Jin Joo P499 UNLI Korean BBQ Review (Podium) – PINAKAMASARAP!

October 26, 2018

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Jin Joo is not a new discovery, however, their latest offer is making it my absolute FAVORITE place to get my unli Korean barbecue fix!

I tried their unli Samgyupsal before, and I wasn’t really happy with the very limited choice of only one type of meat – pork samgyupsal. But a few weeks ago, they started offering a real unli-Korean barbecue experience, just like the ones from other places.

JIN JOO UNLI KOREAN BARBECUE P499+

Jin Joo’s Unli KBBQ is P499+ per person for lunch, and P549+ for dinner. It includes 10 kinds of meat, but it’s actually only 9. More on that below.

Take note, that the unli-KBBQ is not available in all Jin Joo branches, so please confirm with Jin Joo before you go.

The unli-kbbq includes unlimited servings of banchan, rice, soup, no drinks – just water and tea.

One of the meats, the Dwaehi Ggudaegi, is actually pork skin, which we immediately regretted ordering. So if you’re not into pork skin, remember to skip ordering this. It wasn’t very clear what it was in the menu, and the server didn’t even tell us that it was pork skin. We just pointed to things on the menu, and he brought us the pork skin without even letting us know that we were ordering pork skin. Sana man lang nagsabi siya na pork skin yun, so we could have stopped ourselves from ordering it. We thought it was just some meat. When it arrived and we asked what it was, we wanted to cancel the order, but they said we can’t cancel it because the pork skin had already been sliced 🙁 Pinagtiyagaan nalang namin kainin 🙁 You can bet we made sure not to order this the next visit.

On Ordering:

You can only order 2 meats at a time. Once you finish your 2 plates of meat, that’s the only time you can order the next 2 plates. It’s still unlimited, but you just have to pace your ordering to two meat plates at a time.

They also have a 2-hour time limit – it’s enough time for us to have a meal, even if we are slow eaters. To be honest, they didn’t seem to be too strict about that because the place is not getting as full as other unli-KBBQ places. Wala pang pila dito even at mealtimes! 🙂

However, despite all that, we really liked our unli Korean BBQ meal at Jin Joo! Our favorite order is the Cajun Woosamgup. The different flavors between the meats are more noticeable here.

Chicken:

They use a gas grill at Jin Joo, so it’s easier to control the temperature, but the meats come out looking like they were fried instead of grilled. But still delicious, anyway 🙂 When the grill gets too burnt, they will offer to change the grill.

Cheese dip!

Don’t forget to ask for the cheese dip!!! Just ask for refills when you want more cheese dip. I like the cheese dip at Jin Joo – it’s sweet, cheesy and milky, and has a better dipping consistency that straight up melted cheese.

More Cajun Woosamgyup goodness!

SUMMARY

I’ve been to Jin Joo three times recently. The last two times, service was not good. The last time, we arrived around 1:30pm, we were seated at a table and ignored after that. No one came to give us our banchan or let us order our meats. We were waiting for about 20 minutes, we already followed up twice, but the waiters forgot to get back to us. Some were busy folding paper tisssues and setting up vacated tables. It’s not like they were super busy, you know. We followed up a third time (nicely) and told them that we were not served anything since we arrived 20 minutes ago. Finally, a waiter named Gee focused on us and we finally got our banchan, rice, and meat orders.

So, despite the poor service and other limitations, you’re wondering why I still consider Jin Joo my favorite unli-KBBQ place. It’s the meats!!! Compared to other unli KBBQ places, the meats offered at Jin Joo’s unli KBBQ are just better quality. Mas masarap din ang timpla – our favorite is the Cajun Woosamgyup. It’s gotten to the point where 70% of our meat orders is Cajun Woosamgyup!

We also like the cheese dip at Jin Joo better – this is an actual cheese dip, and not just melted cheese like Romantic Baboy.

I also much prefer the ambiance at Jin Joo compared to other unli KBBQ places, which are usually dark, cramped and smoky. I feel that Jin Joo is more family-friendly, has better lighting, is cleaner and not as smoky as the others. It’s also not as hot. I also really like that it’s inside a mall – parking is easier, and we can do other things like watch a movie or go shopping (in nearby Megamall, because Podium still does not have any movie theaters. I hate the sound system of Megamall’s theaters and hope Shangrila’s will open again soon!). I feel like Jin Joo Podium’s location is much more practical, hindi yung sasadyain mo pa talagang puntahan like the other kbbq places.

And for dessert, you can get a Melona at Jin Joo, or just walk over to Corner Market next door for coffee and ice cream, or walk around the mall for other sweets. I love Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory’s Honey & Gorgonzola cookie and their cheese soft serve ice cream (but if I had to choose, the cookie is better! They are located at the ground floor near the J. Vargas entrance). Before I forget, Jin Joo also has soju available!

Comparing Jin Joo and Romantic Baboy, Jin Joo has better quality meats, a better cheese dip, and better ambiance. However, Romantic Baboy uses a charcoal grill (gives meats a smokier flavor), includes egg, and gives you a rose. While the metal grill plate thing where the cheese dip and egg are in Romantic Baboy looks cool, towards the end of the meal, the cheese and the egg will kind of burn, so what Jin Joo does for the cheese dip is actually more practical. Jin Joo is also easier for me to get to because we’re in the Megamall area almost every weekend, while Romantic Baboy is out of the way. I think it will just come down to personal preference on which you like better, but those two are currently my top unli Korean BBQ places. 🙂

Jin Joo has a 10% service charge, while Romantic Baboy is P499 net per person (any time). Jin Joo has a 2 hour time limit, Romantic Baboy does not have any time limit.

They also have a Metrodeal offer, you might want to check it out before you go 🙂 You have to buy the Metrodeal before you go, they don’t allow you to buy the Metrodeal once you’re already inside the restaurant.