Passion 5, patisserie/dessert, Seoul,

Passion 5 is a highend cafe/patisserie/chocolatier bundled up together under one roof created by SPC, a Korean food and beverage giant. SPC has Paris Croissant, Paris Baguette, etc which are chain bread shop. You can easily find those shops all over Korea. With trend towards upmarket cafes and restaurants in full swing, SPC opened a luxusious dessert cafe called Passion 5 in Itaewon. Photograpy inside the building is strictly forbidden unless taking pics of your own food, so I took a pic outside. It is a 5 storey building I think, with Passion 5 on the ground floor and the rest is occupied by SPC HQ. Passion 5 is divided into cafe, bread, chocolate/jam and cake section.

I like their bread in general because it tries to be authentic.

But I had cake and custard pudding for dessert. With my brother.

Chocolate chestnut crepe cake...

chocolate sponge layered with custard, chestnut, chocolate crepe and this distinctive something. Tastes very familiar but I just can't remember what.

My verdict...not bad but not nice either. I would have prefered 100% crepe cake without sponge in the middle.

Crème brûlée...

crème part in the clay pot is made ready to be torched.

Crème part was not bad but the sugar layer was tooooo thick.

Milk custard pudding...

It comes in a glass pot. Very smooth, not very thick. I liked it.


Coffee was horrible.

You can order and pay for cake, etc at the till in each section and have them in the cafe. You don't have to order drinks.

I had some chocolate take away since they seemed to be proud of it.

Chocolates are packed with cooling pack to stop chocolates go soft.

From left to right, green tea, black tea, rose and basil.

Green tea. The shell was thin and crisp. The filling had green tea flavour but I would have liked it stronger.

Black tea. Very weak tea flavour.

Rose truffle...I don't understand why this is called rose except the look of it. It tastes more berry than rose.

basil...very weak basil.Why do you call it basil when I can hardly taste it?

Choc+basil is a nice combo but I would like more basil flavour.

mini croissants from Passion 5...

one above is anchovie (can you see it in the middle? the brown bit?)

and below is chorizo.

Both of them were quite nice because they have salty filling which goes very well with sweetness of glaze on croissant.

Passion 5

Yongsan-gu Hannam-Dong 72-74

Telephone: 02-2071-9505

7:30-21:00

Nearest tube station: Hangang-jin, line 6

패션5 (passion 5)
주소 : 서울시 용산구 한남동 729-74 1F
전화번호 : 02-2071-9505
오픈시간 : 오전 7시30분~오후 9시
찾아가는 길 : 한강진역 근처, 리움 건너편

La Brasserie (Hong Kong)

Name of Restaurant: La Brasserie
Address: Omni Marco Polo Hotel, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀廣東道17號海港城港威酒店大堂下層)
Telephone: +852 2113 7925

After reviewing the comments from fellow openrice members (http://www.openrice.com/), I’ve decided I’d give the “all you can eat” menu at La Brasserie a try!! Well, that’s not entirely the truth though, I was actually told that I should book buffet dinner to celebrate my birthday. (Yeah, may I stress, MY BIRTHDAY!! MINE~~~) So my first choice was at Marriot Café at JW Marriot Hotel (Admiralty) and second choice was Yamm at the recently revamp The Mira (formerly known as the Miramar Hotel at Tsim Sha Tsui). However, when I called up to make my booking respectively at the very beginning of September, I was told by Marriot their books are full up until the last week of September so I have a choice of dates like 27th, 28th, 29th or 30th (basically just not the dates I'd like)…as for Yamm, it was even more shockingly ridiculous, books are up to 08th October. Thus, I have no choice but to search for else where and without much idea, I went on Openrice to do some research.

One the day, we went there as a crew of 6 people, the more the merrier when it comes to “all you can eat”. This is because you can try out more dishes in one go, and then reordering ones that you like!

Three of us have decided to add $80 for “all you can drink” house white (by the way it was $50 just over a month ago!). I didn’t take notice of what wine it was, I just took a sip of it. It is on the acidic side, the coloring is light golden, light body and slightly oaky spiced. Mind you I’m not an expert in wine~ I personally prefer fruity, sweeter wine like Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Gris. But then again, such option of offer is better than not having it, if you just want some alcohol to down your food with.

Our waiter of the day was called Terrence, who was helpful, friendly and hospitable. He explained how the menu works and how we should order and recommended as with Appetizers, Main Course and Dessert of his choice.

Bread Basket with butter and Corned Beef Spread

Appetizers Menu

1st off, Terrence recommended “Two Scallop in Lobster Sauce” as appetizers, so we ended up ordering one portion of every single appetizers from the menu (except for the whelk) and ordered one Scallop and Duck Foie Gras each.

To me, taste and textured of the scallop was good (not exceptional or incredible nor is it remarkable!), but a few of as had seconds of this appetizers, not me though.
The pan seared duck foie gras was beautifully done, crispy on the outside and tender inside…but it had a slight bitter taste to it which had somewhat spoilt the dish.

Other appetizers:
Cured Salmon and Honey Mustard Dressing: It has three slices of salmon on a bed of green salad. It was passable and ordinary thus I’m unable to come up with much comment for it (sorry!).

Beef Tartar and Condiment: the flavour was plain but not beautifully done. Personally I like mine to have more flavour like Worchester sauce and mustard and with capers, raw onion and the extra sogginess of an egg yolk…mmm…dreamy! But that was nothing close to what I like. Probably other people would like just like eating blend tasting minced beef…but not me.

Niçoise Salad with Tuna: the tuna was thick cut pan seared, which looked very pretty. Again, the taste was acceptable but not remarkable.

Six Snails in Garlic Butter: A mellow buttery sauce with snails fullstop.

Tuna Tartar and Parmesan Crisps: This was better than the beef tartar as it had more vinegary taste to it.
Crab salad with Aioli Sauce: This salad was moist, refreshing and went nicely with bread or on its own. It was one of the appetizer that I would reorder (but didn’t).

(Scallop with Lobster Sauce; Duck Foie Gras w/Fig Chutney; Snails in Butter Sauce )

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Soup:

Soup Menu

I’ve only ordered Onion Soup and Lobster Bisque. The onion soup was interesting looking because I was expecting the bread to be soaked in the soup then topped with cheese and baked or grilled to melt and brown off the cheese. But have you noticed how the cheese was melted on the bread and soaked in the soup and looked like the work of muddle! Well, as for the taste of it, the soup wasn’t hot enough and 75-80% of it was onion. The taste of it was acceptable but I was disappointed with it was served and look of the work of perfunctory. Then the lobster bisque, thankfully it wasn’t as big of a letdown as the onion soup. The flavour was acceptable, slight taste of sherry but the consistence was slightly on the watery side.

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As for the Main Course, I’ve tried the following:

Main Course Menu

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Onion Gravy: This was deliciously done and the meat was pink and tender in the middle. There wasn’t enough gravy served but the potato was infused with savory flavor of herbs and butter! This was a delightful dish to have indeed.

Braised Beef Cheek in Red Wine Sauce: The stew was thick, warming with strong palate. I actually thought it tasted similar to “beef goulash”. The aromatic and succulent meat was simply luscious.

Pan Seared Cod Fish with Lemon / Capers Butter Sauce: The cod was supple, buttery it was nice however, the sauce could have been improved by adding up some lemon zest and more lemon juice to give it more body and character.

Sautéed Shrimp in Garlic Butter: Another boring dish which was nice but average! (I’m starting to sound like Simon Cowell, “you are a sweet girl with an average voice! Unfortunately I don’t see you as a pop star material and the next American pop idol.” – if you know what I mean!). All the sauce and taste of all dishes was just getting a bit repetitive.

Seafood Bouillabaise: It tasted like lobster bisque with more salt and some seafood and a dash of cream then stirred.

Sautéed Mussels in White Wine Sauce: This hard an overwhelming fishy taste to it and the sauce was more like flour with butter and milk then a creamy white wine sauce.

(Beef Tenderloin; Braised Beef Cheek; Lamp chop; Cod in Lemon / Caper butter sauce; Shrimp in Garlic Butter; Seafood Bouillabaise)

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Desserts:

Desserts Menu

We ordered one dish of everything except “Rhum baba with Fruits” which wasn’t recommended by our waiter. He was very shrewd when we asked him for his recommendations by replying: “I think everything is worth trying from the menu, however, I didn’t like Rhum baba with fruits because…”. Ha~ diplomatica approach (and sly), so he wouldn't have to slag of anything!

We were all very excited when this large tray filled with miniutre desserts was set upon us! But the truth is, I really can’t remember much of anything. I felt the most disappointing part of the dinner was the dessert. Nothing there I’d like to order again and my thought was shared by everyone that attended the dinner.

Wonderfully looking...sorry abt the taste

After this experience, I think “all you can eat” is more fun way of dinning than the usual buffet! The quality of food is better or as good as most hotel's buffet (obviously not comparable to Marriot & Yamm). Morever, I didn’t get any indigestion or enterogastritis after this meal!! For "all you can eat", everyone at the table get to interact with each other as we were busy chit chatting which dish they are going to order, what do you think of the dish you’ve tried, was it worth ordering, who would share what with whom, etc. But with buffets usually a couple of people would go to pick up food and while the other would wait at the table. However, I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant for couples because you won’t be able to try out many dishes. Conversely, if you are in a group of 3 – 6 people, you can try out more dishes on the menu. In a way you can spread out the risk even if you’ve ordered something that doesn’t match your taste, you can always share it with your mates! Haha~~ Due to the settings and location of the restaurant, I don’t think it’d be suitable for overly large group; after all, it is at a hotel! I felt the quality of the food does live up to most 4* hotel’s buffet. The great thing is that even if the portion of each serving is small, you can order repetitively (given you have the appetite).

The dinner is $389 / head + 10% service charge which comes round to $438 / head (£29).

N.B. La Brasserie also offers a normal menu which portion are larger in size, of better quality and of course more pricey!

Coffeest, coffee and sandwich, Seoul

Every Sunday morning, I drag myself out of bed to go to excercise in a park in GwangHwaMoon.

I do Kichunmoon, a form of Korean martial art. I just started, so it is very painful and boring at times, but I feel very good afterwards. So I make myself go there and not miss lessons, although I think of million reasons to skip class before I go there. Even during the 5-mins walk from the gate of the Palace to the park. To make my Sunday morning more pleasant, I sometimes reward myself with a lunch at Coffeest, a cafe serving quality coffee. (But I may have to find somewhere else soon. You will know why when you read my review.)

The place looks a mess, but a coordinated mess. The wooden shelves are lined with tins, from Fauchon tins to Altoids boxes, and coffee grinder and pots. A genious way of decorating a cafe at a very low price.

The next two pictures are from a few weeks ago when I visited the cafe for the first time.

I ordered iced Dutch coffee and chicken curry panini.

The Dutch coffee is prepared over 9 hours in special cylinders by dropping water literally drop by drop. I saw it on the menu else where too, but it usually cost twice as much as usual lattes, so I never tried. But then when I was told that it is low on caffeine, I ordered it immediately.

I am not a coffee connossieur -or of anything- but it was a very nice glass of coffee.

Very smooth.

Chicken curry panini...

Grilled chicken breasts are smothered in curry sauce, sandwiched between wheat bread with green pepper, tomatoe and lettuce. Oooh, and mozzarella cheese. I was told that panini was great, but it is not. It is just very very plain panini. Green peppers would have been better if they were grilled or roasted before hand because it was just strange to find raw green peppers. I don't mind eating it to have lunch there, but really, don't bother.

Despite non-descript panini, I went back there today for lunch, because it was sunny, and I wanted nice coffee. Plus, I wanted to read comics on food -Coffeest has a good selection of comics on food, and a bit of books on travel, coffee, running cafe, etc.

(Walnut cookies are not too buttery or sugary. Slightly chewy. I liked them.)

I ordered Dutch iced latte, homemade walnut cookies (I had three with my coffee and took home the rest) and ham and cheese panini.
Curried chicken panini was unavailable today, so I ordered ham and cheese.

I had no choice because only two panini are available.
I was very scared to order ham and cheese panini, because, many panini in Korea are made of Korean ham which I hate. I was relieved that the one I had did not come with that variety. Dijon seed mustard was spread on the bread, green pepper, tomatoes, ham and mozzarella cheese...

Not as bad as I expected, but still boring.

But coffee...I just loved it.

You can get a refill to any coffee you order.

I recommed coffees only. Or walnut cookies. This place is known for drip coffees not espresso-based drinks, so make note of that.

Ah...the service. I wonder whether I should go back or not.

There are 3 ladies working there. They probably own the place. Three sisters or friends...

I find the service generally not bad but I find one of the ladies could do well without sour expression on her face.

When this pariticular lady brought cookies to my table, I said

"ooh...I would not have minded having them in the plastic bag -they were originally packed in a plastic bag-"

This lady then made this face...she frowned very very briefly, and said

"I will put them in a plastic bag before you leave."

OK, maybe I could have mentioned it before, or she could have asked me before. This was due to lack of communication which could happen anytime. But why frown? Or was I seeing things?

Since then, I decided to observe her. She always has stern look on her face. Having criticised her, I have this stern expression on my face, too. But when I talk to my customers, I may not smile beautifully, but I will definitely not frown. Maybe she made bag impression on me that I felt she was frowning.

She makes people uncomfortable. I don't know what her stories/issues are...sigh...

My advice for this lady...stay behind the counter and make coffee and leave the rest to others.

Mind you though...I read blogs on Coffeest, and a lot of them said that the ladies there are very friendly. Maybe this particular lady was having a bad day? I really hope she was. I just love reading books there when the weather is good.

I took the liberty of adding Coffeest on the map to the Sungkok Art Museum from their website. (http://www.sungkokmuseum.com/)

Currently, Chuck Close is on. It is worth a visit.

Panini: around 6-7000KRW(£3-£3.50)
Dutch Iced lattee: 6000KRW (£3)
Walnut cookies: 3000KRW fora bag of six. (£1.50)