Category Archives: Food

Parking Non

French Canada

We left Vermont on the 25th and headed up to meet another Cayman friend in Montreal.  She was coming from Toronto and we both managed to park our cars on the street on the one specific hour out of the one specific day of the week where parking is prohibited due to street cleaning.  One would say, “What are the chances?” but really, it was inevitable.

After a lovely night of searching up and down Avenue du Mont-Royal E, we feasted at Le Sieur D’Iberville which included, of course, poutine…

Le Sieur D'Iberville poutine

Le Sieur D’Iberville poutine

Not the best, but not the worst we’ve had.  The burgers were okay as well.  A little later that evening, we had cocktails at La Distillerie where I experienced a Flyé coffee on tap… Fermented coffee.  Delicious.

Flyé coffee on tap

Flyé coffee on tap

There were other wonders to behold in old Montreal, mostly food and drink related.

And some not…

Of Michelin Stars & Western Food In Korea

This is fascinating…  A post appeared recently on a Facebook group called Seoul Eats:

Start of a thread on the Seoul Eats Facebook group

Start of a thread on the Seoul Eats Facebook group

The short answer:

Michelin stars quick answer

Michelin stars quick answer

But a more complete answer eventually popped up:

The best answer to the original post.

The best answer to the original post.

And then this excellent observation appeared:

Accurate observation on the fine dining situation in Korea.

Accurate observation on the fine dining situation in Korea.

While we’re not typically in the market for Fine Dining experiences, this one comment is very rateable to almost every aspect of eating in South Korea.

The thread is continuing and is very interesting, not from a Western versus Korean food angle (which it may deteriorate into), but as Chris says, Western food Koreanized.   And that’s a HUGE distinction.

There are oases of food done correctly, and we try to spend the most of our time at those places when we’ve got the craving.  One place we went to recently was Brooklyn – The Burger Joint, where the burgers and chili cheese fries were not over sweetened and tasted just right.

Brooklyn Works Burger @ Brooklyn - The Burger Joint

Brooklyn Works Burger @ Brooklyn – The Burger Joint

There was also this phenomenal pizza place in Gangnam called Brick Oven New York Pizzeria that did a great job on a pesto chicken, feta, and spinach thin crust pie a few weeks ago.

Pesto chicken, feta, and spinach pizza from NYBOP

Pesto chicken, feta, and spinach pizza from NYBOP

We also very much enjoy Korean BBQ, spending one or two nights a week at our ‘local’ down the street.

And we really like some of the Korean street food, like hotteok, tteokbokki, and pretty much everything else on this page.

The problem is that there is Koreanized Western food masquerading as Western food and that, my friends, is quite the shock to more than just the palate; and that is the crux of the issue pointed out by my new friend Chris.

Happy Time Thanksgiving

Giving thanks

This will be my eighth Thanksgiving away from the USA; Jenn’s as well.

We both moved to Cayman in 2006, and don’t think (!) we ever went back “home” for Thanksgiving once we got there.

We’ve always missed our families, albeit in different ways.  I’ve had a few chances to call and Skype during the family meal, but Jenn has worked in a British school system for the last few years where the holiday is not observed, so she’s missed out on those chats during her family’s meal. And my mother has frequently taken a photo of us and placed it on the table for us just like we were there.

This year it’s different.  We’re both having trouble grappling with this holiday this year.  Not that we don’t have a lot to be thankful for, but unfortunately we’ve all too aware of what we’re lacking versus what we have.  Which is not really the point of the holiday; and that makes me feel a little more weird…

Like maybe I should snap out of it and be freakin’ happy to be alive and healthy and have a wonderful wife and dog and cat and roof over my head and warm clothes to wear and food to eat… and that there are people out there who don’t have any of that.

But… it’s all relative.  And the fact is that I don’t think we’ve ever felt more alone for Thanksgiving then we do this year.

Away from the family home is one thing…  away from family itself is another… and away from the people who were our adopted family is just plain brutal.

We’re going to a brewpub for Thanksgiving this year.  I’m sure it’ll be nice, but it won’t be Copper Falls in Cayman for the third year with friends we’ve had for over four years, and it won’t be our place in Mystic Retreat where we hosted American Thanksgiving the year before that (where I cooked the turkey accidentally upside down), where even though I’d just been ousted from a job, I was surrounded by loved ones… but really, it certainly won’t be home.

Unlimited Veuve Cliquot is a fantastic thing.

Bubbly Brunch Birthdays

It was that time of year again… when Jennifer and I celebrate our birthdays.  This year was especially tough in that our old friends and family are halfway around the world.   Not that the friends were are making here in Korea aren’t real friends, they’re just new friends… and the process of building meaningful memories takes time.  Add to that that we’ve discovered that we are sharerers.  We do enjoy celebrating (just the two of us) but we really enjoy sharing with a group of friends.

We decided to buck up and head out and make the most of the weekend.

Friday we met up with Nicole & Pat and a few of their friends at Ttukseom Hangang Resort, which was great fun…

Ttukseom Hangag Resort, Seoul.  Panorama

Ttukseom Hangag Resort, Seoul. Panorama

Saturday morning, I started to get an ear infection which was a bit of a hiccup, but we soldiered on and eventually made it to Craftworks Taphouse in Pangyo.  They have an Itaewon branch (natch), but this one was far closer and since my baby loves her some beer, we made it happen.

The best way to share these shots is from Evernote Food, so hit this here and check it out.

Next up… Sunday Bubbly Brunch Day.  We decide to treat ourselves to arguably the best posh hotel brunch in Seoul: Kitchen Restaurant in the W Hotel Walkerhill.  Aside from it being way too short time wise (two seatings, 11am & 1:30pm – and you can’t stick around), the food and experience here is fantastic.  Top notch.  Add to that one of our dear friends in Cayman arranged for this:

Kitchen Restaurant, Seoul complete with view of the Han River and birthday flowers & cake.

Kitchen Restaurant, Seoul complete with view of the Han River and birthday flowers & cake.

Absolutely an amazing gesture and one that we’ll never, ever forget.  It literally brought us to tears.  And it wasn’t because of this:

Unlimited Veuve Clciquot is a fantastic thing.

Unlimited Veuve Clicquot is a fantastic thing.

Well, maybe a little.

The rest of the brunch can be viewed here.

Meal Top Patbingsu

Patbingsu and Pocari Sweat

Having arrived in the RoK in summertime, there were adverts all over the place for patbingsu, which according to Wikipedia is a popular dessert comprised of ice shavings and sweetened azuki beans (known as pat).

In our research (well my research – I’ve had some time on my hands), we discovered that according to CNN, the best patbingsu was at Meal Top in the Hyundai Department Store in Apgujeong.

Investigation ensued.

Coffee Patbingsu @ Meal Top

Coffee Patbingsu @ Meal Top

And compared to the one at another place, it was delicious.

Patbingsu @ Meal Top - DONE!

Patbingsu @ Meal Top – DONE!

We had a terrific rest of the day including this Pocari Sweat moment:

Pocari Sweat

Pocari Sweat

We did catch up with Pat & Nicole for a shmy around Dapsimni, finding a very cool hanbok and some bbq.

But the highlight of the day was not my milkshake at Butterfingers, but it had to be Jenn’s excitement at finding Rooney’s new outfit on the streets of Gangnam:

Rooney new Paul Frank outfit.

Rooney new Paul Frank outfit.

And then it was time to head back.

Catchin' the bus, headin' home.

Catchin’ the bus, headin’ home.

I may have an exciting announcement about my work situation shortly.

 

 

Samurai Octopus

Random streetmeat

Please forgive me.

In an effort to not overshare, I’ve posted a few pics here and there and sometimes I forget that the here is not the there and they haven’t gone where I want them to.

So now, I present to you some Random Streetmeat.

Ice, ice, baby

The Cheat Day that almost wasn’t

As you know, Sundays are important to me.

Not just because it’s Cheat Day, but back in Cayman it used to be Brunch With Friends Day.  (Which is why it was my Cheat Day vs Saturdays like most other people on the Four Hour Body protocol — they call it Faturday.)

Brunch With Friends Day is not to be confused with Words With Friends, although for some there is a competitive angle (I’m looking at you, Elle).

I’ve tried to do a similar thing here in Korea but it’s been slow getting off the ground.  Not because of anything specific, but seven years of brunching the way we did in Cayman is a tough habit to break.  Jenn & I have a list of the places that we want to check out that allegedly do a brunch we can be fond of and we’ve made some progress.  Butterfinger Pancakes is running slightly hotter than Suji’s at this point.

This past Sunday we were invited over to a neighbor’s place for a in-house potluck brunch.  Jenn had made an egg casserole, and the hostess was making French Toast.  Just as more people were arriving, I felt a slight itch in my right eye, and excused myself to grab something from our apartment.  When I walked in, I went to the sink, washed my hands and then rinsed out my eye.  Or at least I thought I did.

Check out what happened next.  Note the time stamps…

Crazy, right?

At first I thought I had an allergic reaction to something in the neighbor’s apartment, and I took two antihistamines to stop the swelling and then three ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation.

And then I did what any other grown up does in this situation: I called my mommy.

We spoke for a little while, during which time I put an ice pack on my face and waited.

Ice, ice, baby

Ice, ice, baby

As I inspected the eye again, I noticed a little white particle in there and with the way it was reacting I thought that maybe, just maybe, something else had happened instead of an allergic reaction.

I went to the sink, turned the hose upside down and rinsed what I thought could have been soap out of my eyeball.

The swelling started to go down and after a little while resting, I ventured out for some Visine.  Of course they don’t have Visine in Korea but they did have this:

Korean Visine

Korean Visine

And after squeezing five or six drops into the eyeball, it looked like this:

2013-09-01-12.35.29

2013-09-01-12.35.29

Crisis averted.

And since it was Cheat Day, I rewarded myself thusly:

Baskin Robbins Quarterback Crunch

Baskin Robbins Quarterback Crunch

After another hour or so of R&R, Jenn and I decided to make the most out of the rest of the day.

I started with some of this:

Finally got to enjoy these Pain au Levain lovely cookies, Madelines, and cupcakes.

Finally got to enjoy these Pain au Levain lovely cookies, Madelines, and cupcakes.

We then joined up with that neighbor for a trip out to find the I Love Cookie (foreign food mart) closer to us in Suji-gu (which was closed) and something called CostCo Seconds, which is a storefront that sells returned merch from the wholesaler.  After parting ways at the Lotte Department Store in Suji-gu, Jenn & I walked to Jukjeon to the Shinsegae Department Store for some food.

And of course after scarfing our spicy veggies, noodles, and chicken, we perused the grocery store and food court area.

We cabbed home and called it a night…

This weekend is still up in the air but Friday is looking like an Itaewon kinda day/eve.

G-Style

Suji’s, Gangnam, & Random Weirdness

Today was a great day.

Despite a couple of early hiccups (including one on the Cheat Day maintenance front), Jenn & I had a lovely day exploring and eating thru Itaewon and Gangnam. Okay, I did most of the eating, but we had a lovely time.

We kicked it off on the 5500 as usual and checked another ‘brunch’ place off our list in Suji’s Restaurant & Bar in Itaewon.

Jenn had the highly recommended Jack & Jill and I had the Lumberjack (food porn here).  The atmosphere was cozy and we had lovely seats at the facing-out bar overlooking the intersection below.  As we got sorted out to leave, the canned dining soundtrack (which included Nina Simone and Frank Sinatra) played our wedding song by Etta James.  Yeah, it’s a cliche but bugger off; it was a not-so-subtle reminder and a good omen for the day to come.

We walked down the street when Jenn noticed that there was a humane society type yard sale happening on the opposite side of the street.  She’s got this sense about those kind of things.

Jenn spies a yard sale to benefit a humane society

Jenn spies a yard sale to benefit a humane society

A quick stop at the previously mentioned High Street Market for a couple of items and about 10 minutes after that yielded the photos presented below.  Make of it what you wish.

After a subway ride to Gangnam, going through the crowd at the underground shopping mall (mobbed, btw), exiting at Gate (Station exit) 11, and on our way to an ‘art installation’ which I’ll get to in a moment, we had the second of two very strange animal encounters in three days.

Flashback to Friday night.

We’re walking from Paragon Apartments in Jeongja to a bar with a bunch of teachers from the school when I spy a fluffy white dog being walked by two guys down the street ahead of me.  I increase my pace and stop and say, “Excuse me… Samoyed?” And they reply, “Yes.”

Angel, our Samoyed.

Angel, our Samoyed.

Jenn and I had a Samoyed named Angel for about 14 years.  We got her when she was a puppy and we took her to Cayman where she eventually passed away.  We missed her terribly and finally had the courage to get another dog three years ago.  Jenn sees me and the male Sammy (named Beckham) and runs over to say hi.  When I say that looking into this animals eyes was like looking into the past I realize that it sounds weird, but I swear it was true.

Back to today.

On our way to pay homage to Psy, I see another Samoyed.  This one is female and is being walked by a Korean woman.  I am floored.  I ask her, “Samoyed?”  he English isn’t as good and we don’t have as long an interaction, but she says, “Yes.”  I bend down and the dog looks at me with those deep, dark eyes and that Sammy smile and I’m in shock.  Jenn walks up and I start to show the girl the picture of Angel and just then the dog jumps up on her hind legs onto Jenn just like Angel used to.

It’s gotta mean something, right? Crazy that I didn’t even think to snap photos in either situation.

We finally got the photo Jenn was hankering for…

Photo oppum in Psy's dong.

Photo oppum in Psy’s dong.

Right after that, as we were perusing where to go next, a Korean guy with perfect English asks if we’re lost and are looking for something specific.  We reply not really, we were just looking to get a feel for the neighborhood (aka ‘dong’), but thanks so much.  Twenty minutes later, we’re talking about synchronicity to Nick in an Angel-In-Us Coffee shop off the main drag in Gangnam.  Nick’s an American-Korean (born in America, of Korean heritage), schooled in Vancouver, and on a sabbatical.  A chance encounter halfway around the world that makes you believe in fate and the fact that everyone is more alike than different.  Nick’s a good kid.  I think before he heads back to the west coast of North America, we’ll be seeing him again.  I’ll be taking some of his suggestions on where to go and what to do, but Jenn will probably skip the one about eating live octopus.

We said goodbye to Nick, and as Jenn shopped in a nearby Body Shop, I made a quick stop in a Butterfinger Pancakes (which happened to be around the corner) for a second Butterfinger Blast in as many weeks. (#DuhWinning!)

For the record, this guy is right: These are the best milkshakes I’ve ever had, and baby, I’ve had a few.

Finally, after a stop for a NY Chocolate Cheesecake and a double chocolate somethingorother (along with an original for later for Jenn) in a Krispy Kreme, it was time to head back home.

But not before one more treat for the road…

Seriously, New York Fries? This mozzarella/gravy concoction should be called "Faux-tine"

Seriously, New York Fries? This mozzarella/gravy concoction should be called “Faux-tine”

And that’s it.  Lovely Sunday.  So long Cheat Day and thanks for all the indigestion!

Psying in the Gangnam subway station...

Psying in the Gangnam subway station…

 

 

 

Inside Tous Les Jours

Of eating healthy…

I kinda fell off the 4HB wagon today and I’m not proud of it.  But it’s okay.

There’s a little something called a Hangul language barrier that goes hand-in-hand with a fried chicken and beer barrier which is a little farther down the road from a carbohydrate goodness barrier that has been erected all over Korea.

It took every ounce of self control I had not to gobble all the carbohydrate goodness that has been presented in front of me since moving to the RoK from the Rock.

There are an abundance of coffee bars on not just every main street, side street, and alleyway, but they are sometimes hiding on the second and third floors of what look like office buildings.

And in addition to having the life saving nectar of caffeinated ambrosia, they all have pastry.

Not just any pastry, but what looks like the most delicious of deliciousness.

This might come from Starbucks where they have the cookies and pieces of cake and brownies to accompany your soy chai latte or half-caf almond milk iced cappuccino.

In addition to the mermaid, there are Paris Baguette shops, Tous Les Jours shops, Dunkin Donut shops, Baskin-Robbins shops and other stands and sweet-selling and sweet-smelling shops all over the place.

All of the places below are within spitting distance of each other…

There is more pastry and sweet here in the RoK than I could possibly imagine. It’s everywhere. And it all looks so damn good.

At dinner earlier tonight with four other teachers, we hit the FryPan Restaurant in Sunae.  They serve fried chicken tenders and potato chips and a salad covered in sugary dressing.  I was going to pass on eating b/c I had my usual 4HB breakfast of (homemade) egg whites, spinach and black beans for breakfast, and a spinach salad with black beans and chicken for lunch and knew that I shouldn’t have the fried chicken tenders for dinner.  But something switched inside of me and the hunger got too much.  Poor planning on my part.

So we decided to make the most of it and have a dessert called a patbingsu.  Ashlea and Natasha had one last week at Paris Baguette with tons of fruit in them, but you know how anti-fruit Jenn and I are, so we had one at Tous Les Jours of the green tea variety.

Ashlea & Natasha and their fruity potbingsus.

Ashlea & Natasha and their fruity patbingsus.

Potbingsu at Tous Les Jours

Patbingsu at Tous Les Jours

Then it was cookie time.

I’m down to my lowest weight ever as an adult and I think I’m gonna cut myself a little slack…