Maple Tree House SM North EDSA — Restaurant in Quezon City

We dined here on a holiday got there quite early for dinner (around 5pm)... lucky for us as people started coming-in by the groups around 6pm and they had to wait for aroun 10 minutes to get a table.

Service was okay but they had an issue with their smoke exhausts so they had to do the cooking in the kitchen or at the side of the table using a portable stove so i guess this added to some delays in their service. Staff were very friendly and accommodating.

We were a party of two and were able to try this resto given the credit card promo (50%-off) at the time of our visit. But food portions were rather small for their published prices. Taste-wise it seemed ordinary for my palate. I'll avoid eating here again. But this is just me. We had the Beef Bulgogi Stew (i think this can serve four but it is just too sweet for me), regular order of the woosamgyup which I wont recommend unless you're a very light eater (sobrang liit nang serving!), seafood pancake (which is more of a batter-spring onion(?) mix with hints of seafood here and there) and regular jjapchae (had a very generous toppings of mushroom and veggies but lacked the sesame taste I got used to). They served unli sides and i generally liked their sides. It would seem that the lettuce are organically grown as there were noticeable insect bites in the plates of leaves we were served.

The place is clean and they have a laid-back ambiance good for long chats with friends. Unfortunately, they dont have a working washroom at the time of our visit which does not sit well for me. The mall restroom is just across the resto but it's quite a high traffic restroom and i've seen the ladies' room get quite a line there. I hope they at least fix their sink for customer's use.

Overall. I am glad we got to eat there at a discounted price. Given what we ordered, it's a meh for me - perhaps sticking to the usual korean dishes did us...

When they said premium I expected more than the place to look premium. But if you want good food there are better more authentic Korean places.

Menu is a tad expensive but nothing too far from comparable places. They also cook the meat for you to remove the guess work. And on a charcoal grill for that smokey awesomeness only charcoal can give. Too bad the good stopped there.

Maple galbi was ok but maybe have a non marinated version so we can actually taste the beef, not just the marinade. The grilled pineapple was a nice touch. The woo sam gyup was grocery level beef belly, just rubbery and ugh.

Paid 300 for steamed egg that needed more salt and sesame oil. Song do won and masil at least gave you a free egg when you order sets at the 2k peso tier.

The banchan refills were slow and they phased out the potato ban chan. The leek salad went from available, to being made, to out of stock (and no I did not get served a single leek).

They ought to pay the bathroom more visits. I thought people were being slobs, turns out the bin was full and people had no choice but to use the floor.

And my rolled egg had a hair in it.

And there were these aphid looking bugs bugging my lunch.

Their seating is weird. The sofas are so low you feel like sinking, but their chairs lack depth and are uncomfortable. Maybe by design to encourage customer turnover.

Premium?...

We had a late dinner here - honestly because it was the one place that didn’t have other customers waiting to get in.

So that is a plus for this restaurant - they’re big with plenty of tables. They do have a waiting area and you need to wait for them to set the table before they seat you at your table even if there are so many tables available.

Also, their door person was not so personable. There was no greeting, no offering to tell you about their products or their food, she didn’t even offer their menu. I had to do the asking it was like pulling teeth. I don’t know if it’s because it was past 8pm already and she’s tired but that wasn’t very welcoming. We didn’t have much of a choice though so we went with this place anyway.

We had the group set for 3,500 and I’m going to be very frank - not a good deal. I could have gone to another restaurant for the same type and quality of food for lesser cost. Their side dishes are not so great either.

When you order the set for 3,500, your waiter will do the cooking in front of you.

Ordering the week day specials would have been better but it wasn’t a week day.

They take credit cards. They have their own bathroom within their establishment, no need to go out if you...