Seoul Subway Eats – DeliManjoo & Manoffin

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Wendy

During our stay in Seoul Fannypack and I took the subway a lot.  It was the rather convenient way to travel around and it was a lot easier to understand too as they have the English names written on the maps rather than just Korean characters, which was the case with buses.

And, as with most Asian subway stations, there’s just a plethora of eateries and shops for you to browse and taste in.  In fact some of them are so vast that you could probably spend a whole day just shopping and eating in there.

One shop we passed by on our way to Noryanjin was DeliManjoo.  The evening before at around 5pm we saw a line up, so we didn’t quite care for it.  However this morning there was no lineup at all so we decided to try it out.

As we were on our way to our big seafood luncheon, we decided to get the small bag of the cakes they serve for 3,000W.  Despite it being a small size there was actually quite a bit, and that made us ecstatic.

The production process is quite industrialized if you ask me.  All they have to do is pour the batter onto the griddle and then it does the rest.

What results is the cutest corncob-shaped custard cake ever.  Each is perfectly sized for 3 bites.  The cake was soft and spongy and squishy and freshly baked.  The custard tends to end up at one end of the cakes though but that’s fine with me as it gives me a chance to taste the cake part by itself.  My only gripe was that the custard part was a tad too sweet.  Also, there was no corn aroma or taste whatsoever…so I’m guessing the shape is just for esthetics.  But whatever, Fannypack and I both raved about it were really glad we tried it.

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Filed under: Dessert, Korea, Korean, Seoul, Snacks, Sweets, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Myeongdong, Seoul Street Eats – Part 2

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Wendy

Did you ever think that you could have a working oven assembled on a street cart?  One that could produce freshly baked yummy cakes?  One particularily memorable street eat Fannypack and I had in Seoul was a snack made from one of these incredible innovations….

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Filed under: Food Carts, Korea, Korean, Restaurant Reviews, Seoul, Snacks, Travel | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Myeongdong, Seoul Street Eats – Part 1

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Wendy

In my previous post, I commented on how we didn’t get to eat everything we wanted to eat…that’s because there’s quite a bit of street eats that takes away our stomach space…whether it’s on the street, a little shop, in the subway station…there’s always something that catches our…well….mostly my eyes….

Myeongdong is such a busy and vibrant area at night.  There’s so many lights and so many shops jam-packed.  On the first night, we had planned on finding me Mister Donut to satisfy my mochi-donut craving…which I haven’t had since I first tried it in Japan 2 years ago.  Sadly, the tour book was misguiding, as the Mister Donut listed in it is no longer in business.  So in my disappointment…I looked for other rice-cakey things to eat.

We happened to walk by a Lotteria burger joint.  One look at their products and you’ll see that they’re a complete rip-off of McDonalds…from the cups to the burgers…even their spoon for their McFlurry-ish treat is exactly the same as a McFlurry spoon.

Anyways on their window was a poster for what seems to be a Red bean soup with rice balls (4,900W).  Of course I was sold on that.

It took forever for it to be ready…probably because no one else really orders it lol just tourists.  The soupy part was not bad actually…not overly sweet and I actually detect a hint of saltiness.  There were an assortment of seeds and nuts and beans in it too, topped with sliced almonds and a (generous) sprinkling of cinnamon.

The disappointing part was the rice balls…pretty mushy and not very chewy.  Oh well.

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Filed under: Korea, Restaurant Reviews, Seoul, Snacks | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Home-cooking: Valentine’s Cherry Tarts

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Wendy

The cute heart-shaped tarts I posted on V-day was something I made for Hitman.  It’s from one of my all-time favorite blogs The Art of Doing Stuff authored by the uber hilarious Karen.  She is always so funny and witty.  Take a peek at one of my favorite posts from her and tell me you did not just blow milk (or anything) out of your nose when you get to the picture of her holding the potato.

Anyways I came across this post from her last year and it’s an easy-peasy recipe (it’s really not even a recipe…more an assembly job) for the cutest, loveliest mini heart shaped cherry tarts.

Ingredients

Pre-made tart shells (I used No-Name brand…they were really good)

Cherry Pie Filling

Preheat oven to 375°F

I used the 3″ tart shells, not the mini kind.

Take shells out and let them thaw a bit (about 3 minutes) so that they’re malleable.

Dent the foil and gently mold each shell into a heart shape.  Then fill with the pie filling.

Karen suggests putting the cherries in first then top with the filling.  3 cherries each should be sufficient.  Don’t over fill or else the filling will bubble over and your tartlets won’t be pretty anymore =P

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Filed under: Dessert, Desserts, Home Cooking, Restaurant Reviews, Snacks, Sweets | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hot Chocolates & CakeBread Bakery

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Wendy

Cold winter weather always calls for a nice, cozy cup of hot chocolate don’t you agree? We took a short trip to the island, and while it wasn’t exactly wintery weather, it was still mighty cold. So Hitman took me to a place in downtown Courtenay called Hot Chocolates for…wait for it….Hot Chocolate!!

Now Hot Chocolates actually coexists with the artisan bakery Cakebread.  On one side, there’s handmade belgian chocolate treats of all sorts plus gelato.  On the other side, baked goodies that are sure to bring out your indecisive side.

Prices are on par to similar bakeries…tarts and such are around $4+.

Their drinks come in Starbucks sizes. We both ordered a short Belgian Hot Chocolate (~$3+), having his made with almond milk instead.

I must say they were quite heavy-handed with the chocolate part, not that I’m complaining. Hitman didn’t stir his as he’s drinking so there was a layer of melted chocolate at the bottom of his mug, which I happily scooped up and added to my drink.

I must say it was as good as hot chocolate can be, certainly not the BEST I’ve had but with the companion and the relaxing vacation state of mind it was quite nice. Now if it was made with dark chocolate that might change my opinion for the even better.

Since there’s a lovely bakery nearby, I couldn’t resist and had to get a munchie, and of course I got to pick what we eat.  To prevent sugar overload, I held back and decided on one of their famous Crack Pies ($4.50) to share. How am I preventing the overload? I told you, we shared.

The Crack Pie was an oat cookie crust filled with Quebecois sugar pie filling, topped with chocolate ganache and cocoa nibs.

I’m convinced that they’ve named this delicious creation as such because once you’ve tried it, you’ll become addicted to it. Hitman has other ideas though…He thinks it ’cause the sugar pie cracks when u put a fork into it….how boring!! I like my idea better.

At first I thought the cocoa nibs were cocoa beans, which they may very well be. The sugar pie filling reminds me of a milk custard. It was delicious!

Hot Chocolates on Urbanspoon   Cakebread Artisan Bakery on Urbanspoon

Filed under: Bakery, Candies, Coffee Shop, Dessert, Drinks, Snacks, Sweets, Vancouver Island | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Insadong Coquitlam & Hmart Bakery

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Wendy

We actually had my birthday dinner the day before my birthday, since Dark Table wasn’t open the day of.  So the day of, we went out for a less planned out but no less extravagant dinner.  But it didn’t start out that way…

At first, Hitman wanted to take me to the rice cake cafe (Midam Rice Cake House) in Coquitlam for dinner and dessert/birthday cake since he knows I love rice cakes.  When we arrived, we quickly realized that the reviews online were right…if you didn’t speak Korean, you are knee-deep in bad stuff.

Hitman asked me to visit the grocery store next door to see if I’m interested in any cakes there, in case I didn’t want anything here.  So I went next door, during which time Hitman, being the sweetheart that he is, actually ordered a piece of cake for me and it was to be a surprise.  He repeatedly instructed the server that it’s “my girlfriend’s birthday, so it has to be a surprise, don’t mention anything.” The server (Server 1)  then got another server (Server 2), who apparently spoke better English, to come over and listen too.  Hitman was sure that everything would be fine, since they had even managed to understand his request for a candle.

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Filed under: Coquitlam, Korean, Sweets | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

ChocolaTas – A holiday giveaway!!

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Wendy

Update Dec 18, 2012:  Amanda you’re the winner! Make sure you check your email for a message from ChocolaTas!!  Congrats!!

Ahh the holidays~ What better way to relax during this hectic time than to sit down with a box of gourmet chocolates all to yourself??  We were contacted by the local chocolate company Chocolatas to have a sample of their handmade gourmet belgian chocolates.  Not only that, they have also offered to send one of our readers a sample pack just for filling out an easy survey where all you have to do is answer whether you prefer dark or milk chocolate!  But more on that later…

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Chocolatas is headed by belgian chocolatier Wim Tas and his wife, and have setup shop both at Granville Island and in Abbotsford.  They boast all natural ingredients and also no preservatives, so their chocolates come with a suggestion to consume within 7 days, which should be no problem!

The sample pack we received consists of the flavors Single Malt Whisky, Romana, Lavender, and Apple & Cinnamon.

http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/eatnabout/Food%20Blog/Dessert/Confections/Chocolatas/DSCF34.jpg

First up was Single Malt Whisky.  Now I’ve never had whisky before, let alone know the difference between single or double or whatever amount malt.  However I can say that there was a noticeable amount of alcohol content aroma-wise in the dark chocolate ganache…Hitman said he could smell it as I was eating it.  Not enough to get tipsy off of of course, but it’s there.  Not saying it was bitter either.

http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu38/eatnabout/Food%20Blog/Dessert/Confections/Chocolatas/DS3417.jpg

Romana was supposed to be dark raspberry ganache enrobed in raspberry chocolate.  However there was little raspberry notes to speak of.  it was tart-ish but that’s about it.  Beautiful presentation though.

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Filed under: Sweets, Vancouver | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

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