August | 2013 | A Fat Girl's Food Guide to Eating in Korea

29
Aug
2013

Flower Gin – Hendrick’s Bar

categories: Drinks & Cocktails

Flower Gin is an awesome new bar in my area that unsurprisingly, sells flowers and gin. Now we all know that fat girl is a lover of vodka, but I don’t mind having a gin or two once in a while. I was a thrilled about this lovely new bar because my best friend Matt (gin connoisseur and out and out lush) is absolutely mad for Hendricks gin. It’s always been his fave so we were very excited to go and have a couple of cocktails.

Although the bar is small, there were already a few people inside. You can get your cocktails to stay or to go. The gin and tonic (6,600) comes with a slice of cucumber, just like it should .There is also a small flower in every glass, what could be more perfect?

I had the gin and ginger (6,900) , which is a little bit milder than the tonic. It was served with lemon, cucumber ,and a flower and was absolutely divine.

They even have the famed Hendricks teacups and teapots, although they are just used for display. You can even pick up a bunch of flowers while you are here. There are also two adorable patio chairs outside as a little smoking area.

Flower Gin is located in Kyungnidan at 684 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan -Gu, Seoul. To get there come out of Noksapyeong station (line 6) exit 2 and walk straight down past the entrance leading to Hae bang chon and go over the pedestrian bridge above the road. You will see Flower Gin as you exit the left hand set of stairs on the other side.

26
Aug
2013

Bloody Mary Burgers

categories: Recipes

Rainy season seems to be over and the heat is dying down. So it’s time to get out those barbecues again, and spend the day lounging in the sun rather than in a darkened room with the air conditioning on. I knocked these up with a little help from my BFF Matt. He came up with the idea, and I made the recipe. I do love a good Bloody Mary and I can never get enough burgers, so these are the perfect combination.

Makes 15 burger

Ingredients

1kg of beef mince

1 onion

2 sticks of celery

150g of bread crumbs

1 egg

8 drops of Tabasco

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon of horseradish

½ teaspoon of celery salt

½ a teaspoon of black pepper

A glug of olive oil

Bloody Mary Ketchup

1 cup of tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

8 drops of Tabasco

1 teaspoon of horseradish

½ a celery stalk (very finely chopped)

½ teaspoon of celery salt

½ a teaspoon of black pepper

The juice of half a lemon

Directions

To make the Bloody Mary ketchup, put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix. Feel free to adjust the measurements to suit your own tastes.

To make the burgers, finely chop the onion and celery and fry off on a medium heat in the oil for five minutes or so until they have softened. Allow to cool then add to a bowl and mix together with the bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Add the minced beef, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and horseradish, and mix everything together, making sure the bread crumbs, onions, and sauces etc are well distributed throughout the meat. Beat the egg, and add to the mince, this will help them to keep their shape better. Grab a handful and form into to a patty shape. If you are not using them right away, wrap them in cling film and store in the fridge or freezer. When you are ready to use them, throw them on the barbecue or cook in a frying pan until they are done to your liking. Personally I like mine still slightly pink in the middle. Serve in a bun, with salad, a slice of cheese and top with bloody Mary ketchup. Voilà the Bloody Mary Burger.

23
Aug
2013

Cider

categories: Cafes / Takeaways / Bars, Drinks & Cocktails

Being a Somerset girl I am particularly fond of Cider. But when I first arrived in Korea, I was rather dismayed to find that there was rather a lack of cider on the fair peninsula. I scoured the bars and finally found that they served it at The Wolfhound in Itaewon. It was on this night almost 5 years ago that I met my fiancé. If it wasn’t for cider, we probably never would have met. So it shall always have a special place in my heart for this reason alone.

Luckily for all you lovely cider lovers out there, things have moved on quite a lot in the past five years. This month I even wrote a piece about cider for Chips maps!!! If you haven’t heard of Chip’s maps you should run right out now and grab yourself a copy from your neighbourhood bar in Itaewon. It’s a fun, fantastic, and free magazine which has all the latest happenings in the Itaewon area. In the article I gave my top 5, but I like to go the extra mile for you my dear fans so here are the top 10!

1. My top place has to go to Bulmers Pear. I was always a fan of this one at home, so I was thrilled to finally find it here. For me it is the best pear cider available in Korea an always quenches my thirst. Available at Bonny’s in cans for 7,000 won.

2. Magners – Magners is finally available in draft form in various bars around Seoul. They even have their own bar at the IFC Mall in Yuiedo. It’s by far and away the nicest cider available on draft. The cheapest price in Itaewon is at the Bull and Barrel where it costs a mere 8,000 a pint.

3. Hunters Gold – You may have discovered by now that I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I prefer my cider slightly sweeter too. So I love this South African offering. It also comes in a dry variety for those who don’t like it quite so sweet. Available at Phillies, Bonny’s, Scrooges and Braai Republic for around 6,000 a bottle.

4. Savannah Dry – I tried this for the first time, on my cider crawl and was pleasantly surprised. One of my favourite bar tenders recommended drinking it with a slice of lemon and it was such a delight. Available at Braai Republic and that amazing little bottleshop in the alley behind the Hamilton Hotel.

5. Monteith’s – In particular I am a fan of the berry one, but they also have crushed pear and apple. A nice little trio of ciders hailing from New Zealand. I was stoked to see these in my local convenience mart in HBC and at Bonny’s for around 5,000.

6. Sommersby – I wasn’t overly keen on this when I first tried it. It had a very artificial sweet apply taste. I decided to pour it over the ice that had accompanied it and found that it tasted a lot better. I wont get into the cider with ice debate, but if it makes it taste better then why the hell not. At Reilly’s and The Wolfhound for 6,500.

7. Strongbow – At home I have been known to enjoy a bow or two. No it’s nothing compared to some of the local ciders we get back in the west country but its consistently good. You can even pick these up in Homeplus for about 3,000 now so it’s always worth keeping a few in the fridge.

8. Bulmers Original is pretty much available in bottles all over Itaewon. Costing around 9,000 a bottle, it’s still worth every penny to quench that summer thirst.

9. Magners pear. You may have guessed by now, that I am somewhat fond of pear cider and I sure do like the Magners one. This one is at The Wolfhound for 7,000.

10. Rock Creek – I had to have this on the list, even though it isn’t all that special now that other ciders are available. It was the original and is served at various bars all over the country. It filled that cider hole in my heart for a long time and for that I am very grateful.

For all you cider lovers out there, you may also be interested to know that down at the Wolfhound they have cider Sunday, where they knock off a 1,000 won off of everyone one of their six ciders. If that’s not a reason for a few pints then I don’t know what is.

21
Aug
2013

Itaewon Foodie Crawl

categories: Restaurant Reviews, Shopping

Last week’s foodie crawl was around the world in Itaewon. We started off in South Africa, then went to Thailand and Morocco, and finished in Japan. It was a great success and I had just as much fun as the week before, maybe even more.

Braai Republic – Our first stop was Braai Republic, a South African barbecue joint. I have actually been here 3 times in the last month already. We got to try their lovely lamb chops, salad, and ice cold ciders. They went down a storm and everyone loved them as much as I did. We all vowed to come back for the all you can eat lamb chops on Tuesday.

Buddha’s Belly – This was our second stop and here we were served up Shrimp Pad Thai. Fresh and tasty, I wish there had been a whole lot more of this. I will be back to try it again when I get to have a whole plate to myself. We also sampled some very exotic cocktails here.

Marrakech Night – We arrived at the Moroccan favourite and tried wedding chicken, babaganoush and Moroccan bread. The aroma when they brought it out was delicious. This would be the perfect dinner to eat on a cold winters night. It also works on a boiling hot Saturday afternoon! They offer an all you can eat buffet at weekends, which I will certainly be coming back to try again.

Pier 8

Our last stop was Pier 8, a Japanese fusion restaurant. As soon as we walked in there were oohs and aahs all around. It’s a large place with an even larger cocktail list. To eat we tried the cinnamon chicken. Crispy coated chunks of chicken, and potato. These were good, I just wish there had been more of them. The place really started filling up as we were here so we got to look around and see some of the other dishes on the menu. I’ll be sure to come back when I have not eaten at 3 restaurants just before.

This crawl we certainly managed to have quite a few alcoholic refreshments. In our defence, it was a hot and sweaty day and the cocktails were just far too good to resist. It would have been impossible not to indulge.

The Itaewon foodie crawls are a weekly event hosted by Chip’s Maps with a little help from yours truly. If you are interested in attending one of the future foodie crawls, please check out the facebook page for more details and information on how to sign up. Hope to see you at the next one!

19
Aug
2013

Rye Post

categories: Restaurant Reviews

A week or two ago I was out on a little pub crawl with my beloved, when we stumbled across this new gourmet sandwich place. Never one to miss out on an opportunity to eat a sandwich we went in to investigate. The menu is rather small but there are a few tasty items on it. We ordered ourselves one each and waited for them to arrive.

The club sandwich (7,800) Shouldn’t really be a called a club sandwich as there is no bacon or third slice of bread in the middle, but it does have avocado which kind of made up for it for me. It has lots of mayo and is pretty damn tasty.

We also ordered the Porchetta (7,800). I was looking forward to this as I wanted to compare it to the porchetta, from Porchetta. The pork had a well roasted flavour throughout the meat, and the crackling was also crispy. It also came with pesto and roasted cherry tomatoes which gave it an all round more complex flavour. I’m not sure which one I prefer, as they are quite different. I may have to have another to help further my investigation.

The Rye Post is located at 117-3 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. To get there take a train to Itaewon station (line6) and come out of exit 4 and walk straight for about 200 meters until you get to Dillinger’s. Just before Dillinger’s bar is a set of stairs. Walk down the stairs and turn right. Rye post should be just on the right, opposite Dori Kitchen . You can call them on 02-792-9991 or check out their website for more information.

16
Aug
2013

Watermelon & Feta Salad

categories: Recipes, Vegan / Veggie Friendly

This salad is like summer in a bowl and I can’t get enough of it. It’s just so fresh and tasty and makes your taste buds dance in your mouth. It’s insanely quick and easy and a great way to use some of that watermelon you have in the fridge. Is it just me or are they bigger than ever this year? It’s so good I have made this salad three times in the last week, in fact I’m eating it right now as I type this post!!! I managed to get a block of real feta up at the foreign food mart in Itaewon for 7,500. Quite a bargain. I think it would also taste great with halloumi cheese too.

Ingredients

1/4 of a watermelon

100g of feta

1/2 a cucumber

10 cherry tomatoes

10-15 mint leaves.

Directions

Chop your water melon into chunks, halve the cherry tomatoes and dice the cucumber. Then put it all into a large bowl. Tear the mint leaves into pieces and add to the salad. Finally crumble in the feta cheese and mix everything together. Voilà the most refreshing salad you are ever likely to eat.

13
Aug
2013

Kyungnidan Foodie Crawl

categories: Restaurant Reviews, Uncategorized

Last Saturday I helped lead 10 unsuspecting victims around Kyungnidan on the Chips Maps foodie crawl. We all met up at Noksapyeong station then trawled around the area and tried to eat as much as humanly possible.

Our first stop was Craftworks Taphouse where we enjoyed chicken pepper poppers with 12 different dips. We all had different favourites, so here are our top picks , peri peri, buffalo, honey mustard and chipotle mayonnaise. I will have to go back to try a few more next time. A Bloody Mary and some chicken later it was time to move on.

Our second stop was Springs Taphouse, another craft beer joint. Although it was a food crawl we did spend a lot of time drinking, as eating can be very thirsty work. At Springs Taphouse we tried the three mushroom pate with cherry tomato and chickpea tapenade. I love this dish so was thrilled to be able to try it again, everyone agreed that it was absolutely delicious.

Third stop was Beer O’ Clock pizza. I had been meaning to eat here for quite some time now, so was very keen to try it out. The pizza crust was thin and crispy just how I like it. I was starting to get pretty full by this point but still managed to eat 2 slices.

Last stop was Maloneys. Here we enjoyed mini sliders. Thank God they were mini as I might not have managed a whole one. The meat was juicy and tasty though, I will be definitely coming back for a full sized one when I have more room. We even stayed here and had a few more drinks after we were finished.

Everyone on the crawl was tonnes of fun and we all enjoyed a great afternoon. I am already looking forward to next weeks crawl around the world in Itaewon. If you would like to sign up for one of the future crawls, please check out the facebook page for more details.

09
Aug
2013

Mexican Lasagne

categories: Recipes

I made this on Monday for dinner and my god was it good. We finished the whole thing in one sitting. Not great for the waistline, but it was too yummy to resist. I bought a kilo of mince beef at the butchers at the weekend and was wondering what to make. I thought I should try to make a few different things. I planned on making some spicy beef samosas, but when I took out my rather old samosa wrappers, they had seen far better days and I had to throw them away. For lack of a better idea I just made a giant batch of chili. We had some on top of homemade potato wedges and a little with rice. The rest went into the freezer. Then on Monday, inspiration struck, and I decided to try out Mexican lasagne. I took my chilli out of the freezer and warmed it back up, whipped up a quick cheese sauce, and bing bang boom, dinner was done in about 20 minutes. I will definitely be making this again very soon.

Ingredients

Chili

350g of mince beef

1/2 a can of kidney beans

1/2 a can of black beans

1/2 can of corn

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

10 mushrooms

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

6 tomatoes or 1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

2-3 tablespoons of Mexican seasoning

1 teaspoon of chili powder

A small bunch of cilantro (고수)

Cheese sauce

25g of butter

25g of flour

400ml of milk (roughly)

Salt and pepper to taste

100g of cheddar cheese

Lasagne

4 large tortillas or 8 small

150g of grated cheese (i used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar)

Directions

Finely chop the onions and garlic and fry off in a little olive oil for a few minutes until softened. Then add the mince and fry until browned. Add the Worcestershire sauce and Mexican seasoning and stir. Chop the peppers and mushroom and add to the mince along with the tomatoes. Mix together, if it is a little dry add a cup of water or tomato juice. Cook for another 5- 10 minutes then add the beans and corn. Taste the chili then add in the cilantro and chili powder to taste.When the chili is done remove from the heat.

To make the cheese sauce melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan, then add the flour. Mix together to make a paste, then add the milk. Whisk the sauce to dispel the lumps then keep stirring. After a few minutes the sauce will thicken, if it’s too thick add a little more milk. If it’s too thin add in a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of flour. As long as you add fat with your flour, the sauce will never be lumpy. Once the sauce has thickened add the cheese and stir until it has melted. Depending on what I am making I also like to crumble in a little chicken stock cube or mustard to give a little extra flavour.

To assemble the Mexican lasagne trim the sides off the tortillas to make them squarer, unless you are using a round dish of course. Place a tortilla in your dish then cover with a third of the chili, then place another tortilla and top with the second third of chili. Add another tortilla then top with the final third of chili and finish with a tortilla. Use the trimmed pieces to fill in any gaps, then top with the cheese sauce and grated cheese. You can also sprinkle on a little extra cilantro on the top if you have some. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes to let the cheese melt. When it’s ready remove from the oven and leave for about 10 minutes or as long as you can wait for it to set a little. If you want to have beautiful slices then it needs to cool. Never one to have any patience I was not particularly good at this so my pictures are less than perfect, but you get the idea. Voilà Mexican Lasagne!

07
Aug
2013

Roast Beetroot Dip & Homemade Pita Bread

categories: Recipes, Vegan / Veggie Friendly

Another day, another dip. I am very into bread and dips at the moment. I have been going through them by the bucket-load. It’s so hot, that I am trying to limit my cooking to every other day. Some bread and dip is all I need to satisfy me on a hot summers eve. Once again I picked up some beetroot cheap and was looking for another interesting way to use them. This dip is easy and tasty and it’s bright pink!!! What more could you ask for? Feta was the ideal thing to pair it with but you could easily use Greek yoghurt or sour cream instead. I found a jar of feta cubes in my local store which I used but I believe they have real feta at Homeplus and the foreign food mart in Itaewon. If you are vegan then just skip the dairy completely, the roasted beet tastes great on it’s own.

I also decided it was about time I learned to make real pita bread. My flat bread recipe is awesome, but I wanted to take it to the next level. I scoured pinterest and found this recipe. It is by far and away the best recipe I have ever come across for pita bread and my most successful to date. They puffed up beautifully when rising. Sadly they did not get as big as the ones on the site, but I have since discovered that is because the top heating element on my oven has broken, so they are rather on the pale side and not as golden brown as they could be. But they still tasted wonderful. I will definitely be making more the second my new oven arrives.

Ingredients

Beetroot dip

2 beetroots

2 – 3 cloves of garlic

50g of feta (I used about 10 small cubes)

A squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Pita Bread

1 tablespoon yeast (I used instant)

1 1/4 cups of warm water

1 teaspoon of salt

31/2 cups of flour (450g)
Directions

To make the pita bread dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook or with a whisk, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead with your hands for 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. I make all sorts of sizes to suit different snacks and meals. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.

Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425F.
With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.

These store for up to two days well wrapped or frozen for three weeks.

To make the dip, you need to roast the beetroots for about an hour at 185 degrees Celsius until they are soft in the middle. If they are small to medium you can keep them whole, if they are large cut them in half. If you like you can drizzle a little olive oil on the beetroot first to stop it drying out, but its not 100 % necessary if you are looking to keep the calorie count down. When the beetroots have roasted they should be easy enough to peel, be mindful of pink hands though! Chop the beetroot into pieces and put it in the blender and blend with the garlic. You can roast the garlic first to take the edge off of it or keep it raw, it’s up to you. When you have a beautiful beetroot paste crumble in the feta and blend again. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste and maybe a little more feta. Voilà roast beetroot and feta dip with home-made pita bread.

05
Aug
2013

Braai Republic

categories: Restaurant Reviews

Braai Republic is a South African BBQ restaurant and bar hidden in the back streets of Itaewon. I have been meaning to review this place for over a year now, however we have just only got around to visiting. It’s very strange as both me and my boyfriend were well aware that they served lamb chops, but it still took us a while to get around to eating here. We decided to visit on a Tuesday as they have all you can eat lamb chops for 15,000. Yes that’s right, all you can eat lamb chops for 15,000.

On a Tuesday for one hour between 5pm and 8pm you can get all you can eat lamb chops. The hour starts as soon as your first plate of lamb chops is put down. Once you have devoured them, you can order more and keep ordering until you’re so full with meat you cant bear to move, or your time runs out, whichever comes first. I had high hopes about my abilities but had to stop after 3 plates. We had plenty of time left but I just couldn’t fit any more in. The lamb here is spectacular, well seasoned, full of flavour and fresh from the BBQ. We asked for ours rare and it was cooked to perfection.

The lamb all you can eat doesn’t come with any sides, so if you want some, you can order them as extras. They have creamed spinach, mashed garlic potato, wedges, and coleslaw. If there are a few of you it’s easy to share and mix and match.

Elsewhere on the menu they have sausages, pies, lamb shank, wors(South African Sausage) and various side dishes. Our friend Jen wasn’t really in the mood for all you can eat so ordered the Meat platter (30,000) which consisted of 2 lamb chops, 2 sausages, creamed spinach, coleslaw and mashed potato. This is a big plate of food and could easily be shared between two people. The sausages are homemade but it’s really the lamb chops that steal the show.

All you can eat lamb is cash only, so be sure to bring some with you. However sides, drinks, and other menu items can all be paid for by card. Reservations are also recommended unless you can get there early as space is limited.

For those of you not living in Seoul but still hankering after a taste of the Braai, check out their website The Biltong guy who will deliver boerwors directly to your door.

Braai Republic is located in Itaewon at 63-4 itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. To get there take a train to Itaewon station and walk straight out of exit 4 for about 500 meters. Take a left just before you get to Mcdonalds. Keep walking straight down that street past the intersection. Braai Republic is on the left, on the second floor. You can check out their facebook page or call them on 02-795-1967.

August 2013 archive