Korean Archives - Page 6 of 8

In Korean

Potter’s Garden Korean BBQ: Bibimbap, Seolleongtang, tteok-manduguk, and Sangyetang

September 17, 2012

Potter’s Garden Korean BBQ (항아리갈비) is located on Kingsway in South Burnaby a few blocks away from Metropolis. This restaurant opened a few years ago and serves up traditional Korean cuisine.

They have a happy hour special from 10am to 3pm, a large amount of their items are cheaper. When I arrived, we just missed their specials, so we had to pay regular price.

With most Korean meals, they offer a series of Banchan – complementary side dishes. There was kimchi, bean sprouts, seaweed, and potatoes. Each person at the table had their own favorite item. They were all delicious.

Bibimbap ($7.95) has steamed rice with vegetables, beef, and egg. You mix it up and you can put in some red pepper paste to add more taste. There is also the stone bowl option, but my mom wanted this version of it. The bowl was huge! You really get your bang for your buck!

Seolleongtang ($8.95) is a milky soup made of simmered bones and meat for 24 hours. There are noodles and slices of beef. The broth was very band when it arrives at the table, so you need to add a lot of salt to improve the taste. You also get a small bowl of rice on the side. The portion was huge, but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

Tteok-manduguk ($8.95) has sliced rice cakes with dumplings in soup. It was really good! The portion was also huge and the broth was just SO GOOD.

Samgyetang ($16.95) has a chicken stuffed with rice, dates, and ginseng in a broth. It’s an expensive dish since it’s only serves one person. It’s probably expensive because it has a whole small-sized chicken. It also take a long time to prepare, so you will most likely be the last person served.

Overall, the food was good and traditional. Some items are a hit and miss, but thats just because I’m not used to some of the dishes. The prices are great between 10am and 3pm, so I would return if I’m in the area.

Words of Wisdom:

Prices can be under $10
Each table has a bell to ring for service (pretty cool)
Lots of free parking

We Rate Potters Garden:

Address:
5599 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”380″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=5599+Kingsway+Burnaby,+BC+V5H4W7&hl=en&hnear=5599+Kingsway,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5H+2G5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Four Beakers

Sanchon: Vegetarian Temple Food From Korea

August 31, 2012

Sanchon or “Mountain Village” is one of the most famous restaurants that specialize in traditional vegetarian food served in Buddhist temples. The food is made from organic vegetables fresh from the mountainside. If you are tired of all the fried and grilled food in Seoul, this is definitely a great place to go to.

The location was a few restaurants away from my hotel – Tria Hotel. I came to dine here during lunch with M’s relatives.

The restaurant is located on the second level and instead of sitting on chairs, you sit on the floor. For those who are cannot cross their legs or not accustomed to sitting on the floor, you may feel uncomfortable dining here.

We ordered a set meal and a bunch of banchan arrives at the table. There are over 10 small dishes that arrive at the table made out of different vegetables. Even though these portions are small, it was a lot of food! Each dish had its own unique taste. Some spicy and some non-spicy.

Next, they gave us a plate with pork, perilla leaves and some other vegetable. We ate these together and it was so good!

There was even kimchi stew and a side of tofu that came along with it. There was a lot of food and it just kept coming.

There was also tofu soup.

Then there was more soup and then rice. By this point, we were SO FULL. I haven’t eaten this much in a long time. The meal was my favorite in Korea. It was a tad pricey than other meals in Korea, but it is so worth it to try this experience. I haven’t had this type of dining experience before and I loved it!

After the lunch we headed on up to Seoul Tower to check out the view of Seoul. It’s just amazing how large the city really is. We were fortunate that the monsoon storm disappeared so we were able to see most of the city clearly.

On one of the windows it shows how far away from home I really was. 7,174.20km to be exact.

Overall, this day was pretty awesome. I had incredible food at Sanchon and got a great view of Seoul from Seoul Tower.

We Rate Sanchon:

Address:
677-11 Yeoksam 1(il)-dong,
Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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In Cafe

Kona Beans: Chilling at a Cafe in South Korea

August 29, 2012

Kona Beans was the closest coffee shop to my hotel. On my last day in Seoul, I decided to chill here before my bus arrived to take me to the airport. It has 2 level, upstairs is smoking and downstairs is non-smoking. It’s great that they give people this option.

Kona Beans is a cafe that originated from Hawaii. There are several franchise locations all over Seoul.

When ordering, you get the electronic beeper to indicate when your order is ready for pick up!

It’s really relaxing inside and you can do your work and have a drink. Its a good place to work since wifi is available.

Kiwi smoothie tasted alright. I don’t know why I didn’t order a coffee at a coffee shop, but I guess I felt like juice.

If I do come back next time, I will definitely order coffee instead. Nonetheless, it’s a nice cafe.

Words of Wisdom:

Another location at 42 Apgujeongro-gil is opened by a few of the mothers of the Super Juniors group
Non-smoking area
Friendly staff

We rate Kona Beans:

Location:
All over Korea

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In Bakery

Paris Croissant Cafe: Yummy Pastries at Seoul Station

August 27, 2012

After going to Seoul Tower, we decided to relax at Seoul Station to wait for a train to arrive. M’s Mom asked me “do you like bread”? I thought this was a strange question, but I said I enjoy pastries. She told me Paris Croissant has the best blueberry tart she’s ever had. Whenever she has the change to come to Seoul, she buys a bunch of blueberry tarts to bring back home.

Paris Croissant was created in 1986 and creates classic French bread and pastries. They also own Paris Baguette.

The interior of this location has seats available for customers to sit down. The bread products are located along the side and at the front counter.

They have a lot of pretty cakes and tarts! Very beautiful!

They have a large variety of buns! They aren’t all traditional french pastries, but they have a lot of Korean type of pastry items. The prices are a bit expensive compared to smaller bakeries.

M’s mom clearly bought a lot. Red bean sesame balls, blueberry tarts and pecan pie.

She bought me two items to try – the blueberry tart and the red bean sesame ball.

The Red Bean Sesame Ball was very delicious, there was a lot of red bean paste in the center and wasn’t too sweet. So goo!

The blueberry tart was also delicious. I’ve never had anything like it. There were lots of blueberries inside, so every bite has a berry.

Overall, this place has great items, but it a tad expensive. I would definitely go back to Korea to try more of their items.

Words of Wisdom:

Expensive
Good amount of seating
Blueberry tart is awesome
Relaxing atmosphere to talk with friends

We Rate Paris Croissant:

Address:
Various locations all over Korea

Website:
http://www.pariscroissant.co.kr/

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In Cafe

Starbucks in Asia: Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino

August 25, 2012

I was strolling through the international departures of Seoul International Airport before my flight back to Hong Kong and I stumbled upon a Starbucks! I noticed they were promoting 2 of their new drinks -Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino and the Soy Green Tea Frappuccino. Since I had 20 minutes left till departure, I thought I might as well kill time trying something new.

These drinks are also available in Hong Kong as well. I am not exactly sure about other Asian countries.

Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino was pretty good. The beans were not too sweet and balanced nicely with the green tea. I usually dislike red beans, but the way they cooked the beans were very firm and enjoyable. I would definitely order this again.

Even though they don’t sell these in Vancouver, Canada. You can still get something similar from a few local bubble tea cafes in Richmond. If you do encounter this drink on your travel, definitely give it a try!

In Fast Food

Kraze Burger: Korea’s Favorite Burger Restaurant

August 23, 2012

Kraze Burger is Korea’s burger restaurant. It was founded in 1998 and was the first restaurant specializing in hamburgers in Korea. They have locations all over Korea even the airport. As I was in COEX Mall, I knew I had to find Kraze Burgers to try some famous burgers in Korea. They are slowly expanding all over the world.

It was a long walk from the subway as the mall is very confusing to navigate, especially if you are a tourist. When I got here, there was a line out the door at 8pm! I waited about 10 mins to find a seat.

The K.B Original has 100% Pure Beef Patty, one slice of cheese, lettuce, fresh tomato slice, fresh onion slice, chili sauce, homemade pickles on a Baked Bun. They have a lot of crazy types of burgers but I really wanted to try the original Kraze Burger. It was a delicious solid burger that satisfied me, but it was expensive! I probably could have gotten 2 meals for the price of this burger.

Overall, it’s delicious but if you are in town for a short while, might as well skip this and try more traditional Korean food.

We Rate Kraze Burger:

Address:
Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu,
Seoul, South Korea

Website:
http://eng.kraze.co.kr/

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In Cafe

Piano Cafe: Patio, Coffee, and a Grand Piano

August 20, 2012

After having Samgyeopsal, Steven and I walked around several blocks to find a nice cafe with a patio. We walked through the wet monsoon weather and found ourselves here. It was a nice little cozy cafe with a grand piano in the middle of the room.

There are lots of tables inside too. As we were here, there would be lots of couples celebrating anniversaries and playing the piano to impress their girlfriends. Lot of happy memories are made here.

Even Steven tried impressing the server at the cafe.

Steven ordered the Iced Coffee and the Affogato. If you are a coffee lover, those are a few of the items you should order! They are good items to cool off from the hot Summer weather.

I got the Caffe Latte. I enjoy it and it was pretty good.

Overall the experience was great! Chilin on their patio and catching up over coffee…as we spy on the couples inside the restaurant.

Words of Wisdom:

Great coffee
Great place to take a date
You better learn piano before coming here if you are on a date

We Rate Piano Cafe:

In BBQ

Bee-hive Samgyeopsal: Grilled Pork BBQ in HongDae, Korea

August 18, 2012

I met up with Steven from High School as he was in Korea in the Summer too. He took me to explore the Hongdae area where lots of University students hang out. There are tons of shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars.

After walking around the area, we ended up going to 벌집 삼겹살 (beoljip samgyeopsal) for some grilled meats. I knew it was something I wanted to eat!

It was really packed inside! Almost all the tables were taken up. Most people looked like they were in their 20s.

If you are getting the grilled meat, romaine, raw garlic and some different sauces will arrive at the table. You are supposed to grill your meat and then wrap it in the lettuce. Very delicious!

You also get a variety of side dishes with your meal. Lots of variety too!

Honeycomb pork belly is their signature type of meat at this restaurant. Thus, the name of the restaurant is named after this. The samgyeopsal is cut thick, then carved on one side with a honeycomb pattern. It’s very different from what you would typically think porkbelly would look like.

It was very delicious after grilling and fast to cook! You definitely need to order this!

Thick Cut Pork Shoulder was massive.It was really big and meaty.

I had too much fun eating this and forgot to take pictures of the meat in the lettuce wrap. If you are in Korea, you must try Korean BBQ!

Words of Wisdom:

Your clothes will smell like BBQ meat and grease
Pork belly is a must!
Always have this type of meal with a group of friends

We Rate Bee-hive Samgyeopsal:

Address:
345-6 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu,
Seoul, South Korea

Webite:
http://www.bulzip.co.kr/

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In Dessert

Burger King: Patbingsu served in South Korea

August 17, 2012

Burger King in South Korea serves different desserts than in Canada. Since I heard they had patbingsu (팥빙수) – shaved ice dessert, I needed to go see how it compared to other places. Eating patbingsu is very popular during the hot humid Summer time.

The menu had a lot of different desserts. Lots of ice cream and cold drinks. I was very tempted to order everything, but I only have one stomach.

Patbingsu comes with a bed of shaved ice, topped with canned pineapples, red bean, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and a dollop of ice cream. I was more impressed by the patbingsu at Burger King than at Miss Lee Cafe.

It tasted ok, but the red bean was very strange to me…but it’s probably because I don’t like red bean. The canned fruit was ok considering it was a fast food chain.

I wasn’t use to eating this type of dessert, but it was ok to me. It’s still cool to see the different desserts around the world offered at Burger King. If you are in Korea, definitely try Patbingsu at other restaurants that specialize in it….probably not Burger King.

In Four Beakers

Well-bring Rice Cafe: Korean Porridge in Seoul, Korea

August 16, 2012

Well-being Rice Cafe in Myeong-Dong is located right below Miss Lee cafe. Kirby and I came here for an early lunch before eating Sannakji (raw octopus). I have always loved Chinese congee, so I really wanted to try Korean porridge. The exterior of the restaurant looked very appealing and had pretty pictures. As a traveller, that’s kinda what appeals to me…I know… it’s quite horrible.

The interior was brightly lit and had a good amount of seats. When we arrived, it was empty, but it soon filled up.

Everything is self-serve, so you need to grab your own water.

Vegetable Dolsot BiBimbap (6,500 won = $6.50 CDN) was very delicious! It is served in a hot stone bowl and comes with seaweed soup, and 2 side dishes.

You just mix all the items together in the bowl. It’s very healthy and yummy.

The side dishes were good, but the cup of prune juice was kinda disgusting.

Beef Mushroom Porridge (8,000 won = $8 CDN) comes in a huge portion with 3 side dishes, prune juice and cold soup.

It was really delicious and it’s really different from Chinese congee. It definitely something you must have!

The 3 side dishes were good too and it was a nice addition to the meal.

Overall, the meal was very good and I would definitely come here again! Order the porridge! the downside is that the service was a bit slow.

We Rate Well-Being Rice Cafe:

Address:
199-1 Euljiro 2(i)-ga (27 Myeongdong 3-gil)
Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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In Dessert

Miss Lee Cafe: Featured on ‘We Got Married’

August 15, 2012

Miss Lee Cafe has several locations around Korea. Kirby and I were in Myeong-Dong and stumbled upon this location. I was a very rainy day, so we decided to chill out here before finding more food. Miss Lee Cafe specializes in boxed lunches, drinks and desserts.

Miss Lee Cafe was made famous by Korean reality show – We Got Married featuring Yonghwa from CN Blue and Seohyun from SNSD.

What makes this cafe very unique are the hundred and hundreds of love messages scattered throughout the restaurant. It’s a very popular place for couples to dine at during dates. Also, for all the fan-girls that come here because “we got married” featured this cafe.

You can grab a pen, a paper, and a twist tie to create your note. It can be about your friends, loved ones, or whoever.

Here is a shot of a few of them. I have no idea what they say, but I think it must be about love.

This location has a few floors and it’s also self-serve. You order at the counter, grab an electronic device and wait for it to buzz. Once it buzzes, you can walk back to the counter to pick up your order.

Five Taste Sherbert has canned pineapple, cherry tomatoes, kiwis, banana, almonds, peanuts, raisins, and canned peaches over ice. Looks pretty, tastes horrible! Do Koreans not have a variety of fruit? or does this cafe just suck that badly?

The combinations of nuts and fruit did not blend well together, nor were they very fresh. Kirby and I had a very hard time trying to finish this item.

Once the fruits were devoured, this is what was underneath. Gross ice and tomato tasting water.

It also came with some snacks on the side. They tasted very stale. I usually don’t notice stale snacks, but this was VERY stale.

The overall quality in their items are very poor and I would never ever return. The concept is very cool, but with all the cafes in Korea, you can skip this place.

Words of Wisdom:

Just don’t eat here…go inside and take a few pictures and leave
Food is very very terrible

We Rate Miss Lee Cafe:

Address:
Jung-gu, Seoul 199-1 Euljiro 2

Website:

http://www.missleecafe.com/

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In Insadong

Insadong: Finding Sikhye in Ssamziegil and the Famous Starbucks

August 13, 2012

In Vancouver, Insadong is just a Korean restaurant, but in Korea, it’s an awesome shopping/eating area. During my time in Korea, I knew I had to wander down this street. People have said it’s a good place to buy old antiques and folk items. Walking around this area, I found it to be a little bit pricey compared to other areas.

Walking down the street, I stumbled upon Ssamziegil, an outdoor shopping area that has a spiral walkway all the way up to the top of the building. There are a lot of unique shops, galleries, and restaurants!

It was a very hot day so I needed a drink to cool down. I spotted a shot on the bottom floor selling Sikhye. Sikhye is a sweet traditional Korean drink.

Sikhye is made from rice and sugar water. It very delicious and refreshing! Very healthy for you too. Apparently good for digestion.

In the drink, you can see the little grains of rice on the bottom. If you are ever in Korea, you should try out this drink! It kinda reminded me of sugar cane. I got it for 2,000 won, but you can find it all around town for as little as 1,000 won.

As you walk down the stairs of Ssamziegil, you will see tons of graffiti lining the walls. Some are love messages and some are awesome drawings! Do you see the Michael Jackson image?

The Starbucks in Insadong is quite famous because they are required to write their name in Korean to keep the traditional-feel on this street.

All the other shops in the area are written in Korean too. There are lots to restaurants to eat at too! It’s definitely an awesome area to check out!

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In Dongdaemun

Lotteria: Hot and Spicy Chicken Burger in South Korea

August 12, 2012

Through all the pouring rain, I made my way to Dongdaemun to see the Great East Gate. It was very large, but there really wasn’t much to do except take a picture of it. I then got hungry, so I do what I do best…eat!

KoreanGirl told me I had to check out Lotteria. Lotteria is one of South Korea’s largest fast food chains.

Walking into the restaurant, it kinda reminded me of McDonalds since the color scheme is very similar. There’s all sorts of people here from Ajuma’s to young couples.

Once you order, you get this electronic device that vibrates once your order is ready. My meal took a bit longer than usual and the server said it would be about 5 minutes. I didn’t really mind since they offer free wifi.

I ordered the Hot Crispy Chicken Burger combo with fries and a coke. The fries were ok, but I still prefer McDonalds fries much more.

The best part of this meal is of course the burger that comes with the meal. Since they were promoting this new burger, I thought I should give it a try! Plus, I do love spicy food.

The lettuce and tomato were fresh, plus the chicken was very very juicy on the inside and packed with a lot of heat! It lives up to the name – hot crispy chicken burger. I was sweating and crying from the spiciness. Nonetheless, it was very yummy!! Really good fastfood here!

Website: http://www.lotteria.com/Eng/

After going to eat, I wandered off towards the park in the middle on Dongdaemun and saw there was The Little Prince Exhibit. I received the book from M several years ago and I fell in love with the story an illustrations.

If you are a big fan, you’ll love the original drawing, keep sakes, and the history behind the book. It costs 12,000 Won and it wasn’t a very large exhibit. I expected a bit more since it was a bit expensive.

Website: http://www.seouldesign.or.kr/en/bbs/view.jsp?seq=561&code=001011

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In Jung-Gu

Changing of Royal Guards at Deoksugung Palace and BiBimBap in Seoul

August 9, 2012

I made it a goal to try to explore a lot of the cultural sites in Seoul. I went to Deoksugung Palace to have a tour at 10:30am, but there was no tour, so I assumed their schedule changed.. or I had an incorrect time. Fortunately, at 11am, 2pm and 3:30pm, they have the changing of guards ceremony in front of Daehanmun Gate at the Palace.

The ceremony lasts for about 30 minutes and is the same. The ceremony is a tradition similar to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace in London and gives you the opportunity to experience the past.

Around the corner from the palace was a restaurant called Sanookeeya. It serves traditional Korean food and I was drawn to eat lunch here because of their display of bibimbap (stone rice). It wasn’t empty and I did see police officers eating inside, so I thought it can’t be too bad if local police officers were eating here.

I ordered the bibimbap and it came in a hot stone bowl with rice, pickled vegetables, kimchi, seaweed, and fish roe. I was disappointed because they bowl wasn’t hot enough to make the rice crispy, plus they didn’t give me hot sauce to make it spicier.

In addition to the bibimbap, they also provided a few side dishes.

Soup or some kind of broth came with the meal. It has a bit of green onions on top.

Cabbage with mayo is something I kept encountering but I can never seem to like it. I strongly believe mayo shouldn’t belong in a salad, but maybe that’s because I dislike mayo.

Kimchi and pickled daikon came as well. I love anything pickled, so this was delicious.

Overall, the food at Sanookeeya was ok, but not as yummy as I expected. I definitely enjoyed the changing of the guards way more than the food nearby. I took it as a lesson to never eat near super touristy locations

We Rate Sanookeeya:

Location: To the left of the Deoksugung Palace

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In Korean

Two Two Fried Chicken: Beer and Chicken in Seoul, South Korea

August 8, 2012

Two Two Fried Chicken is a chain restaurant in Seoul. Their first location was in Myeong-dong in 1978 under the name Gela Chicken, but changed their name in 1990. They now have several locations around Seoul and is still expanding into other countries.

After you put down your order with your server, you get complementary side dishes depending on what you order.

Popcorn (Left) accompanies beer that you order. It’s not like the traditional popcorn in North America, but it’s so good!

Pickled Radishes (Right) accompanies the fried chicken that you order. I love this stuff! So good and addictive!

Cass Beer is a Korean manufactured beer. It’s light and very good to eat with chicken.

I ordered the fried chicken with a bit of spice. It was good, but the chicken was a tad dry. The spices rubbed on the chicken was very good and the amount of spiciness tasted great. I didn’t like the cabbage with the ketchup and mayo on the side.

Overall, the chicken was good, but could be more juicy. When you visit Korea, you must have fried chicken and beer!

Words of Wisdom:

They have an english menu
Smoking is allowed (they give you an ashtray at your table)
You pay the cashier at the front of the restaurant

We Rate Two Two Fried Chicken:

Locations: All around Seoul in popular areas
Website:
www.22chicken.co.kr/en/default.asp

In Chinese

Richmond Night Market 2012: Bakudanyaki, Le Tigre, Icy Bar + More

June 15, 2012

The Richmond Night Market is back! You may be confused why there are 2 night markets in Richmond, I am also confused but I heard there was a feud of some sort. After a four-year hiatus, Raymond Cheung, the founder of the original Richmond Night Market brings it back to a new location close to the Canada Line. There are 250 booths sellingitems such as Korean socks, colored contact lenses, stuffed animals, iPhone accessories, and other cool gadgets. There are also 80 vendors serving up the oh-so-delicious food that definitely attracts the whole city to come here.

Unfortunately, there is a fee of $1.50 to enter the night market, but the parking is complementary and very close! Imagine the admission is the cost of parking…much better than getting a parking ticket right?

By 7pm (the start of the night market), there were already lines into the parking lot of the night market. There is only one entrance and one exit out of this huge parking lot, so be expected to wait. You can also alternatively park at a different skytrain and just take transit down here.

Most people come here just for the food. There is always a crowd near the food area. It’s best to come early before huge lines begin to develop.

There are also a few table that you can sit down and eat your food. Don’t be afraid to eat with strangers if you desperately need to sit down to eat. Near this area are washrooms too.

Whatever you do…don’t buy the drinks from the Coca-Cola staff, they are severely over-priced! Might as well spend your money on something more delicious.

Daikichi Bakudanyak

Bakudanyaki was originally a food truck near the River Rock Casino a few years ago and they are back!! They were the originators of the huge takoyaki balls.

Cost: $5 per huge takoyaki balls
Flavours: Original, Chili, Wasabi, Curry, plus one special feature
Filling contains: Squid, cabbage, corn red ginger, shrimp, rice cake, quail egg and green onions
Website: http://www.bakudanyaki.com/

They cram an enormous amount of filling inside.

Wasabi Huge Takoyaki ($5) is the size of a baseball. All the huge takoyaki’s have the same fillings, the only thing that differs is the sauce they put on top. I chose wasabi since I wanted to be adventurous. The taste of wasabi is quite mild, so it won’t be super spicy. I really enjoyed it and the filling inside the takoyaki is very hearty. You must try this!

Le Tigre – Modern Chinese Cuisine

Le Tigre is one of the new Food Trucks that will be hitting the streets of Vancouver this Summer. They have a stall at the Richmond Night Market, so we had to have a taste of their skewers. What we noticed was the skewers were cheaper than some other stalls, plus they had some very enticing skewers. You definitely need to check out this place!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeTigreCuisine
Twitter: @leTigre_Cuisine

These are way cooler than all the skewer stands at the Richmond Night Market. It’s not just a skewer of meat, they dress them up with sauces and other cool ingredients.

Wouldn’t you want men in hipster hello kitty glasses serve you? We thought it was quite cute.

FoodQueen ordered:

Kickass Rice -$3.50
Pork Belly Skewer – $2.50

FoodPunk ordered:

Mochi Skewer
Pork Belly Skewer
Beef Skewer
3 skewers for $6.50

I ordered:

Beef Skewer
Chicken Skewer
Pork Belly Skewer
3 for $6.50

BBQ Squid

If I could read Chinese, I would let you know what the sign says. Sadly, I dropped out of Chinese school very early so I am no help at all. I really wanted to find some BBQ squid since I kept seeing people’s tweets about them. I didn’t know which ones were good, so I just went to the stall with the longest line up.

You pay at the right and then you line up again and pick up at the left side.

They don’t give you a piece of paper or anything…so I think they trust their customers to be honest. When you get to the man grilling all the squid, he will ask you if you want it regular or spicy.

Spicy Grilled Squid ($6) was spicy. I thought I had a high tolerance for spicy food, but I guess I was wrong. The squid was a bit chewy, but the flavour was good. If you can’t handle your spice, just get the regular one.

Cherry Fruit Juice & Icy Bar

I’ve fallen in love with this stall many years ago. It’s my go-to place for anything mango related. I’ve also been to their location in Crystal Mall a few times for their shaved ice and it’s never disappointed. I would highly recommend this place too.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherryicybar
Additional Locations: Crystal Mall, Parker Place

Mango Tapioca Icy ($5) was definitely needed after all the salty and spicy food. Plus it was a hot day too. It has layers of mango, icy, tapioca and milk. I loved it!

Red Bean Ice Cream Mochi Icy ($5.50) was what FoodPunk ordered. It was big, but she said it wasn’t as thirst quenching as the mango icy.

QQ Egg Puff

QQ Egg Pugg is a bubble waffle stand at the night market. They have some very unique flavours of bubble waffles. I think they use the Bubble Tea powder in the bubble waffle to give them the color and taste. There are a lot of bubble waffle stands in the Richmond Night Market, so you have tons of options. FoodQueen and FoodPunk chose this because their banner was very cute.

Original, Chocolate or Strawberry – $3.50
Coconut, taro, mango, red bean, cheese or matcha – $4

Coconut Bubble Waffle ($4) looks like the original bubble waffle, but don’t be fooled. It did have a very subtle taste of coconut. it tasted ok, but the waffles looked pretty squished and deformed.

Taro Bubble Waffle ($4) is bright and purple inside due to the taro powder. It was very sweet and tasted like artificial taro.

Rotato

Rotato serves up the hurricane potatoes. The line up was quite long and was about a 30 minute wait. It seems to be the only stall that served these. We didn’t line up, but they do have this really cool illustration about what you can do with your Rotato.

Care For Life Foundation – Wishing Tree

At the Richmond Night Market, the Care For Life Foundation set up a series of artificial trees for people to make a wish. We browsed around and looked at a few wishes. We found a lot of wishes about relationships and how people want their relationship to last till the end of time. Very cute!

Some on the other hand … were not as sweet. I don’t really know what to say about this one…

A good amount of wishes were very sexual in nature as well. On it was a 604 number, but I’m sure no one wants to contact this person.

Address:
8351 River Rd
Richmond, BC

Website:
richmondnightmarket.com

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In Coquitlam

Kimbab Cheonguk: Awesome Korean Food Under $10

May 6, 2012

Kimbab Cheonguk is located near “Korea Town” on North Road. It’s a small restaurant known to the Korean community to have some amazing kim bab (Korean Sushi) and Al Bob (Fish stone rice). It is very affordable and has gained a lot of popularity over the years. Most of the customers are Korean, but the staff is always very nice.

I came with Mandu and KoreanGirl to just chow down and hang out.

It’s not very large, so you probably can’t come with too many people.

The menu has 20 items and isn’t too expensive. If you don’t know what is what…there are also images too.

Complementary side dishes arrive and you get pickled daikon and kimchi radish. It’s yummy, but the kimchi radish can be a bit spicy for some people.

Beef Broth comes complementary as well. Instead of hot tea, they give you this. It is a very delicious broth, but I have a feeling there may be a bit of MSG in it…but nonetheless I drank it anyways.

Tuna Kimbab ($3.50) is different that Japanese sushi since it does not have as much rice and has more filling. This roll has tuna, mayo, cucumbers, peppers and some other stuff. It’s one of our favorite rolls. The kimchi kimbab is good too.

Dduk Mandoo Gook ($7.99) is rice cake dumpling soup. It has a 3 dumplings, a good amount of rice cakes, egg, seaweed and green onions in a delicious broth. I quite enjoyed the dish and it was not spicy.

Dduk Ramen ($5.99) has rice cake, ramen noodles, fish cake, egg and vegetables in a spicy sauce. It’s quite spicy, so it’s not for everyone. It tastes good, but for myself, I had to keep on drinking water while eating it.

Al Bab ($7.99) is one of my favorite dishes here. There is seaweed, picked radish, tuna, fish roe, cabbage, carrots, and cheese in a hot stone bowl. They also give you 2 types to enhance the flavour too. Once this arrives at the table, you just mix everything together.

Overall, they have awesome Korean food. Not all the dishes are spicy, so it’s good for everyone. It’s cash and debit only, so no credit cards.

Words of Wisdom:

Highly Recommended: Al Bab, Fish Kimbab, Dduk Mandoo Gook
Under $10
Free parking and lots of space too
Good service even for non-Koreans

We Rate Kimbab Cheonguk:

Address:
3A-341 North Road
Coquitlam, BC

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In BBQ

Damso Modern Korean Cuisine: Yuzu Snowman Sorbet

March 24, 2012

Damso Modern Korean Cuisine is located on Denman street and they serve up some delicious Korean dishes with a modern twist.

Jay of Coma Food Truck invited a few of his loyal customers that supported his food truck to Damso to say thank you. It’s sad to see Coma Food Truck go, but I see a great future for Jay and in his future ventures.

You start off with a trio of little items – spinach, bean sprouts and radish kimchi.

Seafood Waffle ($8.25) has prawns, scallop, squid, bacon, and scallion. This was so good! Imagine the traditional Korean Seafood pancake, but in pancake form. It was really good and probably the best I’ve had so far. Yum! It’s a must order!

Ddok-Kalbee ($6.85) are beef meatballs with king oyster mushroom, scallion salad and jalapeno pickles. The meatballs were really delicious with great flavour and a slightly sweet sauce. I could definitely eat these all day.

Chicken Gizzard contains stir-fried chicken gizzard, roasted garlic, scallion salad, with mustard vinaigrette. Surprisingly the gizzards were not tough at all, but a bit chewy. It can be a strange thing to eat, but it tasted good.

Pork Skin ($6.75) has sautéed with chive, onion and spicy Korean chili sauce. It wasn’t too spicy, but I really didn’t like the texture of the pork skin. It was limp and tasted like fatty jelly. I much prefer my pork skin crispy.

Kalbee – Korean BBQ Short Ribs ($15.95) is their signature dish. It has grilled AAA beef ribs marinated in housemade Korean BBQ sauce. It comes with rice too. This is an amazing dish! The meat is so tender and just falls off the bone. Wongers just wanted to steal this sauce since it was so good. Highly recommended!

Chicken Kalbee Ddok-Bokki has sautéed chicken, rice cake, and sweet Gochujang sauce. It was a bit spicy, but not my favorite dish. It was still a bit traditional.

Meat Party Platter ($34.95) comes with 24 hr slow cooked pork & medium rare grilled marinated AAA beef steak. I wasn’t a fan of the slow cooked pork, but the medium rare beef was so delicious. Meat!

Yuzu Snowman Sorbet is super cute and tastes really good. It tasted like citrus. It was a great way to end the meal. We felt kinda bad eating this little guy.

Overall, I was quite impressed by the quality of the dishes. I never expected to see modern Korean cuisine done well until now.

Words of Wisdom: