Jongno Bindaetteok, Seoul, South Korea

After checking into our Candy Robot room, we had headed over to Gwanghwamun district, starting the evening off at Tosokchon Samgyetang with some ginseng black chicken soup. We then wandered a dozen blocks, looking out for Jongno Bindaetteok; suposedly one of the best Bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) in town. We walk past a bustling little shop, the big glass window revealing a large flat grill, filled with pancakes, and crates of the cloudy rice wine, makgeolli, on the sidewalk thinking wow this place is awesome but unable to spot a sign wander on looking for our prey.

We have a bit of trouble seeing, or understanding, the street signs, decide to take a walk around the block, and if we can't seem to find Jongno then we would head back to this little place.



Wandering around the back alleys, we find so many interesting little places, it's a Thursday night, and the streets are bustling. We don't seem to find the Bindaetteok place we are looking for, so make our way back to the one that caught our eye in the beginning. There are groups waiting for seats, and what looks like people waiting for take-aways. We poke our head in, and there is a tiny 2 stools at the end of one table where we are ushered over to by one of the ladies on the floor, who asks if we want beer, why yes of course, and then returns moments later with a large bottle of Cass. The Cass is a pale lager, and super-light. This beer is produced by OB brewery, who brews all of their beers with rice, rather then the Western standard of malted barley.



Only another few moments have passed, and the lady then stops again with little plates filled with kimchi. There's an apple kimchi, the pieces of fruit still crisp, and with a nice, spicy coating. Theres a radish & cucumber kimchi, which is sitting in a very light, vinegar pickle, and lastly, an addictive onion, dried chilli & soy sauce.



The lady asks us "haemul ... gogi?" (seafood .. meat) We order 2 x bindaetteok gogi, or crispy golden pancakes made with fresh ground mung beans & meat. We both look around and are amazed at the variety of people that are eating in this little place ... there are young groups of people, individuals all perched around a communal bench, young kids with their parents and men in suits... oh, and 2 giant, blonde foreigners with a DLSR camera sitting on tiny little stools;) We enjoy observing the magic that all takes place on one giant flat top.



Behind the grill stands an older man, constantly feeding the fresh mung beans through a stone-grinder. The guy on the grill is spinning around and ladelling the fresh beans over into the pancake mix as fast as they are being ground...



Once they work through the backlog of orders, 2 gogi are dropped in front of us. They are a beautiful, golden colour, and have just been roughly chopped to allow for easy eating. (The Korean chopsticks are all beautiful - made of stainless steel, that taper to a pointed end with a flat, rectangular handle that is adorned in beautiful decoration.) As cutlery is placed on the table, the lady grabs a single napkin, and lays a spoon and pair of these chopsticks on that. We observe a lot of people using the chopsticks to move food to their spoon, and then from the spoon to their mouth, so follow suit. The first piece of bindaetteok that reaches our mouth, oh wow. Crispy, with little pieces of the fresh mung bean still recognisable, but the ground pieces giving the whole cake a silky texture. There are chunks of marinated meat, spring onions & kimchi. We play around with the different kimchi combinations, with this crispy pancake my favourite are the onions in soy with dried chilli.



Every table surrounding us, are drinking from these green bottles... We decide to move on from beer, and join them in the drinking of makgeolli. A green pet bottle is plonked on the table, with 2 plastic bowls to drink from. This stuff is cloudy, rice wine (similar to a Japanese amazake) that is quite strong. It's best when cold, so we drink it quite fast, although don't manage to finish the whole bottle...



After we pay, we cross the road on our way home... and notice the huge sign! We found the right place in the end, and were so glad we did.



Then we notice the giant bags of vegetables, ready to be turned into pancake filling and of course kimchi. Seoul ♥



Gwanghwamun
Dangju-dong, Jongno-gu
T: +82 2 737 1857
12noon - 2am

Putting down a Hāngi at the Brick

Last night the community was treated to a traditional style Maori hangi at the Brick. People trickled in all afternoon, inspecting the coals and pile of mud in anticipation.

Games of frisbee and cricket were played on the street and many beers were drunk. Until there was movement ... shovels ... and the unveiling began.

This was my first experience of a Hangi ... I wasn't too sure what to expect as they were shoveling away the dirt, but then came sheets of cloth ...

Followed by layers of heshen sacks.

Then wire baskets were removed from the steaming pit. The top one containing potatoes and cabbage. As the next baskets were being removed, it was as if they were holding little treasures. Each one clearly containing something different, but everything was wrapped in Fuku leaves, which are a type of wild plant that has a stem like rhubarb and giant lilly like leaves.

The first basket to be attacked contained the potatoes and cabbage.

I did manage to take a plate and chopsticks from the pile, but somehow completely failed to get any salad at all ... must have consciously been saving more room for meat!

Oh, the meat. Whole chickens with stuffing, roast lamb with rosemary and roast pork with pumpkin, cinnamon, thyme & sugar.

Lucky I saved all that room with no salad, as the first plate disappeared in a flash, and seconds ... then thirds, soon followed.

The roast chicken was so moist, steamed under the earth with so much natural flavor. The pork and pumpkin combo just perfect. The roast lamb, ahhhh, reminds me of home. The potatoes, would have like to have some sour cream and chives to slather on top, they were just lacking any character - possibly due to the fact they are last seasons harvest ... We are eagerly awaiting delicious new season Kutchan potatoes. But the cabbage, oh ... my ... goodness. This humble little vegetable was the standout amongst the crowd for the whole night. The core was removed and filled with butter and Mae Ploy Thai Green Curry Paste. The cabbage was meltingly tender, oh-so-buttery and with a nice hint of spice. Genius!

When Waza - Niseko's resident Kiwi - is on point, he has some moments of sheer genius. Take his bagels for instance .... don't even get me started on the Jalapeno popper bagels.

Let's hope we can convince Waza to make this a regular thing during Summer.

the Brick

Open Tuesday nights in Summer for darts and burgers

Open late Winter, serving kebabs, burgers and 500yen drinks

& sporadically throughout the year for random dance parties and Hangi

Solociccia - completing the Dario Trifecta

Our last night in Tuscany, we were daunted by the idea of having to choose our last meal. Until of course the words 'Solociccia' were sung. This was the last of the Dario Cecchini trifecta, so seemed only fitting to farewell Tuscany with a bang..

We again arrived a little early and were only to pleased to bask in the generous hospitality of the man himself just across the road in the base of the butcher shop. House wine was poured in tumblers, lardo & salami along with crusty tuscan bread lined the right side wall - and all of a sudden we are mingling with 30 people who are all about to become our friends.



We are sitting the 9pm seating at Solociccia tonight, so when a gush of people are seen dispersing from across the street, we know our time is near. A quick re-set and we are all ushered over. At the door our names are checked, and seating assigned in little rooms on street level and below. We notice our name in the book with a big VIP beside it (*Squeal*). We are lead down the stairs, and off to a little table on the side with full view of the kitchen. We are sitting amongst vat's of olive oil and mineral water on tap, and get to look into see all the magic happening in the kitchen. There is another couple who are sitting with us. She works for Microsoft and he has a large sausage casing factory somewhere on the West Coast. He supplies sausage casing's to Mario Battali (which is how he got the booking, and the VIP seat). They were extremely lovely, and was a pleasure to share company and tales with two passionate foodies.



The table is set again with bowls of crisp, fresh vegetables, that are dipped in local olive oil, red wine vinegar and Dario's salt along with bowl of crusty Tuscan bread. We start on carafe's of red wine, and are informed if we need anymore we can top up from the vat's behind us.



Then a plate of toasted bread topped with ragu arrives.



The day's fritto misto arrives, which is a bowl of treasures. We found squid, octopus, fish, cauliflower, onion, fish and little bite sized pieces of crumbed veal.



The plates just keep coming, next are little morsels of beef that have been minced and seasoned that are threaded onto sprigs of rosemary. They are generously doused in lemon juice and olive oil and are just divine.



We see some big chunks of meat being sliced in front of our eyes. The other great thing about being on this table is that we received first plate of everything that left the kitchen. I think it would have been torture otherwise .....



The perfectly rare beef comes dressed with sage, rosemary, salt & olive oil. Bowls of white beans are a great accompaniment.



Pork arrives nestled under a salad of crisp carrot, red onion & celery. The pork is so soft and tender, the perfect contrast for the fresh, crisp vegetables.



The slow braised beef is dark and rich with chunks of sweet red onion throughout. There's no doubting that any meal attached to the master, Dario Cecchini, is bound to be packed full of meat !!



The meal ends with Military liquers,



Coffee & olive oil cake.



This ritual seems all so familiar now, and neither of us would have any problem repeating again soon.



Via XX Luglio, 11 Panzano in Chianti Firenze
tel.+39 055 852727
fax +39 055 852700
È MEGLIO PRENOTARE

monday / tuesday / wednesday: closed
thursday / friday / saturday: 19.00 or 21.00
sunday: 13.00
reservations advised

Porchetta Sandwich #2

At the morning markets in Greve one of the first things we spotted was the Porchetta van. The van had an impressive rotisserie set-up, spinning around in the background piled full of chickens, meat & all sorts of sticks.



But we have our eye on the crisp pig, perched up on the counter. This variety is available by the kg at 24Euro or on a panino for 3.5Euro. We take 2 panino. Chunks of the delicious porchetta are sliced away, and piled on a crisp Tuscan bread roll.



We also spot something in the counter that is a tradional Tuscan spiedini. We need one of these !!



We first un-wrap our sandwiches, and they were even more delicious than they looked! The pork was still warm, the stuffing packed with fennel seeds, fresh rosemary, lots's of salt and pepper.



As you can see, I was very content .... my eye's glazing over with glee.



Then we were onto the spiedini ... wow! There was chunks of sausage, chicken, and pork all layered between slices of bread. It has been cooked in the rotisserie and all the fat from the meats have fried the bread to a golden crunch. An absolutely amazing concept, fried bread and tasty meat, all this goodness packed onto a stick ...



Oh, Italy ....

BBQ at Northfield Lodge

We heard about the BBQ event taking place at North Field lodge and were quick to call up and reserve our spot. But still it seems, a bit late, as we missed out on sitting outside and doing the bbq'ing for ourselves ...



We were comfortable inside, and had Rob in the kitchen, doing all the bbq'ing for us.



After everyone is seated, we start with a bowl of soup ...



and then a plate of salad.



Then the meat starts rolling on out ... first some thinly sliced pork cooked to a nice char;



a variety of meats on sticks are next to hit the table, always a winner.



Fair chunks of grilled beef are next to follow,



then some little weiners and grilled onions.



We even get treated to a bit of kangaroo meat. Nice and juicy, still pink in the centre.



Before finishing off a fine summer Niseko BBQ with a banana split.



North Field Lodge
Izumikyo No.2 83-76 Aza-Yamada,
Kutchan-cho, Abuta-gun,
Hokkaido, Japan, 044-0081

T: +81 136 226 675
E-Mail: info@north-field.jp