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.

Caffe Artigiano – Seoul

August 10, 2014August 9, 20142 Comments

Grapefruit and Vanilla Ice Cream Patbingsu

Caffe Artigiano is actually a Vancouver based coffee shop, and I’ve actually been there once for a latte. I expected to see Starbucks in Seoul, but to my surprise, they also had a Caffe Artigiano. I don’t like to go into these international franchises when I’m traveling, but the other girls wanted a quick snack and to recover from all the walking. We ended up ordering some Patbingsu to share. I was surprised to find that they sold this at the coffee shop. I guess their menu is quite different so that it can cater to the Koreans. Patbingsu or Patbingsoo is Korean shaved ice and is often topped with sweet ingredients. My friends chose the Grapefruit Patbingsu, which brought some acidity to the dish. It also came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Quite refreshing after a long day in the heat!

Red Bean, Kinako, Mochi, and Vanilla Ice Cream Patbingsu

K and I shared the Red Bean Patbingsu. It came with some mochi slices, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and lots of kinako. Kinako is roasted soybean flour, which is slightly sweet. A very popular topping for patbingsu and mochi.

Overall, the patbingsu were average. I didn’t find them to be too special. Plus, I found it quite expensive. They were around $9 each, which is quite pricey in Seoul. I’m sure you can get it for a cheaper price.

School Food – Seoul

August 8, 2014Leave a comment

The next couple of posts will take you over the ocean and towards Asia! Just a couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan for some leisure travel, which also meant eating lots! We took United Airlines, which had a stopover in San Francisco, so it felt like forever before we arrived in Seoul. Their plane food was one of the worst I’ve had. Here, we have a salad with wimpy leaves, and something called General Tso’s Chicken… Ugh, it was absolutely disgusting. Sweet and spicy, but the chicken itself tasted so bad. The best part of the meal was that brownie… Plus service was horrid. It felt like the flight attendants hated their jobs and they were screaming half the time. I was woken up multiple times because they would roll their carts quickly and scream “excuse me, excuse me”. Never had such poor service on a long international flight before. I do have to note that this was the only case from San Francisco to Seoul. I took United Airlines from Tokyo back to San Francisco, and then Vancouver, and the service was much better.

And then we arrived! These are the streets of Myeong-dong, which is Seoul’s main shopping and tourist district. You’ll find every Korean cosmetic brand you need as well as international fashion brands such as Zara and Uniqlo. I swear we went here half our trip, since there is always a need to shop here! If you need beauty and skincare products – this is the place to go. Etude House, Innisfree, Tony Moly, Nature Republic, The Faceshop… just to name a few! You’ll also find the same store in almost every street. Each store located on a different street sometimes has different deals and products, so be sure to check them out before buying all at once! Another tip is to print off some coupons before hand by doing a quick Google search. You’ll find coupons for tourists for almost all brands.

We came across M Plaza, and a friend said that School Food is supposed to be quite popular. It’s a plaza with food and shops inside, but there weren’t too many people inside. It’s sort of hidden, and I guess tourists don’t usually find their way into here if they’re overwhelmed by the street shops. Anyways, School Food is a food franchise and is known for their tteokbokki and gimbap. They give you a notepad and pencil, and you just write down what you want off the menu. Good for us, since we probably wouldn’t be able to communicate anyways.

Pineapple Soda

We saw the girls next to us drinking this blue drink, so we decided to order it too. It’s basically just soda that’s coloured blue. On top, there are some pineapples. It was a bit underwhelming, since we expected more flavour and surprise. Just tasted more like regular soda to me.

Soup

The server brought us each a soup which was complimentary. It came with these two bean curd like things, which were really good! The soup is a little salty, and reminds me of miso soup.

Assorted Gimbap

And here is our platter of Assorted Gimbap! Gimbap is what I like to call the “Korean version of sushi.” It’s essentially rice and seaweed with various fillings. Here, we had some fillings of shredded tuna, squid, pickles, Japanese shisho leaves and more. The black ones, were squid ink rice filled with squid. Some were also spicy. The majority of them were filled with some sort of pickled veggie, since Koreans love that sour and spicy taste. Sort of like kimchi. On the side, there was a mayo sauce for dipping. It was definitely an experience to try these different gimbaps! My favourite was the squid filled gimbap! I believe the platter was only around 21,000 won, which comes to around CAN$21!

Potato Croquette

Lastly, we also had a dish of Potato Croquettes. Nothing too special, but the batter was light and not too oily. Potatoes were mashed until they were soft and creamy. It also came with a salad with honey mustard in the middle.

Overall, School Food was a pretty cool place to try the gimbaps. It’s very casual in there, and you find many young diners. I’m guessing that their food is not as traditional, so it’s the perfect place to try modern Korean food.

More info:

http://www.schoolfood.co.kr/

South Korea, Seoul, Jung-gu, Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, 31-1
+82 2-727-3377

The Nags Head – London

May 15, 2014May 13, 2014Leave a comment

My last night in London was bittersweet. It meant leaving Europe after 4 months, but at the same time, I was so excited to see my friends and family again. A must for shopaholics is to visit Oxford Street in London. It’s a street just full of shopping, including my personal favourites – Selfriges and Topshop. Selfriges has huge sales after Boxing Day too!

Since it was my last night, K and E said we might as well get the most out of it. After dropping A and C back at the hotel, we took the Tube back to Covent Garden. Covent Garden is near the Soho area, so there’s a variety of pubs and cafes. It’s also where the huge market and Royal Opera House is located around. We found The Nags Head just a block away from the Tube, so we quickly seated ourselves. We’re not huge drinkers, so K and I just got an Apple Cider which was on tap. Really good and crisp.

K was also in this total British pie mode after trying Pieminister, so she insisted we needed to get another pie. We went for the Chicken & Ham Pie this time, since she was really looking for something along the lines of a chicken pot pie. This came with peas, carrots and gravy. It was also supposed to come with potatoes, but they ran out, so we were given fries instead. The pie was flaky and fully filled with juicy chicken and a delicious sauce. Very good for pub food!

Overall, The Nags Head was a nice bar with average prices and a very convenient location. The interior was all wooden, giving it a traditional British pub feel. Service was average given that at most bars, you need to seat yourself anyways. The bartenders were pretty nice to us even though we weren’t sure what to order and took the time to explain to us. You’ll also find a mix of both locals and tourists here.

And that ends my posts for Europe. I am so grateful for this experience, and am happy to say that I’ve discovered some new cuisines and dishes that I am now craving for. Until next time! Now back to Vancouver we go!

Paramount Afternoon Tea – London

May 14, 2014May 22, 2014Leave a comment

I was only in London for two days, which really isn’t a lot. Everyone stayed an extra day, but I had to make my way back home to Vancouver! So on my last day, we set out to finish all the tourist spots! First was the Buckingham Palace. When we got there, we actually caught these men on the horses. Not exactly sure what the purpose of them were though. I believe it’s something to do with the Queen’s Life Guard.

The Buckingham Palace is the official residence and workplace of the monarchy of the UK. I actually didn’t think the palace was that impressive. After seeing the ones in France, like the Versailles Palace, the one in London really doesn’t seem as luxurious. I was imagining some fancy, magnificent building!

If you look closely, you’ll see the guards in grey. Changing of the Guard happens at 11:30 am daily, but from August to April, it occurs on alternate days. Unfortunately, on the day we were here, it was one of the days which the ceremony was not happening.

We then made our way to Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland is hosted at Hyde Park. It’s basically like a PNE for Vancouver, but at a greater scale. With rides, markets, an ice rink, restaurants, and many other activities. Hyde Park itself is one of the largest parks in London. It’s also a Royal Park!

They also featured a Magical Ice Kingdom, where there were ice sculptures. We found the admission a little pricey, so we skipped it. Regardless, just walking through the park is lots of fun since it’s really festive and entry to walk around is free! I would imagine that at night, the wonderland is even more amazing with the lights on.

If you continue walking through Hyde Park, you’ll end up at Kensington Palace. Do keep in mind that Hyde Park is quite big, so you’ll walk for quite some time, but it’s quite relaxing and a nice stroll. The palace was the residence of the British Royal Family beginning in the 17th century and is now the official residence in London for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and many others. Again, you need to pay for admission to visit the state rooms, but we were not too interested in it. I personally would skip this attraction if I was tight on time.

And then I came upon this window display! Love this picture just because my two favourite British icons are in it – Paddington Bear and Mr. Bean! I used to watch these two on TV as a child!

For the afternoon, we had made reservations for afternoon tea at Paramount, which is situated at the 37th level of the building. You get a 360 degree view of London. Unfortunately, we weren’t seated by the window. That sort of took away our whole experience. Afternoon tea is pretty pricey in London – much more than Vancouver in fact. Around the holidays, most of them are also fully booked, so you need to reserve well in advance! The inside is pretty fancy, sort of like a hotel restaurant setting. It’d probably be smart not to show up in your gym clothes, but it’s still relatively casual where you can wear jeans. Many people were just having a late lunch or a snack with drinks, so their menu is not just solely for afternoon tea.

Earl Grey, Sri Lanka

The afternoon tea set it pretty much set and costs £28, which includes a choice of tea. I find that pretty expensive since we can get afternoon tea for CAN$28! For my choice of tea, I chose the Earl Grey, since I was feeling something more classic. It was a really good Earl Grey, with a Ceylon tea base and a hint of citrus flavour. I found it odd how they didn’t offer me any milk or cream though. The pot is also relatively small, so you don’t get a lot in one brew. I also found it annoying how they didn’t ask if we needed more hot water. We were the ones who had to ask for it, and it took forever to come. I wouldn’t say the service was that great.

Here we have some clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam. Also in the back, we have some brown and white sugar cubes.

This was the bottom layer. All savouries, and also a layer I enjoyed the most. It included Smoked Salmon and White Cheese on Rye Pumpernickel, Dry Cured Ham with Piccalilli on Sour Dough, Free Range Boiled Egg with Grain Mustard, Mayonnaise & Cress on Toasted Brioche, Poached Chicken with Spring Onion Mayonnaise on Multi Gran Loaf, and Quiche of the Day. I enjoyed all of them except for the Quiche of the Day. I believe there was goat cheese in it, and it was too strong for my liking.

The middle layer were the desserts. It included a Baked Cheesecake with Rosemary Infused Blueberry, which was my favourite. It was so light and fluffy! There was also Chocolate Battenberg Cake, a Creme Brulee like dessert with caramel at the bottom, a raspberry cake, and cinnamon donuts.

At the top of the tier were warm Handmade Raisin & Plain Scones. I’m not a huge fan of scones just because I find they’re too dense. You get pretty full from this set, so I could barely finish my scones by the end of the meal.

And this was the afternoon tea set. This tray consisted of two sets.

And here was our table! It was pretty cramped though. They should’ve given us a larger table, knowing that we were here for afternoon tea. I find that their service is just lacking. You don’t really get checked up on unless you wave down your server.

But near the evening, you get a beautiful view of London. It’s a shame we weren’t seated by the window. I had to get up to take this picture. But regardless, I think it’s safe to say that it’s a must to take some time out of your busy travels to relax and have a traditional afternoon tea in London!

London Fish & Chips & Wicked

May 13, 2014May 22, 2014Leave a comment

In the evening, we continued exploring the main tourist spots. We found the famous London Eye, which is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe. You’re supposed to get some pretty spectacular views of the city from the top, but we didn’t feel like paying the price and to wait in line for this attraction.

We headed over to see the Big Ben instead, which I was actually really disappointed about. I have no idea why, but I always thought it would give me some wow factor, but I immediately thought…”really, that’s it?” I guess I had just expected a lot more in terms of details since it’s so talked about in pop culture. Anyways, the tower itself is really known as the Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben actually refers to the bell of the clock. The four-faced chiming clock is the largest in the world. The clock tower as a whole is the third tallest free-standing clock tower in the world.

It began to get dark, but we still made it to the Westminster Abbey. It’s a huge Gothic Church and has traditionally been known to a be a place for coronations and burials. I don’t think we were able to enter the church, but the exterior details were quite impressive. In this area, you’ll also find many important buildings. There is this little map on the street that shows you what each building is.

We walked towards the Trafalgar Square after, which wasn’t a very impressive view at night. We had a Broadway show to catch, so we quickly looked for some food around this area. We found London Fish & Chips on Bedford Street, and since London is supposed to be famous for fish and chips…of course we had to try some! K and I shared the Big Ben, which was battered fish fillet with six tiger shrimps. The shrimps were basically like popcorn shrimp. It also came with some chips, ketchup, tartar sauce, and a drink. The fish was lightly battered, and I thought it wasn’t too bad. I wouldn’t say it was amazing though. Just average and not too oily. I rather go to Pajo’s at Steveston in Vancouver though, since this meal cost around 10 pounds.

We had bought tickets online for a Broadway show prior to arrival. We were watching Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater. Luckily, this was not the Apollo Theater on Shaftesbury Ave, since the ceiling of that theater had literally collapsed just a week before we arrived in London.

Wicked was a pretty cool story. It was funny and whimsical, and although I got confused at the end, I’m sure if you’ve read the book, you would have no problem understanding it. It’s also known as The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz. You’ll get some references about Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz since it’s told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz. You’ll find both adults and kids in the theater since it’s very family friendly.

This was inside the theater. The set up was pretty cool. Even though we didn’t have amazing seats, we were still able to see everything clearly. You can’t really see the facial features of the actors, but other than that, everything is pretty clear. We found the prices in London much more expensive than say in New York, but it was still a great experience!

Pieminister at Borough Market – London

May 12, 2014May 22, 2014Leave a comment

My last stop in Europe was London. It had always been on top of my list, but I hadn’t had time to visit this famous city. We stayed at Travelodge since it was more affordable. Finding accommodation in London is extremely difficult just because they are extremely pricey! Even a hostel can cost you double of what you would pay in the rest f Europe! Immediately, the first thing I noticed was the iconic red telephone booths. I’m not sure if people still use these today, but I just had to get a picture of it! The red double decker buses are also everywhere. Another famous feature are the underground trains. However, I find that they arem’t exactly trustworthy, just because they constantly have construction or there are accidents, meaning you must take a reroute. It also took almost an hour just from the Heathrow airport to the city center.

From there, we just did a lot of walking and wandered towards the Tower of London, also known as Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress. The castle was actually used as a royal residence, but was also used as a prison! When we went, there were huge lineups, but I would assume there are huge lineups at anytime since London is filled with tourists year round. We didn’t have much time, so we did not end up going in. Outside, there is also an outdoor skating rink in place.

The castle actually houses the Crown Jewels too. This is the entrance to the castle. You can see there is already a huge lineup to enter. There are also two lions at the entrance.

From the Tower of London, you’ll also get some beautiful views of London since it’s right by the water. One structure that really caught my eyes was The Shard. It’s a glass pyramidal tower and is the tallest building in the EU! It has 87 floors with 72 being habitable, but it seems that not many people have purchased it due to its high price. I believe there are some restaurants in use currently.

Then we come to the famous Tower Bridge. It’s definitely an icon of London and I even have a 3D model of this structure! It’s a suspension bridge supported by two towers with a higher level walkway at the top. Pretty cool since you can walk on the top there. Contrary to what I had always though, this is not the “London Bridge” that every one talks about. Personally, I think the London Bridge is really not as impressive as the Tower Bridge.

We then made our way towards Borough Market, which was just a 10 minute walk away. Borough Market is a wholesale and retail market and is one of the largest and oldest in London. It carried a wide variety of food and was very international.

We love trying the local food, so first thing we thought of in London were pies! Luckily, at the Borough Market, we found a line up at Pieminister. Props for a cute name too. Anyways, Pieminister makes pies and they show up at various farmers markets as well as selling them at restaurants all over the UK. At the market, they sold both hot and cold pies. Cold pies would be perfect to take home and heat up on your own. Those hot pies on the other hand sell out really quickly! We had wanted to try the Moo pie, but it was already sold out! When you see a new batch coming out, you’ve got to beat that line!

We ended up resorting to the Shamrock, which is a pie filled with tender beef steak and Irish stout. It was super hearty, but so delicious! You could taste that slight hint of beer, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The pie itself was flaky and the crust was thin, so you got a lot of filling! It was perfect on a cold day! Definitely recommend!

Tibidabo and Santa Anna – Barcelona

May 11, 2014May 5, 2014Leave a comment

My last day in Barcelona was a beautiful sunny day (even though it was the end of December). One attraction that many of my friends had visited, but I hadn’t, was the famous Tibidabo. Tibidabo is a mountain that provides a spectacular viewpoint of the city. You can reach the mountain by taking a T2B shuttle bus that departs at Pl. Catalunya. Took roughly less than 30 minutes, and it went around and around and up the hill. Up on the mountain is an amusement park, and most notably, a Catholic Church. This is called the Temple de Sagrat Cor.

The Church is translated to the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It took 60 years to construct it. The interior is rather small, but beautifully decorated with stained glass windows and mosaics. Very colourful and filled with details.

The amusement park is the oldest in Barcelona, and features some pretty cool rides and I would assume you would get some breath-taking views high up on those rides. We didn’t go on any rides, but there are various viewpoints on the mountain and the view is beautiful. I’m so glad I got a chance to come here on my last day as it really wrapped up my 4 months in Barcelona. I cannot wait to be back! It’s like my second home now!

After a relaxing morning up on the mountain, we decided to grab some lunch. I did some searching on Tripadvisor and we ended up at Santa Anna. It was just tucked into one of the streets along La Ramblas. Santa Anna is a place filled with both locals and tourists. They have an awesome lunch menu for 10,70 euros which includes bread, a drink, and a 3 course meal. You will be super full from the meal! It’s also great for tourists since they have an English menu and can converse in English very well.

Lemon Fanta

For the choice of drink, I went for the Lemon Fanta. I was always a fan of Fanta, but it’s not super popular in Vancouver. I swear I drank Fanta the most in Spain, other than Sangria. I couldn’t believe that they gave us a huge bottle of Fanta though. It comes in the glass bottles, but this was one size larger than the usual. I was beyond filled up just by the drink and fizz itself.

Broth Soup with Meat and Vegetables

C got the Broth Soup with Meat and Vegetables. It was filled with corn, meat and pasta. She said it was a nice light soup and wasn’t too salty. For me, it sort of reminded me of chicken noodle soup. You could get semi full just by the soup itself already!

White Rice with Tomato Sauce, Fried Egg, and Fried Banana

K and I got the White Rice with Tomato Sauce, Fried Egg, and Fried Banana as our appetizer. Yup, rice for an appie! Okay, I sort of laughed when I read this on the menu, but I wanted to try it anyway. It’s such a weird combination, but somehow it didn’t taste too bad! The fried banana are basically like banana chips. You get a good amount of tomato sauce on your rice, and then a sunny side up egg. This would make a pretty good breakfast actually!

Salt Cod with Tender Garlic Sauce

For the entree, I got the Salt Cod with Tender Garlic Sauce, which is one of their popular dishes. This was so delicious!! The fish was so tender and moist. It came with some lentil beans, which I wasn’t a big fan of, but the garlic sauce was very light and added a bit of flavour without being too overwhelming.

Grilled Veal Steak with French Fries and Green Peppers

C and E both got the Grilled Veal Steak with French Fries and Green Peppers. I find it odd, but the steak in Barcelona is often cut very thin. Hence, I find that the meat is a lot more tough since it gets overcooked really quickly. They both agreed it was just average.

Roast Pork Chop with Honey and Mustard

K got the Roast Pork Chop with Honey and Mustard. You’ve got to get messy eating this one! A nice honey glaze on the meat, but as usual, the pork chops didn’t have too much meat on them. It also came with some potatoes.

Catalan Creme

For dessert, we wanted the Pineapples with Cream, but they ran out of that. Instead, we got the Catalan Creme, which did not look too appetizing. It was slightly torched so there was a thin layer of caramelized sugar on top. I found it average, and I was too full to finish this.

All in all, Santa Anna has some pretty good deals for lunch. I hear that their regular menu is also really good! Service was also very friendly. And that was it for my stay in Barcelona! I cannot wait to be back! Before returning to Vancouver, we took a trip to London, which will be featured in my next post!

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: Travel