Christmas in the Big Apple

I never imagined that I would ever get the chance to spend Christmas in New York but thanks to my good friend Bona, my dream came true. I spent about a week in the Big Apple and realized how naive I was to think that I could see everything in a week. You need to be there at least a month just to cover all the 'must-sees' and dos. Since my time there was merely 5 days to be exact (2 days were lost traveling to & from the airport), I barely had time to squeeze in any good dining opportunity. Also, surprisingly my appetite could not keep up with the physical strain of sight-seeing. I fell ill on Day 3. I keep forgetting that I am no longer a spring chicken, unable to withstand long hours of physical activity. After an ambitious day of ice skating at Central Park, walking to ESB on foot, and the rest of the night spent LOST, roaming the subway stations and streets of NYC, I immediatley got sick the very next day. I must've walked like 50+ blocks. Of course my body couldn't bear it! I couldn't even eat. A strong girl that I am, my stomach never malfunctions. But no, in NYC, it malfunctioned big time, where I had indigestion and upset stomach which kept me in bed all day. Thankfully, I got better in a day, but my appetite was not back in time for me to enjoy a gourmet dining experience that I imagined before the trip. However, I was able to squeeze in some good eats in the earlier and latter part of my travel. In the sequence of events, here it is, my food excursion story in New York City.

Dim Sum in Chinatown
Jingfong Restaurant in Chinatown

This was one of the largest Chinese restaurant that I've visited so far. We had to take an escalator up to the second floor and was greeted to a large ballroom size restaurant. Service was fairly good, considering it was at a peak lunch time. But the best part was the food and the price. Four of us went and the bill only came out to $25. That's unheard of! I usually pay about $30-35 for 2 people. So I left here as a very happy girl on a full tummy at a small cost. What more can a girl ask for?

Pretzel, Hotdog & Churros in Battery Park

You will find many carts selling this combo and I definitely recommend the hotdog! Pretzel and churros was not that impressive.

Gray's Papaya

Famous hotdog restaurant. Apparently there are multiple locations in NYC. Had the recession special, 2 hotdogs and a drink for $4.45. I wonder how much it was before the recession....hmmm... A lot of options for drinks and of course hotdog.

Junior's Bakery

When you come to NY, you gotta try New York cheesecake right? But did you know, in NY, they don't call it New York Cheesecake? Instead, they call it the 'original' cheesecake. Is this commonsense? Was I the only one in the dark about this? Anyway, NY or 'original' cheesecake was just melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I tried the blueberry, too but couldn't compare to the 'original.' Yum-yum!

I'm back~~~

Ok, I've been lazy for the past 6 months and did not update my blog as I promised last year. But it's a brand new year and I am back with much more motivation and energy to revamp my blog. My blog was going through a bit of identity crisis last year but not anymore. It's a brand new year and it'll be like a season 2 of Eat, Play & Love. Get ready to enjoy once again, all the great food of Korea and other places (I hope to visit this year) but with a little more of travel, entertainment and fun added to your typical food blog. I just hope I can keep my promise.

Tokyo Trip

Day 1 Yakitoriya





Day 2 MONJAYAKI IN TSUKISHIMA






CREPE

DAY 3 KAITENZUSHI IN SHINJUKU

Doriking in Insadong~ kamameshi or 솥밥

I love Korean food but if I had to pick my next favorite, it would be Japanese. Ever since I came to Korea, I've been craving really good Japanese food that I was so used to back at home in Hawaii. I know I can have all the Korean food that I can possibly want in the world but I need variety and diversity. And I realized once again how much I loved Japanese food! I miss Japan!

Feeling nostalgic and homesick, I was happy to find this Japanese stonepot rice restaurant called Doriking in Insadong, near Anguk Station.
Koreans use kama or stonepots for a lot of their dish. Dolsot-bibimbap would be a Korean equivalent of kamameshi. But the Japanese style stonepot rice is more subtle in flavor, concentrating on the ingredients focusing on each vegetable's unique flavor. Some Koreans may feel this is bland but only through these subtle seasoning, the real flavor of each vegetable can come out and be appreciated.
I had the mushroom kamameshi teishoku. Miso soup was a nice change from 된장찌개 Korean miso soup.
A close up of the kamameshi...mushrooms and sweet potato...yum...
My mouth was in heaven~

Pork Intestines story...

When I tell people that I like intestines, I always get a weird look. I'm told most girls don't like to eat intestines. But I LOVE intestines...of beef, pork, chicken, you name it! I like it in a soup or stir-fried, deep-fried, etc... Am I not normal for enjoying intestines so much? I also get a kick out of people getting grossed out when they see me eat links of intestines... ^^

The place I went in to for an awesome pork intestine is just a small neighborhood restaurant. It is so cheap. I just love these little restaurants in my neighborhood where most of the dishes are less than 10,000 won!
I ordered 오돌뼈. not really sure what you call this in English but I think it's some sort of a pork cartilage, very crunchy. Only 6000Won and very spicy. The seasoning is sweet and spicy and the spiciness hits you later.
The highlight of the night...vegetable pork intestines... there's long rice, lots of veggies, I especially like the sesame seed leaves. The aroma of it just makes the whole dish smell scrumptious. This too is spicy and 6000Won. The whole meal only costed us 12,000Won or 8bucks? Try beat this price!
Like most of Korean food, you eat this pork intestines wrapped in lettuce. Definitely softens the spiciness with the lettuce leaves. And of course a shot of soju...
I need to do a review of all the soju brands in Korea soon. I never had so many choices and selections to choose from for soju before. But I know I'm becoming more Korean, when I start calling my soju at the restaurant. My usual pick is 처음처럼 but I really wanna try J next time. ^^

피맛골- 서린낙지 Pimatgol- Suhrin Octopus Restaurant in Jongno

피맛골 or Pimatgol is a food alley famous from Joseon Dynasty in Jongno, its name derived from 피마 pima meaning avoiding horses. Jongno is a famous street from long ago where government officials on their horses frequently used. So most of the commoners used this backstreet, Pimatgol in order to avoid the officials on their horses. Soon this street turned into a local hangout for the commoners, where they gathered and opened up businesses for food and drinks. Up until recently, this tradition continued and restaurants here were although shabby on the outside, provided inexpensive and yet delicious meals for commoners on a tight budget. But as you can see from the picture on the right, with Seoul revelopment projects, they completely demolished this historical street, getting rid of restaurants that were as old as 60 years. Fortunately, more famous restaurants have relocated nearby, but in a modern business building, losing its original color, tradition, and culture.

One of the most famous restaurants of Pimatgol that survived this revelopment is Suhrin Nakji (octopus). I'm so glad that although they lost their original beauty, they have remained nearby for people to reminisce about the past and still enjoy the food they once had in the old pimatgol.

Entrance into the restaurant.

View of the inside. Already a full restaurant at 6pm. You'll find everyone eating the same thing here. Spicy Nakji (octopus). Be forewarned. It is spicy!!!

This place is unique because unlike other octopus restaurants, it has a slight fusion touch. Along with octopus, there are sausages and bacons. It has a nice modern touch to a traditional dish.

A close-up of sausages, bacons, and octopus. yummy~~ A serving for two was definitely more than enough. OH, everyone drinks here. This dish has to be eaten with soju! ^^

Thunder Burger-Itaewon

I'm on a roll with the burger joints. I'm not sure if you remember my older post with my favorite chicken place, Thunder Chicken? Well, I found a burger place called Thunder Burger. Apparently thunder is a popular name for restaurants. I found out about this place through some of the blogs that I follow and it made it to someone's best burgers in Seoul list so I figured it would be worth a try to give it a taste.

Thunder Burger in Itaewon. Itaewon is known to have lots of foreigners and food that is more eclectic than other parts of Seoul.

Menu- On the pricey side with most of the set menu costing over 10,000 won or (8bucks). I guess it's not that bad in U.S. standards but this is expensive for Korea! I ordered Spicy burger set and my friend order mushroom burger. Mine cost 11,000 won. ouch!

interior of the restaurant... more sitting on the street... I forgot to get a picture of that...oops...

they cut the burger in half for you here... easier to eat for sure and share your burger with your friends ^^

The burger on the left is the spicy burger and the one on the right is the mushroom burger. My burger was so dry, and not spicy at all. NOT RECOMMENDED! but the mushroom burger was pretty good I say. ^^ But they were both on the small side. For 11000 Won, they need to beef up their burgers!

But the french fries were good and the drink was refillable. I got like 3-4 refills. Gotta get my money's worth somewhere! So my overall ranking for this place is.... B-?