Seoul Korean Restaurant

My craving for Korean food came on instantly when I saw the new Seoul Korean Restaurant (how creative) in town. The place, with flashing Christmas lights on the ceiling, was pretty busy with nearby office workers.

I looked at the menu and I was wondering whether the owner is actually Korean. While all the usual Korean dishes are on the menu they are not in their Korean names. For instance instead of bibimbap you have rice with beef, and bulgogi is called Korean beef. Lame. Anyhow this is my freshly squeezed apple juice (RMB28). I was happy with the size and it was cold and refreshing.
The complimentary kimchi spread. Could use larger portions. I ran out and didn't get refills.

I was surprised to see real charcoal being used for my BBQ. Neat. However I was even more surprised when I saw on the bill that it cost RMB5. I didn't mind paying the 5 quai at all but I thought it's a little cheeky. And I am not sure whether it made my food tastier but hey it's a novelty.

My beef spare ribs (RMB50).

They were not too bad but let's say I've had better best beef ribs before. Given the price they were acceptable.

My bibimbap (RMB20) was average: the mince beef was too wet and tasteless. The rest of the vegetables didn't go too well neither. All in all it's OK if you are desperate.

I had to order cold noodle (RMB20) just to see what it's like even though there was way too much food already. It wasn't too bad but it came with chili sauce instead of mustard and vinegar and as a result it didn't taste right. A refreshing choice for the summer no less.

Overall everything was average but at food-court prices it's justifiable. I will go back to try a few more things for sure.

Seoul Korean Restaurant

4/F, 988 Huai Hai Middle Rd (near Shanxi Rd), Shanghai. Tel: 5404-7717

Etude House Black Head Sauna Balm

There must have been 1000s of Etude House dotted around Seoul. The layout of the shops is similar to Body Shop but it's pink and cute and full of teenagers. While the skincare and body products looked too young for me I was intrigued by the blackhead sauna balm and its finger tip silicon.

Here's a close-up on the silicon "finger gloves". As fine as the little probes are I didn't think they'd be small enough for pores. At US$8 per set I was prepared to take a chance though.

The balm has a lemon scene and the lemon oil is supposed to dissolve blackheads and purge pores with no irritating friction. In theory it's pressing all my buttons. The reality (after 1 use) is not quite so drastic. In fact I didn't notice any difference with the before and after. The balm heats up a little when massaged but that's it. My quest for pore-cleaning products will continue.

Enprani Lastian & Super Aqua

Enprani was on my to-try list after I spoke to my friend P. When I got to Seoul it took me a while to find it, but it was somewhat rewarding when the salesgirls gave it their thumbs up when I compared it with other brands in the shop.

The #1 seller seemed to be the Super Aqua line. I immediately decided to get the water mask (US$38). After 3 uses so far and I have to say the moisture replenishing effect is average. It forms a thin film on skin when it dries and it's not penetrating like some of the other masks I tried. I would put it in the better-than-nothing category: good for daily maintenance and not for emergency.

When I saw the Lastian serum (US$120) with "retinol x 8" on the bottle I had to buy it. I have a weak spot when it comes to retinol.

The texture is a little too greasy (similar to the Isa Knox Double Effect Series) and it takes a little massaging to have it all absorbed. A drag. And as most Korean skincare products there are at least 4 layers to put on: lotion, emulsion, serum, then cream. After almost 3 weeks of use I have yet to see an anti-wrinkle effect. My skin feels softer and plump though.

My purchases came with a whole bag of free gifts! The joy of shopping in Korea. There are 3 tubes of face wash, Super Aqua paper masks, Super Aqua lotion, emulsion and cream in trial size.

I lam particularly impressed with the paper mask. With gel serum it pumps moisture and even out complexion all in 15 mins. Highly recommended!

The Super Aqua lotion and emulsion are quite refreshing. Unlike the Lastian line they are non-greasy and go on very easily. Very light in texture they don't add weight to the skin despite the 4-layer ritual. I wish I have got more of the stuff!

Frankie's Italian Bar and Grill

Frankie's, a relatively new addition to the Shanghai dining scene, is talked about so much we decided to give it a try. It wasn't until we sat down and looked at the menu when we realised it is part of the Frankie Dettori chain in the UK. Somehow I felt cheated a little.


My husband's gnocchi. He said it was nice. I didn't get any more detail from him because I kept thinking the whole time whether I got bitten on the leg in the taxi. So itchy!
My linguine with crab meat was excellent. I expected flakes of white meat but there was more: there were actually a couple of claws. They had that sweet fresh taste even thought they were small at a little over an inch. It was the nicest crab I had since February. Anyway to show you how much I liked the dish I think I would go back to Frankie's just to have it. The daily home-made linguine was firm and cooked to perfection too.

For main my husband ordered the sirloin. We thought the presentation was interesting: it was basically a pile of beef tossed with salad leaves. He called it lazy but I thought it was different (I asked if it'd be better if it's served flat with 2 veg on the side?). In any case the beef was very tender and nicely cooked.

My grilled halibut. Now I would call that lazy: my side dish was 2 artichokes with some dill thrown on top. The dry and chewy fried onion garnish was unnecessary also. The fish was moist and fresh but I was too distracted with my increasing itchy legs.

My husband's white chocolate souffle. It looked very different from what we had in mind but it was very good nonetheless. The "souffle" was more like a light eggy sponge but it was soft and sweet with melted white chocolate inside.

My chocolate and chestnut semifreddo. While we were waiting for our desserts I discovered my legs got bitten at least 20 times over by mosquitoes during our meal. And the count was increasing by the minute. I had to move my legs on the sofa away from the dark and mosquitoes infested leg space. Anyway. My semifreddo was nice with little bits of chestnuts infused in the semi-frozen cream and chocolate. It had a very interesting (in a pleasant way) texture.

Dinner came to RMB1600 with a bottle of wine. We were happy with the food overall but the mosquitoes put me off a bit. Pricing wise it's more expensive than a casual place, say Da Marco, but at the same time the food is slightly more gourmet and the quality of ingredients a whole lot better. Overall ambience: average and I now understand why other reviewers describe it as hotel lobby-ish. The music we had that night alternated from cheesy live-piano-with-synthesizer music to wannabe club music with loud vocals. I couldn't understand why piano dude played what he did. With his skills he could have done so much better with classier or jazzier stuff (I swear to god he played some Cher dance song - makes me want to vomit just thinking about it). It was all very odd, too loud and intrusive. Service wise - room for improvements for sure. We had to hear the constant scoffing, sorry, training the head waitress was giving the other waitresses. While doing so she forgot/didn't have time to take our wine order and we sat there sans wine when our starters arrived. Minus 5000 points!

Will we go back again? For the time being, probably. What would be considered slightly-above-average food anywhere else is probably the best you could get in Shanghai for now. We are still looking forward to a fine-dining place to come to town. How long will the wait be?

Frankie's Italian Bar and Grill

592 Feng Yang Rd. (near Dai Tian Rd.), Shanghai. Tel: 5228-7961

Crossroad Cafe

I decided to try as many dishes at Crossroad Cafe as I could stomach, basically I felt gastronomically deprived after our trip to Hanoi. I started with laksa, a popular Malaysian and Singaporean dish.

First I have to confess I have not tried the dish in Malaysia/Singapore and therefore won't be able to tell you what exactly is authentic. According to Wikipedia there are 3 versions of laksa and I would categorize this version as curry laksa. On top of the thick round rice noodles there were tofu puffs, bean sprouts, sliced fish cake, prawns and a boiled egg. While it was pretty delicious I found it a little too fishy (too much fish sauce/paste maybe?). It could also be a little spicier.
On the menu I found Malaysian fried rice and Indonesian fried rice and I couldn't figure out the difference. I picked Malaysian at the end because the waitress told me it's spicy (and the Indonesian one sweet).

The dish looked like nasi goreng at a glance, but it tasted nothing like it. Basically the rice had no taste at all and there was not a hint of spicyness. What was the waitress on about? To make it worse it was full of baby squid. Very odd and disappointing. I am still trying to work out why this place is such a hit and miss. It's got the best chicken curry in town and the Hainen chicken rice is not bad; yet everything else we tried (especially items involved frying) had been below average.

Lunch was around RMB90 with a watermelon juice.

Crossroad cafe

8/F, Parkson, 918 Huai Hai Rd. (near Shanxi Rd.) Shanghai. Tel: 6415-2923

Element Fresh

C's Sweet and sour duck. It looked tasty and C clearly enjoyed it.

My pad Thai was not as good in comparison. It was too wet and too sweet. The wetness made the dish very soggy and it was like eating baby food. Below average.

Both Asian sets came with soup, a Shanghainese cold starter dish and fruit. Somehow they didn't look too appetizing and we didn't touch any of it.

Lunch for 2 with 2 drinks came to RMB160.

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Another day, another visit to Element Fresh. This time we were a little early and we decided to attack the breakfast menu.

The big American which came with 4 eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast and sauteed potatoes. More quantity than quality.

My cow girl came with an omelet, steak, sauteed potatoes and toasts. Everything was nice except the potatoes - they were very mushy and sweet - almost like sweet potato? Strange.

Unlimited coffee or tea with all breakfast sets.

The bill came to RMB120 for 2.

Element Fresh

4/F KWah House, 1028 Huai Hai Middle Rd. (near Donghu Rd.), Shanghai. Tel: 5403-8865

China Southern Airlines

Shanghai to Guangzhou - I wasn't going to put anymore airline food on the site because they are all going to be beef with rice or chicken with noodles. I am making an exception because I was quite impressed with this particular beef and noodles.

The sushi inspired starter was pretty nice. I think the scallop was fake though, probably made with pollock like imitation crab sticks.

The beef with noodles that surprised the heck out of me. A decent cut minute steak was topped with a tasty black pepper sauce. Even though the spaghetti was over-cooked (of course) I wasn't complaining. I wished there was more because I was still hungry after.

Unfortunately there seemed to be just 1 portion of beef with noodles available and my husband had to go with beef with rice, and he didn't think much of it.

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Guangzhou to Hanoi - no food was served on the 90 min flight! We were starving because the flight was delayed from 8pm to 10:30pm and we hadn't had any dinner.

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Hanoi to Guangzhou - again, no food. We came equipped with biscuits this time.

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Guangzhou to Shanghai - no starter but a choice between beef noodles and dim sum for main. I didn't expect it to be Cantonese soupy noodles and it was actually not bad. Too small in quantity though. Dessert was sago pudding but it looked horrifying - it curdled in a way that I thought it was fermenting.

The dim sum option. A bit blah.

My conclusion: always bring your own food if you fly China Southern.

Hanoi food, part 2

Instead of going to Bobby Chinn we decided to give Mediterraneo, an Italian place a try instead. Situated directed in front of the cathedral in the middle of downtown, it's a little cosy place with candles on the tables.

We had antipasto to share. Everything on that board was delicious. It sure beat spring rolls.
My husband's pizza, freshly made and baked. We saw a calzone on the next table and wished we had ordered that. The pastry on top was bubbling even!
My penne with Italian sausages. Loved the slightly tangy sauce but could use a bit more cheese. I was getting excited when I saw the garnish. How cute!
Mediterraneo

23 Nha Tho Street, Hanoi. Tel: +84 4 826 6288

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Beef pho (US$0.80) my husband had at a truck stop en route to Halong Bay. Didn't expect much to begin with but it was very good. The dollop of chili sauce was fierce.
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Our last meal in Hanoi and we picked the always-busy Little Hanoi. The decoration has a French bistro feel to it but the menu is multi-national from Vietnamese to sandwiches to pastas. I picked Vietnamese prawn cakes to share. They looked very interesting - the things sticking out were solid potato chips and the batter surrounding the prawn tasted similar to fritti. Very delicious.
I wanted beef pho but it wasn't available for some reason. Instead I went for a salad nicoise and it was OK, like a regular nicoise with canned tuna. Nothing spectacular.
My husband had a carbonara but I didn't take a picture. He said it was average and it curdled. We enjoyed the 2-for-1 wine happy hour deal the most and it's a nice oasis amongst the chaos of tooting mopeds in the Old Quarter.

Little Hanoi

21 Pho Hang Gai, Hanoi. Tel: +84 4 928 5333

Hanoi/Halong Bay

The drive from Hanoi to Halong Bay took 3 and a half hours. When we got there around noon we realised we were in no hurry because our cruise would not start till 2pm. Our 4-hour boat trip started with lunch being served on board when it was moored at the pier. How lame. It's not like they had to get food from the shore as everything was prepared on board. Anyhow there must have been about 50 or 60 boats at the pier all doing the same thing and they all left at the same time at 2pm. Not a good sign.

Our first destination: Thien Cung Cave. The bay was packed full of junk boats and docking was an experience. Basically our boat just kept on bumping off other boats by crashing into them in order to get to shore. We liked the captain's style.

A Kodak moment inside the cave.

Unfortunately the rest of the cave was lit up with tacky neon colors.

And there must have been like 10,000 people in there shuffling at all times. It was getting hot and smelly.

The second cave Dau Go. There's some history about one of Vietnam's famous General using the cave to fight invading Mongol army. I didn't care much at that point.

We were happy to be back on the boat away from the crowd and sun. The second part of our cruise was rather peaceful. The scenery was also getting more interesting definitely.

Halong Bay's famous exotic rock formations.

Local fisherman.

The Fighting Chicken Rock. We were like, okay....which one is the chicken again? Can't believe they put it down as a sight. Mind you at least we got to have an enjoyable cruise en route to the rock so we weren't complaining.

Perhaps the 2-day+ trips would be more interesting as you get to kayak and swim in quieter parts of Halong Bay. Still I think it's pretty crowded as there are hundreds of those junk boats going around. My verdict: overrated.

Hanoi food, Pho 24

Pho is being served everywhere in Hanoi, a lot of times by mobile street vendors carrying everything (big pot of stock, all the ingredients, bowls and chopsticks) on a long bamboo stick. I did not dare. Especially not after the numerous encounters I had with roaches while walking around town.

I am glad I read about Pho 24 before the trip. A chain originated in HCM City, Pho 24 is renowned for its intricate way of beef broth preparation and more importantly its cleanliness.

It was 12 noon when I arrived and the place was packed with local white collar diners. A good sign. I started my meal with a cooling watermelon juice. Had to admire the 70s presentation.

I knew I was in the right place when the waiter gave me a plate of pho fixings separately.

The red chili sauce was nice but I'm not entirely sure what the brown one was. It was sweet and similar to plum sauce.

My pho bo. I added all the fixings plus chili sauce and it was delicious! The broth was rich with a complex beef flavour. I began drinking it like everybody else - it was very nice and satisfying indeed.

I looked around and everybody was dipping some kind of bread stick into the broth. I followed suit. The sticks were about the length of a palm. I was expecting a light yet crunchy texture but I was wrong. It was quite dense and chewy I had to pull hard to break it apart. It didn't taste of anything but it soaked up the broth nicely. Plus it helped filling me up as the portion of my pho was not the biggest.

I decided to try the beef balls also. Somehow I thought they would be like meatballs, fried or something. Too young, sometimes naiive. Of course they came in soup - silly me. Unfortunately there's nothing special about them. I've had better hand-made beef balls in Hong Kong but for US$0.60 it was worth a try.

Lunch came to US$4 in total. Bargain! If I ever get to go back again I would just get 2 noodles. And get this: I was not thirsty at all afterwards - no MSG!


Pho 24

1 Hang Khay Street (on the south shore of Hoan Kiem Lake), Hanoi. Tel: 84 4 9365259