Ara Korean Restaurant, Makati

This lunch was around 2 months ago,. Organized by Jojo, he had told us he discovered this Korean restaurant that served great food, good service and no corkage. So the Usual Suspects decided to give it a try. We were 6 in total and we were given a private room on the second floor, with our own small Zen garden.

For starters, we had the usual Appetizers...most vegetable, all very good. We also had Kimchi, with a bottle of Brut NV Clos Du Moulin, a nice refreshing Champagne that I had with the Kimchi.

We let Jojo do the ordering, so as soon as the appetizers arrived, all the other food just started arriving non stop..First, this sort of Chawan Mushi Korean style( i think though it was a very light Omelet)...interesting..

This was like a dumpling Soup. I am not really a big soup fan so I can't remember this dish so much.

Next, Beef Sashimi (basically Beef Tartare). This was very different from any Tartare I've tried, it was quite sweet, with a spiciness to it...this was quite good.

This was a dish of different kinds of fried vegetables and sort of omelets...this was also nice.

We then had 2 kinds of beef (Short Rib and Brisket if I'm not mistaken) served as DIY Lettuce wraps(I'm sure there is a Korean Term for this). I love Lettuce wraps. Thinly slices pieces of Beef that you wrap with crispy Lettuce then dip in Sesame Oil.

As for wines, we had 4 reds, aside from the Champagne and a Cloudy Bay if I remember correct.

Gregs 04 Clos du Marquis, Aarons's 00 La Fleur de Bouard, my Spanish 05 Pago de Carraovejas and Jojo's 86 Chateau Lascombes. My favorite of the day was the 86 Lascombes. I've tried a 2003 and also enjoyed it. We had most of the reds after the lunch though, since Korean food tends to be spicy and this will definitely clash with the wines.

I enjoyed this lunch...and would recommend this restaurant. Staff is very friendly, food is great, value for money, a good deal. They don't charge corkage but if you plan to go, bring your own wine glasses.