freakZspeaks: Street food

Showing posts with label Street food. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Not your usual Thai food @ Go Thai, SS2, PJ, Selangor

I said it's not the usual Thai food because after savouring so many Thai dishes, this was something quite new to me. This restaurant specializes in authentic street food of the Isan people, which is at the northeastern region of Thailand. Their menu is pretty simple, not that many choices but presentable enough for a decent lunch or dinner.

Panda had the khao kha moo (stewek pork leg with rice and egg-RM 9) while I had the Phad Mee Korat (RM 9) which is a version of pad thai. It was a good thing that Panda suggested a Tom yum seafood to share because it was really good in terms of thickness of soup, spiciness and taste (I'm so gonna learn how to make this in Canada!). However, I felt that there weren't much of a seafood in the soup although it's supposed to be a seafood soup. For RM 12, perhaps, they should consider throwing a couple more calamari and shrimp inside. Panda's dish looked like some typical Chinese stew pork with rice and egg. He did say it was tasty but it didn't really look that tempting to me. My pad thai tasted like a Thai version of char kuey teow (stir fried flat rice noodles) but soggier. Although it tasted good, I think I will stick to the usual pad thai and char kuey teow. This was just too soggy for me.

For dessert, we shared a bowl of tub tim krob (the famous Thai red rubies-RM 6). I love this dessert because the 'rubies' were really good. It was big, chewy and crunchy enough. It would have been better if they had more jackfruit slices inside to enhance the taste of the dessert.

Overall, a pretty decent place for lunch and dinner without costing a bomb.

Address: 187, Jalan SS2/24, PJ, Selangor

Website : Go Thai

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Visit Seoul 2015: One week travel guide

Thanks to all the addictive K-drama, I was so into Korea for the past one year. I finally made it there with Panda earlier this year. Although it was a short, one week trip to Seoul, we covered pretty much everything that I've been aiming for ;p. I might have mentioned this in my previous post, but just let me say it again that Seoul is more for the food and shopping lovers in general (of course apart from those die hard K-celebrities fans). I'll share with you the summary of my trip instead of day to day itinerary because everyone might have different preferences in mind, hence, you can adjust the amount of time according to your interest; be it shopping, eating, cafe hopping or sightseeing :)

Accomodation
Novotel Doksan

Since Panda was on a work trip, we stayed a couple of days slightly away from the city central. For those on business trips in Doksan or vicinity, Novotel is definitely a good choice. Home plus, a departmental store and supermarket is conveniently located directly opposite the hotel. Panda specifically reminded me to mention on this 24-hour dining place which is located beside the hotel. This place offers rich, beef ribs soup much to the liking of Panda. He never ever misses this whenever he is in Seoul for work. I must say the soup here is really delicious, rich and flavourful. For those visiting Seoul as tourist, stick to hotels at city central to avoid far distance transportation as Novotel is located approximately 45 minutes from Seoul Station.

L: Beef ribs soup; R: Pork dumpling in rich beef broth

Nine Tree Myeongdong

We stayed a couple of nights in Myeongdong because this apparently is where all the hype is (well, at least for tourists). We were pretty sure we are not going to be in the hotel room most of the time seeing our tight itinerary, hence, we decided to choose a mid-range place. This hotel was definitely one of the best in terms of location; approximately 100 m from Myeongdong Station. We were even given a free upgrade to a family room :)

Transportation

As it was peak winter in Korea and considering our tight itinerary, we spent quite a lot using cabs to move around. Cab prices are quite reasonable since there were 2 of us. We also purchase a T-money card, a rechargeable card that can be used in all transportation system. It's slightly cheaper than paying individual tickets and also allows easy transit (eg from one train line to another). This card is rechargeable from 1,000 to 90,000 won in ticket vending machines found in most subway station. However, not every station has the T-money machine to purchase the initial card. We bought ours from Seoul Station.

Wifi

If you cant read or speak Korean, wifi is probably the most important thing during your visit. Although there are many cafes or wifi hotspots in the city, having an individual, portable wifi will definitely be much more convenient particularly for directions. I got my pocket wifi from Wifi-Korea for USD$3.99 / day; with $100 deposit and $5 one way delivery fee (or free if you collect / return it to the office yourself). Moreover, you will receive a 10 % discount if you use the referral reservation form where they are partnering with a few guesthouses and blogs.

Things to do

Our trip was very much a food and shopping trip rather than a sightseeing trip. However, we managed to squeeze in some of the major tourist attractions such as Namsan Tower, Gyeongbokgung palace and vicinity, Insadong, and Bukchon Hanok Village. We also managed to catch an English movie in Megabox Coex Mall, Gangnam on a Friday night. The Ewha's Women University area was also a nice place to visit but preferably at daytime (to see the architectures). Don't forget the FREE hanbok experience at Myeongdong Tourist Information Centre (all-year round), M Plaza (all-year round) or Korea Tourist Information Centre (only in spring/summer). If you have time to spare, hop around the various cafes around the city~

From L to R: Gyeongbokgung palace gate, view from Bukchon Hanok Village

Insadong-A lovely, tourist-y place with various traditional items and food

Super chilly in the evening at Namsan Tower!

Ewha's Women University

Fried mung bean pancakes, bindatteok (빈대떡) @ Gwangjang Market, Jongno, Seoul

Gwangjang market is the nation's first traditional market offering all types of items such as crafts, hanbok, beddings and food. We were there specifically for their specialty, fried mung bean pancakes or bindatteok. There were lots of people mostly locals at the food market eventhough it was a cold winter's night. A great place to try out their traditional food such as red bean dessert, bibimbap, dumplings, stuffed pork blood sausage, mung bean pancake and so forth. Look out for this specific store front which had like a super long queue (if you want to dine in). I was not too sure if they are all tourists but from the sound of it, majority are the locals themselves. We decided to just skip the queue and ordered a take away, which was such a brisk instead of queuing up. This fried mung bean pancake is commonly eaten with a bottle of soju (Korean wine).

The mung bean pancake store front. Look for the banner!

Only one ahjumma was working on the pancakes

The stacks of bindatteok that can easily be ordered for take away rather than lining up to dine in.

This pancake is on a greasier side but tasted really good. We were not bothered by passer-by that stared at us while we stood, eating the pancake. Just order one to share as it's quite big. Whether the other stalls are just as good, we're not too sure but I do see locals eating at some other stores as well.

The ever-so-attractive dumplings at many stalls. We simply chose one with a friendly ahjumma (aunty)

Dumpling was a disappointment but the soup was definitely comforting on a chilly night.

Hours of operation: Food market: 09:00-23:00 (Open year round)
Directions: Jongno 5-ga Station (Line 1), Exit and 8 or Euljiro 4-ga Station (Line 2), Exit 4, walk for 100 m.

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Famous street food in Korea @ Seoul, Korea

Another must-try in Korea would definitely be their various street snack which is popular among tourist and locals as well! This can easily be spotted anywhere along the streets in most areas. Insadong, Ewha Women University area, and Hongdae would be a good place for street food hunting during the day while Myeongdong night market offers most of everything that you might want to try. Depending on type and location, prices ranged between 1000-3000 won for most street snack.

Fish cake (odeng) and tteokbokki

Our personal favourite would be the fish cake (odeng) which we had thrice during our visit. Having this after walking in the bitter cold was definitely comforting. Cups are prepared so that you can scoop some of the delicious hot soup as well. The spicy chewy rice cake (tteokbokki) is another famous street food. I tried this at one of the stores at Lotte Food Court. While this may be spicy and tasty, I got bored and tired chewing it after 2-3 pieces (lols).

Tteokbokki (chewy rice cake) at Lotte Food Court

Homemade sausage stuffed with rice cake

This might not be traditional street snack but can commonly be found in most areas. This self-proclaimed homemade sausages however, were superbly good, although, again, I personally did not like the chewy rice cake on the alternate sausages.

Egg bun (Gyeran bbang)

I liked this egg bun (gyeran bbang) which is basically bread topped with an egg. I'm not sure what secret ingredient they might have but it's light and really addictive. However, I realised that while the one I had in Ewha was only 1000 won, street vendors in Myeongdong were selling it for 2000 won (@__@).

Korean pancake (hotteok)

Another famous winter snack in Korea would be hotteok or Korean pancake. There are quite a number of vendors spotted selling this snack. Basically its dough is filled with a mix of brown sugar, peanuts, cinnamon and honey and then pressed flat on a greased griddle. Sinfully tasty (because it came out quite greasy) and delicious especially in the winter cold.

Korean fish-shaped bread with red bean filling (Bungeoppang)

This cute snack is also quite common among street vendors. It comes in small and large size, athough I think the large fish is the original version. Stuffed with Adzuki red bean filling, this popular snack is definitely a must-have in Korea. A modernised version of this snack would be the croissant taiyaki which originate in Japan and recently introduced in Korea. Compared to the Korean version, this uses pastry dough and flatter with sugary topped. For me, this was tastier but price-wise, it is double/triple (depending on the filling) the Korean fish version.