Patrick Go doesn’t seem to ever get tired. Except perhaps for a brief moment I spoke with him at the kitchen pass of The Balmori Suites.

“I feel like I’m at war,” he quips jokingly.

The context? His third stint at The Balmori Suites Chef’s Table. But this time around, he’s holding the line with four Korean chefs from the Netflix reality cooking show “Culinary Class Wars.”

“This is a truly exciting moment for us,” says Go, executive chef of Your Local. “I’ve always admired the chefs from ‘Culinary Class Wars’—each of them brings a unique approach to Korean and Japanese cuisine. We’re eager to see how their dishes will resonate with the Filipino palate and, hopefully, spark a long-term collaboration with them.”

Tasteless Food Group founder and owner Charles Paw initiated the pop-up with his Korean partners.

Called Mat Nam by Your Local, which literally translates to “where the flavor meets,” this is as far as you can get from a culinary war between all the talented chefs who will be running the collaboration from April 6 to June 1. In fact, judging from their opening day, it was the complete opposite, as Go and his troops harmoniously collaborated with the first of two guest chefs—Young Sook Lee and Jihyung Choi.

Both “white spoon” (veteran) chefs, “Korean Food Battle Season 2” winner Young Sook Lee of Nakyung and Jihyung Choi of Michelin-recognized Leebukbang, which serves North Korean cuisine, dropped winning dishes that set the vibe of the stellar collaboration.

Generational Korean cuisine

Filipinos will find much to love in Lee’s two dishes: the classic japchae and the crispy fried mushroom chicken gangjeong.

But it’s the japchae so rooted in authenticity that it almost feels like one of the standout dishes. Compared to ones commonly cooked in Manila that have salty and strong flavors, Lee’s japchae tastes cleaner and more refined with “five colors of vegetables,” mushrooms, and pork loin carefully crafted to meld beautifully with the soy-sugar sauce.

Usually reserved for special occasions like birthdays, Lee says she wanted to serve japchae owing to the magnitude of the collaboration. “Something that’s meaningful,” she says through a colleague helping interpret for her

Usually reserved for special occasions like birthdays, Lee says she wanted to serve this dish owing to the magnitude of the collaboration. “Something that’s meaningful,” she says through a colleague helping interpret for her.

Going north

Choi, for his part, lets us encounter some thorough thoughtfulness in his two dishes. “I saw that a lot of people love rice,” he says about his first dish. This explains the bed of rice meant to localize his no-curry “curry” chicken, which swaps it out for a sweet and spicy gochujang with seasonal greens.

“Under it, there’s a Korean sesame leaf with a cilantro purée, charred leek pickle, Korean-way, with zucchini tossed with calamansi and gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes).”

After pursuing reinvention with his chosen ingredients, Choi finishes it off with crisp baked chicken skin. The result is a tour de force of lovely flavors.

“I saw that a lot of people love rice,” Jihyung Choi says about his first dish. This explains the bed of rice meant to localize his no-curry “curry” chicken, which swaps it out for a sweet and spicy gochujang with seasonal greens

It isn’t overwhelmingly spicy but it’s bombastic enough to understand Choi’s approach—tons of flavorful layers with each bite of his gem of a dish. Those of us sharing the table had a common thought: These Korean dishes are a shift in direction from what’s commonly eaten in Manila.

But that’s good because this pursuit of something different makes this pop-up nothing short of an essential visit.

Meanwhile, his maekjeokgui is steeped in 1,000-year-old heritage but Choi brings this grilled pork recipe into the modern times with Korean beans he wielded to mimic tofu and create Korean miso. A drizzle of red and green oils—chives, he says—and multicolored beans that imitate the idea of eating rice are his odes to paying homage to Filipino eating habits.

Yet for all the remarkable credentials that the “Culinary Class Wars” chefs have brought—and are bringing—Go’s side of the affair calls for reflection on his evolution as an equal force to be reckoned with.

Posturing himself in pole position are two small plates that are big on flavors: a fun and luscious mantou toast topped with shiitake mushroom, gorgonzola, seaweed, and Parmesan he calls “MSG” for the seeming effect this toast tries to recreate; and an acidic torched mackerel with elements like tomato sambal, coconut, and citrus greens.

His steamed halibut retains the fish’s delicate taste but entwines it with a ginamos rendang, while the river prawns go deep into East Asian territory, thanks to a torched mentaiko and ebiko doused in brown butter sauce—and even more mentaiko.

It’s a signature exhibition of what Go has been doing for the last few years, amassing his love of Asian flavors into plates that would stand alongside the works of fellow chefs in the region.

“On our third Balmori run, expect Your Local to have a lot of familiar Asian flavors with subtle Filipino and Korean ingredients, while still adding our own fun little twists.”

Catch Mat Nam by Your Local at The Balmori Suites Chef’s Table from April 6 to June 1, 2025. For reservations, contact 0945-427-0054. Young Sook Lee and Jihyung Choi’s dishes will be available until April 23. Guest chefs Kisu Bang (April 26 to May 14) and Byung Mook Kim (May 17 to June 1) are scheduled to visit the pop-up for two days.