Tartine, Pies, Seoul (a few corrections made)

A new place called Tartine opened in Itaewon while ago.

It is run by a Korean businessman and an American (not Canadian) businessman-turned-chef who used to do other business on e-bay together.


I am slightly confused by the name, because tartine is not on the menu. Instead, many pies are on offer,like pecan pie, lemon merinuge pie (on weekends only), rhubarb pie, cranberry pie, butter pie, etc.Chocolate brownies, lemon bar, biscotti, chocolate cakes are available too. Although only mini pies are available, whole-size pies can be ordered.

###Tartine IS on the menu as cornbread is served with jam and honey.
I always thought of tartine as a fancy open sandwich or tartine et chocolat , like a piece of white bread, not cornbread, served with topping/spread. But still it is bread served with spread, so it is on the menu.

I tried a lemon bar, (not in the picture)a pecan pie, a cherry pie and a cornbread. Although you can have it on the premise, I brought them home.
The lemon bar was shockingly sweet but lemony enough too. It is sweet to American standard.

Cherry pie: It was a nice pie, but I would have liked it more if it was more tart. And I did not like jelly-like layer on top.

Pecan pie: It was oh-so-nice yummy. The pecans on top were caramelized to perfection that it was on the cripsy side, and the fillig was rich, sweet, caramely. My favourite so far.

Cornbread: Tartine uses their own blend of specially ground cornmeal. It was moist and the cornmeal was not too big. You can also have a bowl of chili with a piece o f cornbread if you are eating in.

### Chili no longer available




Pies: Most of them cost 6000KRW. (￡3)




Tartine


이태원 해밀턴 호텔 가기 전 KFC 지나서 아주 작은 골목으로 들어가면
오른쪽에 위치.
02-3785-3400

* Our location is: From the Hamilton Hotel, walk past KFC to the second alley, turn right, we are half way up the alley. You will be able to see the pies in the window.
02-3785-3400

http://www.tartine.co.kr

Pasta with Yogurt Sauce

This pasta dish is delicious yet easy to make and it's a fantastic vegetarian dish!

The refreshing taste from yogurt and tangy lemon makes it a perfect dish for the summer. I also like to use more fresh parsley than the following recipe suggested since I love the subtle taste it gives from the herb.

Ingredients:

• 70g of spaghetti or linguine (portion depends on how much one can eat, also choose wholewheat pasta will provide you extra fiber.)


• 1 tsp of butter or margarine (but I prefer butter...)

• 1 small pot of plain yogurt (can use low fat ones if you prefer)
  


• 2 cloves garlic, minced (add in more or less to suit your taste)


• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

• 1 teaspoon of lemon zest

• juice of 1//4 of lemon


• 1 tbsp pine nut


• pinch of salt and pepper

Direction:

1. Cook pasta of your choice in boiling water with added salt and olive oil for approx 7 – 8 min. (That is the cooking time for normal pasta not the “quick cook” type). The pasta is slightly harder than usual; it is purposely under cook for later use.


2. Drain pasta and rinse through with cold water, set aside for later use.


3. Melt butter (or margarine) in pan and add a dash of olive oil


4. Add minced garlic, stir for 1 minute before adding in pasta. Continue to stir for about 2-3 minutes.
   


5. Turn off stove or heat, add in yogurt lemon juice and zest into the pasta and mix well.
   


6. Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper to season before serving on a plate.


7. Top it with pine nut and garish with a small stalk of parsley (optional). Serve immediately.
   

Notes:

• When cooking with fresh parsley, do remember not to over cook it as they brown easily and will taste bitter.


• The quantity of ingredients such as lemon juice, garlic or butter can be altered to suit personal taste.


• Pine nuts can be brown in 1 tbsp of margarine or butter.

Jean-Paul Hévin (Hong Kong)

Name: Jean Paul Hévin
Address: 尖沙咀廣東道17號海港城212號舖 (Shop 212, Harbour City, 17 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)


An infamous French Chocolatier is now in HK~~ hip hip - hurray!! (www.jphevin.com/)

Admiring my bag of treasure, skipping happily into Lane Crawford at Harbour City!

Maca Maca Maca...rooon

(1) Hazelnut Macaroon: The intense hazelnut flavour is trapped inside its crispy case. Once you bite it open you can immediately smell and taste the distinctive nutty taste of hazelnut.

Sexy hazelnut~

(2) Dark Chocolate Macaroon: Haven’t got much to complain about this one. I can’t say I have tasted better macaroon~ I’d definitely come back for the Maca!! This is hot~(In Paris Hilton's Voice!)
Dark choc Macaroon, beauty!
Scrumptious Dark Choc filling!!

(3) Plain Truffle: Dusted with cocoa powder…it is such a light, delicate little thing that melts on your tongue ever so easily (or in the heat of HK summer!) hence there's no pic.

(4) Milk Chocolate Wafer: Ok, you may imagine this to be Kit-Kat like but surprisingly it’s not that sweet at all. Plus the creamy milk chocolate melts in your mouth immediately and the wafer is crushed into small pieces which gave it an extra crunch and contrast to the smooth chocolate.

(5) Dark chocolate: Apparently this little goody used a high percentage cocoa (think the girl from the shop said 75%). Creamy dark chocolate ganache is filled inside a thin dark chocolate shell. The chocolate flavour was powerful and honest. However, to me, it came across as a little dull and it’s not a taste that I’d miss.

(6) Dark Chocolate filled with praline paste: The nutty creamy paste was slightly too sweet for my liking. If I were to buy similar flavour chocolate, I’d recommend Leonidas (Belgium).

(7) Smoked Chinese Tea: I’ve always loved Earl Grey flavoured chocolate so I really looked forward to this one and saved it till last!! As I took my first bite, I could immediately taste the smoky flavour…then it started tasting like smoked haddock! I couldn’t help but to spit it out (in the most lady-like way I could possibly pull). It tasted bit like the sweets you could get in Harry Potter really, I mean…I should really taste the whole thing thoroughly in order to write it out properly but I just couldn’t do it. I’m sorry!

The heat was melting my goodies...T^T

For Macaroon lovers, you’d already know this little sugary goody is on the sweet side. I’m not usually a sucker for overly sweet dessert or food but I just love Macaroon. As for chocolate, I prefer l’Etoile d’Or, however, there isn’t one in HK, not to my knowledge anyways. Therefore, I tend to settle with Leonidas which is a lot cheaper as well (equivalent of Godiva). But I was once told that “No one in Belgium really go to Godiva because all the locals know Leonidas is better!” So when my friend went a business trip in Belgium, I told her to go to Leonidas, she came back telling me there was a long queue and by the time she got to the front, all the fresh chocolate sold out. But she said she still bought some other chocolate (apparently they refill their stock few days and made a small number of fresh chocolate on site each day).

Out of all the loveliness I’ve bought. I think I’ll go back for more Macaroons and the chocolate wafer! When it comes to macaroon, I’ve never been keen on flavour like rose or fruit, so next time I’d like to try other flavour such as pistachio. ALSO, I’ve spotted this chocolate lollipop…it’s quite big and I think it’d make a great gift, I think it cost $60 (£4).

Each chocolate, macaroon and truffle were HK$15 (£1), it is not the most expensive chocolate I've tried before, but it is definitely one of the more expensive ones in HK!

I'm really stretching out my limits for this blog...I'm really putting my weight and health on the line to do this!! Anyway, I'm hoping to do a review on other cake shop / chocolatiers soon like Anitque Patisserie and Crunch cake at Cafe one, but maybe after 200 more situps 1st for the next 7 days @.@"

DAP - Modern European Restaurant (Hong Kong

Name: DAP – Modern European Restaurant
Address: 尖沙咀柯士甸道102號1樓 (1/F, 102 Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Phone No.: 3526 1228

Even though the name is called “Modern European Restaurant”, this restaurant mainly serves French Cuisine but also offer pasta dishes and beef capaccio.

The location wasn’t too hard to find, even though the address is said to be Tsui Sha Tsui, it was actually closer to Jordan Station if you travel by MTR (Exit D). I went there at taxi, via taxi, but I was let out before reaching the destination. But next time I’d know better, the building is actually just opposite Tak Shun Primary School and close to a huge lime green Bossini store on Nathan Road.

As entering the restaurant I was immediately surrounded by dimly lit lights and chandeliers. Every table is lit with a small candle inside a glass candle holder laid on dark purple / brown table cloth (sorry! It really was dark!!). Drink list consisted of wine, cocktail, mocktail, juices, liquor, tea and coffee.

Dinner for the night:

Pan fried foie gras with apple chutney
Lobster Bisque
Pan fried Halibut in lobster sauce
Grilled Cod Fillet in lemon butter sauce
Crème Brulee

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The bread basket was served with a poppy seed roll, plain roll and slices of baguette. The bread basket was all delicious, the bread were popped into the oven so they were served warm and crispy.

(1) The foie gras was nice, it wasn’t the best I have tasted but for the mere price of HK$98 (£6.60) I think the quality was fair. It was exterior was a little crispy from pan frying, the rich, butter foie gras was lightly flavoured by a pinch of salt and pepper. It went perfectly with the apple chutney and condensed balsamic sauce garnished on the plate. I would have preferred if there was more apple chutney or condensed balsamic sauce.
I need more apple chutney!
(2) Some people like the lobster bisque to be sherry / brandy free, but I like that distinctive aroma of the alcohol when it is added into the soup. The lobster bisque here have quite a strong taste of alcohol which some people may resent but I love. Pieces of lobster was added in to the soup, it tasted fresh and wasn’t overcooked so I presumed it was added when the bisque was served. (HK$72 / £4.80)

(3) I was missing the grilled halibut from John Lewis (Oxford Street) so I ordered this, otherwise I would have tried their steak or pasta dishes. The halibut was served on a bed of vegetable with lobster sauce. The overall presentation was nice and the orangey sauce looked pretty with the greens. The fish was slightly dry and the asparagus (rolled inside the fish) was infused with fishy taste…which wasn’t too pleasant. However, there were thin slices of green apple with the bed of grilled veggie which lightened up my taste bud. (HK$158 / £10.60)

(4) The Cod fillet was tenderly cooked and went really well with the mellow buttery yellow sauce. The lemony, citrus taste gave a kick to the dish and was yummy. I would consider ordering this dish again for my next visit, my only hesitant was how fat is this sauce?? (HK$168 / £11.20)

(5) I was already full at this stage but how could one not order dessert to wrap up a lovely dinner~ so I ordered my all time favourite, crème brulee! It looked fabulous with a generous portion of blueberry, a strawberry and raspberry given that the pot was not too big. The only criticism I can give to this was that the op caramel glazed could be thicker and can go a bit stronger on the vanilla flavour. Because it isn't very sweet so this dessert can easily be finished up, my friend did comment that the dessert can be just a tad sweeter. But to me, it was already good enough and I can easily eat up four of these if I didn’t have dinner!! Haa~ The creamy consistency need no more word as it is shown in the picture. (HK$52 / £3.50)
CREAMY...
The quality of food serve was fair and is a good deal for what you pay for. It didn’t give me any wow factor but then again to be fair I didn’t order any of their signature dishes like Roast Suckling Pig or Beef Capiccio. Neither have I tried any of their steak or pasta dishes. I would however, visit this restaurant and try out more on their menu. This is a lovely, romantic restaurant that would be nice for couples and maybe gathering for girls (if you are not planning to be too loud).

Still water in blue glass

the dessert menu was quite long~

Ohnmaeul, Korean, Seoul

The beauty of bab-jip* is that you can get a hearty meal at a good price. Usually it costs 5000-6000KRW (￡2.5-￡3)for a soondooboo jjigae (soft tofu in spicy soup. usually served in very hot stone bowl), a bowl of rice, 5-10 banchans**. It is a very good deal given that a cup of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf latte costs 4300KRW (￡2.15). These bapjips are a permanent feature in Korean salarymen's life.

Unfortunately, finding a decent bap-jip is hard to gety by. Banchan, no matter how simple they seem, is hard to master. That is why I was glad to discover Ohnmaeul in my neighbouring Samcheong-dong, an area that is becoming more trendy every day. The resturant was very satisfactory that I kept wondering why I did not come here any sooner.

*bap-jip : literaly translated, rice house.Usually serves rice, soup and various banchan.

**banchan: side dishes, commonly put in the middle of table to be shared. Kimchi is a type of banchan.

Ohnmaeul specialises in tofu dishes and they even make their own tofu on premise. Tofu is made of 100% Korean soybeans that they source specially from a certain farm. As you can see on the rice spatual-turned-menu (if you can read Korean, that is) the prices are set at a very reasonable range. Soondoobu jjigae, dooboo jeotgook (dooboo soup seasoned with shrimp sauce), begee jjigae (ground soybean stew) are all 6000KRW, all served with a bowl of rice, and assroted banchans. Other stews (jeongol) that you cook on the miniature stove(as you can see in the picture below )cost 8000-9000KRW. (￡4-￡4.5)

We ordered a haemul pajeon (seafood spring onion pancake). Spring onions were sweet despite not being in season, squid and shrimps were scattered around the top. The batter was very crispy like any nice pajeon should be. It was served with sweet and sour soy sauce. It was nice but wished it was slightly heavier on seafood.

I was told that jaeyook bokkeum (stir fried sliced pork in sweet and spicy sauce) id also good.

This is their selection of banchan. Clockwise from left, kimchi, myulchi bokkeum, moosanegchae, sesame leaf namul, kong-namul.

Baechu kimchi was not a mature variety. It was good. Very good in fact, given that a lot of restaurants serve industrially manufactured ones to cut cost. My colleague raved about how cripsy myulchi bokkeum (dried anchovies fried and then candied) was but on the day I visited, it was not crispy. I blame the hot and humid summer in Korea. But it tasted good nonetheless.

Moo saenchae (ribbon cut radishes semi-pickled in sweet, sour, spicy seasoning) was OK,

sesame leaves namul (seasoned cooked sesame leaves) was good. Kong-namul (seasoned soy bean sporut) I did not touch because I am not a fan of the vegetable.

Rice was served in traditional brass bowl. Not only was it beautiful but also kept the rice warm longer. One more thing I liked about Ohnmaeul is that they don't use plastic plates. They are all earthware. I really hate it when restaurants use plastic plates. I understand that they are cheaper and lighter, but the sight of some people putting hot food on plastic dish horrifies me. I have come to terms with these places, but still I get annoyed.

I ordered Kimchi and dooboo stew. Kimchi and dooboo are sitting in a spicy soup with Korean leeks, sliced chili, spicy paste, mushrooms and a bit of pork. You let it boil for a while until it is bubbling away. You take a ladle out of the pot to your individual plate and you eat it. The restaurant claims not to use any MSG in the food, but in the soup, I tasted a little bit of it. Still, it is a lot les than some restaurants I have been too.

I am very happy with this restaurant. I will keep coming back.

Dooboo kimchi jeongol : 8000KRW/person (￡4.0)

FYI, more menus.

haemul pajeon (seafood spring onion pancake) : 10000KRW (￡5.0)

jaeyook bokkeum (stir fried sliced pork in sweet and spicy sauce) : 10000KRW (￡5.0)

Dooboo busut jeongol (Tofu and mushroom stew) : 9000KRW/person (￡4.5)

Saengdooboo (sliced plane tofu served with sauce) : 7000KRW (￡3.5)

Seoreetae dooboo (tofu made of black bean) : 9000KRW (￡4.5)

온마을

서울시 종로구 삼청동 123번지

02)738-4231

Ohnmaeul

Jongrogu Samcheongdong 123

02)738-4231

Brunch, Vecchia e Nuovo, Seoul

Imagine. A beautiful saturday morning (I am always happier on Saturday morning). You wake up lesuirely around 10am. You have nothing pressing on your schedules. You have a quick invigorating shower and head out to brunch with your dear friend.
Nestled comfortably in a sofa chair, you order a cup of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, an egg benedict with Scottish smoked salmon and perfect hollandaise sauce, a cup of Americano and share a banana & ricotta cheese french toast with your friend as a grand finale to your meal.

Now let's get back to reality. OK, that is my idea of a perfect weekend but it does not happen as often as I want them to. Yesterday (not Saturday but Sunday) was one of the rare occasions that I got to enjoy brunch. Moi and my brother decided to eat before hitting the gym. We figured, that we would be able to burn off fat, hence feel less guilty.

Vecchia e Nuovo is located on LG1 in The Westin Chosun Hotel, the oldest hotel in Korea,(Marylin Monroe once was a guest there, while visiting the US troops during the Korean War) was recently rennovated. It used to be devided into a restaurant serving sit-in menus and a deli selling cakes, coffees, bread and sandwiches to be eaten on premise or to take away. Now it is more of an open space bar/cafe. V e C now serves less Italian menu and concentrates on cafe operation.

I ordered 2 eggs with bacon or sausage with hashbrown, (I opted for poached eggs and bacon) and my brother ordered beef taco with salsa,guacamole and a dollop of sour cream. Curiously, sweet chili sauce commonly served with spring roll in Chinese take-away was served, too. My brother ordered a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice and I ordered an Americano.


What I love about VeC is their sanwiches. (I dare say the best in Korea) They begun to serve brunch menu so I decided to give them a go.

However, what I ordered was disappointing. On the plate were 2 poached eggs on slices of toast, a heap of bacons and hasbrown. Not only was it nondescript at best, the food got cold very quickly. I hated it. I really miss English breakfast complete with thick lashes of English bacon, baked beans, grilled tomatoes and buttered toast. Hashbrown was like chewing on cardbox.

I stole a taco from my brother's plate. It was better than what I ordered.

We were given a plate of complimentary tomatoe and fresh mozzarella salad in pesto sauce because taco was taking some time to be prepared. I think it would have been a lot better with more salt. - I don't like my food to be salty, but it was just too bland-.

After our meal, we hit the gym to burn off calories.

We did burn out fat but we headed back to the restaurant to eat.

For some reason, we were just so so hungry.

We decided to order a Belgian waffle and my brother wanted a burger. We ordered them both.

Belgian waffle turned out to be Brussels variety, not chewy and dense Liège waffle. The waffle was served with red and black currant compote, cream and powdered sugar. It was quite nice, although I will not order it again given the price for what it is. The burger was good. It is served in a butter toasted buns, (I think it was butter), topped with bacon, grilled red onion, tomatoes, and melted gruyère cheese.

The waffle. It was soft and nice but I don't want to spend 12000KRW for this. Really.

We ordered our burger medium to avoid tough burger pattie. Halved salty pickles (perhaps a jewish variety?) on the side were nice complement. Crinkly cut chips on the side were as plain as it could be, but I did not complain. I don't think Korean potatoes make nice cripsy-but soft-on-the-inside chips, so I will have to do with these.

Americano: 6000KRW

Orange juice: 11000KRW

Eggs, bacons, hashbrown: 12000KRW

Beef taco: 15000KRW
waffle: 12000KRW

Hamburger: 22000KRW

+ VAT

OMG. Typing the prices makes me realize that it is very expensive for what it is. I will continue to eat sandwiches and burger but nothing else.

베키아 에 누오보

웨스틴 조선호텔

서울시 중구 소공동 87

02)317-0022

Vecchia e Nuovo

The Westin Chosun Hotel

87, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea (100-070)

02)317-0022

http://www.echosunhotel.com/

Dal, Indian restaurant, Seoul

Dal is one of the first generation Indian restaurant in Seoul. The restaurant opened when I was still in my high school. It is in Art Sonjae, an art gallery in Gahoe-dong (next to Smachong-dong), so it is nice to go to before or after cultural experience. I have been going there for almost 10 years and I went there again today to celebrate my cousin's birthday.







What I love most about the restaurant is its boudoir-like ambience. The doors of the restaurant are inlaid with mother of pearl. The main hall of the restaurant is surrounded by the private rooms that gently filter light. The colour of the restaurant crimson. The chairs and sofa are covered in crimson velvet and the wall is painted orangey-scarlet. But I am never sure because of the lighting. I just find the restaurant so sensual. Like Jean-Georges, it is a perfect setting for seduction or a secret rendez-vous with your lover. (I keep writing about places that are perfect for seduction, love affairs, etc. A clear sign that I am deprived.) It would be so nice if the restaurant smelled of jasmine. It would transport me right back to India...




We ordered chicken tikka masala (are you surprised?), palak paneer (surprised again?), dal makhni, prawn something (tomaotey spicy sauce. Forgot the name), seekh kebab, samosa and onion pakora.

Samosa and onion pakora are boring but I ordered them anyways because I was hungry. Seekh kebab (similar to kofte) was decent. Palak paneer and dal makhni are family favourite -yum! The weakest part of the meal was prawn dish. Four puny prawns were smothered in sweet and spicy tomatoey sauce. So boring.




But overall, I had nice lunch




Pakora: 5000 KRW

Samosa: 5000 KRW

Lassi: 4000 KRW

Seekh kebab: 20000 KRW

Palak paneer: 17000 KRW

Chicken tikka masala: 18000 KRW

Dal Makhani: 15000 KRW

Spicy Chilly Prawn: 25000 KRW

plain rice: 2000 KRW

plain naan: 2000 KRW

pudina parantha: 3000 KRW







서울특별시 종로구 소격동 144-2

아트선재센터



(02)736-4627



Jong-ro-gu

So-gyuk-dong

144-2



(02)736-4627


Gangnam branch



강남구 역삼동 737

강남 파이낸스 센터 지하 1층

02)2112-3888



Gangnam-gu Yuk-sam-dong

Gangnam Finance Center LG1

02)2112-3888




http://www.dalindia.com/



I just found out that the restaurant is owned by Maeil, a milk company.