{Tea diaries}

The news the other day talked about the new Korean teenage hearthrob, Rain, having fun at a "booking club" in Seoul, which reminded me that I have yet to properly document the vibrant Seoul nightscene. So here's a little diversion from the Paris entries and marks the final posting from my May Seoul trip.



Our booking club outing is definitely worth a blog entry in itself. Whenever my (ahem, male) colleagues visited Seoul in the past, they always returned saying how awesome these booking clubs were without going into the details. All I knew was that it was fun and a "guy" thing to do. On my recent visit, I begged my friends to bring me along to check it out. They graciously agreed, even though my presence would cram their style apparently.

That fateful morning, we were heading for the DMZ tour all the way at the border - our dear friend YS decided to swing by to give us a ride to the meeting point @ Lotte Hotel across the river, in spite of him having only landed in Incheon two hours earlier from his week-long US business trip.



Because we were out till late (or early morn could be more appropriate) the day before, everyone was totally knackered and took longer than one should in getting ready. This meant we only had 20 min to get to a place on a car journey that normally takes 45 min. Knowing that we had each forked out US$65 for the trip, YS decided to risk it all and was driving, should we say, in a similar manner to what you see in the latest canto-movie, Initial-D.

While I could probably go on and on about the fabulous food we had in Korea, decided to splash all the remainder out in this one entry, in case people get bored of this endless Seoul series. 

Our kind hosts, the newly wedded couple, brought us to a traditional Korean BBQ restaurant, Samwon Garden, famous for its Kalbi dishes (barbequed short ribs), on the last day of our Seoul trip~ this was probably the most unforgettable meal of our trip.

As it was Parents’ day in Korea (the convenient combination of Mother’s Day & Father’s Day), there was a 25-minute wait before we were seated, in spite of the restaurant being one of the largest of its kind in Korea, with seating capacity of 1,200. Oh an interesting tidbit - the owners of Samwon Garden are parents of Grace Park, the renowned Korean golfer. Whenever she wins a championship, the Parks would give a generous 50% discount for all customers~ so make sure you time your visit right to enjoy this great bargain.

After our little car mishap in the morning, we set off for the ultra-hip Apgujeong area in search of a lunch venue, looking forward to some barbequed food. Just when we were getting desperate and tired from the mindless wandering and inability to agree on one restaurant to go to, clouds of aromatic smoke wafted us to this bright and cheery looking corner restaurant, which is called- aptly and simply- The Chicken Restaurant. The restaurant specializes in a Chuncheon speciality – chopped chicken pieces are spread as slices and pressed down in spices and condiments on a steel plate with all sorts of vegetables and then grilled right in front of your eyes.

Immediately upon seated, the waitress brought us soup, cabbage salad, and lettuce leaves with chili paste without asking. The soup was of a variety that I had never tried before – seaweed soup with vinegar and ice – very refreshing and appropriate for the hot summer day. Typical of the Korean restaurants we visited, none of the waiters and waitresses speak any English and no English menu was available. Luckily, given it is “The Chicken Restaurant”, it wasn’t very hard to understand what’s popular here, and with some pointing and sign language, we managed to place our order.


Specialisation means service was swift and a hot plate that was brim-full with ingredients was placed in the center of our table very quickly. Buried under the thick layer of red chili paste was an entire raw chicken (de-boned), many kinds of veg, and long tubes of rice cake. After the waiter expertly cut the chicken up into smaller pieces and started heating the plate, we all looked intently at the dish, eager to grab our first bite. If it weren’t for the fact that chicken has to be cooked thoroughly before consumption, we’d probably finish the whole plate there and then. Korean style service means that while we were thoughtfully provided aprons to put on, we didn’t have to lift one finger in the cooking process, as the waiters would return and monitor the hotplate regularly.


After the world’s longest torture in which one can see it but cannot touch it (more like 20 min in reality~), we were finally given the go-ahead sign to start digging in. And it was then that we realized the wait was very worthwhile~ while at first sight it looked extremely spicy, the paste was actually quite mild (or our taste buds already lost their senses from the many hot dishes we were sampling in Seoul), with a scent of sweetness, which blended every well with the juicy chicken pieces. The rice cakes (tteok) were amazing in texture and also taste, after simmering for so long with the chicken fat and chili paste, it was still chewy and retained its shape, unlike some horrible mess one sees in HK. In addition to the option of wrapping the chicken pieces in lettuce and adding raw garlic plus the chili paste and stuffing these parcels into our mouth, the chicken pieces also went down well with the cabbage salad, which was on unlimited refill basis.


After polishing off three-quarter of food on the hotplate, the waitress brought over a bowl of cooked rice to fry on the plate. This served as another highlight and a satisfying end to our meal~ with the rice serving piping hot and full of flavor, slightly burnt just the way I like it. Trust me, it took a lot of self control to refrain ourselves from ordering another portion of noodle to fry on the plate.


The meal, very filling and enjoyable, only cost less than HK$200 for the three of us in total~ a great bargain I’d say. There are branches all over Seoul~ just watch out of the chicken sign!







The Chicken Restaurant, Apgujeong, Seoul

One observation from Seoul was the abundance of spacious, comfy, and chic cafes just about everywhere one went… while a norm for many metropolitan cities like Tokyo, Seoul, and even Taipei, it’s definitely severely lacking in HK. The exorbitant rental prices probably play a large factor in this…here’s a few cafes that we visited in Seoul, including a traditional tea house.

Top Cloud, perched right on top of Samsung Securities Bldg (aka Jongno Tower), is supported only by three columns, and probably has the best panaromic view of the busy Jongno business district. Both a restaurant and bar, we were told that there’s live band performances at night as well. A trendy Western restaurant for entertaining corporates and clients, Top Cloud is apparently also popular with couples in the evening with the gorgeous night view as a backdrop.


Situated close to the hip shopping area of Rodeo Drive, Cafe Seventy Four is a perfect venue for late afternoon girl talks. While a full a la carte menu is available, its main selling point is the large tea selection and exquisite cakes on offer.

















An interesting phenomenon we discovered while perusing the menus– a side serving of french fries would cost as much as a mains portion of sirloin steak in these high-end coffee shops. Teas & coffee cost in excess of W13,000, which translates into US$13 per cup or pot, which sounded outrageous at first. However, upon hearing that a plate of nachos would cost in excess of US$80 at JJ Mahoney’s in the Seoul Grand Hyatt… the US$13-royal milk tea suddenly sounds extremely reasonable in comparison.


Jeenah also brought us to a traditional Korean tea house on Insa-dong, which used to be the residences in the Joseon Dynasty officials, and is now home to many antique shops, art galleries, calligraphy shops, and traditional Korean arts and crafts outlets. The side alleys lead to many more hidden and interesting stores, and on weekends, the main street bustles with street vendors selling a wide variety of Korean street food.


A tempting selection of traditional Korean rice cakes were on display at the tiny tea shop that we visited. While these cakes look similar to the ones from Japan, the texture is lighter and the taste definitely much less sweet. While I prefer it this way, my friend’s sweet tooth says otherwise… most of these cakes can only keep up to a week, which was a good excuse for us to polish off our little selection immediately.


All of these are excellent venues for chilling out and catching up with friends over the weekends, when will we see a better selection in HK?


Cafe Seventy Four, 83-20 Chunghdam-dong, Kangnum-gu, Seoul
Top Cloud, 33rd Floor, Jongno Tower, 1-1 Jongno 2-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Korean tea house, Insa-dong, Seoul

Jeenah, my dear ex-colleague and friend, kindly took an afternoon off from work to bring us round Seoul, visiting Insa-dong, a street filled with small shops selling traditional crafts and porcelain. Knowing how much I love food, she also brought us to many of her restaurant top picks, like the Korean tea houses & Top Cloud, a hip restaurant with a magnificent view. Will have to make sure I am half as good a host as she has been when she next visit HK~

Here’s a few pics of her 9-months old son, Hyunsung, playing with the inflatable toy I bought for him before flying over. Totally adorable, and looking just like Jeenah.

Strolling round the Tokyo-like alleyways and checking out the trendy people on the street, we saw quite a few people popping into this shop with mysterious dark wood panels. Given we still had a bit of time before needing to get back to the hotel to get ready for my friend’s wedding, we decided to check out what this Gusttimo is all about…

To our absolute delight, this was an Italian gelato shop, and we drooled, with starry eyes, all over the colorful and rich creamy gelatos on display. Wall exhibits indicate that the shop originated from Italy, although given it was all in Korean, it was rather hard to decipher. Our attention switched quickly back to the gelatos and even though we were absolutely stuffed (after pigging out at New York Fries & the Chicken Restaurant), there was not a single moment of doubt that we’d each order a cone.

Wandering round the myriad-like sidestreets of Apgujeong in search of a traditional Korean restaurant, my friend’s eyes suddenly widened and made an abrupt left turn and headed straight for this New York Fries joint without any explanation. We quickly followed...

As it turns out, this is one of my friend’s favorite fries destination, started up by two brothers from Ontario Canada. The chain has locations in Canada, Australia and Korea, to name a few. The company uses hand cut, skin on, fresh potatoes to make its fries, versus the reconstituted ones you get at McDonald’s (remember Super Size Me & the experiment?). To prove its case, a selection of these humongous potatoes were on display right next to the cash register.
















What’s even better, every cup is cooked right in front of your eyes, ensuring each and every piece is piping hot and crisp when served.

We opted for the Poutine – “a delicious marriage of New York Fries, fresh cheese curds and our signature gravy”. This was served in a huge cup brimming full with fries and gravy~ and trust me, it tasted SOOO much better than McDonald’s or White Spot Triple O’s potato wedges. Deeply satisfying, these fries did not reek in oil and one could actually taste the sweetness of the potatoes. The only negative was that the cheese was cut up into small cubes instead of slices (which is the way how it’s done in Canada, which made it more difficult to melt all over the place.
























This place is definitely fingers-lickin’ good…. looking forward to revisiting or a franchise store opening up in HK~

PS My juvenile friends cracked up totally at the sight of this...








New York Fries, Apgujeong, Seoul