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I'm Still Hungry | A Food & Travel Blog

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  • Cuisines
    •         - Fine Dining
    •         - Cafes
    •         - Japanese
    •         - Modern Australian
    •         - Thai
    •         - Italian
    •         - Nine Caesars
    •         - Eight Caesars
  • Australia
    •         - New South Wales
    •         - Victoria
    •         - Tasmania
    •         - South Australia
    •         - Northern Territory
    •         - Queensland
  • Asia
    •         - Japan
    •         - Hong Kong
    •         - China
    •         - South Korea
  • Americas
  • Travel
  • About Me
  • Disclaimers and Policies
    •         - Media Policy
    •         - Invitations Disclaimer
    •         - Affiliate Marketing Policy
    •         - Privacy Policy
    •         - How I Score

Tag Archives: Korea

Jeonju & Busan – Korea’s Food & Summer Capitals

July 14, 2019South Korea, Travel2019, Busan, Jeonju, Korea

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I'm Still Hungry - A Food & Travel Blog by Michael Shen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on the work at https://imstillhungry.net

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Instagram post 2178943744878187660_38107218 It's now my seventh time in Japan, but it's never the same experience. That's Japan for you, but it's also what you choose to take out of it. For me, it's been some time since I've had to play the tourist card - I have to say it's quite refreshing. . We started off day 1 spent supping ramen at Haneda Airport at 6am (hah, it's never too early) while waiting for our flight to Hiroshima. The flight there was short, yet yielded an sublimely ethereal view of Mt Fuji. . At Hiroshima, we had hiroshimayaki (as you do), which is okonomiyaki made with a noodle base as opposed to flour. Wasted words if I said it was delicious, right? We then spent quite some time at the Hiroshima Peace Park and the hauntingly tragic Peace Museum, a mandatory location for all travellers. I've been three times and it still gets me - never again. . Dinner was at a 3-Michelin Star restaurant called Nakashima, a solid if imperfect showing of Hiroshima's locality. Pictures of that at another time. . This is my first time travelling in Japan in autumn, and as such my first time seeing momiji (autumn foliage colours). Breathtaking stuff - and dare I say it, would make sakura season blush. #ISH_Japan #ISH_Travel
Instagram post 2178234954671428219_38107218 Hand-picked blue swimmer crab, lasagne sheet, saffron beurre noisette. Quite possibly one of the best bites of pasta one can get in Sydney. Well, if you have an invitation. . It looks like a lot but it's over all too quickly. It looks heavy but the airiness of the burnt butter is anything but. Absolutely sublime. #ISH_Cavalier
Instagram post 2177554226908443726_38107218 We always complain about how quick a year goes by, but the reality when it comes to the hiatus of one of Sydney's more exclusive dining experiences is that it couldn't end quickly enough. Cavalier's reputation as a cafe that excels at being different is well-established - but its foray into invitation-only dining as a form of 'thank you' to its loyal customer base was unprecedented. . Finally, round 2.0 is back and the part comfort food, part boundary-pushing cuisine formula is being tweaked evermore. The black onyx sauce w/celariac and duck fat challah are still some of the best mouthfuls of food I've eaten this year; the duck prosciutto w/cold-pressed yuzu rockmelon is as smart as it is challenging; and the 3-day aged blue eye in a fermented herb sauce & gooey chashu should be turned into a bowl of ramen - it would compete with Sydney's best. Most of all, I'm so glad that handpicked blue swimmer crab w/blanket-like pasta is still on the menu - new and improved with a saffron beurre noisette from a family contact in Iran. Mad. . Another post tomorrow because it doesn't all fit into one set 😂 (and I guess it deserves a 2nd post 😏) #ISH_Cavalier
Instagram post 2176068661792750239_38107218 Has it really been four years since Pasi Petanen's graced us with his unique blend of Euro-Nordic, South American and Southeast Asian fare? I confess I didn't feel the time skip, but visiting Cafe Paci's new - and hopefully permanent - spot reminded me just how much I've been missing. . Every dish was at least satisfactory and at most bogglingly delicious, with the potato & molasses bread, blood cake and tajarin pasta to write home about. I can't wait to come back to tackle the rest of the menu - a king of high-casual a la carte dining has returned. Eff yes. #ISH_CafePaci
Instagram post 2175346413935084384_38107218 [#ad #sponsored] Having visited Sydney's Night Noodle Markets for nearly ten years in a row, Melbourne's version is a breath of much needed fresh air. Some stalls are the same across the two but many are very much 'Melbourne' - Mr Miyagi, Scoopy's Milk Bar, Wonderbao and Drumplings - to name a few. It's also surprisingly large: covering three sections of Birrarung Marr, you might actually find a chance of nabbing a seat! . The decision to go was made a lot easier thanks to @citiaustralia, a presenting partner of the markets. There's the can't-miss-it Citi Lounge (open to non-citi customers as well), outfitted with heaters which were lifesavers against Melb's 4-seasons-in-one-day weather, but best of all, a one-off $10 cashback on spend greater than $50 for Citi cardholders (which I've been for over a decade). Certainly helped to blunt some of the damage for the night. . PS. You already knew that you can get a free bottle of wine when paying with a Citi card at selected restaurants across both Syd and Melb, right? You're welcome. #citibankanddine #nightnoodlemarkets
Instagram post 2174626861043497282_38107218 Happy go lucky feels at Dopa. Named after the happiness hormone, it's a dopamine hit brought to you by the folks from Devon Cafe. While Japanese flavours have always accented Devon's cooking, Dopa hits much closer to home with its spins on donburi (rice bowls), small plates and desserts - all quintessentially Nippon. . As its namesake promises, a fun time was had here - notwithstanding the tables placed a bit too close together which meant hearing way more conversation from adjacent diners than I would have liked. The cooking is very solid and I can easily see it pass the 'locals test'. It also won't blow your budget, unless you get something like...oh...say the uni & tuna don (pictured first), which will leave you with almost no change from a $50. It was almost worth it. The glacier 51 toothfish version was the better value-for-money bet, though both were delicious. It's going to take quite a few visits to canvass the whole menu! . The kakigori (3rd) needs a little work. Undoubtedly a great flavour (this was matcha); however, the ice is very inconsistent - ranging from powdery fine (ideal) to unexpected hail chunks. Hopefully only a matter of time before that gets fixed. #ISH_Dopa
Instagram post 2171003678700727173_38107218 You know you're a dumbass Asian when you think the newest gelato on the block has anything to do with mapo tofu. In any case, I like what these guys are doing: high-quality raw ingredients, sustainable materials (everything is biodegradable), and use of metal pozzetti canisters which preserve the gelato's freshness - like they do it in Italy. The flavours involving nuts are the go to - which makes sense, given they hail from Sicily. That said, you'd be surprised by how good some of the vegan options are (pro-tip: the vegan gianduja is zomg). . It's been a little bit over-hyped by foodies in a collective sense (everybody falling in line declaring the newest 'best gelato in Sydney'). It's probably not quite there for me yet (several of the flavours were a bit too sweet), but I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually makes its way onto the usual listicle suspects. I, for one, am still looking out for a mapo tofu flavour (actually no I'm really not. Ew.) #ISH_Mapo
Instagram post 2170262221333284924_38107218 A noodle pull is made all the sweeter when it's one of the dishes you grew up eating. It's still relatively rare to see Northern Chinese restaurants in Sydney, but there's now perhaps juuuuust enough that I can scratch cravings without having to take the 11.5hr flight back to Xi'An. Phew. . This particular dish of Biang Biang noodles is technically 'wrong' on the authenticity count as the restaurant ran out of 'something' - do you know what? For those who've read my 50-strong listicle post on Xi'An's street food, this should be an easy, easy point. 😉 #ISH_BiangBiang
Instagram post 2169556329415661786_38107218 Pearl milk tea (that's boba for you Americanos) chiffon cake v2.0: now upgraded with matcha & azuki. When we're talking @msyan_'s birthday and @stephwoon's baking, it may just be the next peanut butter & jelly. . As usual, it's much better than you'd expect for something that's ostensibly so gimmicky. The secret? Don't suck at baking *tongue*. Best of luck, or you know, you can always slide into @stephwoon's DMs. . Happy birthday @msyan_!
Instagram post 2165907772305550936_38107218 Chocolate forest floor: chocolate mousse topped with a chocolate almond and walnut crumb, crushed peanut praline, chocolate sponge, honeycomb meringue mushrooms and summer berries. . @stephwoon is either way too humble or way too lazy to post up her own creations, so here I am doing it for her - insert eye-roll here 🙄. She insists I mention it's still a work in progress, so stay tuned for v2.
Instagram post 2165199155466035702_38107218 Six years. That's how long it took me to get around to visiting @yellowsydney since its opening. Shameful, I know. But there is importance in that number: how many high-profile restaurants thrive - not just survive - six years on? That alone is a testament to Yellow's staying power - and its vegetarian cuisine is the star of the show. Not a coincidence. . I've already dished out much praise for the food (and healthy criticism) in my IG stories, but suffice it to say you won't go wrong with any of the three dishes pictured here. Special mention to the best stracciatella I've had in years (the middle dish). The food is perhaps necessarily rich - and thus quite unctuous - so it's no surprise that I barely craved meat. If we're destined for a meat-free future, Yellow shows not all hope is lost. Will be back to try more of the menu for sure. #ISH_Yellow
Instagram post 2164477131776892737_38107218 Thomas Frebel x Clayton Wells @ Automata. An alum of the 'New Nordic' food movement tossing pans with Wells' unclassifiable cuisine - though perhaps, that readily lends itself to the 'Modern Australian' moniker. Yeah, this was always going to be interesting. . Fortunately, it was much, much better than 'just interesting' - my last Good Food Month event was also its best. Some challenging (read: nope I'm good) flavours, as you'd expect when served with flower kimchi and perhaps enough duck hearts to last a lifetime. But push through and the rewards - a delectably moreish enoki steak (oh yeah, caught off-guard by that one for sure!), a murray cod w/Moreton Bay bug roe sauce that gave Passard's (see #ISH_Hubert) a run for its money, the best green ants dish I've had and snacks that evoked memories of my lunch at Noma (see #ISH_Noma) - all made the commitment worthwhile. For the record, service was on point - rare praise for these limited-time-only pop-ups. . But ultimately, anything that evokes memories of my time at Noma is an automatic win in my books. So glad I booked it. #ISH_Automata
Instagram post 2161567408153011789_38107218 PCP is easily one of the most expensive cafes I've visited, and there's no truffle, caviar, or uni in sight to explain it. Two dishes and one coffee can leave you with no change from a $50. The cafe's Asian-inspired menu is ever-changing and always popular, their coffee is very good even in a suburb of very good coffee (Reuben Hills & Seven Seeds are household names if said house is occupied by coffee highbrows), and the vibe & decor stands out even amongst other cafes in the area. In other words, all the ingredients for a potentially overrated cafe and it is unfortunately the opinion of many. . But look, value's in the eye of the beholder, so vote with your feet: I personally enjoy my times here enough that the occasional once-in-a-blue-moon visit isn't out of the question (this is my fourth visit in nearly as many years), and I would recommend it to any visitor to our fair city. It's one of those cafes - an institution - for good or bad. By the way, the chicken waffles with maple bacon gravy was off the hook. So damn satisfying - especially if you like waffles on the softer side. The other dish is the PCP Bibi(mbap) + confit salmon, albeit without the stone bowl (so the name is perhaps a bit misleading). Would order both again, the former in a heartbeat; the latter, a few...heartbeats. #ISH_ParamountCoffeeProject
Instagram post 2160870783449318845_38107218 Another one from the 'terrible lighting but gotta post coz it's so good' files. Chaco Bar is pretty much always packed, so to get a seat by the entrance for them sweet, sweet rays is wishful thinking. No matter, when we're talking about its current sweet sweet ramen special: prawn coriander. An otherwise good dashi is made great with the infusion of prawn oil and served with the meat, an onsen egg and the best noodles I've had at Chaco (seriously, having tried them all, the bitey texture of this particular bowl's noods is something else). . There's also a dollop of nutty sesame paste ready to be mixed in - the not-so-subtle nod to Chinese cuisine of these 'coriander noodle bowls' is evident. That said, staff recommend trying the pure dashi by itself first. . In a bit of a twist, it's served cold, and so is sure to be a refreshing summer favourite. It reminds me of Sushi E's scampi soumen, and that is a pretty sweet, sweet compliment. Prawn & #ISH_ChacoBar
Instagram post 2160143841989410457_38107218 Alain Passard at Restaurant Hubert. Neither needs introducing: the former - one of the greatest living chefs and a champion of vegetables; the latter - simply Sydney's best French restaurant, full stop. A one-off team-up of the two yielded Good Food Month's flagship event, the horticultural Frenchman from Paris, and the Frenchmen plating up reason after reason on why French cuisine still has a place in the culinary pantheon. . Due to teething issues, the event stretched to just short of midnight (on a Sunday, no less), and the initial courses weren't really worth writing home about. But it seems that adversity is required for the fruits yielded to taste all the better. The Murray cod and Rangers Valley wagyu was a one-two schooling on what a good sauce - the French way - should be. The cod in particular, in that luscious yellow wine sauce, is probably one of the best plates of food I've had this year. At $380 ($300 with a @citiaustralia card), it's not a steal; however, with a meal at Arpége in Paris pushing $550+, in another way, it really is one. Merci chef. #ISH_Arpege #ISH_Hubert
Instagram post 2159401311836380110_38107218 'If you don't like something, vote with your feet.' Obviously, the converse applies. With literally over fifty visits to Malay Chinese under my belt - and soup in my gullet - it's safe to say that a somewhat reduced life expectancy is a price worth paying. 🍜 . P.S. If you're interested in laksa, look up 'best laksa in Sydney' and check out the first search result 😏 #ISH_MalayChinese
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I'm Still Hungry - A Food & Travel Blog by Michael Shen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on the work at https://imstillhungry.net