Seoul’s favorite chicken and beer place is now in Manila
We wanted to bring the authentic chimaek experience to the Philippines,” Kirkland Whang, chairman of Opulence Prime Ventures Inc. (OPV), told The Philippine STAR at the opening of Daily Beer at Arcovia City in Pasig on Nov. 29.
Chimaek means chicken (chikin) and beer (maekju)—a beloved food pairing in Korea and a combo familiar to K-drama fans across the world.
“In Korea, chicken is soul food, and Koreans love beer so much. That’s why we have this culture of chimaek—chicken and beer make such a great pairing,” said Sang Jin Lim.
And what better way to bring the concept here than with DailyBeer, Korea’s no. 1 chicken-and- beer restaurant?
Lim, who is the CEO of Daily Beer Co. LTD Korea, said, “Daily Beer began in 2014 with the clear idea to marry Korea’s beloved chicken culture with high quality craft beer. Our beer experts and chicken specialists built a fresh take on chimaek, and we’ve been beloved by customers for more than 10 years now.”
Daily Beer has been so successful that it has over 300 stores in Korea alone.
Only fresh chicken
What’s the secret? We asked Lim. “We only use fresh chicken, never frozen. And we really focused on the pairing of chicken and beer. We didn’t just create delicious chicken, it’s chicken specifically designed to go with a glass of beer.”
Daily Beer has also brought chimaek to different parts of the world including the United States, Thailand, and Singapore.
In fact, it was in Singapore that Whang had his first taste of Daily Beer. “I tried the chicken and of course the beer. After just one bite, I noticed that the juiciness and the taste of the chicken is something different from what we have here. The beer, it’s the same thing. Daily Beer has different kinds of beer and each one has its own special taste.”
That meal was enough to convince him to bring the brand to the country. It was a process that took two years. Whang was the right person to partner with, said Lim. “I think Kirk truly understands the brand with all his heart. He seemed like a very genuine person who would take care of our brand.”
It took a lot of work to bring the brand to the Philippines. “We had to fly some of our staff to Korea for training,” said Whang, whose company OPV is the master franchisor of Daily Beer in the country. They’re also behind the premium hotpot resto Mala King.
The Filipino staff actually spent time working in Daily Beer branches in Korea. For Whang, maintaining the kind of quality diners enjoy in Daily Beer restaurants in Korea was important. “We use the same type of oil, the breading, the size of the chicken. We directly get the specifications from Korea.”
The difference though is in the spice level of the chicken—the chicken here is a little less spicy than the ones served in Korea. The recipes were tailored for the Filipino palate. Another difference? Daily Beer in the Philippines serves rice as a side dish—because Filipinos love eating fried chicken with rice. It’s something you won’t find on the Daily Beer menu in Korea. When you eat at Daily Beer, you have four Angry Bird fried chicken flavors to choose from: Daily Chicken-Original which is their original fried chicken; Daily Chicken-Red which is tossed in spicy sauce; Daily Chicken-Black which is tossed in sweet garlic soy sauce; and Daily Chicken-Crunch which is made extra crispy with corn flakes and has garlic and sweet and spicy seasoning.
The chicken comes in three variants: bone, boneless, or wing and stick. Chicken with bone is available half or whole while the boneless and wing & stick orders come in two sizes—10 or 20 pieces.
The chicken is really good: hot, fresh, juicy, crunchy, so tasty. I tried three flavors—Original, Black and Crunch—and I enjoyed them so much I immediately started messaging my brother to make plans to eat there again.
That’s how you know a restaurant’s food is good—when you haven’t even left and you’re already planning to come back, and when you want to share it with the people you love.
Five kinds of beer
Then there’s the beer. In the beginning, Daily Beer functioned as a platform, sourcing drinks from different breweries in Korea. But now they make their own. At Daily Beer in the Philippines, there are five draft beers to choose from: K-Red Lager, an amber lager which won the Korea International Beer Award; K-Ginseng Lager, a Korean lager brewed with whole ginseng; K-Seoul Weizen, a smooth German wheat beer; K-Daily Pale Ale, a refreshing and fruity American pale ale; and K-Super Fresh Hazy IPA, a rich American IPA.
You can get Daily Beer’s beer in cans from Lazada and we’re told they consistently sell out. They even have a really popular non-alcoholic beer.
In the restaurant, you can enjoy your beer extra cold by getting the frozen glass upgrade that’s limited to only 70 customers each day. I had the K-Red Lager in a frozen glass and it was so refreshing. I really enjoyed it and it really does go so well with the chicken.
If you’re struggling to choose, no worries, you can always go for a beer flight and try all five. I’m doing that next time I go. In fact, that’s what Lim says you should do on your first visit: “Order the original Angry Bird and try all the beer samples.”
Daily Beer also serves two highballs—lemon and yuzu—and Real K-Somaek, a unique mix of soju and K-Red Lager.
The K-Red Lager is Lim’s favorite. And when it comes to chicken, he usually goes for the Crunch.
Whang said, “Me, for the beer, it depends on the mood. Sometimes on Monday, I like to drink Red Lager. On Tuesday, maybe if I feel sophisticated, I take the Weizen. Or if I want to drink hard, I take the IPA. It depends on the mood. The perfect thing is we have different flavors and there’s a flavor for every single mood. When it comes to the chicken, I like the Original and the Black. I think the Black will be a favorite in our culture because it’s sweet.”
More than just chicken
Daily Beer serves more than just chicken and beer. There are other Korean favorites like tteokbokki, gimbap, ramyun, kimchi fried rice and fish cake soup.
There are also salads and sausages, French fries (original or kimchi crunch), and nacho chips.
Don’t skip the cheese balls, said Whang. He also recommends the chewy donuts filled with sweet red beans. The Spam Fries are also another favorite. And you can enjoy fried kimchi with your chicken.
Those who don’t drink beer have non-alcoholic options like sodas and Orange & Black Tea-ade and Honey Lemon & Pomegranate-ade. “We also have the Wake Up-ade. If you drank too much, grab this.”
It’s a Korean-style hangover remedy made with 12 Korean herbal medicines.
The place may serve beer but it’s still family-friendly—the team behind Daily Beer made sure the interiors reflect that. There’s plenty of space in the 100-seater resto and the couches and tables are comfy and roomy. “It’s Filipino culture. When we go out, we bring the kids so the place has to be family-oriented also. We can bring our kids here, hang out with friends, drink and eat,” said Whang, who is a family man. In fact, at the opening, his whole family was there—wife Tanya Apostol-Whang who is the managing director of OPV and their three kids.
The Arcovia City branch is just the start. Another Daily Beer resto is set to open in SM Fairview this month. Next year, they’re planning to bring the brand to Paseo Parkview in Salcedo Village, Makati and to BGC.
“We want people to make memories in our stores. We want to make Daily Beer a place where they can hang out and get good food and good drinks.”
