I recently finished watching Perfect Match. Yes, I love watching these shows. Strangely, I have found that there is something about Korean soaps or Koreanovelas that always makes me hungry. I don’t know if you have noticed it, but they always make it a point to show people eating in a restaurant, or a shot of people making Kimchi or a shot of people eating in an open restaurant located right beside a street. And the food always looks and sounds so good.

Don Day sign

Don Day sign

On Malingap street in UP Teacher’s village, right across Pino Restaurant (another restaurant that you need to try), there is this big sign that reads Don Day. I didn’t know what it meant, and I didn’t know what type of food they were serving. So being the adventurous foodies that we are, we entered the place and were surprised to see that the set up was like that of what I had been seeing in Korean films and tv shows. Don Day was filled with long, rectangular tables and wooden chairs. The tables had a circular griller in the middle, much like what you see, in the likes of Yakimix and Ye Dang. The Koreans love this and this is what they call Samgyeopsal. The place though was not air-conditioned. It was open, and ventilation came from natural wind that came from outside and from the electric fans inside the restaurant. Good thing Malingap street is not so busy.

Don Day interiors

Don Day interiors

It was buffet style, so upon choosing your seat, you can already stand up and get food. They also have pre-cooked dishes for those who don’t want to bother cooking.

Don Day Cooked dishes

Don Day Cooked dishes

They have Chap Chae (glass noodles). It was surprisingly delicious. They also had kimchi, which I loved mixing with the chap chae. They also had a little bit of korean sushi. Choices, of course, were not as many as the other Korean restaurants, but what dishes they had were pretty good.

Don Day Griller

Don Day Griller

They also had raw meat, fish, chicken, pork, etc. that you can get and cook at your table. These are usually cooked on the grill and eaten right after. Some get lettuce leaves and ask for sauce. What are the lettuce leaves for? If you haven’t seen how Koreans eat this dish, it’s like this:

1. Get a leaf
Don Day Lettuce Leaves

2. Fill the lettuce leaf with cooked meat
Don Day fill with cooked meat

3. Add the sauces to your prepared wrap. It comes with two kinds of dipping sauces.

Don Day Sauces

Don Day Sauces


One is ssamjang which consists of chili paste, soybean paste, sesame oil, and other ingredients. The other sauce is gireumjang which is made with salt, pepper, and sesame oil. The former is used with the lettuce leaves while the latter is used when you just want to eat the meat alone.

Don Day Add sauce

4. Enjoy!
Don Day Finished product

What I also like about the place is the simplicity and the “no pretentions” concept of the place. It’s very simple, especially when you compare it to fancy restaurants, but the service and the food is good. The waiters are all attentive and they know how to answer all the questions that we had about their food.

The meal costs around Php 350, and it’s eat all you can. Oh, before I end this article, Don Day means something like festivities or it being a grand day for celebration and “pig”. So, that’s it for our review on Don Day. We hope that you try it; it will be a different and authentic Korean experience for you.

Contact Details:
Don Day
Malingap Street
Teacher’s Village
Quezon City

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17 Responses

  1. AEF

    I usually visit this place with my colleagues. This is one of the restos that we’d love going back to. For the food and for a good talk. :) 나는 DonDay 사랑 해요.

    Ah! there’s a new branch at Timog :) yay!

    Reply
  2. AEF

    I usually go here with my colleagues. This is one place we’d love to go back to, for food and for a good talk. :) 나는 DonDay 사랑 해요.

    Ah! there’s a new branch at Timog :) yay!

    Reply
  4. AnnaB

    This place is good and cheap too :D I loved their side dish choices. It'd be good though if you eat earlier than 8PM so that side dishes are still warm. About Diarrhea, we didn't have diarrhea after <and my dad and sister have really sensitive stomachs)—perhaps it's possible that you didn't cook the pork well? it's a possibility :)

    Reply
  5. ana

    don day is the best place to go if you're craving for korean food especially the samgyupsal! that's the food the author features in this article.

    Reply
  7. redfullmoon

    don day is super sulit! .-)

    btw it's located in Teacher's Village (well technically Malingap is the street cutting between Teachers Village and Sikatuna village), UP Village kabilang part na yun, bandang tomato kick :-)

    Reply
  8. eric

    most of my friends had diarrhea after dining at this place, THRICE!!! they promised never to go back

    Reply
    • @ejarbo

      you mean your friends ate there twice, had diarrhea each time, and then went back for a third time? di naman matigas ang ulo. haha

      seriously though, we didn't have any bout of diarrhea naman when we ate there. :)

      Reply

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