First I will be serving up my cucumber infused gin fresh and tasty it’s served with tonic in cute little cocktail bags for a mere 5,000 each.

Also on the menu is mulled wine, it’s going to be cold out there, so this is just the boozy treat to warm you up on this cold hallows eve 5,000.

Lastly I will be serving that British favourite Pimms! Full of fruity flavour and served in a cocktail to go bag for just 8,000. The only place in Seoul serving Pimms tonight!

So stop by before your Halloween parties tonight, starting at 5pm, I’ll be serving drinks until we are sold out.

Casablanca is located in Hae Bang Chon at 44-8  Yongsandong 2 -ga, Seoul, Korea. Take a train to Noksapyeong station (line 6). Walk straight out of exit 2 for about 200 meters and take the first left and walk straight along the road with all the kimchi pots. Casablanca is on the left a few doors up from Phillies. You can also call them on 02-797-8367 or check out their facebook page.

I do love a good stew, especially now the nights have grown cold. Having something warm and comforting to come home to is just the ticket after a hard nights work. I made this last Monday when you need something extra special to get you through that first day of work. I served it in a giant Yorkshire pudding as it was international Yorkshire pudding day. I used lamb chops that I bought at the foreign food market for this. I’m not sure they were really the right cut, as they were a bit thin so I will try something else next time. But by the time they had cooked they were soft and tender and the stew was full of flavour. Lovely lamb stew served in a giant Yorkshire pudding with an episode of Downton Abbey to watch and Monday isn’t looking so bad.

Ingredients

Stew

500g of lamb chops

1 carrot

1 onion

1 stick of celery

3 potatoes

1 bay leave

1 small bunch of fresh herbs (if not used dried)

1/2 a large courgette

3 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

440ml of Guinness (or dark ale)

2 liters of stock (I used vegetable)

Yorkshire pudding

140g plain flour

4 eggs

200ml milk

Directions

The start of a good stew is always a good stock. I never throw away any meat bones without making them into stock.  Add an onion, some celery, a carrot, and a few cloves of garlic to some water boiling water and it’s done. You can also save all your vegetable peelings and scraps in a little pot in the fridge and add those in too. I store all my stock in the freezer, so I always have some on hand. If you don’t have stock you can just use the cubes instead.

Cut your lamb into bite sized chunks, then toss in seasoned flour. Fry them on a medium heat in a little oil until the sides have browned then remove from the pan. Do this in small batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan.

Chop your onion and garlic and fry off in the meat pan for a couple of minutes, then chop and add the carrot. Fry for a further minute before adding the carrot, onion, garlic and meat chunks to a large saucepan. Add the  Worcestershire sauce, herbs,stock, and can of Guinness, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat as low as possible. Let the stew simmer for an hour,stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick on the bottom. Then chop the potatoes and courgette add them in too. Simmer for another hour or two. I know this sounds vague but it depends upon the cut of the meat. It needs to be cooked until it is soft, tender, and falls apart from the bone. Add salt, pepper and more herbs to taste.

For the Yorkshire pudding I used Gordon Ramsay’s recipe and it never fails me. To make the batter, put the  flour into a bowl and beat in four eggs until smooth. Gradually add 200ml milk and carry on beating until the mix is completely lump-free. Season with salt and pepper, then pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes or more. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Then put some oil into the tins and put them in the oven to heat up. I used some of those little disposable round foil tins that you seem to find everywhere. They only have a 2cm inch edge but it didn’t seem to stop them rising.  Once the oil is hot, pour the batter into the tins. Place the tins back in the oven and leave undisturbed for 20-25 mins until the puddings have puffed up and browned. Fill with your stew and serve immediately. Voilà delicious lamb stew.

A few months ago, Kyungnidan saw a new addition to it’s Thai restaurant empire in the form of Kkaolli Pochana. The two other restaurants Buddha’s Belly and A taste of Thailand, were obviously unable to meet the ever growing demand of people wanting to eat Thai food, so clearly Kkaolli Pochana was desperately needed.

From the outside you could blink and miss it, as it certainly doesn’t conjure images of fried rice and noodles, but step inside and it’s like being transported back to Khao San road. Those who enjoying a fine dining experience will be sorely disappointed. The tables and stools are plastic, the walls strung with fairy lights, and the atmosphere lively and loud.

When I arrived the restaurant was full but I didn’t have to wait too long for a table. However the waiter didn’t seem to speak much English, which is strange for this area of Seoul and we were passed on to the chef to verify that we wanted a table for two. Once sat, we waited for our menu, only to find that there wasn’t one. We had to make our choices from tatty pieces of paper pinned to the door in the corner. My eyesight is poor at best and I really did find it difficult to read without standing over the table that was just below it. It would make things a lot easier if they could print one out.

After surveying the choices we made our order, again neither of the waiters were able to receive our order so the cook had to be called out. We tried to tell them in Korean but they both seemed very afraid of talking to us. Strange in a foreign dominated neighborhood. However what the wait staff lacked in service skills they made up for a in speed and before we knew it the first dish had arrived. Thai green chicken curry (12,000). The curry was good, definitely a more accomplished version than those I manage at home but not quite the same as those I enjoyed in Thailand.

Our next choice was the Shrimp Pad Thai (12,000). Whenever visiting a Thai restaurant it has to be judged on how they execute the Pad Thai. It was jut as expected, I could have transported myself back to any of the restaurants that litter the streets of Bangkok. However we paid extra for shrimp and were only given two, a bit of a disappointment when you are sharing it.

Lastly we ordered a crab fried rice (8,000) What’s Thai food without some fried rice? This was just the ticket, I could have eaten this rice all day. It reminded me of the food I lived on when travelling my way around that beautiful country.

Overall we enjoyed our meal as seen from the picture below. The food has an authenticity that the other restaurants in the area don’t seem to. This is not better per se, just more real, especially to those who backpacked around the country eating cheaply. They ever serve Thai Buckets! If you are looking for a great foodie find then this may not be it, the chairs are not particularly comfortable and I’m pretty sure if you come on a weekend you will find yourself on the end of a big line. Hipster Koreans are going crazy over this little alleyway of eateries, the worse the seats and the bigger the line, the more they want it. Magpie brewery looks like a car-park, Booth Pizza makes you sit on crates, and the stools at Kkaolli Pochana are wobbly at best. However every time I walk past any of these establishments there are people queuing to eat. Is it worth the hype, I’m not sure. For me it depends on how long you have to queue. Since I live in the area then next time I will be getting my food to go.

To get to Kkaolli Pochana, take a train to 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. Take the right hand set of stairs down and walk straight down the alley on your left. Kkaolli Pochana is just on the left hand side.

As you may be aware by now, I’m a big eater of hummus. I make a huge batch every week to sell but always keep extra for myself. Whenever my friends come to visit, I always have a bowl ready and waiting in the fridge to whip out for their eating pleasure. One of my favourite flavours of hummus is roasted red pepper, which is why it’s surprising that I have taken so long to share this recipe with you. I was eating it by the truckload earlier in the summer when red peppers were in season.

I first made the bagel chips one night when I knew the girls were coming over, we had no tortillas in the freezer for me to make into chips and I knew they would be expecting something a little bit more special than a bag of crisps from the shop. As I frantically looked through the cupboards I came across a bag of bagels which desperately needed to be used. I sliced them up and cooked them and they were absolutely delicious. The perfect accompaniment to the red pepper hummus.

Ingredients

Hummus

400g of Chickpeas (soaked weight)

A large bunch of cilantro

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of cumin

1-2 lemons

1-2 tablespoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

3-4 red peppers (bell pepper)

Tahini

100ml of olive oil

3-5 cloves garlic

100g of sesame seeds

Bagel Chips

2 bagels

3 tabelspoons of olive oil

Salt

1 tablespoon of rosemary (or other mixed herbs)

Directions

The first thing you need to do is soak your chickpeas. This can take between 6 hours to overnight. The longer the better in my opinion. After they have been soaked, you need to cook them. This can take a while. I usually cook mine in the rice cooker because you don’t have to top up the water as often and they won’t burn. If not you can cook them in a pan of water, they will take between 2-3 hours. Or you can skip this step and buy a can. When your chick peas are done, drain them but make sure you keep hold of that water, you will need it for the hummus.

The next step is to blend the chickpeas, you may need to do this in a couple of batches depending on the size of your blender. If they are too hard to blend, use a little of the hummus water to get things going. Some like their hummus chunky and rugged others like it smooth and silky, so blend until you get the consistency you’re happy with. If you want want an ultra silky hummus then peel off all of the skins of the chick peas before blending. It’s a pain in the ass so I never do it. Also my hummus is generally made in industrial style batches so it would probably take me a month to do it, plus I’m very lazy.

You can buy tahini in the foreign food mart in Itaewon and on iHerb and various other stores. It’s also very easy to make. Just place the garlic, sesame seeds, and olive oil in a blender and blend for a few minutes until the seeds have been pulverized.

Once the chick peas are blended place in a large bowl and stir in the tahini and lemon juice. Then the salt, pepper and cumin. Hummus is a very personal food, so start by adding a little of each at a time until you get a taste you’re happy with. A lot of factors can affect the taste of hummus so you rarely use the exact same amount of each ingredient every time. I always get the best results when the chick peas are warm.

To make the hummus red pepper flavoured, drizzle the peppers with olive oil and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes until the edges are charred and the flesh is soft. Pop them in the blender with a little olive oil and blend until you have a paste, then stir it  into the hummus. Use as much or as little as you need.

To make the bagel chips, cut the bagels into 5mm slices then arrange on a baking tray. Drizzle the slices with olive oil then sprinkle on the salt and herbs. Cook in the oven for 5-10 minutes until they are brown on one side, then flip them over and cook for a few minutes of the other side. Serve with your favourite hummus and enjoy. Voilà red pepper hummus and bagel chips.

I have been meaning to write this post for forever. It has literally been a year since we first found this haven of gourmet treats. It’s been so long that my pictures featuring the Halloween items they have for sale have now come back into play! But as they say, better late than never.

Dean and Deluca is a chain of fancy schmancy Delis from New York. Located in the Shinsegae basement at the Express Bus Terminal, it is a treasure trove of wondrous delights for you to gorge yourself upon before declaring yourself bankrupt. It’s not just expensive, its REALLY expensive. But if you want the best you will have to pay the price. 23,000 jar of pesto anyone?

Despite the hefty price tags they have an amazing range of ingredients that just can’t be found anywhere else. It’s a foodies dream come true. Truffle oil, caviar, fois gras,  and 100,000 won bottles of olive oil. It’s a lovely place to buy a gift for a foodie fried. Hint hint readers – Christmas is coming!!!!

There is meat and cheese galore, finding prosciutto, goats cheese and gruyere will be no problem here, If you are in the market for a gourmet croque-monsieur.

They also have a bakery selling all manner of different pies, cakes, breads and baked goods.

It’s not all tonnes of money. They have a delightful make your own salad bar that costs only 9,000. I’m more than happy to pay that for a good salad which is fresh and full of the best ingredients. It reminds of Vital, my favourite lunch spot in London’s Soho. Howerver, they close at 9pm so make sure you arrive early. Not very Gangnam style is it?

Dean and Deluca is located at B1F Shinsegae Gangnam Department Store, 19-3 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-040, Korea To get to there, take a train to Express Bus Terminal (Line 3,7, &9) Then follow the exit signs for Shinsegae department store. Go down to the basement level, it’s opposite brickpop. For more information visit their website or call 02 3479 1607.

I have been meaning to get around to showing you guys this for ages. I made this lovely cake for my lovely friends Dominika and James as their wedding cake. I had stared looking at these lovely cakes on pinterest and never dreamed I would be able to pull one off myself. But it came out perfectly. I had done the rose design on a small scale before but now it was time to tackle the ombre. I have a plan to make this for my own wedding so actually relished the opportunity to have a little practice. It took me three nights, but if you had time you could easily do it in two. Probably a whole day overall. I also went through an insane amount of butter cream frosting, so this is definitely a job for Costco if you don’t want to be bankrupt by the end of it. The actual roses are extremely easy to do and the most novice of bakers could pull it off. It’s all about the tip which I bought at the bakers mart, that provides the rose, all you have to do is make a swirl.

Ingredients 

Cake

4 sticks of butter (550g)

550g grams of white sugar

5 eggs

550g of flour

2 tablespoons of baking powder

A pinch of salt

200ml of milk

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

Pink food coloring

Frosting

500g of cream cheese

4 sticks of butter (550g)

650g of icing sugar

2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

Pink food coloring

Directions

First you need to make 6 sponges. I made mine in two batches as my mixing bowl is not nearly big enough, so split the ingredients about in half if you are going to do this.  If you want to speed things up or take the easy road you could use 2 boxes of cake mix instead.

First cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl and mix the vanilla extract with the milk in another. Start off by folding in a third of the flour mixture, then adding half the milk, then adding the second third of flour, then the second half of the milk, then the flour. Make sure your mixture is combined well, then share between 3 bowls. You will need to repeat the process with your second batch of ingredients so you have six bowls of cake mix overall.

To make the ombre layers you need to have 6 different gradients of your base colour. I left one plain then started on the lightest pink. One drop of  food colouring was almost too much for this so be careful. I think I did 2 drops for the second level. Add your colouring until you reach colours that you are happy with.  I filled my tins with each of the different colours . I used the throw away round silver foil dishes, I just found it easier. They have a slight ridge on them but you can iron this out with frosting later. I baked them two at a time, because my new oven is lovely and big and can fit in two. When I made my rainbow cake I had to do it singly though. If yours is big enough, cook a few at a time. The layers are thin so they don’t take too long, about 12 minutes each at 175 degrees Celcius. Whilst the first 3 colours were baking I started on making the second batch of mix for the last 3. Remove them from the heat and allow to cool. I left mine overnight.

To make the frosting allow the butter and cream cheese to come to room temperature. Then mix together with the vanilla extract until combined. Add the icing sugar a bit at a time until all the icing sugar has combined and the frosting is a good consistency. You can add more or less icing sugar depending on how sweet you like it.

To assemble the cake. Place your sponges in the fridge or the freezer for an hour to let them harden. They will be much easier to work with. Put the darkest sponge at the bottom and add a layer of frosting then top with the next darkest one. Add another layer of frosting and top with the second to last darkest one, then put the whole thing back in the fridge for about an hour to let it harden. If you try to assemble all the layers at this point it will end up being very wonky or could collapse. After an hour add a layer of frosting to the top and place the next sponge on top. Add another layer of frosting, then top with the light pink. Top with another layer of frosting and finally top  with the lightest colored sponge. Give the top layer a very thin coating of frosting. Then do a fine crumb coating around the edge of the cake trying to fill in any gaps between the layers. When that’s finished put the whole thing in the fridge for at least another hour.

Now it’s time to start your ombre roses. I decided to do mine light to dark, but you can do the opposite if you prefer. I started with the base colour and did one layer of roses around the edge. You literally just make a spiral, starting in the middle and go once or twice around. Try to join them up as best as you can, and fill in any gaps with blobs of frosting. Once your first layer is finished, pop the cake back in the fridge and let it set before taking the next one. Add a little food coloring to your frosting to make your next layer and do the same as before. Then pop it in the fridge before doing the third and fourth layer. Cover the top with the same color you used for the fourth layer, making sure you fill in any gaps. When you have finished decorating leave in the fridge for at least another two hours to let it set properly.

This cake may have taken quite a few hours to make, but it was worth it to see the guests smile about it at the wedding. Everyone said how lovely it was and for me that made all the hours worth it. It’s not really a difficult thing to make at all, it’s just time consuming. So if you want to make a beautiful cake for a friend’s wedding or event and don’t have much skill decorating wise, ombre roses are the way to go.

Last Sunday morning I was lying in bed trying to decide what to have for my breakfast. I was craving french toast, but wanted to amp up the volume and change it up a bit so I hit upon that old British classic, bread and butter pudding. What could be better than lovely custardy french toast slathered in even more, lovely vanilla custard. Part breakfast part dessert; I am not ashamed to admit that I ate the whole thing over the course of the day whilst watching episodes of Columbo on Netflix. I’m not sure if I should be rather ashamed that I am turning into my Nan, but I am not. It was a lovely way to spend the end of the weekend on a cold rainy day. Next time I might add a few berries or some Nutella to mix it up.

Ingredients

French Toast

1 1/2 loaves of bread (Morning toast bread from Paris Baguette)

300ml of cream

300ml of full fat milk

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

4 tablespoons of sugar

Half a stick of butter (for frying)

Custard

6 egg yolks

1 egg

75g white sugar

25g of flour

4 teaspoons of corn flour / cornstarch (They sell it in all Korean supermarkets, it’s got a picture of corn on the front)

500ml of milk

1 tablespoon of Vanilla syrup

A few drops of vanilla extract (you can use the extract, the syrup or a vanilla pod)

Directions

Cut your loaf into 3/4 of an inch thick slices. I made mine using a fresh loaf but if you let it go stale for a day I am told it’s even better. In a large bowl beat together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla until mixed together. Heat your pan to a low/medium temperature and throw in a knob of butter. Dip a slice of bread into the custard mixture, let it soak up those juices, then turn it over to do the other side and throw it into the frying pan. Depending on the size of your frying pan you will be able to cook 2-3 slices at a time. After a few minutes it should be golden brown on the bottom side. Flip it over and do the other side for a few more minutes. Making sure that the custard has set in the middle, remove from the pan and cook the remaining slices. When all of your french toast is made, cut into triangles and arrange in your dish. Then make the lovely custard.

To make the custard whisk your egg yolks and egg with the sugar until it has become a very pale yellow. Whisk in the flour and corn flour until it has combined then set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla on a low heat until it has just started to boil then take it off the heat and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly mix the hot milk into the yolk and flour mixture until it has combined then pour it into a saucepan. Put the custard on a very low heat and whisk it continuously until it begins to thicken. This will happen all at once so make sure you keep an eye on it or it will curdle. Once it’s thickened into custard you can remove from the heat and pour it all over the french toast.  Sprinkle the top with sugar and bake in the oven at 180ºC for about 20 minutes, until the sugar has browned and you have a lovely bread and buttery goodness on your hands. Serve with extra maple syrup if you have a seriously sweet tooth.

I have been lusting after a BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger for months now. For so long I have lusted over the joy of a juicy patty of meat, smothered with melted cheese, topped with salty crisp bacon, tangy BBQ sauce, and housed in a delicious soft bun. But after eating various burgers my craving just wasn’t satisfied. Yes, I could have just visited Burger B in Hongdae, but I’m a very lazy girl, and feel Hongdae is just too far to go for food. I live in HBC (Haebangchon) which is actually better known to residents as Ham Burger Central. Our street is actually littered with places selling burgers. There is Burgermine of course, all you can eat burgers but no matter how many I ate, I wasn’t quite satisfied. Phillies, which I will say do a great burger and almost hit the spot but not quite. The restaurant  that changes it’s name one a month, currently named Bombs Burger, Indigo and Hungry Dog, but none of these restaurants meet my meat needs. I moved on to Jacoby’s. Jacoby’s has become a phenomenon in the last year after it was shown on a Korean drama, most nights of the week there is an endless queue of Koreans desperate to eat there. But I have never rated it, they are so over-hyped for a mediocre burger. I’ll take the one at Phillies any day of the week. So I did the only thing a fat lazy girl could do and decided to make my own. I came, I saw, and I conquered. They were exquisite and I couldn’t be happier. I scarfed down two in a matter of minutes. Every need was met and I am now sated for the time being.

The first thing that needed to be made were the buns. If I had been to Costco I would have just bought some, but we hadn’t, and you can’t get decent sized buns anywhere else. So I had no choice to make my own. I tried to cheat and found a no rise recipe, and, despite being delicious with melted butter, they were more like scones. My lovely fiancé Niall managed to find this recipe online at allrecipes.com and made these buns. They came out perfectly, which just goes to show you don’t have to be a great cook to make good bread. In fact I think it helps if you are not as you are more scrupulous when it comes to following the recipe!

Ingredients 

1 cup milk

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon white sugar

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoons salt

Sesame seeds for decoration

Directions 

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm. If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions They should be a little larger than a golf ball. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide. You may want to oil your hand first. Set rolls aside until they double in size, about 20 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Position 2 oven racks so they are not too close to the top or bottom of the oven.
5. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

My next job was to make the burgers. I popped over to my local butcher, and chose the cheapest wedge of beef he had and had him grind it up for me. It had a great ratio of fat to meat so was perfect. I like to to add breadcrumbs to my mixture too, probably because my mum does so that’s the way I have always done it.

Ingredients

600g of ground beef

1/2 an onion

1 1/2 slices of bread

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 a teaspoon of salt

1/2 a teaspoon of  black pepper

1 teaspoon of mixed herbs (parsley, rosemary, oregano, thyme, whatever you have…)

1 egg yolk

Directions

Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry off in a little oil for a few minutes just to cook out the raw taste from the onions, then set aside and leave to cool. Meanwhile make the bread into bread crumbs. Put the ground beef in a bowl then add the breadcrumbs. Add the salt, pepper, and mixed herbs. When the onions have cooled add to the bowl and mix everything together thoroughly. Add the egg yolk and mix again, then form into patties. Wrap the patties in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. If you are not using them all straight away, they will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, or you can put them in the freezer. Fry them in a pan, pop them under the grill or dust down your barbecue. Cook them to your liking with is medium – well for me.

Lastly I had to make the Chips, you can’t have a burger without chips. It would be sacrilege. I have been making Heston Blumenthal’s famed triple cooked chips for the past 2 weeks now. Yes they are somewhat time consuming, but they are well worth the extra effort. If you are spending a lazy Sunday on the sofa watching back to back episodes of Project Runway like I am then, it’s a good way to use your time. I followed Heston’s directions to the latter except I used soy bean oil as its very cheap here, and I just used the biggest potatoes I could find. They turned out well even if they weren’t exactly the kind we get back home.

Ingredients

1kg of potatoes peeled and cut into chips

Oil for frying

Salt

Directions 

Last week we tried Marakech Night’s new sandwich place. The original restaurant is still open but they have added another string to their bow. Hidden just in the alleyway where Wolfhound is, it serves up delicious Moroccan food in a small friendly environment.

Thanks to the wonderful people at Casablanca, I am crazy about Moroccan sandwiches so I could barely wait to try the offering from Marakech Night. They have various other Moroccan dishes on the menu too, which, for the size of the place, is actually quite varied.  They have all the favourites on there, kebabs, hummus, pita, baba ganoush, falafel so there are plenty of options for the veggies and vegans. However, it was the sandwiches that I was interested in.

We ordered up one Panachi (chicken sandwich with fries 7,000).  The bread was tasty and the filling was quite satisfying. A slightly different take on the Moroccan sandwich than the one at Casablanca, but not in a bad way.  It was a good sandwich filled with the delicious potatoes which were covered in batter, cheese, meat, salad , and lots of sauce.

We also ordered a Moroccan beef sandwich (5,000), it would have been churlish not to. The beef was thinly shredded, a bit like bulgogi, and the filling was the same as the chicken one. All in all a very hearty sandwich for such a cheap price.

This is the perfect restaurant for a quick bite or some late night eats after way to many drinks. I’d say these lovely sandwiches would definitely go a long way to curing a hangover! Marakech Night 2 is located in Itaewon. To get there take a train to Itaewon station (line 6) Come out of exit 4 and turn left,(you may have to come back on yourself slightly). Walk straight past Geckos and the bank, and take the first right. Walk straight down the road, past the supermarket and the wolfhound. Marakech Night 2 is on the left at the end of the road.

I whipped up this amazing dish last week for dinner. I’m a huge fan of caprese salad, but now the nights are growing chilly, a salad doesn’t exactly cut it for dinner. I’m very keen to use up my basil plants before the cold kills them off in the next few weeks. I also wanted to use the rigatoni I had bought in Bali and was saving for something special. It was the perfect comforting meal for a chilly autumn night.

Ingredients

250g of Pasta (I used rigatoni but you could use penne)

100g of fresh mozzarella

100g of grated cheddar & mozzarella mix

50g of grated parmesan

10 cherry tomatoes

10-12 basil leaves

Sauce

300g of tomatoes or 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1/2 red onion

5 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

100ml cream (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic bread 

1 french baguette

4 cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of pesto

Grated fresh Parmesan

Directions 

To make the sauce blend the tomatoes, onion, and garlic until it’s a smooth paste. Add the sugar, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and salt & pepper, and boil for about 10 minutes. While the sauce is boiling, cook the pasta until it’s soft on the outside but still a little hard in the middle then drain. When the tomato sauce is done stir in the cream if using. Put the pasta in a dish and pour over the sauce. Top with the remaining cherry tomatoes, scatter over the cheese and torn basil leaves, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

To make the pesto garlic bread, crush the garlic and mix together with the butter and pesto until it is a nice soft paste. Spread generously on the french bread and top with grated parmesan. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the butter and cheese have melted and they are golden brown.

Serve the pasta caprese with the garlic pesto bread and a glass of wine. Warning: your home may be filled with a delicious smell for long after the pasta is gone which may cause you to repeat all previous cooking instructions!