Let's try something new today: a Photoblog post, but first a quick word. NOA is a cute little bistro run by a couple of foodie chefs. I never really see it very busy (it might have to do with location) but the food is good and I like the effort the crew is making to make things work. I would definitely go back. noa: nice interior A little appetizer the chef cooked up since we were the first (and only customers on this Sunday morning). It was tart, spicy, greasy and crispy. Oh, and vegetably- quite good. A Mad Foodie Designed the place! The Lamp Shades are recipes Gargonzola Pizza with honey dipping sauce. The thin crust was homemade and crispy. I wish they put a tad less cheese for it took away from the wonderful crust. I got the massive English Breakfast. It was big and absolutely ordinary, but that's what I expected. I wanted protein and grease because I had a rough night the night before. Oh, and it was cheap (10,000 won!!!) Yes, there are tomatoes. T...

Jung Shik Dang: New Korean Modern Setting, very sophisicated. The meal starts with an array of seafood and pates intricately displayed. The teapot lets out a plume of dry ice as it arrives. Black Raspberry Reduction over Foie Gras Pate A teardrop of foie gras Vegetable Flower Jung Shik Dang 567-28 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu Seoul, Korea 02-517 4654 (English Spoken) http://jungsikdang.com/

Each Meal at Star Chef starts out with a bowl of broccoli with bits of caramelly garlic. The radiant green will prepare your eyes and stomach for the feast ahead. Star Chef is a place I go to to indulge in gastronomic wonders. I mean the menu hasn't changed in a long time, but it's nice to know that you can get great food in the city. The wine menu is something that needs some work. There aren't many exceptional bottles on the menu. Since we were going to have the whole trout tonight, we first went with a reisling. It really couldn't hold up to the spice. I recommend a cocktail or a beer instead. The wine is what it is. Here is the mushroom and beef salad. It is a humongous salad- easily enough to feed two people till they are full. The slightly citrus and creamy notes of the dressing paired well with the savory, grilled morsels of beef. The mushrooms added a earthy note too the dish. The whole cloves of roasted garlic really stand out here. There was one slight problem...

Piyang Kong Halmoni, on the back street of Seolleung's main drag has North Korean Style Food. Everything is homemade and made in house. When I think of North Korean cuisine is a bit saltier and without the spice you find in typical South Korean cuisine. Piyang Kong Halmoni's food has zip to it. It's got an essence of spring in each side dish (banchan) and in their main dishes. Here is a vegetable banchan. There is a plethora of fresh spring greens here in a spicy, soy, garlic, fish sauce mixture. The vegetables have crunch because the sauce is mixed in with the fresh greens and not fermented. Here is their fried tofu banchan with a sweet chili sauce on top. Notice the golden brown on the tofu. You can tell that this restaurant emphasizes quality because they are using fresh oil to fry the dish. If they didn't, the tofu would have a darker color. The tofu here is firm, let soft. It crumbles, yet stays together. It's a mystery on how they achieve this perfect texture,...

for lunch. I mean I wouldn't pay their regular dinner prices for any of their items. The lunch price is 11,900 won ($10.00) and it comes with a drink, entree, bread and soup. The soup is a creme-based, flour-thickened soup. The bits of thyme were a nice herbicious touch. The sourdough bread is alright as well. it's very light and fluffy. The red onions are a nice touch. The interior is very modern and spacious. It gets jam packed during lunch time (12pm-1:30pm) Service is quick and a couple of the servers can speak English. I ordered the chicken salad and I was impressed with the micro greens that they used. They were crisp and well washed. The chicken was lightly battered and crispy. The balsamic mustard dressing was nice as well (I got it on the side). One little complaint was the copious amounts of cheese. I thought it sorta killed the healthiness of the dish. I did have a complaint about their drink policy. Their is a fruitade included in the meal, but I went there and I...

Recently I took a weekend trip to Asan. Asan is the birthplace of the famous war hero, Admiral Yi Sun-shin. It is apparently also famous for their natural hot springs. I went to one of those hot springs and I can't say I was very impressed. The best part of the trip to Asan was going to this restaurant Yeon Chun (연춘) for Korean Roasted Eel. The restaurant is quite far from the train station. I think you can get close to the location by taking the subway, but we had to take a taxi and it cost about 16,000 won ($16.00) to get there. The restaurant is located right on a pond and the eating area is a dock right on the water. The area is very picturesque- it's surrounded by gnarled oak trees. Here is a view of the pond from our seat. The place is famous for the eel, so that's what I recommend you get. If you are not an eel fan, I'm sure that the Chicken Roasted with Vegetables is pretty good and I am intrigued by the eel porridge (장어죽) they have on the menu. You can get o...