Zest

November 8, 2014Leave a comment

Tuna in Three Ways

I’ve been hearing about Zest for some time now, but I never knew where it was exactly. It’s actually pretty hidden, right on West 16th and Macdonald. You wouldn’t expect to find such a popular restaurant here. It’s contemporary Japanese cuisine, and the space is rather small, but filled up very quickly. I realized that most of the diners were Japanese too, which is always a good sign. We started off with Tuna in Three Ways. On the right was big eye tuna carpaccio with soy mustard onion dressing. This was probably my favourite. It was essentially tuna sashimi with a light dressing. In the middle was albacore tuna and avocada with nori soy sauce. The creaminess of the avocado worked well with the tuna. Lastly, on the far right was the big eye tuna tataki with mizore Ponzu. This was your typical tuna tataki with Ponzu sauce. Their tuna was definitely very fresh and I liked how they didn’t over-sear the tuna. Just a thin layer that was seared.

Assorted Mushroom Tempura

Next, we got one of their featured dishes that changes depending on seasonality. We got the Assorted Mushroom Tempura, which like it’s name said, came with an assortment of wild mushrooms. I honestly don’t remember the names of each mushroom, but they all had distinct flavours. It came with curry salt on the side, which actually complemented the dish really well. However, my only issue with the dish was that it started to feel really oily after eating the second mushroom. It was just a mouthful of tempura by the end of the dish. Since they present each dish at a time, you have to finish this dish before moving on. The dish would’ve been nice if I had some other dishes to eat from in between each mushroom.

Grilled BC Wild Spring Salmon Misozuke

The Grilled BC Wild Spring Salmon Misozuke was a nice twist to your typical grilled salmon. I especially loved the sweet miso sauce on top. What was even better is that the fish itself had miso flavour since the fish is cured in a house blend miso for 48 hours! It came with some sauteed kale on the side and an organic quinoa salad on top. Loved the miso flavour in the fish! The salmon was still moist as well!

Tenderloin Katsu

Another entree we ordered was the Tenderloin Katsu. I found this to be just average. The tenderloin was panko crusted and deep fried. However, the issue I have with katsu is that it tends to be a little dry. However, the Fuji apple salad and house blend sweet miso definitely helped bring lots of flavour to the dish.

Zest Roll

The last item we got was the Zest Roll. They have quite a few different rolls, but we decided on the one that had the restaurant’s name since it should usually be their signature roll. However, I wasn’t too fond of it. It was filled with albacore tuna, sockeye salmon, grilled salmon skin, organic green cucumber, and tobiko. I think it was the grilled salmon skin that I didn’t like. It was too salty and brought a fishy taste to the roll overall.

Sake and Raisins, Black Sesame, Matcha

We ended our meal with two desserts. First was the Ice Cream Trio. This is a must try! The Sake and Raisins was my absolute favourite. Who knew sake and raisins would go so well together. Plus, the ice cream had a good amount of sake flavour without it tasting like straight alcohol. The black sesame and match were quite typical and nothing too special. Their ice cream overall is quite smooth and tastes like they use natural ingredients to make.

Matcha Tiramisu

The second dessert was the Matcha Tiramisu. Visually appealing with a splash of colour from the strawberries and raspberries. Extremely smooth and just the right amount of cake. Loved the matcha flavour as well. Really good!

Overall, Zest had its hit and misses, but the meal was pretty good overall. I would definitely come back to try some of their other dishes. It’s a good take on modern Japanese cuisine yet it isn’t those typical fusion rolls. Service was also impeccable. Our server checked up on us and I liked how each dish came out one by one but without too much of a wait in between. They also change your plate after every dish. Very attentive!

Forage

November 3, 2014Leave a comment

Grilled Kale Salad – Agassiz hazelnuts, Jersey blue and honey dressing, dried fruit preserve

Forage is one of those sustainable restaurants who offer the farm to table experience. I heard good things about it, and good thing we had reservations, because it was packed on a Friday night. We started off with the Grilled Kale Salad. A large portion and dressed in a blue cheese and honey dressing, I was surprised that I actually really enjoyed it. I’m not a huge fan of blue cheese, but it wasn’t very pungent in the dish. You could taste it slightly, but it wasn’t overpowering. Plus, the dried fruit preserve evened it out.

Featured Grilled Salmon – with kale and mushrooms

Next, we got the featured entree of the night, which was Grilled Salmon. It came with the skin on and grilled to a perfection where the meat was still moist. On the side, there was another kale salad with mushrooms and potatoes. It also came with a dressing on the side, which I can’t quite remember what our server described it as. I didn’t find that the dressing was anything too special though. It wasn’t something that was necessary.

Spicy Sawmill Bay Clams – kimchi, frites, charred fennel and bone marrow aioli

Our last entree was one of my favourites. It was the Spicy Sawmill Bay Clams, which came soaked in a spicy kimchi broth with bone marrow aioli. The fries were crispy, but when soaked in the broth, they were addicting! A must order.

Chocolate Custard – raspberry cheese mousse, vanilla cream, pecan crumbs

We ended the night with some desserts to share. First, we got the Chocolate Custard, which I found just average. I thought it was too rich.

Lemon Verbena Neufchatel Cheese Puff – ice cream, cordial

The second was the Lemon Verbena Neufchatel Cheese Puff, which is a cream puff filled with lemon cream and Neufchatel cheese. This is one of the oldest cheese in France. Surprisingly, it wasn’t very strong in cheese flavour. It tasted more like lemon custard. Pretty interesting.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend trying Forage. It’s a little on the pricey side, but it’s well worth it, especially knowing that the restaurant is all about sustainability. Service was also extremely attentive and friendly. Can’t wait to come back to try the rest of their menu!

Blue Star Donuts – Portland

October 19, 2014Leave a comment

Voodoo Doughnuts is always raved about when speaking of Portland, but K mentioned that Blue Star Donuts is the best new donut shop in town. Plus, walking by Voodoo and seeing that massive line up made me not want to give it a try. So instead, we walked by Blue Star, which had no line up but a steady customer base. We arrived quite late as well, so probably why there was no line up. They close when their donuts run out, so we were lucky to still get some!

I love how the store uses natural sunlight through the glass windows. It feels clean and modern inside. There’s also complimentary water here.

They don’t have as many varieties as Voodoo, but I find that shops with a limited menu usually have better quality food. They have a display case with their donuts and the flavours change daily. The dough is made from scratch every day and their ingredients are all sustainable or organic. The donuts are also cooked with rice oil and are glazed to order.

Real Maple & Bacon

Their donuts follow a Brioche recipe, so I found that the dough was very light and not dense like cheaper donuts. J went for the Real Maple & Bacon, which is a quite common flavour for donuts these days. The sweet and salty seem to always work and who can say no to desserts with bacon on it?

Passion Fruit Cocoa Nib

K and I shared the Passion Fruit Cocoa Nib, which was super unique! The passion fruit brought the sourness, but it was well balanced with the cocoa nibs which were sweet. Who knew that the two would work so well on a donut.

Overall, from the donuts we tried, we were all very satisfied. They definitely have interesting donut flavours and reminds me of Cartems Donuterie in Vancouver. The donuts run at around $2.75, but are well worth it. If you’re looking for unique flavours and quality, then Blue Star Donuts does just that. It seems that Voodoo would be more for unique visual presentation.

Heart Coffee Roasters – Portland

October 16, 2014October 14, 2014Leave a comment

The next morning, we wanted to go grab breakfast at Screen Door, since we heard it’s really popular. And of course, there was a huge wait again. We waited a while, but we realized it would be another 2 hour wait. Annoyed by all this waiting time we’ve been having in Portland, we decided to skip it. We were pretty fed up especially since we drove all the way to the East side. Nearby, Heart Coffee Roaster looked hip and cool, so we decided to grab a quick snack before we headed off to look for more food.

Coffee and Cheese Croissant

J got a Coffee with a Cheese Croissant. The Cheese Croissant was pretty good since it was flaky. J said the coffee was pretty good too. Their coffees are mainly from Central America, South America, and Africa.

Chocolate Cookie

For myself, I went for the Chocolate, which was a huge disappointment. It was chewy, but hard at the same time. Way too chewy perhaps. It also had an odd flavour to it and didn’t taste like regular chocolate cookies.

Overall, Hearts seems to be a great place for coffee, but their other items might be a miss. They also don’t offer wi-fi on the weekends which is odd. The place is great to study and hang out though.

Salt & Straw – Portland

October 14, 2014October 13, 2014Leave a comment

After 5 hours of driving, we finally arrived in Portland and settled into our hotel at Park Lane Suites. It’s a pretty nice hotel for the price and was located quite near downtown city centre. After dropping our stuff off, we decided to take a walk in the neighborhood and try Salt & Straw, which is a famous ice cream shop.

The inside is hip with cool music blasting and friendly servers. It reminds me of Earnest Ice Cream, with unique flavours. The inside smells like freshly made waffle cones too!

There’s a line up, but it’s really not that bad. The servers will come up to you and ask if you would like to sample some flavour. They then bring you spoons with the samples to try before you even get to the ordering area. That way, it speeds things up.

They have their classic menu, but also a seasonal menu. They were featuring a summer harvest series, which included sweet corn, apricots, peaches, and plums. A favourite classic that many talk about is the Pear and Blue Cheese, which I actually sampled and surprisingly thought was really good! A odd combo and for someone whose not a blue cheese fan, I actually still liked it! They also have sundaes, ice cream floats, milkshakes, and draft beverages.

Honey Lavender

For myself, I ended up with the Honey Lavender. I’m a sucker for floral flavored food, or food items that use flower petals.

The Honey Lavender uses Oregon-grown lavender petals which are steeped in honey to extract the floral flavor. The honey used is from Bee Local which is harvested from urban hives all around Portland. I loved the hint of floral but sweetness from the honey. It was smooth and creamy! A huge scoop in a huge waffle cone as well. I believe it only came to $5.

Oregon Peaches with Toasted Walnuts

K went for the seasonal flavour of Oregon Peaches with Toasted Walnuts. It’s made with freshly pureed peaches and mixed with toasted walnuts. Super refreshing.

Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons

J got the Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons. It uses Fleur de Sel and is topped off by ribboning in hand-burned caramel that is made in house. I loved the salty and sweet flavour!

Overall, Salt & Straw did not disappoint! If you’re an ice cream lover, you won’t be disappointed with all the unique flavours! I’d definitely revisit this ice cream shop again!

Korean Traditional Tea Room (Insadong) (인사동 반짝반짝 빛나는) – Seoul

August 31, 2014Leave a comment

Omija Smoothie

After exploring the Hanok Village, we decided it was time to relax and grab some desserts! Our Korean friend took us to 인사동 반짝반짝 빛나는 in Insadong. I don’t believe it has an English name, but it’s a Korean traditional tea room on the second floor of a building. The inside is decorated with many of the pottery that are handmade next door. Pretty neat! Their popular menu items are the smoothies. I wasn’t too sure what it was at first, but it ended up to sort of be like a sorbet icy. We started off the Omija Smoothie, which was a light pink colour. Omija is also known as five flavour tea and is made from the fruit herb. It’s essentially like a iced smoothie, but in a thick form. Super refreshing and helped quench our thirst. The flavour was a mix of sweet and sour.

Citron Smoothie

Next, we also got the Citron Smoothie. I believe it was really yuzu. It was topped with citron peels that had been candied. Again, the hint of sweet and sour made the smoothie very refreshing. This was probably my favourite flavour!

Sweet Pumpkin Smoothie

The third smoothie was the Sweet Pumpkin Smoothie. This one didn’t feel as icy and refreshing, but rather a bit more filling. It was mainly sweet with a strong pumpkin flavour.

Other than the smoothies, we also tried some traditional Korean snacks. This one was similar to a mochi and was dusted with roasted soybean powder. Chewy and quite interesting and unique! It came with two dipping sauces – one was a citron sauce, while the other was crushed peanuts with honey.

Ginger Sweets

We also had the Ginger Sweets, which are also known as Yugwa or Yumilgwa. These were just as good as the ones at Mok Hyang. Very light but still remained the chewy texture.

Jujube Tea

Lastly, to finish off, we had the Jujube Tea. It came in a pot and smelt really good! Jujube is a Korean date and is slightly sweet. A great way to end our dessert meal!

I highly recommend checking this tea room out. It even had guestbooks where you can write a message or mark down that you’ve visited. We too, drew a little picture to remember that we were here! I wonder if it will still be there when I visit again.

Sulbing (설빙) Korean Dessert Cafe

August 29, 2014August 26, 20143 Comments

Shaved ice or patbingsu is what Koreans rave about when they talk about desserts. But to be honest, I was sort of getting sick of shaved ice… It constantly gives me a brain freeze and I was just tired of having it all the time. Were there any other Korean desserts other than shaved ice?! Well, we stumbled at Sulbing (설빙), which is only written in Korean on their signage. On the side, it says Korean Dessert Cafe. Since we could only read the English, we decided to go there and hope for some other desserts. Upon arriving, we saw more shaved ice… Seriously?! Well, we were tired from all the walking, and just wanted to sit down. The place was bustling with a self serve type of system. We found the only seat available and sent one of our friends to go order. We decided we would share one shaved ice between the four of us.

Berry Sulbing

They have the buzzer system here, so you get notified when your food is ready. To our surprise, it wasn’t the typical patbingsu! It was Sulbing! Sulbing originated in Busan, and essentially means “snow ice.” Similar to shaved ice, but the ice are shaved so thin, that they are like powdered snow! None of that crunchy texture, but a powder of snow that just melts in your mouth! Absolutely delicious! We ordered the Berry Sulbing, which came with blueberries, raspberries, and dried cranberries. All sulbings come with condensed milk, which you drizzle on top to add sweetness to your dessert. So delicious! This is a must try if you’ve already tried the typical patbingsu. They are around 9,000 won each but comes in a huge bowl and is perfect for sharing. They also have a Cheese Sulbing which I hear is surprisingly really good. Definitely looking forward to trying that next time I visit! The cafe also offers many other drinks and food items like toast.

You can find Sulbing Dessert Cafe at many locations around Seoul and Busan. We ate at the one in Yeongdeungpo-gu, but pictured above is the location in Myeongdong.

Shinsegae Centrum City and Spa Land – Busan

August 16, 2014August 23, 2014Leave a comment

If you love shopping, you must visit the Shinsegae Centrum City Department Store in Haeundae, Busan. The store is listed as the largest shopping complex in the world! With 14 floors and 2 basement floors, it even has a golf driving range! Of course I headed to the basement floor for the food department! Very similar to Lotte Department store, but with way more food! We found Lady M Confections, which is a New York based confectionery. The cakes are absolutely beautiful to look at, but are quite pricey!

Mille Crepe

We decided to try the Mille Crepe, which is their signature cake. This is a must try! Layers of paper-thin handmade crepes with super light pastry cream in between the layers. It’s super light and fluffy and the crepe just melts in your mouth. I’ve never had such a light delicious cake before! It’s also not too sweet. Well worth the CAD$7.

Next, we found these mochi curled up in leaves. Thought it was pretty interesting looking, so we decided to give it a try.

Mochi in Leaf

We were surprised that the mochi wasn’t white, but rather a slight grey with green specks in it. We suspect that it may have been mixed with tea leaves. The mochi is filled with red bean paste, which I liked, but I found the mochi to have a strange flavour. Wasn’t very sweet, but rather a little sour. Really odd and not too pleasing to the palette.

Spa Land

The Shinsegae department store connects to Spa Land, which is the main purpose for our visit. Spa Land is the perfect place to relax after several days of traveling. It has 22 spas with natural spring water being pumped from underground, 13 Jjimjilbangs and saunas, and an open-air foot spa. Jjimjilbangs are public bathhouses that include everything from saunas to massage chairs. At Spa Land, it is only 13,000 won on weekdays for adults and you can stay up to 4 hours.

Spa Land is huge! After paying at the reception, you will need to remove your shoes and put them in a locker, where you will get a key to the rest of your lockers. You then segregate into your gender’s change room and you can change into the uniform they provide you. Lockers are included to store your belongings. We realized that you need to be completely nude to go into the gender-segregated baths. No swimsuits whatsoever. We weren’t too comfortable with that, so we ended up just going for the saunas.

Each sauna room are different themed. They are also at different temperatures. A sign is placed outside with the name of the sauna, temperature, and the health benefits it brings. Most of the saunas are around 40 degrees, with ones reaching 70 degrees! There is one that is a cold sauna, called the Ice Room at around 13 degrees.

Open-air Foot Spa

On the first floor, you can exit to the Open-air Foot Spa. Here, the ceiling is open with some areas being sheltered in case of rain. There are serveral different foot spas with different ingredients in the water. The foot baths are around 30 degrees and are very comforting if you have walked for a long time. There are also pebble stones on the floor so they provide massaging for your feet.

Salt Room

After soaking our feet, we headed back indoors to the saunas. The saunas are gender mixed so you can wear your uniforms here. One of our favourite was the Salt Room. It featured blocks of salt as the building blocks of the walls. There are blocks where you can place your head on so that you can lie down. Many people sleep here! At first, I found it really hot and stuffy, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to stay for long. However, when you lie down, I found that you don’t feel as hot anymore. You start to get used to the temperature and you’ll start sweating a lot! This is supposed to help remove your toxins. We found it funny how some people were exercising in the rooms.

Pyramid Room

This was the Pyramid Room, which featured a 52 degree angle. Apparently this angle is supposed to “collect energies from the universe.” It actually felt quite relaxing here as well since it wasn’t too hot. Not exactly sure how it collects energies though…

Wave Dream Room

This was the Wave Dream Room, where the centerpiece creates sort of a wave. It’s supposed to help you relax. We didn’t find this one too special.

Relaxation Room

On the top floor is the Relaxation Room. It’s a huge room filled with inclining chairs and TVs. You can relax on these chairs and watch TV with great privacy. The chairs are side by side but have so much privacy because there’s a board that blocks the other person from seeing you.

The head rest has a built in speakers so you can hear without using headphones. Most of the shows are in Korean though, so it wasn’t too entertaining for us.

After that, we headed to this area where you can just lie on the floor which is heated. At first, I felt like it wasn’t very sanitary, but I realized there is someone constantly cleaning the floors, so everything is very hygienic here. There is also a snack bar, so we purchased some Baked Eggs. They are cooked in the hottest saunas and remind me of hard-boiled eggs essentially. You also pay for everything additional with your locker key and pay the extra costs when you leave. Other additional costs you may incur are the massage chairs and facials.

Overall, a must try if you have some spare time! Definitely will be revisiting when I visit Busan again!

Address: 35, Senteomnam-daero, Haeun Daegu, Busan

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: Dessert