Toetmaru, Seoul

When I was little, I did not eat doen-jang, or Korean soy bean paste at all.

I did not like the look of it and it smelled. But you know, as you grow older, your tastebud changes, and you feel good when you eat certain things. Doen-jang is one of them. It still looks the same and smell the same, but now I know the health benefit of it, and I get craving for it when I am not feeling that great.

Toetmaru is the place I go to when I get craving, and when I cannot take Western food. It serves very rustic Korean food, and is known for doenjang bibimbap.

Dried pollock soup with egg drops served complimentary with any dish.

Can you see tofu in gang-doenjang?

*Gang-doenjang is a thicker version of doenjang jjigae, or soybean paste stew.

What you do is...you put chopped fresh veggies on your rice, and put a lade or two of thick gangdoenjang....

and mix!

The restaurant serves nice yeolmu kimchi (young radish kimchi, predominantly made of stalks)

Nokdu Jeon

(mung bean pancake)

Crispy crust and tender centre....

Ahmtoeji bokkeum

(stir-fried female pig in sweet chili sauce)

Slightly fatty and fabulous!

Lunch like this definitely calls for coffee and something sweet to cleanse the palate. So off I went to Coffe and Waffle (I think it is the name of the place. I still have not figured out.) for coffee and bingsu (shaved ice with variuos toppings)

We (moi+ a couple of friends) ordered nokcha pat bingsu (green tea bingsu with red bean) and plain pat bingsu (plain red bean bingsu). Ice flakes are shaved very fine which was a plus, and homemade pat topping was not too sweet either. Ddeok (sticky rice cake) pieces were big and yummy.

Toetmaru: Insadong

Joongwon Building

Phone: (02)739-5683

Walk to Insadong Crossroad

Walk towards Nakwon Shopping Centre for 10 meters or less.

On your left, you will see a tiny alley and at the beginning of that alley, a person is selling brass ornaments. Take that alley and walk for 5-10 meters. You will find the restaurant on your right.

Toetmaru is one of the restaurant in tourist-busy Insadong that targets locals.

툇마루

주소 : 서울시 종로구 인사동 4-2 B1F·B2F (중원빌딩 지하1·2층)

전화번호 : 02-739-5683

오픈시간 : 오전 10시30분~오후 10시

인사동 사거리에서 낙원상가로 10미터 정도 걷다보면 왼쪽에 세탁 이라는 표시와 청동으로 만든 장식 파는 사람이 있는 아주 조그만 골목이 있음. 그 골목으로 들어가면 오른쪽에 있음.

Coffee and Waffle

Opposite Harue or Samcheong Park in Samcheongdong.

Coffee and Waffle

삼청동 하루에/삼청공원 건너편

A working girl's lunch, Seoul

A typical working girl's lunch in Seoul...

kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew normally with pork pieces and tofu)

Layout on our table...with many banchans, rice served in a wide metal bowl, in case you want to create bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) for yourself.

Gochu-jang (chili paste) and sesame oil are on the table, though not in the pic.

Gyeran mari, Korean-style omelette. Typically served with kimchi jjigae, or as soolanju, (dishes served with alcohol)

I am not going to write where I had this, because

1. It was in a tiny alley in Jongno,a very busy office area, and my friend took me there, so I don't remember exactly where.

2. You can get this just about everywhere in Seoul.

I think it cost 6000KRW(£3)/person.

A working girl's breakfast, Seoul

I normally have nooroongji, a porridge made of toasted rice. It is healthy, not fattening at all, mild and warming to start a day. However, there are times when I really need a caffeine and sugar kick in the morning. One morning, after a work-out, I headed to New York Doughnut Plant for donut and coffee. What you see here is Pineapple and Coconut cake doughnut and Vanilla cake doughnut. I love their donut. So light and reminds me of moist cupcakes.

Another day, at Au Bon Pain...

The view overlooking the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall

Americano, hamd and cheese in croissant, and yoghurt+granola!
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

TLC Pacakge from Hong Kong

I could not wait to leave my work today because I knew that *this* was waiting for me. As soon as I came home, I ran upstairs to my room to find *this*.

Yes~a parcel!

I get very nostalgic about parcels.

When I was at boarding school, one of the greatest joys was to recieve parcels from home, usually Korean magazines, books, instant noodles, etc. When there was a parcel, the house mistress wrote girl's name on the board or leave note. Reciving one used to make my day.

While ago, I asked SA to send me care package from HK.

What is inside? *drum*

*drum*

.

.

.

.

.

.

*drum*

.

.

.

.

et voilà!

I asked SA to send me boxes of almond cake and phoenix rolls and what you see in the picture came along.




A packet of Thai rice cracker covered in pork floss
2 boxes of almond cake
2 Chinese custard mooncakes with egg yokes
A red notebook
A hankie
Kee Wah mooncakes
A cartoon of organic tomato soup


These will keep me happy for months.


Individually packaged almond cakes will keep me sane when I need something sweet with tea.
-0-

Tonkichi (Hong Kong)

Name: Tonkichi Tonkatsu Seafood
Address: Basement 1, Toy House, 100 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Telephone no.: (+852) 2314 2998

Tonkichi, a Japanese restaurant specializes in Japanese-styled breaded deep fried food, with almost 95% of its menu dedicated to breaded deep fried items only. [e.g. Tonkatsu, Menchi katsu and Korokke, similar food in Korea would be Saengseonkkaseu (생선까스) Donkkaseu (돈까스)]. My theory have always been that, if restaurant is dedicated to a specific type of food or cooking, they always either end up being the leader and expert or they’d go bust in 8 months time. Since I’ve been visiting this restaurant for close to a decade now, I can only imagine that it is doing rather well. There are two branches, one located in Causeway Bay and another in Tsim Sha Tsui.

This is how they look like before cooked (Picture: Courtesy of www.justhungry.com)

So what differentiate Tonkichi from the usual western deep fried food? Well, the only thing I know is that a Panko breadcrumb is used (check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panko if you wish to find out more) but the French uses it too. Nonetheless, Tonkichi is different, the food from there is never or hardly ever excessively greasy and they are always hot and crispy with juicy meat / seafood inside. My dear mother tells me “it all depends on the frying temperature and timing!” – Right~ !

The few things that I’d order over and over from Tonkichi:

1) Fried Oyster
2) Fried Scallop
3) Fried Pork Fillet

Yes, and these are the only three thing that I’ve been ordering for the past 10 years (there’s nothing wrong in knowing what you want!) and occasionally I’d order prawns and end up regretting for not ordering Oysters instead!

For this visit, I’ve ordered the Fried Oyster Set while my friend ordered the Pork fillet and prawns combo.
The Menu Inside of the Menu

The fried oysters from Tonkichi have never failed to impressed! They are always so creamy and juicy that you can easily finish a set of five all on your own. There is a small dish of tatare sauce served with the set and a dash of mustard to go with it. The fresh cabbage salad and Japanese rice are refillable.
Crispy on the outside! Juicy and tender inside!

There are two types of salad dressing available, one is Seaweed and the other is grapefruit. Both equally refreshing and appetizing as each other.

A bowl of sesame is offered with any pork fillet / cutlet order. You’d need to crush it first, and then when the pork is served, put some special sauce for the pork fillet / cutlet on your plate, dip it with the pork and roll it in the sesame. I always have such fun crushing the sesame and eating this dish.

Pork fillet and prawn comboCloser look of the fillet!Watermelon slices that comes with every meal.

Sample of the lunch menu.

Notes:

Mr. Choi Lan (a infamous food critic in HK) have recently mentioned this restaurant on his TV show which aired a couple of months ago on a free channel. Hence, the popularity of Tonkichi have soared and reached its highest. In fact, as a devoted TV junky, I have noticed Tonkichi's name mentioned a couple or few times in the past but only on cable TV or paid channels. Now that the mass populartion of HK are introduced to this restaurant, so I'd suggest it is best (from my recent experience to) make your dinner booking at least a week in advance and lunch bookings 3 / 4 days in advance.

8 Steps. In search of home-cooked European food?

If there is a restaurant that I go back again and again, it would be 8 Steps in Samcheongdong. I love having lunch there on a sunny day, maybe outside on the porch or inside the restaurant, looking over the people walking by.

This restaurant is run by a lady who used to teach my mom Italian cooking, and 15 years later, me. She made herself name by introducing Italian home cooking when no one else was doing it, and also by sharing her Scandinavian-influenced interior design in various magazines. She is married to a Swedish, so it is easy to see where she got her inspiration from. Her Swedish-inspired style permeates the restaurant, too, from simple wood tables and chairs to lighting.

The building itself is traditional Korean as you can see from the ceiling. She seems to have retained as much as she could. The building itself is shaped ㄷ, which is a common style. The kitchen is in the middle and one wing is used for guets, and another wing works as her studio where she teaches people how to cook.

(ok, not really how to cook. Rather, a very delightful cooking show, where guests are given recipes afterwards)

A view from where I sat.

Across the garden is the wing where the cooking show is held.

Home-made lemonade topped with tonic water

I ordered a tapas platter and a beetroot salad, as the weather was warm and I did not want to feel bloated afterwards.

The tapas platter changes daily. Today's were melon topped with parma ham, grilled aubergine and octopus.

My favourite part of tapas platter...

Grilled aubergine is always there because, in my opinion, aubergine is available all the time. Besides, it is so simple but delicious. It is grilled till it becomes caramelized, and it topped with reduced balsamic vinegar.

Octopus...boiled and dressed in lemon juice and maybe some oil...

lemon zest added some nice kick, and shiso (I think it was shiso) was very refreshing.

Beetroot salad-rocket, beetroot leaves, beetroot, cheese and parma ham.

Isn't it so pretty?




I ordered an Americano to finish off, but I was given a complimentary chocolate mousse. It was a dense mousse, but not as dense as chocolate pots. The portion was small so I did not feel so guilty. A nice contrast to the bitterness of coffee.

Would you like a bite? =)

Tapas: 13,000KRW(￡6.5)

Coffee: 4000KRW (￡2)

Lemonade: 8000KRW(￡4)

Beetroot salad: 18000KRW (￡9)

You have to walk up 10 or 11 stairs to get to the restaurant, not 8 steps. The lady said in a magazine that the name of her restaurant reflects her desire to step forward to the top. You might ask why not 9 steps? Because 9 steps seem a bit too complete as it is near 10 but 8, it is nearly there, but you still have to work for it.

One of the reason I come here often is that many items on the menu are hard to find elsewhere. Not necessarily fancy, but not many Western restaurants here offer them. All the food are home-cooked style which I like. I feel very at home here.

Although pastas are on the menu, it is not an Italian restaurant. I don't know how to categorize the place. -0-

8 Steps
02-738-5838
Samcheongdong, opposite Woori Bank

8Steps
02-738-5838
삼청동, 우리은행 건너편

What do I miss when I am stuck in Seoul?

I get cravings for random food at random moments. I don't miss fancy stuff much, but I get cravings for very easty-to-get, everyday food. So I decided to catalogue anything that appears in my head.

1. Sandwiches (Prêt à Manger and Old Cheese Shop in Bristol)

Does it sound lame to you? I never thought I would miss sandwiches. It is almost impossible to get a decent sandwich in Korea, except Vecchia e Nuovo at The Westin Chosun. But I don't want to spend over £6-7 for a sandwich all the time.
I just want a simple sandwich made from a nice loaf of bread. Ciabatta sandwich is good, but I just want a good old English sandwich. I miss nice egg sandwich, BLT with ENGLISH bacon, chicken avocado sandwich from Prêt. I also dream of an Old Cheese Shop chicken club sandwiches, no butter but just with mayo. The sandwich there is made right in front of you. The shop was close to my dorm and usually it was office workers around there used to come for a bite and I think I was one of the very few students who went there. The owner used to make Nigella Lawson's lemon cake and banana cake. They were just so yummy.

2. Chocolate

I wish I can buy Valhorna anywhere I want. Valhorna cooking chocolates are sold by grams at Bangsan Market (a lot of bakers go there to buy imported ingredients) but I can't trust the people there. I sometime feel that some chocolates have passed their shelf life. So I usually buy them when I am travelling. Sometimes my dear brother brings back cooking chocolate for me but he buys Montezuma ones - which I also like. A bar of Valhorna Guanaja got me through dark, cold days at Social Science library. It was sold at Chandos Deli or even at Sainsbury's. I saw Valhorna (not cooking chocolate) at Shilla Hotel pastry shop a few years ago but I haven't seen them since. Maybe I should look around more. Nowdays, more dark choclates are available, but for me, I haven't met a nice bar of dark chocolate that gives a clear 'snap' when you break it and leave a trail of bitter yet fragrant aftertaste in my mouth. I also miss chocolate bars. I miss Cadbury's Fruits and Nuts, Caramel, Crunchie, Yorkie (fruit and biscuit balls), Aero mint, Kitkat Chunky, etc etc. (I know that SA is cringing by now because she does not think these stuff qualify as chocolate, but a mere dollop of chocolate flavoured sugary fat mass)

3. Chocolate brownies

If any of you end up in Bristol, UK, do go to Chandos Deli. I had the best chocolate brownies there. It was my weekly treat. I dared not eat in so often because it was devilishly intense, gooey and sweet. It was double/tripple chocolate brownie with brazil nuts. The brownie part itself was rich enough but it had extra chunks of plain and white chocolate.

4. Crisps

When I was at boarding school, packed lunch usually consisted of a sandwich, a Penguin bar, a can of Tango and a bag of crisps. It was Walker's crisps. Although I usually chose plain salted one, prawn cocktail was another favourite.

5. Salad

Somehow, salad in this country is not so fresh. I strongly feel that the agricultural produts distrbution network needs overhauling. Too many steps to go through before vegetables and fruits get to our table. The best salad I had till date was the bulghur wheat salad in an Italian restaurant in Surbiton (or somewhere around there) I had dinner with my darlings A and M there and I don't even remember the name of the restaurant. It was tart (lemon), salty and smooth (cheese). It had rocket and tomatoes if I remember correctly. The salad really tingled my senses.

6. Cheese

The thought of creamy gorgonzola alone is enough to make to drool. I have been craving for cheese for sometime and it has not been satisfied yet. Gorgonzola, mature camembert and brie, creamy salty burrata (I love this cheese so much that I thought about naming my dog after the cheese) and countless cheeses I bought from the organic market in Paris (Boulevard Raspail) ....stilton and aged cheddar. I just love strong salty cheese... I mean, I can get gorgonzola etc in Korea, but I will have to go to a fancy department store supermarkets. Besides, they cost double.

7. Bangers and mash

Meaty and juicy sausage perched on a dollop of creamy mash, in a small puddle of onion gravy. Yum

8. ZAFFERANO

My darling A introduced me to her favourite restaurant. It has become my favourite, too. It certainly is not a cheap place but compare to other restaurants in Kinightsbridge, excellent value. And their tiramisù is to die for. I loved my homemade pappardelle with homecured pig cheek in saffron sauce so much that I decided to imitate it at home. I failed miserably. http://www.zafferanorestaurant.com/

9. Clotted cream

Hot scones smothered in clotted cream and strawberry jam. Need I say more?

10. Couscous salad/barley salad from Chandos Deli

I used to have one of the two with elder flower cordial on a hot summers day when I got sick of sandwiches.

11. Pierre Hermé

Should have pigged out there when I had a chance to. OK, not pigging out all at once but should have bought something there on a daily basis.

12. Bread

I miss a loaf of bread. Plain white or wholewheat. Something for toast. A plain loaf of bread will make you 'why?'. But this very plain of of bread is almost impossible to get. The loaf bread sold here have sweet undertone. I don't know why bakers here put extra sugar in it. This is why it is hard to find a good sandwich in Korea. It will be wonderful to start a day with a cup of hot tea and buttered toast with marmalade.

13. Chips

I miss cripspy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside chips. Not from frozen ones but with freshly cut potatoes. It is impossible to do that here with Korean potatoes because our variety is a bit to starchy.

14. Fudge Buttery, sweet fudge.

I hardly ate it but I miss it.

15. Orangette covered in dark chocolate//stem ginger in dark chocolate

Christmas favourites.

16. English breakfast

Rashers of English bacon, sausges, eggs, fried bread, baked beans, black pudding, extra toasts spread with butter and a cup of milk tea.

17. Macaroons

Ladurée, naturally. So far, Ladurée macaroons are my favourite. I really miss their rose water macaroons and salty caramel macaroons.

18. Croissants from Poujauran

While I was living in Paris, I decided to wake up very early one Saturday morning (could have been Sunday), took metro all the way to 16th Arrondisement (could be 8th. My memory is a bit fuzzy) to Poujaran, bought a croissant and some rustic French cakes. I muched it down while waiting for the Metro home. It was so nice and buttery. I still think of that moment.

19. Dimsum

Dimsum I get in Korea are mostly yikes.

20. Roast duck/Peking duck/suckling pig roast

Yum.

21. Chinese sweet soymilk

I would be very happy to start a day with a glass of warm sweet soy milk.

22. Chocolate-covered cornflakes

A UK school children's perennial favourite. I never really liked them until I tried Marks and Spencer's Belgian Milk Chocolate covered Cornflakes. To be honest with you, I only had 1 bag of it. But it creeps back to my mind time to time. I get naughty ideas about them, like sprinkle them over a scoop of ice cream.

23. Lemon sherbet

I am not talking about iced sherbet, which is like sorbet with milk. I am talking about boiled sweet wich has a powdery lemon sherbet inside. I stock them up when I visit London.

24. Penny sweets

Those I used to get at school tuckshop. One a penny, I (in fact, most of us) would buy by 50 pence or £1. Sour discs or something bigger cost 2p each. My favourite was fried eggs.

25. Victoria Sponge Cake

Light sponge cakes sandwiched together with cream/butter cream and jam. A classic English cake I love.

26. Petit-suisse and fromage blanc

Mere utterance of those words fill my heart with butterflies and brings me back to my care-free days in Paris. (Of course, I had worries then too, but it seems to me now that I had nothing to worry about). I used to have those for breakfast with a bit of jam or brown sugar. Or with creamed chestnuts for dessert. I especially loved fatty petit-suisse sprinkled with a bit of sugar. No wonder I gained 7-8 kgs while living in Paris.(I just found out that petit-suisse has fat content of over 60%) It was creamy, unctuous, slightly sour delights that made me happy. I really miss Paris.

27. Bethillon icre cream in Paris

I miss their dark chocolate ice cream. It was not far from where I lived, so I used to walk there for a sorbet and an ice cream. I miss those days...

28. Oat cakes

They are delicious and also rich in fibre. Lovely with cheese or with honey drizzled over.

29. FishWorks in Bristol

I had a very memorable meal there. I tried fresh taramasalata for the first time. Grilled skate was beautiful, too.

30. Plain yoghurt.

Why is it damn hard to find a decent plain yoghurt in Korea? I mean, I understand that it is not relaly a part of our diet, but why don't dairy companies introduce Korean consumers to thick greek yoghurt? A small bowl of plain yoghurt topped with granola and fresh blueberries is one of my breakfast favs. A dollop of plain yoghurt spiked with cumin and chili powder goes very well with grilled chicken and bread.