korean Archives - Page 3 of 7

In Four Beakers

Sura: Korean Lunch Set Menu in Vancouver

November 16, 2015

Sura Korean Royal Cuisine on Robson Street draws a large crowd during lunch and dinner time. Their lunch specials are undeniably affordable for those who want to try an array of Korean cuisine. I came here with a few of my coworkers since I’ve never been here.

They have been around since 2008 serving traditional Korean cuisine. They have won multiple awards from Vancouver Magazine and WE Vancouver Best of the City Dining.

Set Course SU – $15 per person includes:

ong–chimi
Green Salad
Yam Mousse
Tang–pyungchae (Acorn Jelly Salad)
Bulgogi (Korean beef)
Potato Pancake
Tang–sooyuk (Sweet and Sour pork)
Grilled Atlantic Croaker
Bossam (Pork belly wraps)
Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Stew)
3 kinds of Side-dishes
Korean Rice Punch

The menu requires a minimum of 2 orders and the set is available to order until 3:00pm daily.

The items on it may change from day to day.

First, soup arrived for each person at the table. It reminded me of a egg drop soup but more gelatinous.

Green Salad has a mishmash of vegetables and fruit. I wasn’t a fan of the oranges and strawberries in it.

Tang–pyungchae (Acorn Jelly Salad) really is quite tasteless, but according for my Korean friend, it’s good for you. I really couldn’t tell you the science behind it.

House Special Spicy Seafood has stir–fried assorted seafood with spicy house special sauce.

Bossam (Pork Belly wraps) comes with the pink pickled radish as the wrap, kimchi, paste and the delicious pork belly. So good! My favourite dish.

Tang–sooyuk (Sweet and Sour pork) tasted ok. Not my favourite but its pretty average.

Rice comes in a little tin. Eat it with the other side dishes.

Marinated Seaweed and mashed pumpkin mousse are 2 of the 3 side dishes. I always can’t get enough of the seaweed.

Kimchi is the last side dish. Delicious and not too spicy.

Bulgogi comes in a large dish and went great with the rice.

Doenjang Jjigae (Korean Stew) has tofu, veggies, and kimchi. It’s not too spicy either. Very good.

Potato Pancake came with 4 pieces as there was 4 of us. It’s was surprisingly pretty good.

Grilled Atlantic Croaker was an interesting dish that arrived. It takes a bit of work to eat it as there are a lot of tiny bones.

Korean Rice Punch was a nice way to end the meal. It’s a sweet rice drink.

All this for for $15 per person is a great deal for lunch. So many dishes arrive and you get a taste of a lot of Korean dishes. At times, we would run out of room on the table to put the food. Some of the dishes are a hit and miss, but still a great price. I love this type of family style dining.

We Rate Sura:

Address:
1518 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
www.surakoreancuisine.com

In Food Carts

Disco Cheetah: Korean Fusion Food Truck

June 4, 2015

Disco Cheetah Food Truck was outside my work place this week and since they were only a few steps outside our building, I just had to get a bite for lunch.

They serve up Tacos, Burritos and Quesadilla with a Korean twist. Korean and Mexican flavours really go well together.

Their menu is a bit limited but everything is $10 or under.

Grilled Cheese Chili Chicken Quesadilla ($10) has Korean chili mayo on top with dill sour cream, kimchi slaw and pickled red cabbage on the side. Everything was delicious. I really appreciated the cabbage and the slaw to really balance out the quesadilla.

My other coworkers got their tacos and burritos and seemed to enjoy it. I’m glad Disco Cheetah rolled into our neighbourhood to serve up lunch. There really aren’t too many options near the Science World area.

We rate Disco Cheetah:

Location:
varies

Website:
http://discocheetah.com/

In Dessert

Soft Peaks: Soft Serve Ice Cream in Vancouver

March 17, 2015

Soft Peaks Ice Cream serves up fresh organic soft serve ice cream. The soft serve is made with Avalon organic milk. I remember a year ago when I was in Korea, soft serve with honeycomb was the newest trend. Now, its hitting Vancouver.

Ever since they have opened, they have been crazy busy during peak hours.

Founders – Dan and Ken Kim of Soft Peaks are brothers and best friends who started Soft Peaks, the two came together to pursue a shared dream. They both love ice cream, so soft serve was a perfect shop to open up.

Small Size vs Regular Size

Honeycomb Peak (Regular – $6.75) is topped with their signature swirl topped with a piece of local honeycomb. They honeycomb is from the Okanagan and Fraser Valley.

The soft serve was quite rich but at the same time kinda bland. The honeycomb is pretty sweet, so you really need to disperse it through out the soft serve. I did enjoy the cereal underneath, but it would take a long time until I could dig down into it.

Mudslide (Regular – $6.25) has a twist topped with TimTam flakes and chocolate syrup. TimTams are these delicious chocolate biscuits from Australia.

Overall, Soft Peaks was ok, but I don’t believe I’m a fan of soft serve. The group consensus was that the soft serve was ok, but they still prefer to have ice cream from Earnest Ice Cream or gelato from Bella Gelateria. Soft Peaks is different and it’s really hard to compare it to ice cream or gelato. The Soft Serve is really geared towards asian taste buds as it is not too sweet at all.

We Rate Soft Peaks:

Address:
25 Alexander St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://softpeaks.ca/

In Korean

Hot Kalbi Pork Side Ribs

February 1, 2015

I love Korean marinated meats and something about the flavour is so addictive. Especially when it’s spicy!

Hot Kalbi Pork Side Ribs can easily be made in a slow cooker. I wanted to make a no fuss meal and there was already a pre-made marinade from T&T.

Sempio creates a wide variety of kalbi sauces, but there aren’t a lot of brands at the store that sold the spicy version. If you are lazy to make your own hot kalbi sauce, this is a good option.

I got a pack of side ribs from T&T and it was about $14 per pack. It’s not too fatty and there was still lots of meat on the bones.

Put the side ribs and half a bottle of the Hot Kalbi Sauce in the slow cooker for 6 -8 hours on low. Make sure all the ribs are coated with the sauce.

Once it’s done, serve it with your meal and you can cut it up so they become little rib bites. There is a decent amount of spice to the ribs and not too spicy. Since the ribs are cooked in the slow cooker, the meat is tender.

Website: http://www.sempio.com/

In Coquitlam

House of Tofu Soup: Korean Comfort Food

January 13, 2015

House of Tofu Soup is located on North Road in KoreaTown. It gets quite busy during dinner time with tons of people wanting to get a taste of their tofu soup and other dishes. The parking is a little bit nuts here since there are only so many spots and small spaces.

They have gone through a bit of a renovation to open up the space and make it a bit nicer. Before they had this strange divider that would separate the restaurant.

I personally think the best part of this restaurant is the banchan, the complimentary side dishes. Just waiting for the tofu soup and munching on these dishes are pretty awesome.

Kimchi is a bit spicy, but I love its slightly acidic flavour and the crunchy texture.

Pickled Radishes have a crunchy texture to them too. It is also slightly sweet.

Mashed potato is pretty cute and looks like ice cream.

Seaweed is so delicious. I could eat this all day!

Pork Kimchi Tofu Soup ($9.99) and I chose to have it regular spicy level. It also comes with rice.

Before you eat it, crack and egg into the hot soup and mix it around. The first few bites were good, but after a while, it was just salty. It wasn’t as good as a few years ago.

We rate House of Tofu Soup:

Address:
4563 North Road
Burnaby, BC

In Cafe

Coffee Monster: New Coffee Shop in Coquitlam

January 12, 2015

Coffee Monster is a new cafe on North Road in Coquitlam that just opened up last December. They are located in the same plaza as HSBC. It’s definitely needed in this area since there are no other independent coffee shops around.

It’s a Korean Coffee shop and they serve desserts, baked goods, tea and coffee.

The interior is spacious and there is lots of space. We saw people catching up with friends, doing some work on their laptops or just enjoying coffee.

They have sandwiches and sweets in their display case.

After you order, you get an electronic disk and once its ready, it will start buzzing and flashing.

The order came out quickly.

Latte ($3.50) comes with beautiful latte art on top. KoreanGirl did enjoy it.

London Fog ($4.75) comes in a 16oz size. A london fog is earl grey tea, with a pump of syrup, and foamy milk on top. Yummy.

Plain Cheesecake ($6.50) comes in a cute mason jar with chocolate and strawberry on top. It’s soft cheesecake and its a good size for even 2 people to share.

Gateau Du Jour ($6.50) came in a mason jar too and it had boston cream, cake, chocolate, whipped cream and strawberries. I had high hopes for this dessert but it wasn’t very good. The chocolate on top was very hard and it didn’t really work together very well.

They have only been open for less than a month, so I’m sure they will make tweaks here and there to their dessert offerings.

It’s finally good to have yummy espresso based beverages that’s not McDonalds, Starbucks, or Tim Hortons. Coquitlam is definitely changing slowly, but its great to see all the cool restaurants and cafes popping up.

I’ll definitely come back for some more coffee with friends. The atmosphere is perfect too.

We Rate Coffee Monster:

Address:
6-405 N Rd Coquitlam, BC

In Korean

Made with Coca-Cola: Korean Shredded Beef

January 6, 2015

M got me an Instant Pot for Christmas and I was itching to slow cook something. Mags told me to slow cook beef with a can of Coca-Cola, so I really wanted to give it a try. The secret to tender meat is cooking it at a low temperature for a long period of time.

[tabs tab1=”Ingredients” ]

[tab id=1]

2 pounds beef roast
1 cup of Coca-Cola
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled
1 garlic, peeled
1 onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar
a splash of fish sauce

[/tab]

[/tabs]

Prepare the onions, jalapeno, ginger, and garlic. It’s always easier prepping the ingredients ahead of time so you save some time.

Take your beef roast and sear all sides by browning it. You can either turn on the Saute function of the Instant Pot to do this or brown it on a frying pan.

It will only take a minute or so to brown each side.

Once it is down browning, add in the onion, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar.

Don’t forget the Coca-Cola.

Turn the slow cooker on for 8 hours and let it do it’s thing.

Once the beef roast is done, it will be tender and falling apart.

You can eat it for dinner or eat it as a breakfast. I paired it with scrambled eggs. Tons of protein for breakfast!

In Korean

Kimchi Soup 김치국

January 2, 2015

Kimchi guk 김치 찌개 or Kimchi Soup is M’s specialty. He would make this for me years ago when we were dating and still continues to make it to this very day. I just have to ask him kindly.

It’s a popular dish among Koreans all year round and you eat it with rice. Kimchi soup is very easy to make.

[tabs tab1=”Ingredients”]

[tab id=1]

3 cups Kimchi
1 Tin of Canned Tuna
1 Can of Spam
1 Block of Tofu
5 cups of Water
Drizzle of Olive Oil

[/tab]

[/tabs]

Drizzle olive oil at the bottom of your pot and add in the kimchi with a bit of juice from the package. Let the kimchi simmer on medium for 5 minutes as it really transforms the taste.

I buy pre-cut kimchi so I don’t have to make a mess in the kitchen. If you have the onces with the whole kimchi, then chop it up into smaller pieces.

Pour the water into the pot.

Add in the canned tuna. I like using the Korean kind as it’s so much moist and flavourful than the other brands.

Chop up some spam and add it into the pot. Let it boil on medium for about 15 minutes.

Chop up some tofu and add it in last.

Boil for an additional10 minutes and it’s done.

Pour some kimchi soup over steamed rice and enjoy! Easy to make and it’s not complicated.

In Happy Hour

Taboo Kitchen: New Fusion Korean Restaurant in Yaletown

November 22, 2014

Taboo Kitchen in Yaletown just opened in early November. My friends took me here on our usual Friday Happy Hour excursions. Rodney’s had a 45 minute wait and we wouldn’t be able to make it inside to order.

So, Taboo Kitchen was a good choice across the street for a few tapas and $4 on certain drinks like beer, cocktails and wine. Might as well since we were going to be drinking anyways.

The interior looked very nice. They have a long table to accommodate large groups. The bar looked pretty nice too.

The entree’s were pretty pricey, but with just drinks and tapas, it was not too bad. The items definitely are Korean fusion.

Complimentary Sampler of kimchi, Sweet potato and pickled radish were provided to everyone at the table. In any Korean place, it is expected to have complimentary side dishes provided as an indication of good service. It was presented nicely and gave us a taste of their food.

Apple Sojutini ($4) was quite strong and it was perfect! Just what my friends wanted. Yeah for happy hour prices.
Red Truck Lager ($4) was on special too.

Prawn Mayo has wasabi, fried capers, and rice crackers with the deep-fried prawns. There was delicious textures of the rice cake and the salty capers. As for the prawns themselves, it was a bit bland and could have used more of that wasabi sauce.

Tuna Rising Sun has chojang, endive, sweet potato on the bottom. Each endive has spicy tuna and spicy sauce. It was really good and a nice twist for a fusion dish.

Korean Spicy Chicken Wings is served with a pickled radish slaw and yuja cream. These were good wings.

Overall, it’s a nice place to go after work to chill have a drink and a few bites especially in the Yaletown area. I love traditional Korean food and the food they offer here is quite different, thus the fusion part of the restaurant.

We Rate Taboo Kitchen:

Address:
1233 Hamilton St Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://tabookitchen.com/

In Burnaby Cariboo-Lougheed

Midam Rice Cake House: Cocktails, Drinks and Dessert

November 17, 2014

Midam Rice Cake House is hidden in the Hannam Plaza on North Road right beside the grocery store. I have come here before during the day but never at night. I hear the atmosphere is much more lively and different. They specialize in Korean Rice Cakes, so you can find it in a majority of the menu items on the menu.

A lot of young Koreans come here at night for dessert or have dinner with beer or soju.

The owner also seems to have an obsession with NBA. There are pictures of a few great NBA players.

In the display cases, there are figurines and memorabilia.

Blueberry Soju Cocktail comes in a small and large size and obviously we got the large size. It was very fizzy and tasted like blueberry vinegar, spirit and a bit of soju.

We knocked back shot after shot and we felt nothing. I am usually a good indicator if there is alcohol in a drink and there seems to be very little.

Makkoli is a korean rice wine cocktail. It’s milky sweet and is about 6-8% alcohol content.

It’s served in these weird tin cup things. Weirdly enough, this did not get us drunk either. We are really cheap drunks and usually a beer is enough for me. I feel like the skimped on the alcohol.

Fried chicken in creamy sauce with rice cake ($20) was a large portion and easily sharable among a table of 4. The chicken was crunchy and it went well with the cream sauce. There are also onions and cabbage that you mix into it.

Our other friend got a dessert and a drink. A good combination for a late night out.

Overall, Midam has an interesting vibe at night and it’s mostly for the younger crowd. Good place to drink, but they skimp on the alcohol for cocktail drinks. Stick with shots or beer.

They also have a large menu for food, drinks and desserts. Prices are decent. Service is ok as the table has a bell to let servers know you need something.

We Rate Midam Rice Cake House:

Address:
110-4501 North Road
Burnaby, BC

In Korean

Zabu Chicken: Forgotten Orders, Lying Servers and Big Egos

November 11, 2014

I am always on the hunt for great Korean Fried Chicken and my friends are crazy about it too. We decided to go to Zabu Chicken on Robson Street close to Whole Foods. It’s always busy and seems to have a lively atmosphere, so we went.

As we arrived with a group of 4, we were immediately seated at a table of 2 with 4 chairs. We inquired if we could sit in their booths, but they said no as it was only for groups of 5 or more. A few minutes later, another group of 4 arrived and they were seated in the booth. We were a bit pissed off at this point because the server lied to us. As another table cleared, we decided to ask the server if we could sit at that table and they said no as it was reserved. We knew they were lying to us again because all the other reserved tables had a reserved sign on it. We didn’t even place our order yet, so moving us wouldn’t have been that big of a hassle. We were all really mad, but decided to stick it out since we were really here for the food.

Pitcher of Sapporo ($16.95) was pretty pricey, but you need beer to go with chicken. It’s just the Korean way.

After talking to about 3 servers to get a few napkins, we finally got napkins. It was our tiny victory of our evening since most of requests were ignored. They didn’t even serve us water or side dishes as per usual. Side dishes are an essential part of eating at a Korean Restaurant. We drank beer for over an hour waiting for the food to arrive.

Soy Chicken Drumsticks (Large – $19.95) comes with 10 pieces, but our order came 5 pieces at a time. It seemed like their kitchen was slammed, so they could only do partial orders. The next 5 pieces came 20 minutes later as we gobbled these up really quickly.

The chicken was good, yummy sauce with the crunchy skin.

We then asked a few servers for side dishes and they did come! We had pickled radish and shredded cabbage.

We also ordered some spicy wings but it never arrived. We inquired with the server and she told us it wasn’t put in. If we wanted them, we would need an additional 25 minutes. Clearly, we were not going to waste any more time here to wait for chicken with crappy service. So, we told them we would get our bill.

We spent a total of 1hr and 40minutes here to have 2 pitchers of beer and 10 chicken drumsticks. Majority of the time was waiting for the chicken drumsticks…all 10 pieces…I could have went to Church’s Chicken to have a better time than dining here.

We left hungry, so we decided to enjoy the rest of our evening at Guu and at Gyu Kaku, where they actually cared that we were dining with them.

We Rate Zabu Chicken:

Address:
1635 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ZabuChicken

In Chinese

Banh Mi Boys: Asian Fusion Sandwiches in Toronto

August 21, 2014

Banh Mi Boys is located on Younge Street close to Ryerson University and a few blocks away from Eaton Centre. They also have another location on Queen Street West. As this was right across from my hotel, I had to come to one of Toronto’s most talked about restaurants.

It’s been on my list forever and I finally made it here! They serve up Vietnamese subs – Banh Mi and a few other fusion items like tacos and steamed baos.

We came here during dinner time and this place was packed! There were barely any seats left and tons of people were taking their food to-go.

Their menu items are quite cheap and perfect for students on a budget. Plus, the food is good.

Once you put in your order, you wait on the side for you order to be called. When they call your name, they also ask you if you want any spice on your items. To be on the safe side, I chose everything I ordered not to be very spicy.

Five Spice Pork Belly Steamed Bao ($3.49) looked amazing and I couldn’t resist anything that has pork belly in it. The steamed bao also has cucumber, pickled carrots, picked radish, and cilantro.

I really liked the pork belly, but then again, who doesn’t?

Braised Beef Steamed Bao ($3.49) is what my aunt ordered. She thought this was ok, but it seemed strange to her as she’s never tried anything like this in Asia.

Kalbi Beef Taco ($3.99) has purple cabbage slaw, kimchi, pickled carrots, cilantro and the kalbi beef on top of the taco.

Kimchi Fries ($5.99) has pulled pork, mayo, kimchi, and green onion on top of the fries. My Korean relatives thought this dish was disgusting and weird. It was hard for them to grasp the concept that kimchi and fries go together. I thought this was a delicious dish! The hot and sour taste from the kimchi blend beautifully with the pulled pork.

Overall, Banh Mi Boys is a fun place for fusion food if you taste buds are up to the challenge.

We Rate Banh Mi Boys:

Address:
392 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.banhmiboys.com/

In BBQ

Insadong Korean BBQ: Family BBQ Combo for 4-5 People

July 3, 2014

Insadong Korean BBQ Restaurant has been on North Road and Lougheed for a while now and have been serving guests traditional Korean cuisine. The restaurant is pretty huge and can accommodate large groups.

I came here with my family for Fathers Day and it was quite busy. Parking was a bit tough but we eventually found a spot.

Depending on which area of the restaurant you sit in, it will look different. The area we were in had pretty poor ventilation, so it was very smokey for most of the time. The table we were at wasn’t wiped down properly, so there were bits of food still on it.

Family BBQ Combination ($79.99) can serve 4 -5 people but we had a lot of leftovers…so you can have 6 people eat this if you really wanted.

In this combo, you get:

Smoked Salmon Salad
Radish Seaweed Roll
Seafood non-spicy tofu soup or soybeans soup
Seafood Pancake or Bulgogi Japchae
Marinated Beef Galbi Ribs
Marinated Chicken Bulgogi
Marinated Spicy Pork Bulgogi
Marinated Short Ribs
Mussels ( 3 pieces)
Prawns ( 3 pieces)
Oysters( 3 pieces)

Before the main dishes arrived, we were given complimentary side dishes (banchan). You will find a lot of picked vegetables like bean sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes and kimchi. The side dishes are refillable if you want more.

Radish Seaweed Roll was a light and refreshing dish and it’s good to eat your vegetables beforehand because all the meat will be coming next.

Next, all the marinated meat and seafood arrived on a large platter. Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm time to get this party started.

The marinated galbi beef ribs are cut and placed on the hot grill by the server. They didn’t really say anything and just placed it on there for us. We were confused since they didn’t explain what they were doing. As you can tell, service here is a bit strange.

Everything else we grilled on the stove ourselves. The chicken, beef and pork were great. The seafood was ok, but not as fresh and flavourful.

Seafood Pancake came on a hot plate. It was decent, but not the best one I’ve had.

Smoked Salmon Salad was good, fresh and had a good amount of smoked salmon.

Seafood non-spicy tofu soup was good to contrast the items part of the combo. Great clean taste and has a good amount of tofu and seafood.

Overall, we were so full at the end of the meal and had a few item to take home. We still had a little bit of uncooked meat, so they helped us cook it before we left.

We added 2 bowls of rice for $1.99 each and the end of the meal totaled to $88.17, which is not bad for so much food. You do get value from the combo sets on the menu. The downside about dining here is that the service can be quite poor.

We Rate Insadong Korean BBQ:

Address:
403 North Rd
Coquitlam BC

In Cafe

Cafe Joie: Coffee and Buns in South Burnaby

June 3, 2014

It’s about time there is a nice independent cafe near Metrotown. What more do you need than coffee and some yummy pastries with friends. KoreanGirl and I were killing time before dinner, so we headed to Cafe Joie for a snack. The cafe is very close to Metropolis at Metrotown. A few minutes walk and you would never expect a place like this to be in the area.

The interior is quite beautiful, spacious and adorable. It’s a great place to do some homework or just catch up with some friends.

Latte is so cute! KoreanGirl was impressed that they took the extra effort to make a little bear on top. The coffee tastes great as they use JJ Bean coffee. I would just come here for the latte art.

Cappuccino was what I ordered. Nice, strong, and delicious. A definite winner if you want to just slowly sip away and have some pastries with it.

Almond cookie was delicious!! I liked the texture and how it was crunchy. I had an obsession with pastries with nuts and almonds. Yum.

Original Coffee Bun that they have here was enjoyable! It’s uniformly shaped and has a coffee aroma from the crust on top. KoreanGirl liked this coffee bun the most compared to some other places in town.

They also have tons of macarons and a few cakes on display too. They also have shaved ice.

Overall, we enjoyed this cafe and would highly recommend it.

We Rate Cafe Joie:

Address:
110-6125 Sussex Ave
Burnaby BC

Website:
http://www.cafejoie.com/

In Korean

Miss Korea: Eat and Drink like a Korean

May 5, 2014

Miss Korea is a Korean bar/restaurant that sells lunch, dinner, and drinks. It is located near Yonge x Bloor Streets in Toronto, which is not too far from the 2 universities (U of T and Ryerson). The interior has a hybrid look of old and modern feel. It’s clean and good for a small group of friends to hang out (you can also host a bigger party upstairs). I’ve noticed university students and young professionals frequent this place often.

After window shopping and walking around the Yorkville area on a nice Sunday evening, Bunny-Bunny and I (Fabo) went to Miss Korea to grab a bite and a couple of drinks.

When we were there, it was only about 6-7pm so the place was quite empty. At one point we were the only customers there, which I liked. Miss Korea is usually more crowded around 9pm and onwards as it’s a good place to drink beer/soju/rice wine and eat snacks with your friends.

After looking through their menu, we decided to get something from their combo menu plus a main to satisfy our Korean food cravings. We ordered 4 bottles of beer and oden soup from their combo menu. Oden soup was tasty, but perhaps because of MSG. We depleted the soup before eating all the fish cakes.

Don’t have a picture, but we got 2 bottles of Coors Light and 2 bottles of Keith. There also were imported beers on the menu, but those weren’t part of the combo menu (I wanted Sapporo, but oh wells).

We also ordered bulgogi dolsot to share. It comes with a separate spicy sauce (gochoojang) to mix with.

It was my first time visiting Miss Korea during dinner time as I usually went for drinks. Going there during dinner time was actually not bad because you can enjoy a quiet conversation with your friends. If you are too lazy to travel all the way to Christie or North York for a Korean food, and if you want a casual place to meet up with friends, I would recommend you to give this place a try.

We Rate Miss Korea:

Address:
687 Yonge Street
Toronto, ON

Website:
www.misskorea.ca

In Bakery

The Coffee Bun: Yummy Snacks in Coquitlam

April 29, 2014

The Coffee Bun is located in Coquitlam in Henderson Mall. This is their second location as their original one is in North Vancouver. KoreanGirl and I drove past it and were curious about this place, so after we had lunch somewhere else, we came here for a coffee and some snacks.

The space is quite spacious with lots of tables. Perfect for studying or a good place to hang out with friends. The tables are spaced out far apart, so you aren’t up close to others.

Iced Coffee was what KoreanGirl ordered. It was a hot day, so that made sense. The coffee is made with Kicking Horse coffee beans.

Hot Cappuccino is also made with Kicking Horse coffee beans. It was really hot, but after it cooled down it tasted good. It was made by a machine, so it doesn’t have that strong taste of espresso.

The coffee bun is baked with a coffee cream on top to create the aromatic coffee crust on top of the bun. There are 10 flavours of filling for the buns.

Original Plain (filled with butter)
Cream Cheese (filled with cream cheese)
Custard Chouz (filled with soft vanilla cream)
chocolate (filled with chocolate chips)
red bean (filled with red bean)
garlic (topped with coffee and herbs)
cinnamon (topped with cinnamon)
pumpkin (filled with sweet pumpkin)
ice cream (sandwiched with ice cream)
coffee bun sandwich (sandwiched with ham and cheese)

Depending on the location, the fillings and options can vary.

The original plain coffee bun came right out of the oven and was SO GOOD. The are fresh every 30 minutes, so I would definitely wait till the new batch comes out. The crust is really good and the little bit of butter inside pairs nicely.

Cream Cheese Coffee bun was ok. This one was got wasn’t heated up, so it was a little big unsatisfactory. We thought they would heat this up a little bit.

Custard Coffee bun is filled with the custard cream inside. If you have a slight sweet tooth, then this is what you might enjoy. It’s like a cream puff but inside a coffee bun.

Strawberry and ice cream toast was another item they had for their more dessert-like options. They also have Korean shaved ice and belgian waffles too. The strawberries were frozen and sliced. We weren’t impressed with this.

Overall, a cup of coffee and a fresh coffee bun is best to be ordered.

We Rate Coffee Bun:

Address:
1011-1163 Pinetree Way
Coquitlam, BC

Website:
http://www.thecoffeebun.com/

In Chinese

Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant 부천성: Lunch in Pohang, Korea

March 8, 2014

Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant 부천성 is located in Pohang. We came here for lunch and what I always find interesting is that no matter where you find Chinese food in Korea, it’s never authentic. They always have their own version of Chinese food.

I actually don’t mind it. In my mind, I will always think its Korean food. Just wait till the Koreans discover dim sum, they will be mind blown.

The inner decor was simple. Nothing fancy. There was a good amount of people here for lunch.

Complimentary side dishes arrived – kimchi, pickled radish, onions and bean paste. You dip the onion into the bean paste and it magically counteracts the intensity of the onion. It’s weird, but it works.

Honey Almond Shrimp has deep-fried prawns smothered in a mayo mixture and topped with almond slices.

Noodles with Black bean Sauce (Jajangmyeon) was ordered by everyone. There is the noodle underneath and the black bean sauce on top.

Fried Rice with Seafood comes with a bit of black bean sauce on the side and a light soup. This is an item I always order. Black bean sauce is really good and when you add it to the fried rice, it’s pretty damn good. Too bad I didn’t really like how they made the fried rice.

At the end of the meal, we got these sticky sweet potatoes as a complimentary dessert. We all thought this was pretty meh.

We also got coffee at the end of the meal. Wasn’t very good either.

Overall, the restaurant was decent, but we all agreed Taesan Chinese Restaurant is still better for Korean Chinese food.

We rate Bu Chun Sung Chinese Restaurant:

Website:
http://xn--or3bo1es8m.kr/skin15/index.php

Address:
656-13 I-dong, Nam-Gu, Pohang-si,
Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=%EB%B6%80%EC%B2%9C%EC%84%B1&ie=UTF8&ll=36.028486,129.337449&spn=0.010221,0.021136&sll=36.0282921,129.3374541&sspn=0.0066637,0.0109864&t=m&cid=0xa41eb0cf2b3d3dd3&hq=%EB%B6%80%EC%B2%9C%EC%84%B1&z=16&iwloc=A “]

In Airplane Meals

Korean Air: Vancouver to South Korea

February 1, 2014

Up up away! Another visit to South Korea this month. This time we decided to take Korean Air because all other flights were sold out on such short notice. We booked it a day before we departed. From Vancouver to South Korea, it took about 11 hours to fly. I always dread these flight but I found that sleeping through everything except for meals makes the ride less long.

I usually get really annoyed after 4 hours because I am sitting in the same position. I need a lot of entertainment to keep me occupied.

The configuration of this plane was 3 – 3- 3 so, it’s a packed plane. I definitely like Air Canada a bit better because they have 2-3-2.

Take off was pretty smooth, but I found the in-flight entertainment console to be a bit dated. You have new movies and games, but I generally spend more time on my laptop. As they don’t have plugs, my computer died after a few hours.

An hour after the plane takes off, we are given a beverage and a pack of Honey Roasted Peanuts. I wasn’t a fan of the peanuts since they were encrusted in sugar. I like my peanuts with salt only…so I gave the rest to M to eat.

You can choose anything for your beverage. You can even get wine or beer, but I decided not to since I find drinking alcohol on the plane gives me a headache.

Bibimbap is an iconic and popular Korean dish. Any time I ask people about Korean Air food, they rave about this dish.

It also come with pickles, fruit and seaweed soup.

You mix the rice, vegetables, gochujang (chili pepper sauce), and sesame oil. This is what you get! It’s definitely satisfying but still not as good as what you would get at a restaurant.

Another option is the beef dish with vegetables and potatoes. You also get fruit, a salad, and bread. It’s definitely not as exciting as bibimbap. If you have the choice, definitely go with the bibimbap.

For our second dish, we got a choice between beef, chicken and fish. M and I both chose chicken. It has a celery salad, cheesecake and bread on the side. It was not that interesting. The cheesecake was warm and it ruined that whole experience. My salad was also a bit warm.

Throughout the flight, they go up and down the isles offering complimentary juice or alcohol. It’s a nice touch.

As the plane made it’s final destination to Incheon Airport, I was happy I could enjoy some good Korean food. The only highlight of Korean Air’s food offerings is the bibimbap. 11 hours on the plane and my butt was already sore.

Website: koreanair.com