to balance things out between my Korean and Japanese posts, here’s a 5 month old outdated post on one of the best Jeongsik (Korean course meal) restaurants in Seoul, Jangsarang.
salad and acorn jelly appetizer for starters! (and a lot of side dishes!) that kimchi acorn jelly appetizer was the bomb. I finished it all. hahahaha. salad’s just salad. Continue reading “[Seoul: Sinsa] Jangsarang”
so this place which I’ve stumbled across in Ebisu while looking for a soba place, is the BEST soba place I’ve ever came across in Japan so far. I was actually around the area looking for the Ebisu illumination but decided to settle for soba instead since it’s a tradition in Japan to eat soba the night before new years (the Japanese NY is on 1.1) and it is said that you should not bite your soba as you eat and gobble it down as a whole until it is all in your mouth and then chew. all that just to live a longer life. well, no harm believing in it right? except I forgot and accidentally bit it off my first bite =X. but I followed the “rules” after that.
soba’s always been my favourite Japanese dish since I was young. although now it’s sushi, I still love soba. but to my surprise, soba in Japan does not taste quite like the soba’s I’ve had in Malaysia and Korea where it was always a little more jelly-like. instead, these buckwheat noodles called soba, are not as smooth and has a stronger buckwheat taste to it in Japan. I wasn’t very used to it the first few times but I came to enjoy it more than the ones I’ve had which I now label, the unoriginal soba.
I actually read about this place and it has a soaring high 3.52 in tabelog and there were comments on how people waited for this and thought it was totally worth the wait. except because I had it first on NYE I had to queue for 2 hours in the painfully cold weather. and still thought it was very worth it! they even provided us hot tea, beer (yes, BEER!) and hot packs while we were waiting in line outside! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Ebisu] Itasobakaoriya 板蕎麦 香り家”
so what is living in Japan without having tried wagyu? well.. I had (the cheaper) Kobe beef before and I still think (medium priced home-cooked) Hanwoo beef from Korea tastes better =X. but the thing is, after going to Hidenori at Tsukiji and had their 2000yen a piece of raw wagyu beef sushi, I am now hooked onto wagyu. can’t say I prefer it over Hanwoo but I am definitely digging the raw wagyu beef in Japan. but I am a poor student and very unfortunately cannot afford to eat such luxurious food often. so what do I do?
I look for affordable places!
but with a catch, because Matsurokuya only serves 30 portions of this A5 Kurogewagyu everyday. I arrived 40minutes before (10:50) the shop opened at 11:30am and I was already 10th in line. but however, people who arrived just 10minutes before it opened were at like number 20-25. but just to be safe, arrive earlier. as this place is near some university, there may be many Japanese university students lining up for this in the morning.
but well, fortunately in Japan, cheap does not always mean bad. I searched online before university even started and found this place far out in Roppongi where you can devour a bowl of rice topped with lightly seared A5 Kurogewagyu beef for only 1,500yen! and the best of all? it is served in Hitsumabushi style (will blog about this famous Nagoya eel dish sometime later!) which means you get to enjoy one dish in three ways! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Roppongi] Matsurokuya Wagyu Lunch”
I’ve always thought to myself, the best sushi in Tsukiji must be Sushi Dai since I queued 3-4hours for it. but to my surprise, there is actually something even better. though a different style, I definitely preferred this sushi bar over Sushi Dai. there is something about the way they prepared it which makes every piece pretty much perfect. PLUS there was completely no wait. well unless if you have a big group. I think this place is pretty local since up till now I have not found any blogs about this place in English and it is not infested with them English speaking foreigners (yet.) but since my blog ain’t that popular, I hope this place wouldn’t be crowded with foreigners the next time I go there. if you’re a famous blogger, please do not blog about this place HAHAHAH. PLEASE. also, because there’s 3 shops, there SHOULDN’T be a queue =X. and what is this unknown (to English speaking foreigners) sushi bar called?
しゅうとくにごうてん or Shutokunigouten or Shutoku.
the specific shop I went to was 秀徳 1号店 Shutoku Shop no.1.
(update 2017: went back and dined at shop no.2, it’s very similar but I still prefer shop no.1!)
don’t ask me why are there so many names. there are just so many names when I searched for it in Japanese :S. but I generally call it Shutoku.
I was actually recommended by a friend living in Japan whom had been to Jiro’s and since he strongly recommended this place, I decided to give it a shot when my sister comes (because I wanted to go to exclusive places with people whom are important to me ^_^.)
the downside of this place is that it does not have an English sign so finding it will be tad more difficult but don’t worry. I got you. hence here are some pictures to help you. hahaha. Continue reading “[Tokyo: Tsukiji] the BEST sushi in Tsukiji: Shutoku 秀徳”
to everyone who knows what Namja is in Korean.. you might have the same first reaction as I did. WHAT? BOY TOWN?
that’s not the point. the point is. SAILORMOON food! Continue reading “[Tokyo: Ikebukuro] Sailormoon Cafe! at Namja Town”
I am pretty hipster myself and that is why I love the alleys of Noksapyeong because it makes me feel super very hipster. for those who is bored of eating Korean food every single day, there’s this place called Kkaolli Pochana where they serve Thai food in a very laid back Thai-looking environment.
very Thai! I’ve actually wanted to try this place for a LONGGGG time but because the queue was always more than an hour long, I decided not to. but one day, I couldn’t stand it anymore and I queued up for it! but it only took me 30minutes! Continue reading “[Seoul: Noksapyeong] Kkaolli pochana”
OKAY. so there are a lot of nice places in Seoul but good cakes? well.. I’ve not had many good cakes in Seoul that doesn’t cost a bomb. I’m not saying that the cakes from Peony is very cheap but.. it’s average and yet it tastes sooooo heavenly! I love their cakes so much I queued for an hour to get their cake for my birthday last year. yes, their whole cakes requires queuing.
SO! the bakery is named Peony. lovely name isn’t it? it moved from the old location to this new location still in Hongdae. near Hongik University! Continue reading “[Seoul: Hongdae] my favourite cake shop! Peony!”
I’ve always preferred Osaka over Tokyo as the food, people and environment here’s much better. it is just a personal preference but I feel much more relaxed here and.. a new Malaysian friend I met in Osaka brought me to a place which gave me even more reasons to love Osaka. and it is.. Tenma. it seems like a really run-down place and all but truth is, everything here’s really cool and hipster. stand up bars, cheap sushi places, ramen shops, wine bars, whiskey bars, beer places etc.
so for this time, we settled down at this restaurant popular for fresh delicious sushi for… Continue reading “[Osaka: Tenma] Hidden Osaka”
during my one week visit to HK, I think I came here almost everyday. it was my absolute favourite place! not only was the skyline amazing, there are a lot of yummy stuff around like Mak’s Noodles and Kau Kee! further, Lan Kwai Fong is just around the corner heheheheheh. well one reason for coming here often’s actually because I like to take the ferry and the ferry takes me here all the time hahaha.
제가 제일 좋아하는 센트랄을 소개하겠습니다! 홍콩에 있는 동안 거의 매일 왔고요 여기 먹는 것과 골목들이 너무나 이뻐서 자주 오게 되었다. 그리고 스타페리를 이용한다면 여기에 많이 오게 될것 입니다~.
hadn’t been here in 7 years and it seems like there are.. more “land” now. haha if you get what I mean.
센트랄의 경치~ 여기는 원래 땅이 그렇게 많지 않았다. 사진에서 볼 수 있는 땅들 7년 전에는 해였다. Continue reading “[HK: Central] the amazing milk tea!”
so they say that if you visit HK you need to go to this place called Australia Dairy Co. for their scrambled egg sandwich. and I did.
not only was looking for that place difficult, I reached at 8am and…
this was what I saw. some super duper long queue! if I wasn’t there with a HK friend, I guess I would’ve lined up like the rest of the crowd. Continue reading “[HK: Jordan] Australian Dairy Co.”