HAPPIDEZZ: Unlimited Korean Bbq at Samgyupsalamat Don Antonio

According to their website, Samgyupsalamat, which is a portmanteau from the words Samgyupsal (pork belly) and Salamat (thank you), literally means "Thank you for eating Samgyupsal."

Located at 54 Holy Spirit Drive, Brgy. Holy Spirit, Quezon City, Philppines, Samgyupsalamat Don Antonio is fairly easy to find, especially if you have a car and Waze. But if you're commuting from Philcoa, just take a bus/fx/jeepney ride going to Fairview, alight at Ever Gotesco Mall Commonwealth, and take the overpass to cross over to the other side where there's a tricycle terminal. Tell manong driver to take you to Samgyupsalamat, just before Puregold Supermarket.

The restaurant is at the second floor so you might miss it, but here's a photo of its building for your reference.

What to expect?

At first, I was hesitant to try out the Don Antonio branch because most Facebook reviews say that the place is filthy, smoky, and oily; and that the staff were not very friendly. But once we were there, I can say that the owners took the criticisms on Facebook constructively and made ways to improve their services. The place was clean (no signs of slippery and oily floors and windows), spacious, but still smoky because it is a korean bbq resto after all. What's good though is that they installed industrial fans to improve circulation. Lastly, the staff was friendly, attentive, and efficient.

The place can only accommodate a maximum of 60 pax at a time, since there are only 15 tables for four pax. You'd have to expect queuing at peak hours. I suggest you go there before 12nn for lunch and before 7pm for dinner to avoid long lines.

What to order at Samgyupsalamat?

I'd say UNLIMITED KOREAN BBQ, of course! While Samgyupsalamat has a regular menu, the staff at Don Antonio told me that they were only offering two kinds of unli bbq that time. So these were our only options:

Unlimited 1 (P399 from 11am to 3pm; P449 from 3pm to 2am)

>> You get 5 kinds of pork to choose from

Unlimited 2 (P449 from 11am to 3pm; P499 from 3pm to 2am)

>> You get 5 kinds of pork + 4 kinds of beef to choose from

The sulit choice was Unlimited 2 because, for a price difference of only P50, you get four additional beef choices. It also included unlimited rice, iced tea, soup, steamed egg (gyeran jjim), lettuce, and side dishes. Samgyupsalamat Don Antonio has only four side dishes: kimchi, onions, baby potatoes, and radish. At one point during our dinner, we were told that they ran out of the radish side dish. This is quite a letdown considering the multitude of side dishes served at other Korean barbecue restaurants. But lack of side dishes aside, we really enjoyed our experience there.

Samgyupsalamat Beef Bulgogi, Side Dishes, and Sauces

Grilling Beef Bulgogi and Bul-jib (honeycomb cut pork belly)

How to Make Ssam (Korean Meat Wrap)

Ssam means "to wrap" in Korean. There are a lot of ways to do your ssam, but here's what I like doing:

1. Make sure your lettuce is clean. At Samgyupsalamat Don Antonio, some leaves still had mud in it, so make sure to wipe away dirt and excess water.

2. Use your bare hands to hold the lettuce leaf and place rice on top of it. For us, we skipped rice because we didn't want to be filled right away.

3. Place your fresh-off-the-grill meat on top.

4. Add the side dishes and sauces.

5. Wrap the ingredients with the lettuce leaf and eat in one bite!

Final Thoughts

Samgyupsalamat is not a bad choice as far as Unlimited Korean Bbq is concerned. However, I wish they had more side dishes to really give their customers a more authentic Korean dining experience. I was also looking forward to trying their noodle menu and other Korean dishes, so hopefully next time, they'll have their regular menu available.

Overall, if you're looking for a SULIT unlimited Korean bbq experience, Samgyupsalamat is the place to go. This is the only unli resto where I really got my money's worth kasi natikman ko lahat ng food offering nila: yung 5 pork options + 4 beef options! Also, their beef products are imported from America and is of premium quality, so sulit naman talaga. They don't limit your time eating there, so pak na pak na rin! Here are additional reminders for their Unli Bbq options: