Happy Fish Bread Is this going to be the new food trend in Seoul? In my years in Seoul, I have seen food trends rise and disappear like a cresting wave. One place becomes popular and then instantly there are dozens of imitators and even more franchisees. I think we are going to witness another trend that will become popular for a couple of months and start seeing them all fizzle out by years end. This particular food is a flakey, hot pocket like bread that is stuffed with a variety of different things. You can get your cute fish stuffed with pizza filling, red bean, sweet potato, bulgogi or even tuna. The pastry is very nice- very buttery and flakey. I had the pizza fish bread and it was stuffed with sweet tomato sauce, corn (WTF), onions, and a bit of mystery meat- it didn't taste like the pizza I think of when I think of pizza. This is Korean pizza in a cute wrapper. It's not a bad snack, but I would rather just get the street bangeo-bang: crisp fish bread snack filled...

When Spring rolls around, one of my favorite things to do is to visit a Korean Baseball game. The crowds are always rowdy, the beer is cold, there are dancing cheerleaders, and the snacks are great. Only in Korea can you get dried squid and peanuts to go along with your beer to watch a baseball game. The energy at the game is always electric. The Korean fans have special cheers for the star players and everyone is very attentive and polite throughout the entire game.  The home teams and the away teams are put in their own special sections so there is some competition between the cheering sections. If you are visiting Seoul, I highly recommend you check out a game. Dan

You can pick it up at reputable hotels and newsstands around Korea. Meat Fortune Coffee Yummm

Originally published in the May Issue of Seoul Magazine. Pickup a copy at reputable places or at Seoul Selection Book Store. You can follow Seoul Magazine at their website at www.seoulselection.com Congdu: The Simple Bean, Transformed Rating 3 Stars: Highly Recommended (Local, artisan ingredients, creative chefs, excellent setting.) The restaurant Congdu focuses on the simple bean. After all, the plain soybean is a versatile ingredient. It can be steamed and fermented and then put into brined water to make soy sauce. It can be ground, boiled and strained to make tofu. Full of protein and essential vitamins, it can take the place of meat and many vegetables. Modern approaches transform the soybean into meat substitutes, drinks, and even ice cream. Vivian Han started Congdu in 2002. She said, “My concept was to take authentic Korean tastes and use high quality local ingredients and creatively prepare them to titillate modern tastes and sensibilities.” Located at the Seoul Nation...

Work has been keeping me so busy these days, but I was lucky enough to go for a long walk yesterday. Here are some shots that I took. Happy Spring!

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.

The sun was out for a hot second today and after my walk I decided to buy everyone at my office some ice cream. Luckily, a convenience store had stuff for sale so I picked up 4 random bars (one I picked only for myself and was unwilling to share) and went back to the office. The first one is a walnut and sunflower bar, the second (서주아이스주) was a frozen milk bar, Ssang Ssang Bar is a double fudge bar and the melona is a honey dew bar. I asked everyone to pick out one at random, but I purposely steered people away from my Ssang Ssang Bar. Unfortunately, Soonim wanted it, so we had to split it.  I recommend everyone to pick up some Korean ice cream for their friends. It's good stuff and one of the best parts of summer! Dan Stephanie and Hyejin Sunim with the Ssang Ssang Bar