Seoul Eats And The Power of Suggestion

It all started this morning as I sat sipping my coffee and surfed the internet. Looking at the latest crop of blog updates I noticed Daniel Gray had a new post about Macaroni Market. I clicked through and something about his photo of the macaroni cheese stirred my passions.

I don't know what it was, but some baser instinct inside of me raised its ravenous head and I knew I had to head to Macaroni Market for lunch. I'd been there once before, the week of its opening, but had not had the time to venture back.

It still looks as stylish as ever and the waiter very kindly sat me next to the heater. Ordering was easy, I had my eye on one thing and one thing only: Macaroni & Cheese (11,000 won plus tax).

Beautifully toasted bread with the standard oil and balsamic vinegar dip came quickly, but I wished for my main dish, the holy grail of comforting baked pastas. And then it came...

This is not your mother's mac and cheese. This is a pumped-up, super-rich, indulgent bowl of creamy, cheesy goodness. Emmental, parmesan and two kinds of cheddar (New Zealand and Korean!) come together in a silky, sticky sauce covered with crunchy bacon and breadcrumbs and topped off with tiny shreds of lemon peel and parsley.

There is a depth of flavour to this macaroni and cheese that beggars belief. The richness of the sauce combined with the crispy bits of bacon and bread satisfied my stomach on a very deep level. And the lemon peel! Those tiny shards offered sniffs of lemony heaven with each gloopy bite.

This dish is not for the faint-hearted or the weak-stomached. It's a large portion that even had me struggling to finish. I'd recommend ordering it with a salad and sharing with a friend, but if you're in the mood for warming, cheesy comfort food, then this big bowl of macaroni fits the bill.

To get to Macaroni Market come out of Itaewon station and walk towards Hangangjin, past Hard Rock Cafe, Kraze Burger, Ali Baba and Villa Sortinos and you'll find yourself staring up at the restaurant. You can call them on 02 749 9181 and satisfy your cravings for cheesy pasta.

Mr. Gray and his seductive Seoul Eats are to blame for this wonderfully indulgent lunchtime! Now I have to go and work off all those calories...

A Lost Phone, A Delicate Doughnut And Some Sweet Sweet Pork Noodle Action

Yesterday I decided to take a little bit of Ajosshi time and headed down to Myeong-dong to catch the English subtitled screening of "Handphone".

Turns out it's not bad. A little long and flabby at 137 minutes, but an enjoyable thriller. I won't recommend it as strongly as "Old Partner", but I had fun. It seemed to me to be a reflection of the impotent fury of middle-aged Korean men, having to give respect, but never getting any back. It certainly makes me want to treat E-Mart employees with grace and kindness. 

If anyone's interested there are screenings this weekend and I heard that from next week there will still be screenings, though much fewer. Be warned, it's a film for those of you with strong stomachs for violence, lots of nastiness...

Myeong-dong Lotte Cinema

Saturday: 1215, 1655, 2135, 2400

Sunday: 1215, 1655, 2135, 2400

Busan Lotte Cinema

Saturday: 0950, 1445, 1940

Sunday: 0950, 1445, 1940

Monday: 1025, 1520, 2015

Tuesday: 1025, 1520, 2015

Ansan Lotte Cinema

Saturday: 1910, 2150, 2430

Sunday: 1910, 2150, 2430

While waiting for the screening to start, I popped into Krispy Kreme for something to get me through the two hours of film. Ordered myself an original glazed (1,200 won) and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had supplied me with a knife and fork. I grew up in a small town in England, where we grasped doughnuts firmly in both hands and scoffed them down with great delight. They have always been a finger food in my mind, so I was intrigued at the possible opportunities that a knife and fork offered.

Well, it took longer to eat the doughnut and I felt just a tad more gentile, but I still had the usual feelings of hollowness and guilt as I finished the overly sweet little treat.

After watching two grown men chase each other and swear a lot, I was ready for lunch, so I headed down to the basement of the Migliore building to one of the tastiest Chinese restaurants in Myeong-dong.

Zaoping is huge, you could get a fair few football teams sitting in here at the same time. It feels a bit like a Chinese TGI Fridays, but the food is a lot better.

They offer a range of dimsum (3,500 to 6,000 won per dish) as well as other dishes. But there is one thing in particular that I love:

The Guangdong style broiled pork noodles (6,000 won) look ugly and messy, but underneath that soggy disguise is the most delicious of surprises.

Beautifully cooked belly pork, seasoned with traditional Chinese spices, giving it that wonderful reddish tinge that signals sweet piggy goodness. The noodles are al dente and the sliced vegetables are delightfully crunchy, counterpointing the sloppy joy of the pork and gloopy sauce. Perhaps this dish is an acquired taste, but I absolutely adore it.

Zaoping is directly under the Migliore building and can be accessed through the subway station. You can visit their website here or call them on 02 2124 1888.

Dos Tacos in Hongdae

Whether you're hungry for Mexican food in Gangnam, Apgujeong or Hongdae there's a little chain of restaurants that will fill you up for a very reasonable price. Dos Tacos has a great selection of tacos, burritos and quesadillas.

The lunch menu offers two hard, soft or al pastor tacos for 6,900 won, a meat and rice burrito for 6,500 won, a scrambled egg and potato quesadilla for 5,000 won or chili french fries for 5,500 won. All these options come with either coke, coffee or orange punch. You get to choose your own meat whether it be beef, pork or chicken.

I went for the beef burrito and was pleasantly surprised by the huge handful of coriander that awaited me inside my wrap. I'm not an expert on Mexican food, the closest I've ever gotten was a visit to Houston, Texas and a big plate of sizzling fajitas, but Dos Tacos serves a tasty burrito. It may or may not be authentic, I wouldn't be able to tell, but it's a cheap and tasty way to fill yourself up.

Service was friendly and fast, though cutlery, napkins and the like are all at the counter waiting for you to get them yourself.

To get to Dos Tacos in Hongdae take exit 6 from Hongik University station and head up past VIPS and the KB Star bank. Dos Tacos is a little further up towards the University, it's located on the left hand side of the road in the Prugio building, next to Subway. Visit their website or call them on 02 322 3677.

This Week's Film Listings: CGV Yongsan and English Subtitled Screenings (March 5-8)

This week's film listings for CGV Yongsan (Thursday March 5 to Sunday March 8, 2009):

The Secret of Moonacre

Thursday 0855, 1110

Friday 0850, 1105

Saturday 1500

Sunday 1500

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Thursday 0910, 1230, 1550, 1910, 2230

Friday 0910, 1230, 1550, 1910, 2230

Saturday 0900, 1220, 1540, 1900, 2225

Sunday 0900, 1220, 1540, 1900, 2225

He's Just Not That Into You

Thursday 0900, 1140, 1420, 2020

Friday 0900, 1840, 2120

Saturday 1050, 1335, 2020, 2350

Sunday 1050, 1335, 2020, 2350

The International

Thursday 0840, 1340, 1815

Friday 0900, 1825, 2055

Saturday 0830, 1330, 1810

Sunday 0830, 1330, 1810

The Unborn

Thursday 2240, 2435

Friday 2240, 2435

Saturday 2350

Sunday 2350

Watchmen

Thursday 0820, 1130, 1440, 1700, 1755, 2015, 2110, 2330, 2425

Friday 0820, 1130, 1440, 1755, 2010, 2110, 2330, 2425

Saturday 0820, 1135, 1450, 1715, 1805, 2030, 2120, 2435

Sunday 0820, 1135, 1400, 1450, 1715, 1805, 2030, 2120, 2435

The Wrestler

Thursday 0920, 1140, 1400, 1625, 1850, 2110, 2330

Friday 0920, 1140, 1810, 2015, 2220, 2420

Saturday 0920, 1145, 1410, 1630, 1850, 2110, 2335

Sunday 0920, 1145, 1410, 1630, 1850, 2110, 2335

In Bruges

Thursday 0830, 1045, 1300, 1515, 1730, 1945, 220, 2415

Friday 0830, 1045, 1300, 1515, 1730, 1945, 200, 2415

Saturday 0840, 1055, 1310, 1525, 1745, 2000, 2215, 2430

Sunday 0840, 1055, 1310, 1525, 1745, 2000, 2215, 2430

Frost Nixon

Thursday 1310, 1755, 2240

Friday 1140, 1605, 2400

Saturday 0850, 1125, 2345

Sunday 0850, 1125, 2345

Watchmen (IMAX DMR 2D)

Thursday 0930, 1250, 1610, 1930, 2250

Friday 0930, 1250, 1610, 1930, 2250

Saturday 0930, 1250, 1615, 1940, 2305

Sunday 0930, 1250, 1615, 1940, 2305

Old Partner (English subtitles)

Thursday 0850, 1040, 1230, 1420, 1610, 1800, 1950, 2140, 2330

Friday 0840, 1025, 1210, 1625, 1815, 2005, 2155, 2345

Saturday 1000, 1150, 1340, 1530, 1720, 1910, 2100, 2250, 2440

Sunday 1000, 1150, 1340, 1530, 1720, 1910, 2100, 2250, 2440

Yay! Old Partner gets more screenings! 

I've skipped 작전, 구새주2, 라스트 프로포즈, Korean dubbed versions of Garfield and Desperaux as well as the non English subtitled version of Old Partner as those of you who might want to see these probably speak enough Korean to find out the times yourself.

Handphone with English subtitles in still playing at the Lotte Cinema in Myeong-dong this week:

Thursday 1200, 1640, 2125, 2350

Friday 1215, 1655, 2135, 2400

Handphone with English subtitles also at Lotte Cinema Busan:

Thursday 1025, 1520, 2015

Friday 1025, 1520, 2015

Handphone with English subtitles at Lotte Cinema Ansan:

Thursday 1145, 1620, 2100

Friday 1145, 1620, 2100

All listings taken from naver and daum. Listings were accurate this mornings, but times may be subject to change....

If this information is useful to you then please let me know and I'll make it a weekly thing. I don't have the time to list every cinema in Seoul, so it would be good to know which listings would be handy.

Australia Day Ajosshi Style

This year Latt Children's Theatre were asked to perform for the Australia Day celebrations at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Itaewon. Here's one of the numbers we performed, it's a cover of Paul Kelly's Dumb Things:

Angelie O'Brien and Amy Wollstein on vocals, Carl Hirst on guitar and Paul Matthews on harmonica. I'm the one with the enormous beard (which has since shrunk into a much more demure goatee).

Budget Curry in Gangnam

After Roboseyo's sage comment about how modern and stylish restaurants serve the worst food sometimes, I decided to go as down market as possible for lunch. Indian Curry House Vin 103 fit the criteria perfectly.

Dark and dingy is the order of the day. This cramped room seats forty using what look like old folding school chairs and cast offs from failed bars and night clubs.

The tables are uneven, the cups are plastic and the places stinks of curry in a good way. The lunch menu has three different sets: A gets you chicken curry, "naan" and rice for 6,500 won. B gets you chicken curry, "naan", rice and a samosa for 7,500 won. C gets you chicken curry, "naan", rice, a samosa and a piece of tandoori chicken for 10,000 won. Pay an extra 1,000 won on any set and you can have beef curry instead. You then get a choice of mild, medium or spicy for your curry. I went for the B set beef option...

The samosa was rather ordinary and the "naan" didn't quite look like naans normally do, more chappati or roti in origin. The curry had a few thin strips of beef, but tasted good and the whole meal was satisfactory for the budget price.

Service was not particularly friendly, but it was efficient. Overall, good value for a quick weekday lunch.

To get to the Indian Curry House Vin 103 get out at Gangnam station and walk towards the Gangnam CGV cinema, once you get there turn right and take the road between the 7-11 and the Co-Co Curry House. Indian Curry House Vin 103 is a little further up on the right hand side opposite the C'Etait Bien European Tea House. You can visit their cyworld page or call them on 02 508 8717.

Flight of the Conchords goes to the Noraebang!

Flight of the Conchords hit new heights this week with its instant classic 오! 그대여 춤추자.

May you compare the love of your lady to your love of sweet kalbi (beef delicacy)!

Here are the English and Korean lyrics in case you feel the need for some happy dance:

오! 그대여 춤추자

Track 0499

그가 너를 쳐다본다.

He looks at you, you are healthy

넌 꿩처럼----- 건강하다.

With the qualities of a pheasant.

건강하다.

of a pheasant!

하지만 사랑은 가끔은 방해가 된다.

But love, sometimes what a hindrance?

방해는 이처럼 다양하다

Problems such as this kind are manifold

가끔은 사랑이란

Sometimes love is as

갈비처럼 달콤하다

sweet as kalbi (beef delicacy)

다른때는 사랑이란 변한

Sometimes the taste is likened

우유처럼 새콤한

to milk of a cow who has

맛을 낸다

done nothing wrong

삶이란 가끔은 집을

Sometimes love is as hard

짓는 어떤 놀처럼 힘들다

as a certain kind of stone for building houses

이따금 쉬울때도 있다

Sometimes it is otherwise

오! 그대여 춤추자. 오! 그대여 춤추자. 

Oh dance baby, oh dance baby

오! happy 여 yeah

Oh, happy dance, yeah!

오! 그대여 춤추자. 오! 그대여 춤추자. 

Oh dance baby, oh dance baby

오! happy 여 yeah

Oh, happy dance, yeah!

There are some inconsistencies in the song, Brett sometimes misses some out or substitutes other words, but he should be commended on his Korean pronunciation skills.

From Pesto Hell To Duck And Dimsum Heaven

Restaurant hunting is a risky business. If you're lucky you end up with a full belly and a smile on your face, if not you could end up hungry and miserable or even worse. I had a very lucky escape this weekend when I decided to try the Noxa lounge in Noksapyeong.

It's a cool looking, hip and groovy kind of place, almost on the edge of Haebangcheon and Hannah Bae of the JoongAng Daily had already given it a decent review, so I thought I would sample the lunch set menu. There were several options on the menu and I decided to go for one of the daily pasta specials. Pesto cream pasta and a mussel and oil spaghetti were on offer, I went for the pesto...

Service was friendly and the food came out quickly, but as the plate touched the table and I bent my head down to savour the aroma of basil and pine nuts I got a whiff of something altogether unexpected. 

Before I continue I just want to state that the following description of the food is my opinion and mine alone, perhaps my olfactory senses are off, perhaps I was having a bad day, perhaps there are taste sensations with which I am unfamiliar. For all I know the smells and flavours presented to me at Noxa are par for the course, but this pesto smelt like no other I have known. Have you ever done the washing up and left a plate, bowl or cup with a little water in it and stacked it with the others? If you have you may recall that said piece of crockery can develop a sour unpleasant smell that screams "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!" as it wafts through your nostrils. The smell coming from my pesto cream pasta was just a little bit similar to that. The taste... slightly worse. I didn't taste pesto, just something unrecognisable and the smell kept on cutting through any other flavour sensation.

The waiter came over and asked if anything was wrong and I tried to explain to him that there was some strange smell coming from my food, he brought over the chef who (without smelling the dish herself) tried to explain the cause of it. She thought it was the garlic or perhaps the strong smell of parmesan cheese. I said that I was perfectly at home to both those fragrances and that it was some other smell that was getting to me. The chef then explained that she crushes the garlic in advance and that the taste changes over time. The garlic in my meal had been crushed three days before and so the flavour and scent had developed.

Hannah Bae described the pesto as a "glorious green", judge for yourselves...

In all fairness the chef offered to make me a different dish, but I just couldn't stomach it. I've never had garlic that smelt like that and I had no wish to sample any other dishes. Maybe it is my taste buds, maybe I'm a freshly crushed garlic snob, whatever the case I didn't want to hang around. I made my excuses and left.

Lost and lonely, I staggered onto the street and stumbled up the hill looking for some kind of culinary solace. I wanted comfort food, something to take the taste of restaurant hunter's defeat from my mouth. As I walked towards the Hyatt Hotel I saw my salvation:

Mao! Chinese food, comforting and simple, was the remedy I needed. I ventured inside and was shocked by how beautiful the restaurant is. 

I didn't want to spoil other people's lunches by taking pictures of them, so my few snaps don't do justice to how gorgeous Mao looks. Dark wooden shelves and jars of colourful herbs give great character to the place and the dark reds and greens on the walls bring a sense of comfort and luxury.

The semi-open kitchen with its hanging poultry made me fall in love with the restaurant in no time at all.

As I was eating by myself I skipped past the more expensive items and went straight for the rice/noodle menu. The usual suspects, fried rice and black bean noodles were there (5,000 to 10,000 won) along with a rather interesting little dish: Duck Fried Rice with Abalone Sauce (10,000 won). I adore duck and rarely get a chance to eat it in Korea, so I knew exactly what I wanted.

I also spied this cute little dimsum cart, with seven different options. I went for the garlic chive and prawn dumplings (6,000 won).

The duck arrived first and was divine. A very generous portion of meat with some skin, mixed with red and green peppers, thick slices of oak mushroom and large chunks of onion. The rice was not fried, just boiled and sat hidden under the sticky brown layer of duck. From the very first bite I was in duck heaven, everything was cooked to perfection and the strong flavour of the duck mixed well with the deliciously unctuous abalone sauce.

The flavours took me back to my days as a student in London, when I would head to the back streets of Leicester Square and fill up on cold duck, bok-choi and boiled rice. Real nostalgic comfort food.

The dish was served with a seafood broth containing a solitary mussel, good for cutting through the fattiness of the duck.

The dumplings arrived soon after the duck, they were incredibly sticky and very delicious.

After my first aborted attempt at lunch, Mao was a godsend. Good service, excellent food and a very pleasant atmosphere. I'm excited to go back and try their Beijing Duck and cold honey-roast pork. Definitely worth the hike up the hill.

Mao is about 300 metres down the hill from the Grand Hyatt Hotel and is opposite the Sri Lankan embassy. Call them on 02 793 8845.

Through A Spoon Darkly

Scary Clowns Love Doughnuts!

Dunkin Donuts opened up a new store in the Yongsan area this week and felt the need to celebrate their presence with a scary clown on stilts. Not quite sure what the relationship between clowns and doughnuts is, but Dunkin must have their reasons....