Seoul Food | Cooking Mate

This is a super-old post from last year that I totally forgot I'd started. Oops! I remember it was from somewhere around last Christmas, because the restaurant was playing some very dubious Korean covers of classic Christmas pop hits.

I'll keep it short and sweet, mainly because I can't remember anything except that I enjoyed the food. Heh.

Passionfruit Lemonade

Cooking Mate is a little restaurant in Hongdae, right on the corner of  the road leading from Parking Street up to Artbox (addresses? What is addresses?), next to where the man with the huge, adorable dog usually sets up camp.

There's usually a person stationed outside to let you in or sort out something if there's a wait. Since it's upstairs, I guess it saves you some time rather than going all the way up to find out there's a 2hr wait.

They also have little walkie-talkies, so when we went in we were announced FBI-style to someone upstairs. By the time our unhealthy selves had carried us up, they were all prepared and ushered us over to a specific table. It was fairly quiet when we went, because it was late, but I can imagine this place is pretty organised when it comes to seating customers.

Seoul Food | The Beastro

Dinner time with friends! In Hongdae once again, we ran to The Beastro after school. With a pun, they're off to a good start already, and they're serving up big ol' American meals. It's a pretty fancy looking place, really clean and modern in the sort of way I'd want my future kitchen to look. Warm wood tones on white walls and black metal. Simple and clean.

Similarly, the menu is pretty simple. A handful of choices in starters, sides and mains, and yet it still took us an age to decide. It reminded me of Honest Burger at home. They have a small selection, but gosh darnit do they do that selection well.

First things first, drinks. I went with the artfully named "Piss and Vinegar", and, well, it tasted like just that. I kid. It was honey and vinegar and whiskey, and reminded me a lot of the "Witches Brew" my nan used to make for me whenever I had a bad cold when I was little. Pretty tasty and good for sipping at slowly. I was pretty blown away by Nick's choice though. "Pretty in Pink" was a cutesy pastel pink affair in a martini glass, with some lovely lychee flavours. I can't quite remember what was in it, other than this incredible witchcraft jelly. The witchcraft being that there were little pockets of fizzy drink INSIDE the jelly. I don't understand how. But I want more.

Seoul Food | Sushi in Sushi

So a couple of times now, we've walked down one of the main roads in Bupyeong and I've spotted a sushi restaurant on one of the upper floors of a building, descriptively named "Sushi in Sushi". It turns out that it's an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, and for a weekday dinnertime meal, it'll cost you 14,900₩ per person. That's about £9 per person, and on a busy day you have an hour and a half to stuff your face with as much food as you like.

We just went in, asked for a table for two (and by asked, I mean they made a face that said "how many?" and we held up two fingers), and were seated in seconds. A few moments later, one of the assistants appeared with a little green card.

Too cute!

But yeah, there's a machine for coffee and water on one side, and a fridge and soda machine on the other (we didn't spot this until we were leaving, sadly.)

There's a great range of traditional and creative nigiri and maki creations, and it all tastes a darn sight better than any of the stuff I've had in restaurants (or god forbid supermarkets) at home. It's not a patch on the fresh and expensive stuff I had in Australia, but then again, look at that price.

In addition to the rows of sushi, there's also a nice salad bar (overlooked by a cute little bowl housing two tiny terrapins), and some hot food including the best potato wedges I've had since moving here, and some very spicy chicken. All of it is constantly being replenished by a pair of chefs in an open kitchen area in the middle, in small batches so it's never been sat out for too long.

To top it all off, there's a waffle station at the back, and a row of wonderfully soft and fluffy cakes, and ripe fruit for dessert.

I'm definitely going back again!