So this is my attempt to continue with what i've started, and inform the people in Korea of places to eat..or not to eat. It's going to be tough since its been a while, and I've left "the napkins" IN Korea, and i'm not even sure if I can remember clearly, but I have a duty to perform... For myself, and for my readers. Afterall...I do have 4 followers.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Back From Hiatus
I'm sitting here in my apartment, and i realized - it's been a while since i've posted anything on my blog.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Macaroni Market Part Deux
Hungry for desert we headed directly downstairs to a place called "La Bocca." La Bocca is a wine bar, cafe, bistro/deli, dessert place all in one, with what seemed like too much to choose from! Although their pastas and paninis sounded delicious, we unfortunately didn't try them tonight, maybe another time.
The menu had many desserts to choose from, with well written English descriptions. We all decided on the one we wanted and waved the waiter over to take our order. Unfortunately for us, the deserts we wanted were not available. After another 5 minutes we had our second choice ready, and again waved for the waiter to come over. Again these deserts were unavailable. Hmmmmmmm (maybe the desserts on the menu are "fillers" who knows.) So not wanting to make the same mistake 3 times in a row to and save ourselves and the waiter from embarassment we went up to the counter and looked to see what they DID have available.
Our desserts came, and they were pretty and tasted good too.
So the ratings for LaBocca are as follows:
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Price: 8/10
Dessert: 7.6/10
Overall: 77% --- B+
Seemed like a nice place, maybe even nicer in the summer time. We went during winter and it was a little chilly in the restaurant, even with the heaters. But if you complain loud enough, they bring over a little blanket for you to keep warm. How thoughtful.
And that's all for now,
World Peace,
Dinner Club
The menu had many desserts to choose from, with well written English descriptions. We all decided on the one we wanted and waved the waiter over to take our order. Unfortunately for us, the deserts we wanted were not available. After another 5 minutes we had our second choice ready, and again waved for the waiter to come over. Again these deserts were unavailable. Hmmmmmmm (maybe the desserts on the menu are "fillers" who knows.) So not wanting to make the same mistake 3 times in a row to and save ourselves and the waiter from embarassment we went up to the counter and looked to see what they DID have available.
Our desserts came, and they were pretty and tasted good too.
So the ratings for LaBocca are as follows:
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Price: 8/10
Dessert: 7.6/10
Overall: 77% --- B+
Seemed like a nice place, maybe even nicer in the summer time. We went during winter and it was a little chilly in the restaurant, even with the heaters. But if you complain loud enough, they bring over a little blanket for you to keep warm. How thoughtful.
And that's all for now,
World Peace,
Dinner Club
No Macaroni at the Macroni Market!
The second restaurant chosen was conveniently situated right across from Thai Orchid. "The Macaroni Market." I'm not exactly sure what we were expecting when Camera chose this particular restaurant, but it is definately not the kind of restaurant the 4 of us would venture into everyday.
We should have clued in when they offered valet parking outside the restaurant - however we were not thrown off by that, if we did have a car in Korea, i'm sure we would have valet parked it. And besides, we wanted macaroni! We proceeded upstairs where we should have spotted the second clue. There were in fact 2 parts to the restaurant. The one side was a "deli" and "cafe" area, and the other side was the "restaurant." We obviously opted for the restaurant, all cocky thinking we were too good for the deli. As they lead us through the hallway into the restaurant section the mood changed immediately. Dim lighting, music with no lyrics playing softly in the background, and waiters. Lots of waiters, dressed in black and white complete with vests and ties.
Awkwardly enough, we were their first customers of the night. Dressed in jeans, converse and big puffy winter jackets. Needless to say we felt very very very out of place, but not out of place enough to leave. As we sat down we quietly whispered amongst each other about the restaurant and how awkward we all really felt. This was probably one of the only times we consciously tried to keep our voices down to a minimum.
The menu was quite pretentious, especially if it was written by a Korean. As the four of us quietly glanced over the menu we all came to the same conclusion. "I'll get the spatchcock." This was simply because it was the cheapest thing on the menu, at 27 dollars. However after much debate we decided that we can't all get the same thing, and we don't even know what spatchcock is! Finaly we decided on 2 appetizers to share, Camera got the duck, Gerald got the pork, I got the sea bass, and Chien was the lucky one who ended up with the spatchcock.
As we waited for our appetizers to come we snacked on the bread. Boy were we impressed with the service, as soon as our bread basket was down to just 2 pieces the waiters rushed over to refill it immediately! We know this for a fact since they came over to our table 4 times before any food arrived at our table. Thankfully our appetizers came, and they were small, but quite good. We chose a buffalo mozzeralla salad and a goat cheese onion tart. Our main courses came and they looked nice, really nice! However i think we were a little disappointed with the size of our dishes...maybe all except for Chien (who got the spatchcock..remember?)
And so the ratings for The Macaroni Market were as follows:
---- I lost the napkin ----
but if i can remember correctly - i believe the restaurant as a whole got a B
Our meals were a little on the pricey side - and mainly we felt really out of place. Maybe things would have been different if we dressed up a little and were prepared for what we would have to spend on dinner.
A quick tip for future diners, keep the bread count above 2. It gets quite embarassing when the waiters must come over so often. And maybe make a night out of the Macaroni Market, get dressed up, go see an orchestra beforehand, or go to propose to your girlfriend, you know, be classy.
World Peace,
Dinner Club
Oh and P.S. if anyone is wondering. Spatchock is hoity toity for "roast chicken."
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thai in Korea?
After being here for almost one year - it is quite clear that Koreans have a different idea of "western food" and "Chinese food." Maybe one day Koreans will realize that we "westerners" don't serve sweet pickles with every meal, and Chinese people don't actually eat Ja Jang Mein....or maybe they wont.
So we thought, could Korea misinterpret any other genre of food? What about the ever so popular Thai? Where in Korea can we get a decent Pad Thai, or a hearty red curry? After much research and debate - the Dinner club came to the consensus that "Thai Orchid" would be a good place to start. 1) because it has the word "Thai" in its name (it's gotta be authentic) and 2) because, well there actually isn't a 2, I think the name sold itself really. (restaurant names are very important)
So the first restaurant of the Dinner Club, and the first restaurant of the new 2009 year, was "Thai Orchid." Located right in the heart of Itaewon, and a fitting place since Itaewon seems to have a good cluster of foreign restaurants.
The meals were....unmemorable. Which is not good - but it doesn't mean the food was bad. I think the restaurant got off to a bad start with water that was served in a tainted glass. Who knows what it was tainted with - all we knew was that it smelled like feet, or bleach and didn't even bother to try it to see which one it tasted like.
We ordered the typical thai food. Camera ordered the pad thai, I ordered some curry, Gerald ordered another curry, and Chien got some spicy stir fry esque dish. We ate it, enjoyed it, but didn't RAVE about it afterwards. The prices were average, ranging from 15-17 dollars per dish, plus your rice. The portion sizes were typical Korean portions. We've come to learn not to expect Costco size in Korea. In anything. Especially food. Even if they have pictures OF the food.
After being satisfied with our meals, we were tickled at the desert menu we saw earlier. How can "sweet mango sticky rice" and "banana coconut milk desert" not sound good? Needless to say I was pretty excited about my mango desert, afterall, desert is the best part for me! So we ordered 2 of each between the 4 of us - boy were we disappointed. They ran out of bananas, so Gerald had to go sans desert, and the mango sticky rice was bleh (as seen below). The rice was not "sticky" it was dry and undercooked with milk poured over top. The banana in milk was essentially just that. Half a banana in milk, for 7 dollars. Thanks.
And so our ratings of Thai Orchid are as follows:
Atmosphere: 8.5/10
Food: 7.7/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 6.5/10
Total: 76% ---- B
A surprise awaited us at the front when we went up to pay. Turns out we were at the right place at the right time because we got 20% off our whole bill!! I don't know about you, but things just seem to taste better, look better and feel better when you realize you just got a deal!
We didn't understand where this 20% discount was coming from. Did they overhear us about the feet water? Were they compensating for the lost banana? Turns out it was just a "limited offer discount." OK! we'll take it. Too bad they didn't mention this earlier, it definately would have changed their rating. But once its written on the napkin, it STAYS on the napkin. (we write down all our ratings on an authentic napkin FROM the actual restaurant. Swanky...we know.)
So in the end Thai Orchid still gets a B. Not bad if you're desperate for a Thai food fix.
A little tip if you end up going - Go quickly who knows when the limited time discount will be up! and watch out for your water!
Until next time.
World Peace,
Dinner Club.
So we thought, could Korea misinterpret any other genre of food? What about the ever so popular Thai? Where in Korea can we get a decent Pad Thai, or a hearty red curry? After much research and debate - the Dinner club came to the consensus that "Thai Orchid" would be a good place to start. 1) because it has the word "Thai" in its name (it's gotta be authentic) and 2) because, well there actually isn't a 2, I think the name sold itself really. (restaurant names are very important)
So the first restaurant of the Dinner Club, and the first restaurant of the new 2009 year, was "Thai Orchid." Located right in the heart of Itaewon, and a fitting place since Itaewon seems to have a good cluster of foreign restaurants.
The meals were....unmemorable. Which is not good - but it doesn't mean the food was bad. I think the restaurant got off to a bad start with water that was served in a tainted glass. Who knows what it was tainted with - all we knew was that it smelled like feet, or bleach and didn't even bother to try it to see which one it tasted like.
We ordered the typical thai food. Camera ordered the pad thai, I ordered some curry, Gerald ordered another curry, and Chien got some spicy stir fry esque dish. We ate it, enjoyed it, but didn't RAVE about it afterwards. The prices were average, ranging from 15-17 dollars per dish, plus your rice. The portion sizes were typical Korean portions. We've come to learn not to expect Costco size in Korea. In anything. Especially food. Even if they have pictures OF the food.
After being satisfied with our meals, we were tickled at the desert menu we saw earlier. How can "sweet mango sticky rice" and "banana coconut milk desert" not sound good? Needless to say I was pretty excited about my mango desert, afterall, desert is the best part for me! So we ordered 2 of each between the 4 of us - boy were we disappointed. They ran out of bananas, so Gerald had to go sans desert, and the mango sticky rice was bleh (as seen below). The rice was not "sticky" it was dry and undercooked with milk poured over top. The banana in milk was essentially just that. Half a banana in milk, for 7 dollars. Thanks.
And so our ratings of Thai Orchid are as follows:
Atmosphere: 8.5/10
Food: 7.7/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 6.5/10
Total: 76% ---- B
A surprise awaited us at the front when we went up to pay. Turns out we were at the right place at the right time because we got 20% off our whole bill!! I don't know about you, but things just seem to taste better, look better and feel better when you realize you just got a deal!
We didn't understand where this 20% discount was coming from. Did they overhear us about the feet water? Were they compensating for the lost banana? Turns out it was just a "limited offer discount." OK! we'll take it. Too bad they didn't mention this earlier, it definately would have changed their rating. But once its written on the napkin, it STAYS on the napkin. (we write down all our ratings on an authentic napkin FROM the actual restaurant. Swanky...we know.)
So in the end Thai Orchid still gets a B. Not bad if you're desperate for a Thai food fix.
A little tip if you end up going - Go quickly who knows when the limited time discount will be up! and watch out for your water!
Until next time.
World Peace,
Dinner Club.
This is Who We Are
This is the story of 4 friends wining, dining and rating different resturants every Thursday night. Together, they experience the best and worst of what Seoul has to offer.
We rate restaurants based on 4 categories (all out of 10):
- Atmosphere
- Service
- Food
- Price
Join us as we learn more about Seoul food and each other through our favourite past time: Eating.
Eat til Die is our motto - and Eat for Life is what we will do.
This is our story.
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