Jucca
It's been about half a year since I last visited Manpuku. Late at night, around 3 am, I suddenly had the image of eating harami in bed, along with the rice soaked in its sauce. It kept repeating in my mind, so I consulted my mom who was still awake. She said she really wanted to eat tan, so we quickly made a web reservation and went there! The great thing about web reservations is that you can book anytime, anywhere! When we arrived, there were summer decorations in the restaurant. This time, we were able to make an early morning reservation through the web, and the best part was that the private room fee was free! The regular tables are quite spacious, but having a private room for free is a nice touch, especially during these times. The private room we requested was the same as the one we had last time. The restaurant's lunch mat featured cherry blossoms and bush warblers, making me long for spring. I ordered black oolong tea, opting for the larger carafe size to share. From the daily recommendations, we tried the seasonal specialty, winter melon water kimchi. It wasn't as watery as I had imagined, but the crispy texture of the winter melon was a pleasant surprise. We also had the black wagyu yukhoe, which came with salt and sauce. I prefer the sauce, and the yukhoe was very satisfying. The Manpuku salad, dressed with garlic soy sauce aged for three months and plenty of chopped green onions, was a delightful addition. We also ordered the negi tan salt for two people, which was seasoned perfectly and went well with rice. The kalbi was another hit, and I couldn't resist ordering a small rice bowl to go with it. Finally, I fulfilled my dream of eating harami, which was tender and less fatty than the kalbi. I was disappointed to find that the bibim naengmyeon was no longer on the menu, but I was excited to see it listed this time. However, after enjoying the meat, I suddenly craved the cold noodles, so we each had a regular size of the cold noodles. The menu seemed to have changed slightly, as it was now simply called cold noodles instead of Japanese-style dashi cold noodles. The noodles had a satisfying chewiness, and the soup was mild in flavor. They also provided a spicy broth (similar to kimchi juice) on the side, which you could add to your liking. Overall, it was a great experience to have a long-awaited barbecue meal at Manpuku!