KOREAN influence in the Philippines is not anymore limited to music and film, but on food as well.
With several restaurants and cafes that are sprouting in every corner in the city, one thing that is common in their menu is chicken.
I 1 Chicken, a Korean chicken house in San Pedro Street corner Quirino, Davao City, has started serving both local and Korean palates in the city since September 2016.
The chicken house was previously a franchise restaurant, BB-Q, owned by two Korean siblings. However, BB-Q was closed after one year upon the mandate of the franchiser that is why in September 2016, the owners decided to open their own Korean restaurant specializing chicken in their menu.
I 1 Chicken Supervisor Jason Napon said their sauce makes the chicken house unique from the rest.
"Our Yangyum sauce is delivered to us straight from Korea. With this, it makes our chicken an authentic Korean-style," Napon said.
Their menu highlights chicken-based dishes but they also served other Korean food such as Kimbap, a korean rice roll.
"Our prices range from P100 to P300, all good for two person servings," Napon said.
The chickens, Napon said, also undergo trimming - a process of cutting chicken fats to ensure that their chickens are healthy to eat with less cholesterol.
I 1 Chicken allowed our team to have a taste test on some food on their menu.
The first food we tried was their Original Chicken. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Unlike other fried chickens in commercial restaurants, the Original Chicken was not salty -- you won't mind eating a lot.
Then we tried the Spicy Honey Chicken with Yangyum sauce. It was so good! The herbs used to spice up the chicken were not overpowering, just subtle. It is the kind of a spicy chicken you can indulge with over and over again.
Next is the Creamy Pasta, a carbonara with mushroom and chicken bits. And yes, it is really creamy as it claims to be! The carbonara sauce is balanced as it should be -- not too salty or sweet.
Lastly, our team tasted their Kimbap, a roll composed of radish, egg, chicken, cucumber, and rice. As someone who doesn't really enjoy vegetables, I found it good as the combination of the vegetables complemented each other.
Overall, our team enjoyed the feast of chicken and planned to go back there to try more of their menu.
I 1 Chicken is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Visit their chicken house and experience an all-out Korean dining.