Lee Hak BBQ Buffet Korean Restaurant, Kapitolyo Pasig

Recent cravings for Korean food led us to Lee Hak Legendary Korean Restaurant along Pioneer St. in Kapitolyo Pasig to avail their BBQ Buffet offerings one afternoon. Lee Hak specializes in an eat-all-you-can Korean BBQ in a sit-down setting. No need to stand up and fetch your own food, food attendants will cater to your needs.

However, that set up is soon going to change, as we were told. Let me get to that later as we go along this blog post.

I am currently under Korean food spell which is making me crazy because Korean restaurants nor Korean food stores aren't easy to come by in our area (or perhaps I haven't really scouted enough?) So, whenever I have the liberty to leave the mountainous east, I make it a point to drag my excited ass out somewhere that smells Korean food.

Lee Hak, being located in a place I usually frequent to, was an easy target. I always pass by this restaurant and have always made a mental note to check it out - which I haven't gotten around doing until recently simply because I've been a solo diner for months now. (The heartaches of being a single female freelance worker - no constant companion, erratic schedule which totally differs from that of your friends and family.)

And solo diners, I am guessing based on experience, isn't something Korean restaurants are made for. It's not completely frown upon, well at least here in our country, but there are some which calls for minimum number of dishes you can order. And I could only take so much Budae Jjigae because while I eat like a man, I am still a girl at the end of the day!

Okay, I am whining. Let's move right along.

That afternoon at Lee Hak, I was joined by my two good friends, Hungry Giant and Hefty Foodie. I know these kids aren't really into Korean food. I mean, they could eat it but unlike me, they can probably live without it. These days, I really can not live without it I might as well fly to South Korea. It's driving me crazy, I tell you. (Not pregnant. Nope.)

So, knowing my predicament, they took pity on me and let me decide which restaurant to try this time. That's friendship goal with the proverbial hashtag, people.

Going back to the change that will happen at Lee Hak; in contrast to the sit-down buffet set up they have, they decided to take the usual route of having buffet spread set up where people can just get their food from. Food attendants will of course still be there, but the food will be readily available for the diners' taking except when you opt for their ala carte dishes.

We were told that their target date is August 20 (that's today!) for this change to take effect. Food are still basically the same with their previous buffet choices so I am still sharing our experience with you through this post. Good news is that they are even adding more.

As with any other Korean restaurants, complimentary Banchan (Korean side dishes) comes in unlimited serving. I loved everything laid in front of us but my favorites were the salad greens with sesame dressing and of course, kimchi.

I am not gonna lie that we never asked for second helping of the banchan because the truth is, we did. It was a good move because everytime we asked for refills, new variety was included in the mix. I was secretly praying for Pa-kimchi (scallion kimchi) to appear but although it did not, I was more than happy that Oi-Sobagi (cucumber kimchi) made it to our table.

That afternoon, we decided to go for Lee Hak's Unlimited BBQ Set A (Php499/ per person, minimum of 2 person) which consist of unlimited servings of Samgyeopsal (Organic Pork Belly), Lee Hak Beef (Beef Short Plate), and Sausage. 

It also includes handful of Korean and Japanese dishes we can choose from with no extra charge. This for me was what makes the set a big bang for the buck.

The meat servings were hefty given the fact that we ordered for three person. The first serving, our meat platter were filled with everything that was included on the set we availed. In the succeeding servings however, we need to request for sausage otherwise they will no longer serve it with the pork and beef.

Refills are relatively fast since there were only few tables occupied during our visit. We probably had three to four refills of the meat during our entire stay.

The food attendant assigned to our table was kind enough to cook the first batch of our BBQ and even more kind enough to engage in a little chat with our group. After which, she let us do the grill and just comes by our table whenever we need something.

They may not look like it in the photo, but Hefty Foodie and Hungry Giant were having a grand time feasting on our Korean BBQ. Which made me happy because seriously, who wants to deal with those piercing look from your friends if you happen to choose a restaurant that sucks? I don't. Good thing, Lee Hak did not disappoint.

That afternoon, there is nothing more beautiful for me than the sight of a table filled with banchan and some meat on the grill. It felt like I was a kid in a candy store - my shameless shallowness right there. Can't blame this girl, I've been wanting to feast like this at Lee Hak for a while now.

Grilled kimchi is a must in my book - pardon to purist, but this treat is the bomb. Love it when eaten as it is, even more so when paired with samgyeopsal. The sausage, which in reality are just regular size hotdogs, tasted somewhat like one of the famous local brands we have here in Manila. Not bad at all but it could be better.

I ended up eating the entire serving of the lettuce because apparently, my companions aren't big on greens. Not complaining though. They ate their meat with rice while I wrapped the hell out of every meat there is.

Again, second serving of the meat platter was devoid of sausage. We kindly asked for it and were given without hesitation. The mushroom however was out of the question since there is one BBQ Buffet Set similar to ours but slightly different where mushroom is included in the mix. Turns out, the mushroom on our first platter stood as an edible decoration - and we ate it. Ha! 

The sound of the meat that sizzles plus its aroma was just beautiful it took me a long while to reached a degree of satiety that tells me to stop. It feels like my stomach was very considerate that day and stretched itself to accommodate all the food I want to eat. 

The BBQ Buffet feast was more than enough to make us feel that we did get our money's worth, but the icing on top of the cake was the band of other Korean dishes on the menu which we could also have in unlimited serving. There were also some Japanese dishes which I didn't care about that much during that time because I was all for Korean goodies then.

Probably the only Japanese dish that graced our table was the Okonomiyaki that Hungry Giant ordered. We all love it and for a while there, it made me reconsider to try other Japanese dishes on the menu. Reconsider being the operative word since I wasn't really able to do so.

Instead, I got myself some Doenjang Jjigae (Soybean Stew) which spice level I find a tad mild for my liking. (Not too spicy for my taste - I rarely write about this sentence on this blog! Even I, am surprise!) The chopped green peppers was the saving grace. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad at all, but it could be better.

Hefty Foodie, being his self, ended up having three bowls of Saewoo Bokkeumbap (Shrimp Fried Rice) and I cannot really blame him because it tasted really good. Hungry Giant also had a fair share of this, but he's a health buff so he must have kept the indulgence at bay.

I on the other hand feasted on a serving of Bibimbap which appearance looked like a vegetarian version but do not be deceived - there were strands of beef lying underneath. Gochujang was served separately so I was able to customized the spice level to my liking.

I ordered for Sundubu Jjigae but was given this bowl instead, as shown on photo below. For a while there I was lost because although there were tofu, it was slightly firm and the soup was obviously devoid of gochujang. I was thinking it could be their own version of the stew I requested for, but it turns out, it was Lee Hak's Korean Bulalo. Yes, I was mistakenly given the wrong item (it didn't event reflects on our receipt) but they just let me enjoy it.

Finally my Sundubu Jjigae (Kimchi Soft Tofu Stew) came right after. The wait was worth it because compared to Doenjang and the Korean Bulalo, this one was the surefire winner. The seafood taste was very apparent, every component sings for itself. It was one of the best version of Sundubu Jjigae I have ever tried by far.

The third serving of our meat platter was all beef since there are some leftover pork from the previous platter. Obviously, we favored it more compared to pork, but that is not to say that the samgyeopsal wasn't any good. After all, the pork they use at Lee Hak is organic. 

Being a chef that he is, Hungry Giant handled the grill for the majority of our stay.

While Hefty Foodie chilled like a boss, fiddling with his phone and instagramming the hell out of whatever it was he was posting. While I on the other hand was busy counting the number of bowls and banchan I was able to knock out. We were a bunch of happy campers, thanks to Lee Hak.

Needless to say, we had a grand time at Lee Hak. What we had was the very basic of the BBQ Buffet Set they offered that day but we enjoyed it nonetheless. The other sets were too grand for our liking and we're very easy to please. And dig this, Php1,497 for everything, what's not to love?

Again, the BBQ Buffet set up at Lee Hak may have already changed by the time I am writing this. Which is really exciting since they were adding more items on the buffet menu - or spread for that matter. With that, I will definitely go back at Lee Hak to try their new BBQ Buffet offerings. For now, I'll just pray to have a bunch of people who loves Korean Food as much as I do because in retrospect, buffet such as this are more fun if shared with kindred spirit.

Lee Hak BBQ Buffet Korean Restaurant
8006 Pioneer St. cor United and Brixton St.
Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City
(Pioneer Center Compound, beside Jollibee)
Contact nos.: (02) 584-3279 / 0917-8579896
Business Hours: 11:30 am to 3pm (Lunch) 5:30pm to 11pm (Dinner)