Hankook Korean Restaurant

I was never interested to try Korean food until I became so hooked to Coffee Prince. It was one of the phenomenal series which was tagalized for primetime few weeks before I left for Abu Dhabi. So I resorted to getting a copycat DVD and did a marathon few days before my flight. I still can’t believe that I sacrificed my sleep and prioritized this over more important things that time. I even copied the video to an external drive and brought it here (and have no plans of deleting it).

So, I was a happy soul and tummy when one of my despedidas was held in Kaya Korean Restaurant. I was particularly looking forward to try kimchi that night. You can just imagine how much influence Andy Go (or was it Arthur Choi? heehee, although it was Andy who was always feasting on kimchi), one of the main characters in Coffee Prince, had in me. Since I was in a gastronomical transition, one of my priorities was to find a Korean Restaurant in Abu Dhabi. Unluckily, they were hiding from me. Googling didn’t help much, neither the Abu Dhabi Eating Out book that I bought. Thanks to this babyshower organized for a friend-officemate. The sole Korean Restaurant in Abu Dhabi came out.

This made me realize that maybe, there are only very few Koreans in UAE. There is a collective representation of multi-cultural restaurants here, but Korean’s are more scarce than Filipino restaurants. I missed kimchi a lot.

Aside from kimchi, we were served other banchan (side dishes) which I forgot how each is called. Probably you can help me.

We also had kimbab, which is so close to Japanese’s maki. The usual steamed white rice rolled in sheets of dried seaweed.

We also ordered gom tang which is a close version of our nilagang baka. But I find this one tastier.

Bokonu, which is rich in sesame seeds. Almost all of the Korean dishes, isn’t it?

Haemul jeongol is a must-try. This seafood and vegetable stew being cooked/re-heated on the table is soooo appetizing.

It has fish, crab, and clam. There is a stand-by kettle of soup to refill it as it’s continuously and moderately re-heated.

Although jeongol is generally appetizing, I think bulgogi (grilled marinated beef) was a stand out.

Watermelon is being served as complimentary dessert.

But this ice cream cake from another establishment (Baskin Robbins) is definitely better.

I forgot to check though if they have talangkanin (aligue bibimbap) or aligue rice as popularized in another tagalized series in a local network in the Philippines. I heard it’s available in Kaya Korean Restaurant. Have you tried it?

(Finishing dinner before opening the gifts for the baby shower. Don’t try to figure out who’s me. I was with the camera.)

Hankook Korean Restaurant, Abu Dhabi
+9712 6423399

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