Le Petit Four serves macaroons and cakes/dessert. (The name of the shop sounds not so original but I am not complaining) The chef is said to have trained at Paul Bocuse in France and worked under Alain Ducasse. I had tea and coffee at the store and brought macaroons back.
Chocolate popping pie (?)
A layer of hazelnut brownie, marshmallow, mousse, crispy chocolate biscuit coated in thick chocolate. If I weren't so full, I would have finished the whole thing. It can be eaten like a lolipop.
Petit gateau au kaka, a.k.a. s**t cake.
The base is hazelnut cake layered with pineapple compote and then covered with whipped cream. The chef uses special cream, which is thicker but less fattening. I don't know how that works, but anyways, it tastes like whipped fromage blanc. It was very nice.
I don't remember what is called, but basically, it is fondant au chocolat, but not too sweet. It has runny centre.
Macaroons...
I don't think I like macarrons any more. They are pretty to look at, but too sweet for me.
But still, the macarrons at Le Petit Four was nice.
Banana and chocolate macaroon, vanilla macaroon.
I liked the chcolate ganache in B/C macaroon, but I did not like banana macarron part. But that is because I am not a fan of banana.
Vanilla macaroon was nice and chewy.
I am not sure what flavour is the macarron on top, but I smelled rum in the frosting.
Pink one is vitamin mixer, green is pistachio and the bottom one is coconut. They were all nice. Probably the best one I tried in Korea.
Cakes are priced somewhere between 2500KRW to 4500KRW.
Macaroon is 1800KRW each.
Americano: 2500KRW. A bargain!
The portion is small but the quality was very good, which is perfect for me.
Le Petit Four
Tel: 02 322 2669
Mon~Thu:10am-11pm
Fri~Sat: 10am-12am
Tube: Line 2 Hongdae station, exit 5. Walk towards the main gate of Hongdae university. On your left, there is a shopping arcade called Purugio. The shop is on the second floor.
Waiters were very friendly.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Le Petit Four, dessert, Seoul
Posted by Banya at 22:31 1 comments
Labels: cheap coffee, french dessert, Hongdae, macaroons, Seoul
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Goongyeon, hanjeongsik / (Korean Table d'hote)
Hanjeongsik (한정식, 韓定食) refers to a full-course Korean meal where various dishes are served in series rather than all at once which is more traditional style. Serving style may seem westernized, but the food is usually still very authentic.
Yesterday, my family and relatives (over 60 people!) gathered at Goongyeon to celebrate the wedding of my cousin who got married in New York in August. Since my cousin and her doting husband are both ABK, a restaurant that serves elegant Korean was chosen. Goongyeon is run by mother and daughters who work very hard to pass on the heritage of authentic Korean food. The mother (Ms Hwang) learned how to cook royal meal from a court cook. They have opened a few restaurants and Goongyeon serves food that was served to the kings of Korea. You may have watched/seen a very popular Korean TV series called Dae-Jang-Geum (대장금, 大長今). Ms Hwang and her daugthers were consulted for all the scenes that involve food and the heroine herself learned how to cook here.
You may think of Korean food as spicy, garlicky, red food, but those dishes are generally considered to be not so elegant. The style of cooking used in royal court or aristocrats houses favour less of chili powder and heavy seasoning, but try to bring out the best of each ingredients.
I don't use much seasoning at home, but Goongyeon uses much less. So some people may find it bland. But once you are used to it, you feel a lot better after a meal.
Individual table setting.
Next to the tea is sweet mustard sauce and sour soy sauce for dipping.
Cute brass spoon (for porridge) and chopsticks.
Tang-pyeong-chae
Jelly made of mungbean starch is sliced thinly to be mized with various toppings, and in this case, beef, yellow bean sprouts (not mungbean sprouts), shitake mushroom, dropwort, bit of egg, seaweed in light soy sauce.
Usually, people put too much sesame oil in it, but this case, it was very light. I am not even sure there is any in it.
This is how it was presented....
and this is what it looks like after mixing.
Milsam (my favourite Korean appetizer) and Eo-seon (hmm...kind of fish pâté)
Milsam is a pancake roll filled with thinly sliced vegetables and meat (or without meat). Filling is cooked but still retains crunchiness which is a nice contrast to soft pancake. You dip it in mustard sauce.
Eo-seon...I had a better one. It smelled of soil. Texture was horrible. I don't want to think about it.
Seafood salad in sweet mustard dressing...sweet I said, but still a sinuses-cleansing mustard. Seashell, squid, prawn were used along with flat matchsticks of perssimon, cucumber, sliced raw chestnut, pomegrante.
Sweet pumpkin porridge to calm your toungue afterwards.
Trio of chili paste pancake, seaweed fulvescens pancake and fish and squid pancake. Fish and squid pancake again smelled of soil. Yuk.
Grilled fish. I forgot what fish it is.
The last course before dessert. Rice, sea mustard soup with green perila seeds (rich but delicious!), kimchi, pickled perssimon, water kimchi, 3 types of namul (nicely done) and some seaseond root.
Bulgogi
Dessert
Rainbow ddeok, ssalganjeong (in pink) and clementine
O-mija tea to finish.
Posted by Banya at 17:03 1 comments
Labels: Hanjeonsik, Seoul
Friday, 31 October 2008
Mashin-neun Jip Miga, home-cooked food, Seoul
We had Miga Sangcharim on the left, and more simple Miga Jeomsim is available during lunch.
More menu available...I would like to try stir-fried pork in sweet chili sauce in the future. If you want simple meal, you can choose from noodle soup, dumpling and rice cake soup or noodle mixed in sauce.
It is a very simple restaurant, nothing fancy. However, a lot of attention has been put to make simple yet hearty meal, and that defintely makes a huge difference. I would definitely go back after watching a movie. Poor excuse for pasta can easily cost more than 12,000KRW (around £5-6), but for 6000KRW, you get a hot meal that is a lot healthier. I was told that they have regulars who come back. I wish it was near where I work. I would know where to go to if I want MSG-free meal.
Unfortunately, it is not very eas to get to. But not an impossible task either. Refer to the map and pics.
맛있는 집 味家
Tel)2269-8492
충무로역 1번출구로 나와 대한극장/행복예식장 직진.
LG Telecom 골목으로 들어가 왼쪽으로 보이는 좁은 골목으로 10m 직진.
Mashin-neun Jip Miga
Tel)2269-8492Chungmuro Station (Line 3/4) Exit 1
Walk past Daehan Cinema and Hangbok Weeding Hall.
When you see LG Telecom, turn right and take the alley.
As soon as you walk into the alley, you will see another very small alley. Take that alley and walk for 10 m. The restaurant in on your left.
Posted by Banya at 07:34 3 comments
Labels: baekban, Chungmuro, home-cooked food, Seoul
Sunday, 7 September 2008
Toetmaru, Seoul
Posted by Banya at 19:09 0 comments
Labels: bingsu, Insadong, mungbean pancake, nokdujeon, Seoul, soybean paste stew, spicy pork
A working girl's lunch, Seoul
Posted by Banya at 18:58 0 comments
A working girl's breakfast, Seoul
They don't serve the best sandwiches, but I go there if I want to pretend that I am elsewhere.
New York Doughnut Plant
http://www.doughnutplant.co.kr/
opposite Lotte Department Store in Myungdong
명동롯데 맞은편
Au Bon Pain
http://www.abpkorea.com/
Location (in Korean)
http://www.abpkorea.com/about/contact.htm
시청광장 옆 프레지던트호텔 옆건물
Next to President Hotel next to City Hall
Posted by Banya at 18:49 0 comments