbap with mayo. You can select from various sauces, including spicy, mayo, wasabi, tonkatsu, and mustard, if that's different from your thing. I wanted to try something different for once, but I almost always order the spicy mayo sauce.
Let's move on to the main attraction, the kimbap. They serve California maki, beef, pork, tuna, and chicken.
Even though the dish only consists of rice, lettuce, radish, and your choice of meat, the flavors work well together, especially when the sauce is added. The meat tidbits are tiny, but every bite makes their presence felt. In the meantime, the seaweed roll and vegetables infuse the entire ensemble with freshness. This dish never gets old to me because of the variety it serves; I'm always satisfied.
You can order kimbap a la carte or choose one of their combos, which includes iced tea and ramyun. The price is determined by the number of kimbap (a half or a dozen) and the size of the ramyun (regular by default, upgradeable to medium and large).
Even with the largest ramyun, the a la carte usually costs less than P60, and the combo costs less than P100, so this place offers excellent value. Their space is small, so people swarm to their tables right after office hours, so you might have to wait a little for a table during rush hour.
Even though it was some imported instant ramyun, the Seafood Ramyun that came standard with the KR2 Combo was still reasonably good with the extra toppings. Here, we have fried eggs, chopped spring onions, squid, fish, and some delicious, if lonesome, shrimp. Although there are few toppings, given that it's a part of an already reasonably priced combo, it didn't feel like a pricey letdown. The broth that accompanied it tasted like hot chili peppers to me. If it were tolerable, I would have more than half of the soup leftover.
Alongside my BR2 Combo, I had the Bacon Bibimbob, a typical bowl of mixed vegetables with rice on top, including carrots, cucumber, kimchi, cabbage, and marinated ground beef. The bacon was also mixed with a soy dressing. The customer—in this case, me—is expected to mix everything up, as Bimbimbop frequently does. As always, the soft rice and crunchy vegetables complement each other well, with the sweet-spicy combination highlighting the gorgeous texture gradient and the chewy, smoky bacon. I find this to be pretty good comfort food, especially for those I went to college with.
This is comfort food for my college friends and me, so the last sentence I used to describe my experience with my go-to order, their Egg Bibimbob here at Nara Kimbob, best sums up the establishment.
Wow the food maam looks so tasty & appetizing especially the sushi,I never tried one but hopefully I can try it in the future.😅💗
Indeed, you must try it too, especially when you're into korean foods also. ❤️🥰
I really love Korean food❤️❤️ so yummy
I agree with you, I am so much into korean foods since I became korean drama series addict ❤️♥️Thanks for dropping by.
💕💕 yes and I'm so happy now many platforms have k drama ❤️😁😁