2 Story Kitchen in Dumaguete!

Before anything, I’d like to thank my readers for being so patient, because I can’t exactly go online as often as I would like to type up blog posts. School’s been really hectic, and I finally have some free time now that it’s our semestral break. And I’m also back in Manila so it really feels good to be home!

2 Story Kitchen, located along Sta. Catalina St., Dumaguete City, is actually the former Cafe Noriter (which also had a branch in Manila). It is a restaurant that serves mainly Korean and also Western cuisine, as well as retaining the coffee and beverage menu from their days as Noriter. As for prices, I personally think they’re fairly steep when you’re on a student’s budget, but I would definitely recommend this place for when you have a little extra cash. (Also, keep in mind that my favorite comfort food is Korean food. Heehee.)

Korean food..

..and Western food, plus their cafe beverages.

The first time I ate at 2 Story was for lunch sometime in June, with my sister Ate Imee, and her son Matthew. I ordered bibimbap, and Ate ordered a Shrimp & Mushroom pasta for her, and an American-style grilled burger for Matthew.

Ate Imee and I, while waiting for our food. We got Matthew to take our photo, heh.

Ate Imee and I, while waiting for our food. Notice the place looks a little.. cramped? I’ll get to the interiors later in this post!

I was already hungry by this time and so I had no choice but to wait. Besides having some time to chika with Ate, I got to make use of 2 Story’s free WiFi for its customers and tended to my farm on Hay Day. Matthew also made use of the WiFi, using his iPad mini to watch Minecraft videos on YouTube. Ate Imee opted to just check Facebook. 😀

But when the food arrived.. TA-DAAAAAAAH!!

YES, BIBIMBAAAAAAAP! (MBLAQ Hello Baby comes to mind whenever I eat bibimbap, actually.)

As you can see, the bibimbap has the following as mix-ins: julienned cucumber, stir-fried ground beef, julienned carrots, bean sprouts, a fried egg, and sliced mushrooms.

It comes with a small bowl of soup (I don’t know what it is exactly but it’s spicy and pretty good), a small dish of kimchi, a bit of sesame oil, and of course, gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)!

Happy kids, happy eats.

Not really a review but this is what I thought of their bibimbap:

LIKES:

Big serving! (But then again it’s Php159, so it really better be a big serving.)
Very filling and hearty.
I like that they give you some sesame oil along with it. Sesame oil has a really unique flavor that goes well with Korean food, in my opinion.
You can also ask for extra gochujang, like I did. I really like the taste of bibimbap with it.
Kinda pointless, but well. The dish it comes in looks like a little trough, which I found cute. 😀

DISLIKES

You can get a bit of taste fatigue (or what we call umay) with such a big serving.
I’m not so used to having beans in my bibimbap..

Personally, I prefer KRI’s bibimbap. KRI is another restaurant in Dumaguete, but it has an even high price range which is why I rarely eat there. Their bibimbap is almost Php200, and is a slightly smaller serving that 2 Story’s. For comparison, here’s the photo of KRI’s bibimbap when I ate there the Monday after my birthday:

Fried tofu (!!), fried seasoned ground beef, onions (I think), carrots, leafy veggies (forgot what exactly they were), kimchi. Plus a fried egg on top with a sprinkle of pepper, chopped green onion, and some black and white sesame seeds.

I went to 2 Story again around a month after because I wanted to try something different from their menu. This time, I ordered their kimchi bokeum bap (kimchi fried rice).

I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTTTT. (But I still love my own kimchi fried rice more!)

I also ordered a blended iced tea with my kimchi bokeum bap. I like the cute bendy straw!

Close up: Besides rice and chopped kimchi, there’s a few other chopped vegetables in it as well, plus a bit of ham. Topped with a fried egg and sprinkled with some sesame seeds on top of it.

All mixed up..

..and now it’s all gone!

The thing about me and kimchi fried rice is that I usually eat it when I’m stressed out or sad. Somehow, it makes me feel better. Maybe it’s psychosomatic, because I don’t really know or remember anything relating to kimchi fried rice that would really affect me in any way, heh. But it’s yummy.

The regular serving is Php139, and the extra (good for 2) serving is Php199. My younger sister Lucille and I shared the extra size serving before, and it was enough to fill our tummies. Yum!

Because it was late by the time I finished eating, and I was one of the few customers left at that time, I was able to take photos of the interiors. 2 Story Kitchen’s structure has the cafe at the ground floor, and the bigger eating area in the second floor. Within the second floor, they really maximized the space by not only making sort-of cubicles (remember the photo of Ate Imee and I?) as regular booths, they’ve also managed to make an upper deck of sorts for groups who want to eat in a cozier and Korean-inspired way – by sitting on cushions on the floor, around a low table.

When you go up the stairs to the second floor, this is what it looks like. To the right are the booths, and to the left are Korean-style sitting areas, with the lower section converted into storage space. At the end of the corridor is the smoking-allowed dining area.

The floor-sitting area.

Another view of the booths. Beside the booth closest to the camera is a set of steps leading to the upper seating area. There’s also one by that second booth.