Back in 1971, my sister graduated from Maryknoll College. For her graduation dinner, she was all agog. She wanted it in Kublai Khan, a restaurant near Unimart. It was just so good, she said.
I don’t remember things in detail then, but I think I enjoyed that because the sauce of the mongolian barbecue was good. That was it.
Then in the mid or early 1980s, friends from the corporate world, I live in the mountains, relatively, so I wasn’t familiar with what was happening during the power lunches in Makati, brought us to Mongolian Grill in Mile Long. Eat all you can Mongolian barbecue for I can no longer remember how much. We kept going back afterwards, after some hits and misses (sometimes too salty or spicy, sometimes not spicy enough) in the timpla, and then near perfection. My husband would line up, get almost all the sauces and all the other ingredients and have his concoction cooked. While I could never go beyond a bowl, he could finish three at most. It was such a novelty then that when a friend came after several years abroad, we brought him to the place and he said, “parang kaning baboy, halo-halo lahat” afterwards. Well, I felt so insulted that we haven’t treated that friend to a meal since. He’s not exactly known for his tact.
Later, we learned that Mongolian Grill opened a branch in Robinsons Galleria. Earlier, as is typical of most Filipino restos, a clone surfaced in the building next to it in Makati but didn’t last. The latter also even opened a stall in the fast foods area in SM Megamall, same fate. We tried it once but never more. We were loyal to Mongolian Grill, owned by the Calalangs.
Anyway, back to their branch in Galleria. It was quite an effort to go there because it was located in a level of Galleria where one had to negotiate maybe three or four or five steps. So even if I wanted to frequent the place, I pitied my husband and limited our trips there. (I’m in a wheelchair, which is why steps are an issue – I wrote Robina Gokongwei, got no response. Benefit of the doubt she didn’t get it. Or if she did, she didn’t care? Or couldn’t do anything?)They had this squid appetizer, squid squares with a yummy dipping sauce (hoisin, diluted?) plus my son, then very young, liked the fried or was it Hainanese chicken.
Eventually we tired of going to Galleria because of accessibility problems plus not all the entrances and exits had ramps. One time, we were even locked in the mall from the portion that had a ramp going out (we had to look for a security guard to open the door, heavens!) plus my husband somehow managed to sweat profusely, at least twice, when we were there. Inexplicable. that was around the time the rumors circulated that there was a sawa (snake) in Galleria. Silly rumor we never believed, but re the sweating, that’s no joke or rumor. Wait, we were talking about Mongolian barbecue so I’ll go back to that now.
Some years ago, a neighborhood resto, Sweet Inspirations, began offering the barbecue. I don’t know if you share this propensity of mine, but when a resto is so close to home, I don’t usually go there but simply order takeout. But that’s Mongolian barbecue we’re talking about. So we’ve been to the place to actually eat there, and it reminds me very much of the Calalang’s Mongolian barbecue. Price is at P280 but you have to finish everything on your bowl or end up paying double. Someone told me they usually ask for the bill before ending their meal so they can’t be charged extra for what remains in their bowl. But once, one of the waiters, when I asked for the bill, said upon noticing that my bowl was half full, threatened he’d charge me extra. I haven’t been to the place since because I felt so intimidated. This waiter was burly and unsmiling. Reminded me of one of my maids before. Anyway, so now I ask my husband to order take out. Still costs P280 but of course that means you can’t go back for a second serving. There were times before I could order single bowl takeout, that cost P120 I think, except that then they limited the amount of meat to 100 grams or lower, and this included the squid balls, aside from the pork, beef, chicken. With the P280 version, you can put as much meat as you like. The smaller bowl is available in Azul, the resto’s branch in Moro Lorenzo inside Ateneo for P100, more or less. That’s where my son learned to eat Mongolian barbecue. He doesn’t put vegetables, I think? Or a very select few only.
Anyway, I always remind my husband not to put liver in mine or ginger. Once, one of the sauces had bigger ginger slices than the usual crushed. What an ordeal. Damper.
Kublai’s in Katipunan, on top of Mercury, also had (still has, I don’t know) its version of Mongolian grill. We tried it once, takeout (it’s on the second floor) but no more. My husband put in what was available and these included egg and corn! Didn’t exactly fit my idea of Mongolian barbecue.
Philippine Plaza, now Sofitel, also had (again, still has?) Mongolian Grill barbecues on weekends but too costly we didn’t have it even if we were checked in, so Sweet Inspirations forever, but takeout na lang. So I don’t have to see and be cowed by the waiter, big and burly. He also reminds me of the German nun I so feared in grade school at St. Scho, haha.
Here is a picture of Mongolian barbecue takeout from Sweet Inspirations. See the squid balls?
A few months ago, my husband and I ordered mongolian barbecue takeout in Sweet Inspirations. I stayed in the car waiting and it was high noon. I thought I would melt from the heat, staying out there for a good half hour as my husband lined up. Luckily, I saw a man selling dirty ice cream. As he was scooping for the young man selling sweet corn nearby, I tried my darnedest to call him and succeeded without shouting. Here was what kept me cool while waiting. I should have ordered two:
Flavors were ube and queso. I didn’t want the third choice included: langka. No thanks.
