Crêpes, Galettes and a Bottle of Cider at La Celtique

La Celtique 

서울특별시 종로구 체부동 19

5-10 ChangCheon-dong,

Seodaemungu, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

google map// naver map

Galettes (11,000 ~ 13,000 won) + Crêpe (5,000 ~10,000 won)

Merry Christmas!!

Although I had not been expecting today would be the day I would write about this crêperie, as I did visit the place as an 'early christmas celebration' that I so dearly miss AND after what is my 3rd glass of wine... I thought it would be a good secret place to share. 

Ever since falling in love with Galettes (which I learnt later on were buckwheat crêpes) in Hong Kong, I've been trying to look out for anything similar ever since. Yet despite the surge in brunch spots around town, there seemed to be a distinct lack of anything as similar to a half-cooked egg bathed in melted emmanuel cheese with truffles.

Anyhow, as we were in a mood for a 'light' lunch before our  'early christmas celebration', I was searching for later brunch options when I stumbled across this crêperie that was apparently run by an actual french guy (who we later discovered looks like an aging Waldo). After quickly convincing my early christmas date on merits of a crêpe, we made our way to Shinchon for my very first crêpe in Seoul.

And look they even have proper cider that is not magners or strongbow! :D

The place was very very homey and christmas themed (and you can see our aged waldo lookalike chef in the back-ground!

After getting a glass or two of french cider (which seem to be a lot less sweet and stronger than the apple-flavoured Strongbow and Magners!), we finally decided on our galettes :) we got the supreme with mushrooms, cheese and half-cooked egg and the galette Saucisse which came with homemade sausages and onions!

Our chef cooking away :)

He even kindly explained that the egg should be cut and spread before eating, which I never knew before. But there, now I know how to properly eat a galette.
If you're into a dish full of strong bold flavours then you should definitely go for the sausage galette instead.. as the dish was very simple and rustic tasting (which I loved).
If there was one thing i would do differently... would be either to add more cheese :D :D and definitely definitely a scoop of truffle to go with it.

Although I've never been much of a dessert person, we thought it was only fair if we left the crêperie after trying a crêpe as well.. .which led to us having one with chocolate and orange marmalade! I had never tried the combination before.. and it turned out to be a divine surprise to eat and munch our way through!

Our lunch was definitely a success! And I have a feeling I will be returning to this place time after time maybe even just to say hi at the adorable french waldo chef. 

Lemon Tarts at Aux Petits Verre

Aux Petits Verre

서울특별시 종로구 체부동 19

19 Chebu-dong (24 Jahamunro 5gagil), 

Jongrogu, SEOUL, KOREA

google map// naver map

Lemon Tart (7,000 WON) + Tea (5,000 WON)

Although I didn't think it would take this long for me to start blogging about the food, drinks, places or any odd bits and pieces of my life in Seoul...it has been more than 4 months since I started my hectic life here. 

Although I've been to several excellent restaurants, today's little dessert shop was just what I needed on a sunday afternoon feeling slightly home-sick and slightly displaced. 

The shop is apparently owned by Master Chef Korea season one runner-up Park Jun Ooh (박준우),

and is famous for their lemon tarts!

I've come to learn that everything that's 'famous' in Korea, means that it's super over-crowded, super unfriendly and usually not that impressive.. (especially the western cuisine/desserts).

However I was surprised to visit on a sunday afternoon a rather tiny and quiet shop, where there was nothing on the menu except 5-6 tarts (and meringue cake), teas and french wine.

It is strange but the more concentrated and short the menus are these days... the more faith I have in the quality of the food... :)

Anyhow.. after looking through the menu and walking around to take a peak at the tarts,

we decided to share a lemon tart and a glass of tea (which I forgotten the name of.. )

It was a nice concept to be able to smell the teas prior to choosing them, and we were soon persuaded to try a cup of tea rather than a cup of coffee.

I think I'll just have to come back for the chocolate tart and the strawberry one...

Although i really was not expecting a proper lemon tart... This little surprise turned out to be one of the best lemon tarts I've tasted in a while. Delightfully light on top of a perfect crust..., it was neither overly sweet nor sour and really (ACTUALLY) tasted like lemons! 

It took enormous amount of self-control to not suggest to my friend to order another one.. perhaps the strawberry one.. going along the lines of "how much damage can a little tart do?"

But going along with the rationale it better to leave the place craving for another bite so that soon i'll just have to return for another bite, we quickly exited the tiny little place hidden in Seoul.

And now, although i'm not sure if anyone does read my blog anymore,

begins my journey through finding what I love to eat in Seoul!

Cracking the Chungking Mansion for the Delhi Club

The Delhi Club

Room 3, 3/F, Block C, Chung king Mansion,

38-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

+852 2368 1682

Price: 80-90 HKD per person (for 3 main dishes and 2 naan breads)

Rating: 4.0/5

As my planned departure date approached and I began making a list of places that i should visit before i leave Hong Kong, visiting Chung King Mansions began to seem inevitable. Despite hearing countless accounts of amazing and cheap indian food hidden within the myriad shops and hotels within the building.... whether it was the over-zealous indian vendors selling fake watches or curries or the dark, foreboding appearance of the buildings, I never quite made it inside.

However with the recent renovation and my growing love for Indian food (and rapidly emptying wallet) I gathered forces to venture into this unknown and rather 'exotic' place for hidden indian food.

see the look of TERROR!

The restaurant was a little tricky to locate, but after walking up and down the alleyway avoiding eye-contact with anyone, we finally located the elevator to take us up to the third floor (for you future visitors: it's the inner-most elevator, so just walk in and go straight until the last elevator) 

The lighting inside the restaurant was one of the most bizarre blue lights I remember seeing in movies. I mean who has blue neon lighting for a restaurant! It wouldn't have worked in any other place, but somehow it all came together with the overall atmosphere!

We ordered Garlic Naan and Delhi Club Specialty Naan (Naan with Egg) and I've gotta say i've loved them both equally. I've never tried Naan with Egg, and the egg flavor is actually not that strong (i would've never realized it was Egg Naan if I hadn't read the menu)

For the Main Dishes we firstly ordered Saag Paneer (cottage cheese with Spinach), Chicken Tikka Masala and a Lamb Dish (I forget the name but it was with coconut milk) 

 I wish they had given more pieces of lamb, but given the price I guess it is reasonable! The meat is definitely better at Bombay Dreams but the curry was top-notch and we began clearing our dishes as soon as we started eating. 

Despite my slight anxiety and fear of going within the Chung King Mansion, the whole experience was actually pretty fun and the food was as promised great for its value! It's definitely not a romantic, or a nice place to take a date on but if you're ever in a mood for down-to-earth and cheap indian food in TST, then think no further than the Delhi Club!

Last Day in Taipei

Last Day in Beitou & Tamsui (Danshui)

 (and a little more of Downtown) 

After a long (but worth it) day trip to the Toroko Gorge, we decided to take the day easy by waking up late and heading to the hot-springs for a blissful and long-deserved rest :)  After waking up long after the sunrise, we took the MRT all the way up to Tamsui (end of red line) first to see the river, and walk around the district a little before heading down (along the same red line) to Xin-Beitou!

We were lucky to have a gorgeous sunny day for our last day (as the day before was rather gloomy)! It was perfect weather to walk around the river-side looking at the locals who also decided to come out to enjoy the beautiful day :)

After walking around the river-side, we checked out the town a little! We stumbled across this apparently famous shop for more sweet-snacks and mochii, and decided to finally do some souvenir shopping! (and endlessly snacking on the samples)

We bought this Danshui Cake, which is sort of like a asian version of a cookie! It's chewy, and not flakey despite its appearance and actually not too sweet! My friends who I bought some for also loved it, so it definitely makes a great souvenir :)

Pictured above is is my FAVORITE snack found in Taipei! The Brown Sugar Mochii and the Black Sesame Mochii was the chewiest and most delicious thing I had eaten in a while, and they are so much better than the cheap-version found in the street-snack shops! Remember to go into a proper shop and buy these! They are AMAAZING! 

Apparently the district's another specialty were what they called "Iron Eggs"... although they came highly recommended by couple of my Hong Kong friends.. I just could not get myself to eat these Blackened Eggs... eeks 

There's not really a lot to see at Tansui (formerly known as Danshui), but it's a great place to go to for a more relaxed atmosphere and stroll along the river! It's a bit far from downtown (45 min or so) so if you have a tight schedule it's not worth the time!

Aftewards, we just followed the red-line down a few stations to Beitou and switched to the Pink-line (for ONE stop) and arrived in Beitou! This was definitely a hot-spring district, and felt more like a small village in Japan rather than Taiwan!

Okay.. this might not have been the best destination to walk around on a Hot Day, as we were soon sweating and puffing, but we did manage to snap away couple of awesome shots :) 

After walking around for a while, we decided to check out the Public Hot Spring called the Millenium Hot Spring. It's really cheap, and although we were initially skeptical as to the hygiene and the overall-experience, it turned out to be really relaxing and not weird at all! It's very local (as I imagine most tourists head to the private spas/springs), and they had strict rules to keep the springs clean! (they had these 'officers' who would tell you off if you didn't wash your feet etc.) Oh and remember to bring your swim-clothes! After being done with the spa, we each had a peanut flavored ice-cream  :) mmmmm.... :)

The public hot-spring concluded our itinerary for Beitou, and we quickly made our way down the RED MRT line to  Yuanshan Station to visit the two temples:

TAIPEI CONFUCIUS TEMPLE AND DALONGDONG  BAO-AN TEMPLE  

I loved these two temples! They were a lot more impressive and enjoyable than the Longshan Temple. We simply just went around this mostly empty temple (maybe it was because we went right before sunset)... and soaked in th beautiful and ancient architecture as well as the atmosphere of serenity... :)

Although we wanted to stick around the temple a little longer, after skipping lunch for wide-ranges of snacks we stuffed ourselves with during the day... we decided to check out yet another street-market for some cheap quality food! :)

Mathias's last dinner in Taipei? Fried Chicken of course.

Hand made Egg-rolls! The smell of pure butter and sugar was so thick and intoxicating... that I just HAD to buy one to make sure it tasted as nice as the smell :)

After eating a quick-dinner, we found ourselves absolutely worn out... and despite our grand-plans to check out the night-life of Taipei for one more night... we decided to accept that our old aging bones needed some rest and went back to our hostel early :)

Despite it being arather spontaneous and last minute trip to Taipei, I think we ended up having more fun than we had expected to find here! Although it might not be packed with activities and sights like Hong Kong, Bangkok etc. It's definitely worth the visit if you plan out and search for sights like we did!

Also make sure you go OUT of Taipei and go explore the mountain side, the beaches, the coasts and the beaaaaaautiful countryside of Taiwan! Oh... and of course, make sure you bring extra-big clothes..as you will fill them up pretty quickly after a day or two  :)