Chewsarap consistently shows up on my Facebook and IG feed – combination of Sponsored Posts AND of people raving about it. What clinched the deal for me was when I saw Masarap Ba’s raving reviews claiming this was the BEST Hainanese chicken she’s ever tasted. Well, after such a shining endorsement, it’s hard to say no. Chewsarap has multiple items on their menu, but I’ll be discussing the specific items I purchased only, since I have personal experience for those.

VERDICT: GET THE HAINANESE CHICKEN – SO GOOD

 

What I purchased

• Hainanese Chicken w/ Curry Rice : PHP 700 (Large, good for 7-8 pax). No regrets, this was SOOO GOOOD.
• Japchae: PHP 700 (1/2 tray, good for 5-6 people)
• Roast Beef : PHP 850 (750g, good for 5-6 people)
• Frozen Marinated Beef Tapa : PHP 350 (650g, good for 5-6 people)
• Korean Beef Stew

Type of Purchase

• Home-cooked
• Shipped from Talayan Village, near Banawe
• Transaction through Instagram
• Payment through BDO

Ease of Transaction

Simply message them on Instagram – they’re very responsive (within ~1 hour). I’m a super makulit buyer, as I like to know everything about what I’m buying and they were really nice and accommodating. Sent them my order, paid through BDO, and I was informed where to pick up by when!

Note that you have to order at least 1 day in advance on weekdays, and 2-3 days in advance on weekends.

Packaging

The cooked items were wrapped in foil, while the frozen marinated beef tapa was vacuum sealed (can supposedly last up to 1.5 months).

All of the items were then placed into a paper packaging. Don’t know how to describe it – you’ll see it in the photo anyway. Overall, I’m happy with the packaging and no spillage occurred during transport.

Cooking Instructions

I know I’m not supposed to be purchasing cooked food BUT I WAS SO TEMPTED. Normally, I’d heat it up in the microwave/oven to “kill” the virus. But Chewsarap said this might affect the quality of the food… Fingers crossed my katakawan doesn’t hurt us in the end.

Having said that, I decided not to try my luck and decided to purchase the frozen marinated beef tapa instead of the cooked version. I honestly wasn’t sure how to cook this, because there were ZERO instructions on the packaging. Thankfully, Chewsarap answered super quickly via Instagram. They sent me a photo of the sticker instructions (which future transactions would include, so you won’t have the same issues as me)

Sounds simple right? I thought I’d pop it into a pan for 10 minutes and I’d have dinner ready to go. It took closer to 30 minutes actually. It took a loooong time for the watery sauce to dry up and for the tapa to get that glazed look. Honestly, without those instructions, I would’ve stopped cooking after 10 minutes, popped into a bowl, and started eating!

Taste

I’ll go in order of which dish I enjoyed the most.

 

Hainanese Chicken with Curry Rice

Wow, this was SO GOOD. I initially purchased the small size, but learned my lesson since. Now I only order the Large!! The chicken itself was incredibly juicy and flavorful. You can eat this as is – no need for sauce at all. Likewise, zero bones. I hate biting into chicken, only to end up with bony bits. On top of the amazing Hainanese Chicken, the curry rice was also sinfully delicious. I have NEVER had curry rice, and honestly couldn’t imagine Hainanese chicken without chicken rice. They made it work though. Each bite is simply bursting with flavor. If they had a curry rice add-on option, I would totally take them up on it. Overall verdict? BUY THIS. It’s so good. Worth every single peso.

Still, I do wish there was more chicken, because I always end up with a ton more curry rice leftover with no hainanese chicken to pair it with

 

Japchae

This was incredibly flavorful. I loved how well the sauce meshed into the noodles. On top of that, the beef was also incredibly tasty – it actually tastes like their beef tapa haha! Having said that, I found this incredibly oily, so if you’re not fond of oily food – you may want to skip this.

 

Frozen Marinated Beef Tapa

This is a bit hit or miss. The tapa is sweet, sometimes cloyingly so, especially when you end up with a thick glaze. There’s also a slight char to the tapa which can annoy some people, as these bits can end up in between your teeth. Overall, I think I’d enjoy this for breakfast, paired with a sunny side up egg. Would I dream of it? Probably not, but it was serviceable. Price is also quite reasonable – wouldn’t term it cheap, but definitely not pricey either

 

Beef Roast

Pass. I had super high hopes for this one – hence why I ordered the Large size. To be fair, I think it’s cooked well, but the beef itself wasn’t great. I felt like half of it was fat, which is a bit icky to eat and swallow. The gravy sauce was weird – all clumped up together, and the barbecue sauce was the norm. Overall, disappointing but we still ate it all anyway. Definitely won’t be reordering this

 

Korean Beef Stew

Their beef was amazingly tender, and the sauce itself was super good – just the way I like it. It was a bit bitin though – I found the servings a tad small. Ohwell, still a good try!!!

 

Value for Money

I’m sure I’m ridiculously biased because I’m still dreaming of the Hainanese Chicken, but dude, I think it’s great value for money. PHP 700 for the Hainanese Chicken w/ Curry Rice is what dreams are made of.

The Japchae is good, and really tastes authentic. Unfortunately, my parents found it a bit oily, so beware.

The Frozen Beef Tapa also seems like a good deal. I may consider it the next time I’m craving for beef tapa, but tbh, there are so many available tapa offerings on the market today that I’ll probably try the others first

The Roast Beef price is decent, but didn’t find it good. I’ll pass on this one.

Lastly, the Korean Beef Stew is good! Just make sure to order a bigger portion to satisfy.