Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

Chuncheon, South Korea

Recently I joined my good friend SP on a mini road trip northeast of Dongducheon to the city of Chuncheon. The city is known for its stunning views of Lake Soyang and Lake Uiam, and the filming location of a popular Korean drama.

Mr. B and I took my best friend Rebecca to the area when she came to visit us in Korea, but it’s been a year or so since I had been back. This time It was awesome to have someone along that could tell me a bit of history and facts about the area. Thanks SP for letting me play a million and one questions with you!

After traveling quite a ways, we arrived at our destination where SP shared an old traditional Korean restaurant with me that she and her family have frequented for years. SP described the food as always being very fresh, delicious and known as being healthy and healing for your body. EEK! I was sold at the words “traditional korean restaurant”! I’m always eager to indulge in the Korean culture and to have this little gem of a place shared with me was quite special indeed.

I felt that most foreigners might be taken back by the look of the restaurant, but to me it was just rustic charm and immediately took my mind to my days of accompanying my husband and friends in the coal region near our hometown for screamers or dead burgers at Tony’s Lunch. (Tony’s Lunch: A very simple, been there for years, wallpaper and tables haven’t changed, diner located in Central Pennsylvania). Ahhhhhh such delicious memories.

We feasted on the local specialty, Makguksu. Makguksu is a dish of buckwheat noodles served in a chilled or hot broth. Once served, SP prepared the dish at the table for me by taking the various condiments on the table of sugar, mustard, sesame oil or vinegar. I know it sounds strange reading those ingredients off together but it was out of this world delicious!

Just like typical korean style, we were served what seemed like endless banchan (side dishes). There was boiled pork, gamjajeon (potato pancakes), and memil jeonbyeong (stuffed buckwheat crepes), and hot buckwheat tea.

We left with our bellies almost filled to full capacity, almost being the key word, but we switched over to dessert stomach. We started to head back towards home and drove up through the mountains and stopped off at a newer coffee cafe, Cupola.

Cupola had a great atmosphere, served a decent latte and gave us the most incredible views of the lake with the sun setting off in the distance. As I sat there talking with SP I watched some of the couples take in the views and sip on their coffee too. I’d absolutely go back again, just look for yourself…

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned before or not, but because we live outside of Seoul we are lucky enough to have easy access to the local farmers that are selling their produce at roadside stands. We live near a very famous mountain that sells grapes. We stopped off and grabbed a few boxes from a popular organic farm. Twenty thousand won, roughly twenty dollars, for a nice big box of fresh organic grapes.

Whew! What an incredible day!

Backpackbees

Seoul’s Sip & Paint

Eek! Can you believe I almost forgot to post about Kelsey and I’s Sip and paint class in Seoul last weekend? Or, as my Uncle described it, gulp and drip. Ha ha ha! You may also know the class as paint and pour, or corks and canvas.

Before I get into that, we started off our morning with an early lunch at the Bakers Table in Itaewon. We grabbed panini’s and soup. It was perfect….well except for my genius idea to have soup. Folks, it was at least 90 degrees out. I have no idea what I was thinking. Perhaps I was excited because I heard pumpkin? Yep, they got me with sweet pumpkin soup.

But really, we had a blast! Kelsey signed us both up as a birthday gift, what a sweetheart she is! We had been talking about the sip and paint class she did in the states with penguins and the fun that she had. I hadn’t taken a class yet, but really wanted to try one out. Luckily, Art & Seoul started to offer a variety of classes to take and Kelsey jumped right on it. That gal! I’m telling you!

The idea is that you get together with a group of friends for a relaxing class of sipping, painting and creating! You bring your own alcohol, tag the bottle with your name, you can bring snacks, but there were some light refreshments to nibble on too.

We were immediately greeted by the lovely host, directed to find our canvas where our paint brushes, paint and smock were. We had a super upbeat and informative instructor that guided us through our masterpiece step by step at the perfect pace. Our instructor was patient and fun! I think Kelsey and I asked for black pain about a zillion times and thankfully she didn’t seem to mind one bit. After all I guess she knew going into instructing us that we we’d be a group of tipsy armature artist.

Half of the class painted Buddha, the other half painted cherry blossoms. We pre-selected Buddha. The colors and creations that I got to see come out on everyone’s canvas was the best part to me. When I was there painting the memory of my grandparents telling me about my dad and I coloring when I was little popped into my head. They asked how I did with staying in the lines on my picture and at the time my Dad say, “Well there is room for improvement.” Dad, hopefully I got a little better with my color technique.

Cheers to many more classes!

Backpackbees

Summer Saunter

Keeping with the same mantra, determined to squeeze every ounce of summer out of the season, I met up with Kelsey in Seoul early Saturday morning. Of course it was drizzling on again, off again. You know the rain that makes you feeling like someone is constantly misting you? Yep, that was the type. We had umbrellas so we didn’t let it spoil our plans or fun.

We started out by treating ourselves with a pedicure. We both struggled not to fall asleep in the chairs and thought maybe, just maybe, this should have been the final stop of our adventure? LOL! (I know what you are thinking right about now…life is hard,right?)

With our freshly painted tootsies, we headed to an area near Insadong that I wanted to share with Kelsey. I adore the Bukchon Village area, it has lots of sparkle and tons of areas for her to snap photos of the city.

The first stop was at Brick and Wood. This is a ridiculously charming brunch, lunch or dinner spot! I stumbled upon the place the last time that I took a quiet saunter with Mary while in the area. I had only went into the bakery last time and knew just from that I needed to get back to enjoy the restaurant too.

The space is rustic yet has a fun modern flair with its old wooden floors and it’s open, airy, exposed brick and concrete walls. The kitchen is out in the open and made us feel like they were preparing private dishes just for us. I love nothing more than to take a peek on how chefs are preparing dishes and the techniques they are using.

We hit the Bukchon Hanok Village area at a perfect time! The rain kept the large crowds tamed. We strolled casually all over, checking out tiny little boutiques, stopping to smell flowers, making friends with two handsome pups and their British owner, admiring the views, people watching, and of course enjoying green tea potbingsu at the Café Terrace.

(See the couple below?) They were the sweetest couple attempting to take a selfie under the we are young graffiti, so we offered to take the photo for them. They were so pleased with the offer they insisted on taking our photo too! Kelsey and I were swooning over the couples cuteness because we could tell they were just newly dating.

Saved some of the best for last. Yum! Green tea and watermelon who would have thought?

Backpackbees

Addresses:

Brick & Wood Restaurant & Bakery
Locations and website here.

Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을)
Check out more here.

Kuala Lumpur Day 5

Gosh dangit already on Day 5 of the Memorial Day getaway. Well, we trucked around center city Kuala Lumpur on our last day with Luis. We checked out Brickfields also known as Little India, China Town or known as peddlers ally, and the Central Market.

We ate the local eats, such as durian fruit (AKA hot trash) and ais kacang or known as ABC (acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally meaning “mixed ice”). The ABC reminded me of S.Korea’s potbingsoo but cracked out. There was so much on this thing my mouth was totally confused by all of the textures and flavors that were going on inside of it. I am talking about crazy flavors like palm seed, red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and cubes of agar agar, aloe vera, cendol, ice cream. A final topping of evaporated milk, condensed milk, or coconut milk drizzled over the mountain of ice along with red rose syrup and sarsi syrup.

Perhaps I am bias, but I will always hold such a dear spot for our beloved original potbingsoo. It’s good to be back in the graces of Potbingsoo’s again. Cheers!

Many thanks to you Luis and showing us your Malaysia. It was a dream!

Curious, would you dare to try the local eats such as local eats, such as durian fruit or ABC?

Backpackbees

More Weekending

Sorry for the delay! The past two weekends have been jam-packed with post op eye check ups for the Bees, baking surprise “Mac and cheese” and balsamic chicken for dinner, meeting up with Kelsey in Gangnam, repotting our herbs and house plants, a little reminder of America with a dinner at Chili’s, a nice countryside drive, “gorilla gardening”, a really nice leisure evening 5 mile walk, finally getting to see what creature makes the strangest noise in the early AM on the hillside out back of our place (spoiler alert, it’s a pheasant), exploring Pyeongtaek, getting to see and hang out at Kelsey’s humble abode while catching up over her recent trip to Japan (she spoiled us with treats too!)and of course ending it all with new flavors of potbingsoo’s at the Sulbing cafe while taking in views of the Ho Bar (no really that’s the name of it).

Here’s a smattering of photographs to share all the fun with you all.

Backpackbees

Address:

Sulbing

Yongho-dong: 창원시 의창구 용호동 73-24번지 2층
http://sulbing.com/

Showers of pink petals

I don’t know where it came from…but the flowers seemed to explode on all the trees this past weekend. Just walking in the wind and shower of delicate pink petals painted this picture to me that everything was right with the world in that very moment.

I met up with Miss Kelsey again this past weekend to get my mop cut. Seriously folks it was getting a bit out of control. I don’t want to go there but I will. Can we say business in the front party in the back?? HA-HA. Kelsey wanted to get a trim and manicure too, so it was a perfect excuse for a girls day.

Before heading off to our salon appointment we strolled all around Itaewon. The weather was a bit brisk but it was perfect for walking. You know the kind right? Not to hot, not to terribly cold. Besides, studies show that because walking is a repetitive activity, it helps trigger the body’s relaxation mode that helps reduce stress (we both needed that after the week we had) plus, at the same time, a ten minute walk provides an immediate energy booster and improves your mood. It’s proven to snap you out of your funk (again needed). Research also suggest that you should aim for a minimum of 10,000 steps a day (equivalent to approximately 5 miles), the magic number that keeps most from gaining weight. Here’s what my Fitbit tracked while strolling around the Itaewon area with Kelsey. Not to shabby right? Okay, I will hop off my soapbox now.

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Perhaps all those steps made up for the lunch we had? Softree for a magic lamp. It’s magical all right! Organic vanilla soft-serve with caramel swirls and a fine crushed nut topping. I took notes from my late great-grandmother and do cover the important parts of meals first. Dessert. We then followed up with a chicken pita and greek salad from Greek on the Grill. Delicious and cheap too.

Check them out and let me know what you think.
Directions:

Greek on the Grill Restaurant

마포구 와우산로 66 (본점), Seoul, 121-837
소프트리 SOFTREE Ice Cream Shop
용산구 이태원로 208 (이태원점), Seoul, 140-893

Backpackbees

Early Signs of Spring

This past weekend, we met up with Mr. B’s cousin Kelsey to celebrate her birthday and a group of our friends that are shortly departing South Korea, for a day of all play in the magical city of Seoul. What is it about that city? You know, it’s really hard to put into thoughts and words and I feel that the photos just never do it justice so I always yearn to go back every chance I get. Despite the typical haze, the weather was gorgeous and it was as if Spring unexpectedly surfaced just for us for the day.

Ah! the history, the food, the massive building structures, and the seemingly endless panoramic views from Namsan mountain’s Seoul Tower. Don’t just take my word for it, enjoy some of my favorite moments captured below why don’t you…

We started the day early with our daily dose of protein, fresh milkshakes, and perfectly crisp french-fries at Brooklyn Burger. Our friends found this restaurant and immediately decided this needed to be included on our next adventure. The arteries might be clogged, but the rave reviews truly didn’t disappoint! Even baby Jilly bean approved as she tasted my peanut butter banana milkshake. Then again who doesn’t trust a place that features a photo of Ice Cube on ice machine?

PS: Get to Brooklyn Burger early and get your name on the waiting list. The restaurant only has about 5 tables and it doesn’t take long until the place gets a crowd.

We then walked around the French district, Seorae Village. We checked out a few little gift stores in the area and of course made a stop by Paris Croissant and picked up some handmade chocolat and macarons. I was absolutely in my element. I learned that although Paris Croissant is a chain bakery, this location was the only in South Korea that uses true French flour. Oh! the aroma…As soon as we crossed the entryway the amazing aroma of freshly baked breads and pastries filled the air. The space was beautiful with a grand staircase that lead down to the basement where you could shop for incredible cakes, French cheeses, wine, macarons and chocolat. If you went up the staircase from the main floor, you could eat the goodies purchased from the main floor or basement, or continue up the staircase to the Café. I found myself stopping on the staircase watching the bakers as they prepped the counter space for another batch of bread. I was in a trance as they kneaded and rolled. I then realized that everyone had already left and was waiting for me outside. I snapped a few more photos and jetted out the door. à bientôt as ah bee-ahn-too!

(I’m loving the photo bomb of Kelsey’s kimchi fingers)

After our shortly lived trip to “Paris” we hailed a cab and headed over to Namsan mountain to take the cable car up to Seoul Tower. Unfortunately a lot of other people had the same thoughts as us and the lines were a bit out of control. Nonetheless, we eventually made it as the sun was starting to set. We walked around a bit, checked out the views both from the observatory and from the restrooms. LOL yes… the restrooms.

After we took the cable car back down the mountain we hailed another cab and headed for our predetermined sushi house dinner. You know when we come to Seoul sushi is almost mandatory, few exceptions.

Sunday morning we all slept in, truly it was needed after the long fun-filled Saturday we had. It was another beautiful spring like day so we took a walk to show Kelsey around our little neighborhood. To continue on with celebrating Kelsey’s birthday we went to Dino meats, previously featured on the blog, introduced Kelsey to various cuts of meat, followed up by a birthday potbingsu. A perfect ending to an absolutely perfect weekend!

Happy birthday dear Kelsey! We are over the moon your here and we got to celebrate your special day with you!

Brooklyn Burgers:
551-32 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu.
02-533-7180

Paris Croissant:
Address: 95-9 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu
Telephone: 02-3478-9139
Hours: 7am – 11pm

Namsan Cable Car:
Fare: Round-trip: 6,300 won, One-way: 4,800 won
Hours: 10:00~22:30
83, Sopa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 소파로 83 (회현동1가)

Backpackbees

Assimilating

I’ve written some time ago just how difficult it can be to assimilate into a new culture while living abroad. Regardless of if you are a adult or not, everyone has some level of trouble adjusting. While everything is very exciting, it’s also bit overwhelming in a sense too.

This past weekend we met up with a family member that has very recently relocated from the East coast of the US to a smaller town on the outskirts of Seoul here in Korea. Yes! You read that I said KOREA, right? We finally managed to get some family here with us! On a semi permanent basis too! Eeek! We are shrieking with delight!

Kelsey has been getting acquainted with the Korean culture but was already in desperate need of some normalcy. (Insert two eager Bee’s to the rescue!)

The thing we are most excited to introduce to friends and family is definitely Korean cuisine. We typically like the shock and wow factor. However we knew that we needed to give Kelsey a nice healthy balance of what we introduced. After all we didn’t want her on the first flight out of here, especially when we just got her here. So we decided to stick to the foreigner friendly areas around Seoul for the day.

All three of our fitbits were buzzing because we traipsed all over Itaewon and Myeongdong. I am sure from past post you recall trips to both places. But if you are fairly new to the blog, Itaewon is a multi-cultural place full of bars, restaurants, shops, clubs, and Myeongdong  is a large shopping area that features stores like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21.

The Bakers Table
244-1 Noksapyeong daero Itaewon dong Yongsan Gu
Seoul, Korea 244-1
Mon – Sun: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Phone 070-7717-3501
Email mirabakery@naver.com
Website http://blog.naver.com./mirabakery

Backpackbees

Christmas Parties

Hello dear Christmas friends near and far!

We just ended our weekend of work Christmas parties. Very exciting, I know! But really…it was! Here are some photos from my fabulous Christmas party. We didn’t quite make it to Mr. B’s due to the unfortunate luck of Friday night Seoul traffic. But…It actually worked to my favor however, I was feeling quite achy and under the weather. Rest..lots of rest was what was in order.

Now, back to the good stuff, the party! Oh goodness it was a riot! Live entertainment both from the actual paid entertainment and also my co-worker and her husband getting up and dancing. I have to go on record and tell you all what she said, “When I hear the music, I try to control myself, but my hips… they are just uncontrollable and I have to get up and dance.” Too funny! Many belly laughs share by all, exchanging of secret santa gifts, and a boat load of A-mazing food, no pun intended.

Overall I’m pretty much always a fan of nights that involve celebration, holidays, Seoul at night, and dressing to the nines.

How was your weekend? Hopefully you enjoyed just as much merriment! Cheers!

PS: Santa’s on his way!

Address:

85-1, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul-si
서울특별시 영등포구 여의동로 290 (여의도동)

Yeouido Dock
Yeouinaru Station (Subway Line 5), Exit 3.
Yeouido Dock is 5min from the station.

Dinner buffet cruise:
Weekends: Adults 65,000 won / Children 33,000 won
Weekdays: Adults 60,000 won / Children 30,000 won

Routes & Schedule
Yeouido-Yeouido
Regular: 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 16:10, 17:20, 22:00
Magic show: 15:00, 18:10
Live concert: 19:30, 20:40
Dinner buffet: 19:30

Backpackbees

Thanksgiving Sushi

Welcome back dear friends and apologies for the delay in postings…. also pardon for the half camera half iPhone photos in this post. Someone, without mentioning names, cough-cough Mrs. B, forgot to pack extra batteries. Unthinkable, right? OOpsie…

Over Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to visit Tokyo, Japan. What an amazing experience, seriously wayyy too short, but definitely another one of the most memorable things I will have experienced in my 20’s.

Japan is such an incredible place, even after all the country has been through in the last few years, it just fascinated me. Getting the opportunity to experience another Asian culture first hand was just indescribable, both peaceful and yet shiny and bright disarray, both enchanting and eccentric, both clean and cluttered. As we zipped around Tokyo, I felt as if our minds and eyes were on constant overload, a very familiar feeling from when we first landed in South Korea to live.

We landed at Narita International Airport, took the The Narita Express or N’EX to our hotel in Shinjuku, where we check in at the Shinjuku Prince Hotel. Nothing fancy, perfectly simple, conveniently located in the center of Kabuki-cho, one of Japan’s best entertainment districts, not to mention only a 5-minute walk to and from the Shinjuku subway station. We highly recommend it!

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Because we’ve lived in South Korea now over two years we have had our fill of Korean food, we were on the hunt specifically for Japanese cuisine. We feasted on Yakitori (焼き鳥) AKA grilled chicken on a stick, absolutely delicious, at TORIGEN HAMAMATSUCYOUTEN 鳥元 浜松町店! Of course we had gyoza/Pot stickers, and spicy ramen from UMAUMA HIKARIETEN うま馬 ヒカリエ店. UmaUma is a Hakata-style ramen noodle shop of long-standing (since 1953), seriously slurp worthy! We indulged on Japan’s longest-running crêpe shop, Marion crêpe, that started life as a food truck in 1976 and offers over fifty mouth-watering combinations to include curry tuna. We ate wasabi ice-cream and drank the most delightful banana cream lattes, and honey loaf. Just when you thought we left out one of the most important foodie items….we absolutely knew we could not leave Japan without savoring some fresh-cut sushi from Sushi Kyotatsu すし京辰.

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We walked, and walked, and walked… all over the Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, and Roppongi area. We took in all the sights and sounds offered in each area. The most notable and most memorable being the Meiji Jingu Shrine, the teenage girls all dressed up like human baby dolls in the Harajuku market area, the busy and largest pedestrian scramble, the bright twinkling night view from Tokyo Tower – Japan’s version of the Eiffel tower, the volcanic Hakone mountains via cable car, the Owakudani Valley, literally called Hell Valley where an ancient crater with sulfurous hot springs have steam rising from crevasses in the ground, took a pirate ship across Lake Ashi, and drove up Mt. Fuji. Oh and throw in a very fast ride on the bullet train too! Whew!

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At Hell Valley the smell of sulfur was pretty pungent, however we didn’t let that stop us from getting our hands on the black eggs. These hard black boiled eggs are believed to add 3 years to your life per egg eaten. We love life so you know we each ate two eggs! Who wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to add 6 years to your life? I’m not kidding when I say these eggs were some of the best hard boiled we’ve had!

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Even though the weather was perfect, we were not able to hike any of Mt. Fuji. The mountain is only open for hiking during two summer months, July and August. The guide we had told us that we were very lucky that our view of Fuji was so clear. We also lucked out and were able to drive to the 5th station because the weather permitted. We munched on Mt. Fuji melon pan or pineapple bun! The bread was freshly baked in front of us and they sprinkled some cocoa powder and confection sugar on top, which made a nice sweet-bitter contrast mmmmm. We then watched the sun set behind the mountain, truly magical and quite a way to end our adventures in Japan.

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Backpackbees

 

 

Planning a trip to Japan? Check out the locations:

Shinjuku Prince Hotel
1-30-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo Prefecture 160-8487, Japan

TORIGEN HAMAMATSUCYOUTEN 鳥元 浜松町店
Kure Grinding Wheel Building 1F, 2-1-5, Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-0013

UMAUMA HIKARIETEN うま馬 ヒカリエ店.
Shibuya Hikarie 7F, 2-21-1, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-0002

Marion Crêpe
1-6-15 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (東京都渋谷区神宮前1-6-15)

Sushi Kyotatsu すし京辰
Narita Airport Terminal 1, No.3 Satellite, 3rd Floor Tokyo, Japan

Meiji Jingu Shrine 明治神宮
1-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan ‎

Tokyo Tower 東京タワ
4-2-8, Minato Tokyo 105-0011, Japan

Volcanic Hakone mountains

Owakudani Valley “Hell Valley” 大涌谷

Mt. Fuji 富士山