That's my life these days. Except for the mandatory soju flooded nights out with the classmates, it's been coffee and studying, coffee and studying. You get it. But luckily I found the perfect spot right next to my house to get my coffee and study fix. The 1st Penguin. I think they're in love with their name or logo because they stick their logo on everything. Every cookie, snack, wall, lamp, book, pencil sharpener, etc has one. This place reminds me a lot of Rabbit , just on a smaller scale. The drinks are great, a little flashy actually, and reasonably priced. My standard Latte is only 4,000, cheap for a Korean cafe, with the option for a 1,500 priced Americano refill. Not bad, not bad at all. Though my latte this time has a snazzy design, the latte from my last visit sported a spiral of chocolate with a coffee bean in the center. The girlfriend's capuchino had a mountain of silky foam and a good amount of cinnamon. Having worked in cafes for 3 years I know my coffee...

Here are some pics of Korean food that we did for a book project. Can you guess what each of them are? Dan  

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="602" caption="Skal Seoul"] [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="602" caption="Skal Seoul"] [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="602" caption="Pumpkin and Chorizo Soup"] [/caption] Working in the hospitality industry, meetings usually come with good food (I think this is why my waistline is bulging a bit). Then again, good food is tough to pass up. Plus, these hotels have a reputation to maintain. At the last SKAL meeting , our company, O'ngo Food Communications   was invited to present our culinary tourism programs to the group. Our company president, Jia Choi, talked about our tours and classes while we dined on pumpkin and chorizo soup, steak, and baked chocolate with raspberry. The SKAL organization is a great place where people that work in the hospitality industry can network with others and ...

On Saturday, January 28th we'll be making Bulgogi and Geotjeori. A classic combination of Korean foods. Our Saturday Classes are designed for those looking for more interesting Korean dishes and those that are currently living in Korea. It's a great way to meet people. On Saturday, they are attractively priced at only 55,000 won per session. ($52 USD). Classes will be taught in English by Chef Hyejin and after the class there is a market tour. You'll first see a demonstration of how to make the dishes, then you'll make your own dish. After the class there is a market tour. January 28 - Bulgogi, geotjori (Fresh Kimchi Salad) February 11 - Sundubu stew, Bean sprout salad February 25 - Andong Jjimdak (black braised chicken), Cubed Radish salad March 10 - Spicy Stir-fried chicken, Spring namul (vegetable side dishes) March 24 - Beef Japchae, Cucumber kimchi Here is our Saturday Schedule for Cooking Classes. Classes will start at 10am on Saturdays and the cost on Saturdays w...

These are some shots of Seoul in the morning. Dan

This year I will be focusing more on content that you can use. My goal is to empower my readers and let you make the decisions. I am still getting used to the switch to Wordpress so please be patient. However, from what I have seen so far of the platform, I really like it. I learning a lot more about coding. Anywho, my here is the Craftworks Menu. This is a place with great beer and decent food. I got the munster cheese sliders (10,000 won) I thought that two would be too small, but these things are quite filling. I had one and my friend had the other and it was just right. Dan

  Man, oh man. If I knew that the transition from wordpress was going to be so painful, I might have reconsidered doing it. There is still quite a bit of work to do before the site will be 100 percent up, but I'm very happy with the progress. I would like to thank Dustin Cole for all the help. He approached me about collaborating on the site and without him, I would still be a dinosaur in the new age of the Internet. The new platform is more organized and easier to maintain. Once I get the hang of it, I'll be able to create better content. Over the course of the next couple of weeks you'll see significant changes. First of all, what do you all think of the new site? Anything you love? Hate? Confused about? What would you like more of (or less of on this site). Here are some pictures of future posts that I'll be putting up soon. Thank you! From your friendly, neighborhood food blogger! Dan  

  Sunday was spent crammed into my little kitchen to work on recipes. Finally after almost three months of almost weekly testing, fiddling and researching I have finally nailed down one of the main recipes I’ve been working on.  It feels SO good to have that monkey off my back. Now I can concentrate on costing and sourcing ingredients and I can stop trying to find a use for leftover soybean sprouts and buchu (Korean Chives). Monday was the most epic shopping day of my life. Gangnam shoppers have nothing on me, I ordered an 18ft custom designed food truck in one fell swoop. I’m lucky enough to have a company here in Cowtown that builds food trucks and carts of all sizes and shapes and sends them all over the world. I set an appointment on Monday to go take a look at one they are building right now for someone else and to talk about pricing and options. As we talked we found a great deal on the base step van (think FedEx) that was too good not to snap up. Next thing you know, much li...

[gallery link="file"] Review: Masterful French Cuisine at Bien-être by DuckConfetti "If you’re looking for a taste of French haute cuisine at a cheaper price than you might find elsewhere, keep looking. Because... Bien-être is a bit hard to find. But once you make your way up the narrow streets and alleys, look no further! This intimate establishment has only eight seats so it’s best for 2-4 people and you will probably have the most luck by making reservations two weeks in advance. The evening’s menu was written on a board at the front of the restaurant. The names of the dishes were in French and the details were in Korean. The only choices we had to make were between steak and fish, tart and souffle, and cheese (+5000 won) or no cheese. Wine range from about 70,000 to 700,000 a bottle. My favorite way to eat is when course after course of fantastic variety and flavor get placed in front of you for hours on end. And this is just what I got. The evening starts with a var...

  Taco Taco Chili Chili Written by Troyzitzberger Oh burrito’s, how my hunger for you thrives. I search for you far and wide but have yet to find you in your purest form...(outside of Mexico that is). In the search for Seoul’s best burrito, I just finished a mediocre imitator that was lacking the authentic pizzaz that the establishment across the street has. I’m talking about TACO Chili Chili. The establishment drew me in with their south of the border feel and use of red, green and yellow so I figured I’d give it a go. I ordered the chicken burrito extra spicy and still had to reach for the hot sauce. What the burrito had: chicken, lettuce, jalapeno’s, onion, rice, cheese, and of course the tortilla shell. What it didn’t have: cilantro, the primary ingredient that separates the imitators from the real deal. What it was lacking: chicken, there just wasn’t much in it. On the flipside, the burrito wasn’t the largest I’ve found but it did manage to fill me up. For the price tag (₩ 7,0...