Yet another new spot that has opened up on our infamous little alleyway in Floresta. Maum, Ruperto…read moreGodoy 709 ("maum" translates as "mind" or "sentience" or "will"). It's an interesting setup. When they first opened, they were only open from 4-10pm, Monday to Saturday, and only served coffee and pastries. Within a couple of weeks, they introduced lunch, where they offer up a selection of four udon noodle soups and seven or eight kimbap, the Korean answer to sushi rolls. They also have tteok-bokki, the gnocchi shaped rice cakes in spicy sauce. The udon run 250-350 pesos for a generous portion of soup (regular or spicy broth) meat, vegetables, and noodles, the kimbap, 250 pesos across the board, and the rice cakes, 350.
I mentioned the "interesting setup" above - at lunchtime, you can only get these items from the lunch menu, there's no coffee or pastries, from 11am-3pm. The cooks make everything with ingredients that the owner has prepared the night before, prior to leaving. Then she comes in at 3, bringing the pastries with her, that apparently she makes at home, and starts setting up for coffee and pastry service. As of somewhere between 3.30 and 4 pm, that's all that's available, no other food, and continues until closing. Rinse and repeat.
The kimchi version of the udon comes with the spicy broth, plus more spice from the excellent housemade kimchi. There are crispy strips of a green onion pancake, and a beautifully cooked egg, as well. The udon noodles are also made in house, hand-pulled. In fact, pretty much everything is.
I forget how much I like kimbap, and rarely order one. Basically, it's a sushi roll, but not with raw fish. They're made with your choice of meat - it can be beef, pork, chicken, fish (those fish paste cakes are popular, as is tuna salad), or sometimes interesting vegetables, like burdock root. Then a mix of fresh and pickled vegetables are added, and usually strips of omelette. And that's the filling. Sometimes with dipping sauce, sometimes not. These are delicious, I got one with bulgogi, shortrib meat sauteed in a soy glaze.
One little extra on the menu at lunchtime, they have a weekday combo (I don't know why they don't just extend it to Saturday, it's sort of silly to not just offer it every day), of a smaller udon soup and kimbap together - the only negative being you don't get a choice - it's only the "classic" udon and a kimbap of the day.
