Mubanna Chondak (무봤나 촌닭): Korean Fried Chicken – Busan

August 13, 2014Leave a comment

After lunch in Myeong-dong, we headed to Seoul Station, where we would take the KTX train to Busan. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and is the fifth largest seaport in the world! It’s famous for the beaches and seafood! If you want to travel to Busan from Seoul, you can get the KR Pass as a foreigner. You can get unlimited travel from 1 to 10 days, depending on the pass you buy. It’s a much cheaper deal. For us, we purchased the 3 day unlimited pass, and used it for a round trip. You also get a discount if you’re younger than 25 or are traveling with more than 2 people. Purchase it online before you go, and you can select any time after your reservation date. It took around 2 hours to arrive, but since we left Seoul late, we arrived early evening. We stayed in the Haeundae area, which is famous for the beach. We walked around the area and found a bunch of bars. We ended up looking for fried chicken, since we always see it in Korean dramas. The restaurant was called Mubanna Chondak and is a chain restaurant in Busan.

Kimchi and Tofu

It was really difficult to communicate in Busan, since they seemed to know less English. The server was still very friendly and tried his best to recommend us food. After ordering, he brought us complimentary appetizers. There was a size of kimchi, which I found spicier than usual. There was also tofu with sesame seeds on it. The tofu really has no flavour, but K loved it.

Spicy Octopus

Next, we tried the Spicy Octopus. It came on a grill on top of a hot pot stove. There were around 10 tiny octopi! After one bite, we all realized how spicy it was! Super spicy! Not to the point where I couldn’t feel my taste buds anymore, but one where I wanted to keep drinking water. The octopus was so tender though! The sauce was also really delicious. A definite recommend!

Boneless Chicken in Chili Pepper Paste Sauce

The server recommended us to get the Boneless Chicken in Chili Pepper Paste Sauce. He said it’s one of the more popular dishes. Again, it’s in a chili pepper paste sauce, so very spicy. Definitely not as spicy as the octopus though. It’s a mix of chicken that isn’t fried or battered, and is mixed with rice cake, corn, peas and comes with a side of noodles. You’re supposed to mix the noodles with the chicken, which I found quite interesting. We loved the rice cake mixed in and wish there was more. Sadly, we were looking for fried chicken, so we were a bit disappointed that we didn’t have the real fried chicken we always see. He also ended up putting down 2 orders of this, as he couldn’t understand what we wanted. Oh well. Tons of leftover though!

The chicken also comes with a cabbage salad that is topped with ketchup and mayo. This was definitely needed as our food was quite spicy!

Steamed Egg

Lastly, we also got a Steamed Egg, which is filled with green onions. Not bad, and was something to help calm our palettes down.

Overall, the food was actually pretty good here! It’s quite casual and almost seems like a fast food restaurant. I believe you can also choose the spice level for the food. We had asked for mild, but it’s still pretty spicy… I guess Koreans can really take their spice!

Myeongdong Yongyang Juk Yongyang Gyoza 明洞榮養粥、榮養餃子 – Seoul

August 12, 2014August 11, 2014Leave a comment

Our friend had a Seoul tour guide book she bought in Hong Kong, so we decided to put it to use and find a good restaurant. Off we went to Myeongdong Yongyang Juk Yongyang Gyoza, which is famous for their porridge and gyozas! It was only half empty when we first arrived, but it soon became packed with office people closer to lunch time. They speak a bit of Mandarin Chinese here, so if you know some, it’s pretty easy to communicate.

Vegetable Gyozas

First, we shared their famous Vegetable Gyozas. One order gives you 8 of these plump dumplings. They are just steamed, so there’s no crispy texture that you may find when they are pan-fried. The wrappers were thin to medium and filled with mainly chives and other green veggies. The chives definitely made the dumplings very flavourful. You dip these into a gyoza sauce that has a little bit of acidity. Very good!

Abalone Porridge

Next up, K and I shared their also very famous Abalone Porridge. In Korea, they call it “juk.” Whereas porridge we have in Canada is usually oatmeal, Korean porridge is usually cooked rice. This is very similar to Chinese porridge as well. Here, they also top it off with roasted ground seaweed and roasted sesame seeds. I should have probably put my spoon in to show the abalone as well. You actually get quite a few abalones in here! However, I found the abalone to be too tough and hard to chew. Would’ve liked it to be slightly softer. The porridge was very flavourful with a seafood taste to it. It also came with a side of roasted seaweed and seaweed salad. A little pricey, but definitely recommend trying an abalone porridge in Seoul!

Seafood and Green Onion Pancake

Since we shared the porridge, K and I also added the Seafood and Green Onion Pancake. Again, this was just average, with the ones in Richmond, like Haroo being much better. This one had squid and shrimp, and they didn’t cheap out on the seafood. I found it funny that they don’t really cut up their green onions, but rather lay them diagonally so it completely fills the pancake. The pancake wasn’t as crispy as I would’ve liked it.

Ginseng Chicken Soup

The other girls each got the Ginseng Chicken Soup. Ginseng is a super popular ingredient to use in Korean cooking, and they are famous for their Ginseng soups. The chicken is a whole chicken and was filled with rice. You should pull the rice out so that the rice is in the broth. Koreans love to eat rice in soup. Yummy!

Overall, I was very satisfied with the food here. A great place to try Korean gyozas and porridge. Average prices and you will get full! They also come with complimentary side dishes like kimchi, which you can serve yourself.

Address: 199-58 Euljiro 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Korean Food in Myeong-dong – Seoul

August 11, 20141 Comment

Bulgogi

Hungry after a day of shopping in Myeong-dong once again, it was time to look for some food. There’s food literally everywhere on the streets, with many of them on higher levels of the buildings. So many choices that it’s actually hard to figure out what’s good. We ended up walking down the main street of Myeong-dong and closer towards Euljiro-1-ga station, we found a Korean restaurant that featured many barbeque dishes. They barely knew English, but with some hand movements, we were able to communicate. First, we got the Bulgogi, which had an amazing sauce, but we felt ripped off by the meat. Apparently, you are supposed to grill the meat on the grill on our own, but we were lazy, so we asked to have it grilled for us in the back room. We ended up getting a dish of meat that looked like leftover meat. Bits of minced up meat that you could barely pick up with a pair of chopsticks. The sauce however was very flavourful. We felt sort of ripped off since we got leftover meat, whereas other tables had normal looking meat…

Spicy Tofu Soup

Next was the Spicy Tofu Soup. It came in a bowl that would be suitable for a one person meal, but we shared it anyways. A spicy kimchi flavoured broth, with lots of soft tofu. The spice wasn’t too hot, and was delicious when eaten with rice. Tofu was silky smooth. It lacked any other ingredients though. Purely green onions and tofu.

Seafood Pancake

Last but not least was the Seafood Pancake. It came with squid and green onions. No other seafood. We were slightly disappointed with this since we’ve had way better seafood pancakes in Vancouver. This was seriously under average and it wasn’t even cheap. Prices were quite average here.

Overall, we were quite disappointed with this restaurant. I wish I had got the name down, but it was all in Korean. I’m also not able to locate it on Google Maps. But then again, food in Korea can’t be too terrible. It’s whether you want above average or not.

Food near Ewha Womans University – Seoul

August 9, 2014Leave a comment

Ewha Womans University is a private women’s university in Seoul and is the world’s second largest women’s university. It’s filled with beautiful green gardens and is actually a famous tourist spot. Around the area, it’s known for great shopping for young women fashion with cheap prices. So on day 2, we did some shopping and decided to look for food around the area. Somehow, we managed to go onto this street that reminded me of Chinatown in Vancouver. It was a street filled with elderly and shops selling produce. We were probably in the wrong neighbourhood, but we settled for food anyways.

There were various elderly people sitting in this little shop. It’s run by a Korean man and his wife only. There was no English name, but I thought it would be worth blogging, since they offer some popular and typical Korean dishes. The menu is posted on the walls with colourful pictures and prices. No english at all though, so just look at the pictures and guess what it is. Prices are very affordable too!

It seems that it’s very common for you to serve yourself with appetizers in Korea. There are little stainless steel containers filled with kimchi and other pickled vegetables. You can just go grab some, as well as pour yourself some soup and tea. I think the owner saw that we clearly did not know what we were doing, so he ended up serving us. Super friendly service even though he could not speak a lick of English. Just point and smile, and you can get your way around!

Naengmyeon

For myself, I chose the Naengmyeon. I’ve had this in Vancouver as well, but I wanted to try it in Seoul. To my surprise, I would say the ones in Coquitlam around North Road are quite up to par. When directly translated, Naengmyeon means “cold noodles.” It’s sort of like the Korean equivalent of soba noodles. The noodles are long and thin and are often made from buckwheat. They are very chewy compared to the Japanese soba noodles. Served in a stainless steel bowl, it has a broth that is slightly tangy, some cucumbers, radish, and a boiled egg. It’s also topped with a spicy red sauce. What’s cool about the dish is that it also comes with a bunch of shaved ice so it really keeps the noodles cold. You can then add a spicy mustard sauce, which reminds me of wasabi to bring more flavour and spice to it.

Spicy Octopus on Rice

Some of the girls got the Spicy Octopus on Rice, which I tried some. They are baby octopus, and the spicy sauce used is a little sweet. Super tender and the flavour was definitely very appetizing. Mix it with the rice and seaweed, and you have yourself a delicious meal.

I believe this was the Grilled Pork Belly on Rice that my friend got. Not exactly sure though. Or it was something along the lines of grilled pork. Cut into thin slices and topped with sauce and sesame seeds. She said the meat was very tender and delicious!

Overall, we were all very satisfied with our meal here. Just wish there was an English name, so I could search up the location again to share with everyone. Oh and it’s interesting to note that at most of these restaurants, people just eat and go. They don’t sit around chatting for too long, so the turnover rates are really high.

L’Opera Patisserie

August 7, 2014August 6, 2014Leave a comment

L’Opera is located on Minoru Blvd next to the shops near Hilton Hotel. It’s an odd location for such a fancy looking patisserie. But good for me, since I don’t need to travel all the way downtown for some good pastries! There’s also free parking behind the Sheraton/Hilton parking lot. Anyways, I’ve purchased a pastry for a friend here, but I haven’t actually tried them myself. C gave me a box of L’Operamacarons for my birthday, so I am finally able to write about them! It comes in a beautiful box with a ribbon. The owners are Asian, but had training in Paris, so the shop and decor are all very Parisian.

When you open the box, you have a little note which tells you how long and how to store your macarons. They use natural and organic ingredients, so they can spoil if not kept properly.

Green Tea, Caramel, Coffee, Chocolate, Pistachio, Rose

The macarons were actually quite small in size. Dainty and light. I found them smaller than the ones at Thiery. What I liked about them was that the colours were all very faint and light. It’s a sign that they probably didn’t use food colouring to achieve the colours. Creamy fillings and the shell itself is up to standards. I also like how they aren’t too sweet. My favourite was the coffee. It had such a strong aroma of coffee and I think there were some crushed coffee beans in it too.

Overall, very satisfied with the macarons at L’Opera. They come at around $2 a piece, so quite standard. It’s also super close to home, so I’ll definitely be visiting more often. They also have afternoon tea, which I hear is pretty good. Will definitely give that a try next!

The Cake Workshop

August 6, 2014Leave a comment

On my birthday, my family pre-ordered a birthday cake for me. Instead of going to the usual mainstream bakeries, my dad has been frequently ordering cakes at The Cake Workshop. It’s a bit of a hidden gem, but the baker actually only recently opened an actual cake shop in the food court of Pacific Plaza Mall on Odlin Cres. He started the business at home, but eventually had too many orders and so it was better off to open an actual shop. My dad says he’s an experienced baker and used to bake in Hong Kong for years.

I chose to have the Tiramisu, which came nicely decorated with strawberries and whipped cream. This was a 6″ and cost only $18. Much cheaper than many other bakeries out there. The cakes are simple and nothing too fancy, but of good quality! I think most people enjoy his cakes because they aren’t as sweet as most of the cakes at other bakeries. If you’re someone who finds cakes too sweet, than this might be the choice for you.

The cake part of the tiramisu was moist, light and fluffy, whereas the mascarpone cheese was smooth and creamy. You do need to pre-order the cakes in advance. There aren’t any cakes for walk in sales at the shop. You also have the choice of getting the cake delivered for free if it’s within Richmond, or you can pick up at the shop.

Kishimoto

August 3, 2014Leave a comment

On my birthday, I asked to have dinner at Kishimoto. I’ve seen gorgeous platings from this Japanese restaurant for quite some time now, but Commercial Drive isn’t exactly the area I usually drive by. Finally, we made our way here, and there’s surprisingly quite a lot of free parking in the residential areas across the street. There was a line up as usual, and we waited roughly 15-30 minutes before we got a seat. The restaurant doesn’t have many fans, so it was boiling hot as well. Most of the servers and chefs looked and spoke Japanese, so I’m assuming it’s Japanese run. Not a huge restaurant though, so I see why there are always line ups.

Hamachi Ishinabe

First, we got the Hamachi Ishinabe, which I apologize for the blurry picture. It’s very similar to a Korean bibimbap, where the rice is served in a hot stone bowl. It’s topped with hamachi fish, a raw egg, and some seaweed. When you squish the sides of the rice to the sides of the bowl, you get some crispy rice.

The server helped mix the rice for us, and this is the final product. The fish was very soft and smooth, and I love the flavour of the sauce used. It tasted sort of like the unagi sauce.

Salmon Oshi Sushi

Next was the Salmon Oshi Sushi. If you’re familiar with Miku’s signature Aburi Salmon Oshi Sushi, then you’ll find the one at Kishimoto very similar. Except it’s a few dollars cheaper! The sushi rice is shaped into a rectangular shape, topped with salmon, a creamy sauce and crackled black pepper and seared with a torch to give it a nice char. It’s then topped with a slice of jalapeno. Everything was great about this dish, but if you’re had Miku’s, then I think that their special Miku sauce still wins. Otherwise, I could settle for this less pricey version.

Chopped Scallop Roll, Spider Roll, Dragon Roll

Kishimoto is known for their plating – especially that thinly sliced radish and edamame flower. I was excited when the rest of our rolls came, since it came just with that beautiful plating. It also came with a candle with a radish sliced into a cylinder. Super cool! You can basically eat all this art too, but I’m not sure how clean it is. On the top left was the Chopped Scallop Roll. Quite average, with a good amount of filling and fresh scallops. In front, was the Dragon Roll, which feature 2 pieces of prawn tempura, tobiko, and avocado and unagi on top. It was flavoured with an unagi sauce. On the right around the flower, there was the Spider Roll, which was filled with avocado, softshell crab tempura, massago, cucumber, and lettuce. It was wrapped around a thinly sliced sheet of radish.

Salmon Sashimi (9pc) & Tuna Sashimi (6pc)

Then came the sashimi, which came in an impressive block of ice. That’s a huge block! The fresh fish were decorated with flowers and leaves. Super pretty! In the back were the Salmon Sashimi, which we opted for 9 pieces. Each were cut at just the right amount to have a a good texture. Very fresh! In front, the Toro Sashimi were curled up like flowers. Again, very fresh and the toro was smooth and buttery.

Plain Okonomiyaki

Lastly, we had the Plain Okonomiyaki, which was probably one of my favourites! It came with a side of bonito flakes. The okonomiyaki was quite thick, but filled generously with vegetables. I loved the flavouring and it was something that helped fill our stomachs.

Overall, Kishimoto lived up to it’s hype. Great food at decent prices. I’m not sure if I would make the trip all the way here that often though. But if I’m in the neighbourhood, I wouldn’t mind coming here for some Japanese food!

Kamamarui Ramen & Don

August 1, 2014August 1, 20142 Comments

J, S, and K had intended to surprise me with an afternoon of kayaking in the Burnaby Deer Lake, but unfortunately, it began pouring. We ended up going to Metrotown to walk around, and the sun decided to come out… As lunch time passed, we got hungry and began looking for food on our phones. After what seemed forever, we finally decided to go to Kamamarui. There’s barely any parking in the lot, so you may need to park somewhere further away. The restaurant is extremely small. It fits probably under 20 diners. It’s also run by only two young Korean men, so service is definitely much slower. One cooks, while the other serves. However, service is friendly and the decor is simple but clean. We waited roughly 15 minutes, and was able to get a seat.

Tonkotsu Cha-shu Ramen

They basically only have 3 types of ramen. Two pork soup based ramens, with one flavoured with soy sauce and one flavoured with miso. The other is the Veggie Ramen, which is miso soup based. Then you have the option to add cha-shu or sliced pork to it. For myself, I chose the Tonkotsu Cha-Shu Ramen, which was pork soup based and seasoned with soy flavour. It had green onions, bean sprouts and cha-shu (sliced pork). You get quite a lot of cha-shu compared to other ramen shops, but they were quite different. These were more marinated and flavoured. They were also slightly seared or grilled on the sides. I enjoy the traditional cha-shu much more than this modernized version. As for noodles, you get a decent amount, and the texture is chewy, just how I like it. On the table, there are three sauces. There is a chili sauce, a spicy sauce, and a ramen sauce. You can add these sauces as you wish if you find that you want more flavour, saltiness, or spiciness. To be honest, I found that the broth lacked flavour and depth. It wasn’t rich like the ones at Kintaro. I found it rather bland, and had to add quite a bit of the ramen sauce to bring more flavour to the soup.

Miso Cha-shu Ramen

J got the Miso Cha-shu Ramen, which is a miso & pork soup base seasoned with miso flavour. Again, it had green onions, bean sprouts, and cha-shu. Both the miso and tonkotsu ramen come to $11.50 if you choose to add the cha-shu. For each ramen, we also added the Special Nigiri Bomb, so the total became $13 for the set. I’ll speak more about the bomb below.

Vege Ramen

K got the Vege Ramen, which was miso soup based seasoned with miso flavour and topped with green onions, bean sprouts and corn. I actually wish my ramen had come with corn as well, but you had to pay for extra toppings for the non-vegetarian ramens. K said her vege ramen was quite delicious.

Soft Egg

I love soft boiled eggs in my ramen, since I love that runny yolk in the middle. Plus, it’s not something I would spend time making for breakfast in the mornings at home. For an extra $1.50, I chose to add the “Soft Egg“. We were all sad to realize that the soft egg wasn’t what we were hoping for. Instead, it came in it’s own separate dish, and looked like it had been pre-made. It had a runny yolk in the middle, and the whites were also very runny. It was topped with a teriyaki sauce and some green onions. I didn’t really like it and wouldn’t order it again.

Special Nigiri Bomb

Lastly, the Bombs arrived! They were seasoned seaweed with rice and teriyaki sauce and they were my favourite part of the meal! The rice was seasoned so well, and it wasn’t too sticky. Absolutely loved the flavouring!

All in all, the ramens are average, but if you’re in the Burnaby area, it’s not a bad choice. I would still choose the downtown ramen shops as I find the broth more flavourful. I really like the bombs though, so that’s something I would definitely re-order. They also have several donburi choices, so perhaps that would be something to try next time.