The latest ABS-CBN teleserye "Only You" features a specialty dish, Talangkanin, made of aligue rice with seafood and vegetable toppings. All those intrigued with its taste whenever watching this primetime soap, can quench their curiosity by visiting Kaya restaurant which exclusively serves this extraordinary meal also called
Aligue Bibimbap (P220).
Though good for two people, one person can find himself unable to stop from gorging on the aligue rice. The fusion of flavors from this melting pot of shrimps, squid, mushrooms, beansprouts, carrots ang egg paints a mosaic-like feel for the palate. I would have loved more aligue for the rice but one cannot complain at the wholeness of the meal. There's also even soup that goes with this dish.
Not knowing that the Talangkanin would be quite a stomach filler by itself, we had also ordered the
Bulgogi (P160), pan-grilled marinated sirloin strips. The serving is quite small but actually just enough (though it may not seem so at first). Bulgogi is very much like any other meat dish save for the flavor of its sauce, which is distinct to Korean dishes. This brings me back to college days when a classmate of ours would sporadically bring Bulgogi to school and instead of having it as his lunch, ends up giving all of it to us (not at all unlike preschool bullies pushing little kids with lunch boxes around the playground, haha!). I really love the sauce, you can eat it with rice or just munch on it alone.
This is the first time I've tried Kaya and given the affordable prices, I think I'll be coming back to try other Korean dishes as well.
KayaSpot: Concourse Level, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati
Telephone: +632 898.0934 / +632 898.0935