Hotteok in Winter. Here is Hazell dressed for winter on her kickboard. To keep her warm, I bought her a hotteok: A Korean Sweet Cinnamon, Nut Caramel Donut. She didn't care so much for the donut but she does look good in her winter clothes. You can find them in the traditional markets. This one is at Gwangmyeong Sagaree Station. If you wanted some more information on this iconic dish read further below.  One dish that I believe is universally adored in Korea is hotteok. Hotteok is a leavened dough cake that is stuffed with cinnamon, sugar and nuts. Them the dough is flattened and fried. Through the frying process the sugar melts to create a delicious caramel filling. According to some accounts from food historians, this snack was brought to Korea by Chinese immigrants who first landed in Incheon's international port. And even though the snack and the name resembles western "hot cake," hotteok's etymology is Chinese/Korean. "Ho" comes from the Chin...

One of my business partners asked me to pick a restaurant for Korean food to have a meeting with a client. I choose La Yeon at the Shilla Hotel since it was the write atmosphere and my clients might have been a little weary about going out to a Korean restaurant. The atmosphere is refined and service is world class. Of all the dishes that stood out, the last course was what really surprised me. They did a patbingsu that had a lightly ginseng icecream over homemade red bean sauce and topped with the finest shaved ice. We had this with some omija punch and some red bean snacks. On this hot day, it was the perfect thing. Wow...

The other day, my company was invited out to the Dragon Hill Lodge to see the facilities. The meetings went well and another cool thing was we were able to introduce real American Apple Pie and Red Velvet Cake to our staff.  The apple pie from the base has a thick crust and there are lots of sweet apples in a cinnamony-sugar syrup. It just tastes like America. The red velvet cake there is absolutely delicious as well. The cake is spongy with lots of semi-sweet cream cheese.  Now what we didn't expect was that our staff was going to cut it all up and eat it with chopsticks. It actually worked pretty well and it took up less time and resources (no plates needed). Next time I'm going to bring some ice cream. Let's see if they can eat that with chopsticks.  Dan

I am with my wife over by Cheolsan station having a coffee break with my wife and we found a decent cake shop. The interior is clean and the cake is tasty. I know the name says New York cheesecake but it is more Asian-style. What I mean is that it is lighter. Luckily it does taste cheesecake-esque. My wife wanted the crepe cake so we got that. It was OK. A tad dry. The chocolate-layered cheesecake was really good. It was light and fluffy with creamy cheese cake icing. It's nice to know you can get decent cheesecake outside of Seoul. New York cheesecake Gyeonggi-do Gwangmyeong cheolsandong 526 [네이버 지도] 경기도 광명시 철산동 526, <a href="http://me2.do/Ft6P4JcH">http://me2.do/Ft6P4JcH</a>

Writen by the itinellate Inglish Teechr Coffee Chu Coffee Chu Wenever I feal blu I go to Cofee Chu to have meself a coppee and a Churrro from Coppi Chu. THey have themselves de best chorros in Soul or at leest I think so. Eberything is maed flesh on site soe the chullos out of the flyer tase fruffy and sabory. I rekcommend there mud shouwer cause they taste good. Thee tastee moch gooder then ones flom not good plases becuaese they are made flesh. Flshe is gooder then not flesh because flseh ees always goodiest. There cofpi is jost ok, so I rcokeommend their chorlos onry. Eef u get somthing else nd it's not goood, Than it is not my falt.  Thee inteerior is baeutifull nd haas a mery-go-around whorse. Eet rearry sets de room right. Thes cafe ees a poplar plase for celebrityes cause dee design is funner. Eets lokated near Hanganjin station exit 2, paste the Volkswagon dealrship on the lef. Reckommended Coffee Chu Yongsan-gu, Hannam-dong 682-10 02-790-6821...

Deep-Fried Oreos And they are good! I really wasn't expecting them to be, but the chocolate pieces have a dipped in milk quality and the cream becomes like...warm ice-cream. It's sort of bizarre, but I like them! I wouldn't eat them everyday- especially since they have deep-fried bananas and fun-sized chocolate bars that they deep fry as well. Good dessert and one that I would consider having again. I think this is a contender for Thisiswhyyourefat.com. Cheers, Dan PS. Read more about Bao on the post just before this. Deep-Fried Oreos

Patbingsu and Revolutionary Tteok at Haap I have raved about this place for a while now. They say that pictures say more than words. Enjoy. Dan Tteok, Baesuk and Patbingsu at Haap Haap Patbingsu Tteok Patbingsu Tteok Revolutionary Tteok View Larger Map

Retrona Pie Classy Interior at Retrona Pie Whereas the main street of Samcheongdong has become uber commercialized and is starting to lose its soul, there is a new alley that's right behind it that has some quaint, artsy cafes. My new find is Retrona Pie which has a retro interior and an aluminum trailer on the roof with its name. It's a three story tart and pie joint and coffee shop and it's a great place to chillax for an hour or two. On my first visit there I got a green tea latte and an Earl Grey Chocolate Tart. The latte was fine- nice and fluffy. The pie...The pie was amazing. The snap was snappy- forcibly so and the two chocolate layers were nice and rich. There was a hint of earl grey tea in the dessert that was softened by the cream topping. Very nice. No complaints about the food, but I have to warn you a bit about the layout. There is no sitting on the first floor and the first step is noticeably higher than a normal step. If you are not careful, ...

Singaporean Shaved Ice Hmmm...here is another picture of Singaporean Shaved ice. It looks a l ot more appetizing than the last one.   It looks really refreshing. I want one. Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.

This was sent by one of our tour guests, Dina Fan (Thanks Dina!). She says that this is one of the hottest (I mean coldest) things in Taiwan and Singapore right now. My friend Kratai says it is really popular in Thailand as well. The peanuts are on the bottom and above that is the flavored ice. Hmmm...I can't say it looks very appetizing. Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.

Tomato Cheese Tart I know, this might sound weird, but this is a tomato cheese tart. It's on a thick crust with a cream cheese like filling topped with glazed and skinned cherry tomatoes. So how did it taste? Actually quite good. It was hard for me to initially wrap my head around the idea of tomato, but it tasted good. I mean tomatoes are fruit after all. Dan

Rating 2 Stars: Recommended (Great setting, good icing, foamy cappuccinos.) I said before that I thought that the cupcake trend was something that would never really take off in Korea. It might have some appeal, but for the general public, cupcakes are just too small and expensive. Cupcakes in Korea have been regulated to a niche market. Mug for Rabbit in Garsugil is the cafe that is the Korean dream. It started as a small little one floor place on Seoul's fashionable street and they quickly grew to take over the second floor. It is a success story that have made many want to emulate. This little, fashionable cafe helped the cafe sprawl in Seoul. Mug for Rabbit has character. The interior has quirks and charms such as the rabbit icon for the place, the lamps that spell out "R A B B I T" and even the coffee cup chandelier. There are also amazing photographs, so it has a gallery feel to it. The cappuccino that I ordered was foamy- not the best cap, that I've had bu...

Pies from Tartines Just a shot that I took on my way home the other day. They are always so tempting. Too bad I am on a diet.

Chocolate Fondant Cake Last Saturday I headed over to one of my favorite cafes to enjoy a cup of coffee and have a piece of chocolate fondant cake. Cup and Bowl can make a decent cup of coffee and their pastries have a refined, homey style with a flash of creativity. It was a good cake and a great way to start out my day. Cup and Bowl Across and up the hill from Itaewon's McDonalds 070-4190-3642 Chocolate Fondant Cake from Cup and Bowl

The story of Tartine Pie shop is an exciting example how a little elbow grease and lots of perseverance can become a nationwide trend. I don't know how many pies this little pie shop sells a day, but within 30 minutes that I sat in the shop I easily saw 30 or so get boxed up for take out. It's my favorite place to get blueberry pie and chocolate cream pie. Good stuff. Here is a great video on how a handbag shop became a pie shop. Ruby Edwards' TARTINE Bakery & Café, Seoul Here is the story of Tartine from the pen of the chef: TARTINE /tɑrˈtin; Fr. tarˈtin/ [tahr-teen; Fr. tar-teen] 1. A fancy French open-faced sandwich topped with spreadable ingredients. 2. From French, diminutive of tarte tart 1 ] 3. From Old French: A long winded story We do offer Romanian Peasant Bread and our farm fresh, handmade, 100% Pure Butter to spread on it, however, we do not offer tarts [Butter Tarts are really a pie]. We prefer the Old French definition: Long winded story...

Ok, I didn't get to have a slice of this today, but I did last week when Chef Garrett from Tartine's was nice enough to leave us a pie. It was absolutely to die for and I might have to head over there soon for a slice. The blueberries are so plump, the blueberry goop was liquid and solid and the crust was snaplicious. Dan

Dessert Destruction at Le Saint Ex. Seoul Le Saint Ex is a mainstay in the Seoul Restaurant scene for they always have a consistent product while innovating. They were one of the first in the city to do brunch and to offer a daily, seasonal, gourmet lunch set. I believe that many of those 20,000 won lunch sets you see around the city with entree, a salad, coffee and dessert got their idea from this restaurant. The owner Benjamin Joineau loves Korea and he has written books on the restaurant scene and learned how to make many of dishes. He has a farm outside of the city where he grows many of the ingredients for his restaurant and where he experiments with making Korean jangs such as soy sauce, red chili paste and doenjang. Anyway, the other night I was with my ex-student and I wanted to show her cosmopolitan Seoul because she lives in Gyeong Ju. She was one of my first and favorite students. Now she is studying to become doctor. Here we are at Le Saint Ex destroying his desser...

A Tower of Macarons Macarons in Korea are pretty, but not often real macarons. They have the concept right, just not the texture and flavor. A true macaron is made with skill. Egg whites should be beaten to stiff peaks and then ground almonds or coconut is folded into the mixture and then baked. Inside it can have a filling, but the filling shouldn't be too gluey- it should be as light and as fine as the light disks around it. You can take shortcuts and cheat on macarons by adding flour or corn starch, but this will make the macaroon taste bready. At first bite, the macaron shell should split and you should reach a sweet, airy, disk before you get to the soft cream. Each bite should be slow, for it should be a heavy dose of sweetness compounded by a soft texture. Macarons are good carriers for flavors so often many variations are made. Amandier, across from Insadong (Anguk Station Exit 1) makes their macaroons with skill. The Belgium baker, Jan Adrian, has a playful, coque...

Originally Published in the February Issue of Seoul Selection Magazine. Kaiseki at Kyotofu Seoul Kaiseki Tofu Dessert at Kyotofu Tofu dessert sounds like a health food experiment gone horribly wrong; but when you open up a dessert place next to Edward Kwon's The Spice and Passion 5, you must have some game. They do. The Kaiseki (Japanese Coursed Meal) dessert will have you...pun intended...eating your words. The sweet tofu with kuromitsu (Japanese black honey) tastes like a fine flan and I couldn't believe that the creamy, rich black sesame ice cream was made with soy milk. The Green Tea (matcha) creme brulee has all the caffeine pow of a shot of espresso but with a subtler flair. It was almost perfect except the yuzu cheese tart. It had a spongy, fickle texture (next time, I will ask for a substitution). Oh, and the vegan chocolate was also quite good. Kyotofu Yongsan-gu, Hannam-dong 682-1 02-749-1488 Go out Hanganjin Station (Line 6) exit 3. Price Range: 10,000-3...