Tag: Korean food

Oseyo Eats (Korean) – London Waterloo

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It’s been a very long week with snow, work and sleep (no driving this weekend, I quit with manual driving, so I’m going for automatic… I have a brain that can’t hack manual yet). Thankfully it’s all over in London. The snow has melted away. 😊
Hmart seem to be swinging into the London action (sorry for bad pictures of the shop, I crossed the road and forgot to take a better pic, and it was raining on the day I went).
I’ve been waiting for this shop to open (back in January). As soon as I saw K-Culture on the window I wondered what they meant by that and what type of shop this place was going to be…
Edit: Using Google Translate, I think Oseyo (Eats) 오세요 means “please come (and eat)” – please correct me if I’m wrong.

Inside the shop they sell refridgerated Korean dishes, dried foods, drinks, hot foods, K-pop CD’s, confectionery. There’s a seating area you can eat your food… Basically like a cafe but with a bit of Korean hype. 
I spent £13.68 on all the items in the picture below. The crackers are fat free pumpkin flavoured which cost £1.20.  The noodles are worth trying. There are two portions in each bag and are £3.99 each.

This is beef bulgogi kimbap. It was ok, but I think this was one of the popular items – the guy at the till had to check if there was anymore! This cost me £4.50.

p.s. This place used to be a bookstore before it was turned into a new building… goodbye bookstore!

Address: 158 Waterloo Rd, Lambeth, London SE1 8SB
Tel: 020 3105 4857
Website: http://www.oseyo.co.uk/

Paldo Rabbokki Noodles

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Bought these Rabokki flavoured noodles some time last year (forgot the price as usual…lost the receipt as usual). Decided to eat them earlier this year before they expired. >_<" Rabokki is a combination of noodles and rice cakes in ddeokbokki sauce.

Also bought some frozen rice cakes from Longdan Express, which come with their own spicy sauce.

This was what was in the packet… Think I’m not going to explain how I cooked them. But I did boil the rice cakes first to try and soften them.

This is how it ended up…

Then added two slices of artificial cheese. >_<""

Taste wise it wasn’t that bad, sweet and spicy at the same time. My rice cakes weren’t as soft as I would liked them to have been.

Enjoyed it… ^_^

Jihwaja Korean Restaurant – London Vauxhall

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One day after picking up a package in Vauxhall that I had bought from John Lewis’s website, I decided to go and eat some Korean food. It was also Christmas Eve, and left 2 hours early from work – why not?! My work place at the time almost seemed quiet but could get away and leave the rest of the work for after Christmas. >_<" (I did not regret it at all!).
Do you remember Tiffany’s in Vauxhall? Probably not, as the Korean owner of this restaurant has changed it’s name to Jihwaja.
Wow. I haven’t been there for a while, but there was an absolute revamp of the menu, name of the restaurant and promotion of the tiny location. Amazing.

I sat in the same seat I was in last time. Looked at the menu and thought I want the lunch menu! Unfortunately it was already between 4 and 5, so had to make another choice. Couldn’t order the fried chicken because that was four two people – I think I could have ordered it and ate it… Maybe… 

In the end I ordered the Buldak Spicy Chicken which came with some rice balls seasoned with sesame seeds and seaweed, and on the side was some salad. This was priced at £9.90. I also had a Hite beer. It was Christmas Eve. I needed it.

The chicken was indeed spicy. I had to blow my nose a few times. It had a good mixture of spices, seasoning and veggies.

The rice balls helped with the cooling down of the spicy chicken. They were well seasoned. I wanted more! Maybe I should learn how to make them for lunch. ¬_¬”

Was happy I ordered this, but I what I really wanted was the fried chicken. Heheh. Maybe next time!
Total cost came to around £15-£16… Less than £20 anyway. Bad memory and forgot to take the price down.
My geeky rating: 4.9/5 – just because of my fried chicken situation… maybe I should have persuaded that I could eat the whole chicken. But will definitely make it for a lunch time special!!
Good points:
– Friendly service
– Good portion sized food
– Like the slightly new look – new name and menu
– Still a good place for karaoke!
– They’ve added a bell to the table for staff to come to you… reminds me of Japanese table service!
Bad points:
– Only the bad lighting from where I was sitting

Address: 353 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY
Tel: 020 7582 4680

Website: www.jihwaja.co.uk

KPlace Korean BBQ Restaurant – London St Mary at Hill, Monument

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It’s time for a Korean food post!! Was going to write and post this before I went to Ireland, but I was a lazy geek once more… Work and social life overload last week. ^_^
Thanks to Groupon (and Mr B who messaged me to go… hahahah – although I had already seen the deal before he told me) I bought a £28 voucher for 2 for a 10 course meal. So who did I go with? Miss Pinky of course!!
If you remember my post on Old Justice, the pub turned into a Korean bar/restaurant in Bermondsey, then you would know it had closed down and moved to Monument a year ago. A more central place to go to. Miss Pinky and I had no idea how this place would turn out, and had no clue on where it was… It’s really hidden secretly on the side street. You just wouldn’t even notice it.

We had booked a table for 7pm, which was perfect… an after work dinner. I think Miss Pinky is currently glad to be back at work and earning money! LOL!
KPlace looks very spacious and the lighting is much better than their old place in Bermondsey, which was small and dark.

After getting our seats and Miss Pinky’s short gossip on life so far, it was time to eat… I went to the loo at this point after the egg rolls came out. >_<"

Ta-da! Look what happened when I came back! ^_^ Basically this is the 10 course meal for two excluding the BBQ meat and rice, which comes with the package… You usually would pay over £40 for this meal set, but thank you for the discount with Groupon!!!!!
Here’s all the kimchi and salady stuff.

Stewed potatoes and pork… reminds me if DaddyChef’s Chinese version.

The grilled mackerel was yummy… Practically had to tell Miss Pinky to eat the last bite because she couldn’t eat the seafood pancake. Hahahahah. We both loved it.

Mussels were cooked in a light broth. Yummy!

And here you go… Both of us had some beers which didn’t come with the voucher. That’s what we had to pay separately.

Some light Korean salad…

And some chicken broth soup. Miss Pinky had to shape it with Mickey Mouse ears. >_<""

Finally the meat came out!! Time to turn on that BBQ.

I think Miss Pinky and I have got better at cooking our meat on this grill. Oil and cook away. Remember to just keep oiling the plate…

The meat was kind of fatty… but a good fatty… If you want to eat more meat, it’s £5 extra per person. But we thought this was enough for the two of us.

In the end we got some watermelon slices. Miss Pinky wanted to take them home for Baby B, coz at the moment she’s become obsessed with fruits, unlike her parents who hardly eat the stuff. LOL!! She’s becoming more like her grandparents and me, the geeky godmother. ^_^ Thankfully the waiter said he could give her some separate slices (I think they had some leftovers)… Miss Pinky loves this place now. Hahahahah!!!

On the way out I had to take a picture of this. ^_^ It looked like a street artist came in…

Total cost came to £49.80 which includes the Groupon voucher + the VAT on top and drinks. A little expensive for what we got, but I think the service paid for it. And in fact this new place is in East Central. Those high flyers out there can pay for this… Even the local Koreans or maybe they were Korean visitors came in to eat! ^_^

My geeky rating: 5/5

Good points:
– Nice friendly service
– It’s like a secret hideout for Korean food

Bad points:
– Expensive without the voucher

Address: 1 St Mary at Hill, London EC3R 8EE
Tel: 020 7621 0002

 Website: http://www.kplace.co.uk/

Samyang Hot Chicken Flavour Ramen 삼양 불닭 볶음면

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>_< Hot spicy stir fried noodles needed!
Saw these being presented and eaten on a YouTube video by Kinoshita Yuka (a Japanese fanatic eater) and I had to try them out. I’m astounded by the amount she can eat in one sitting, whereas I could only eat a smaller portion of what she has. I’m normal. A normal eating geek.
Well, I found the noodles in China Town and bought a few packets to see what they tasted like.

So, cooked normally and placed into my bowl. The amount of noodles looks so small without the water… Placed in the sauce and topping on top.

Mixed it well… and then had my first noodle slurp… It wasn’t that spicy… until…

I added Japanese Kewpie mayo and slurped more… my, my, it’s really spicy, can’t remember if I could even taste anything else!! I added more mayo (like the Japanese do) to try and tone down the spiciness. It somewhat was ok

This is probably one of the most spiciest Korean ramens I’ve ever tried! I even bought more today because I like them so much. Hahahahaha!!
A pack of 5 was £3 something in Sun Loon Moon Supermarket in China Town… and in the confectionery shop a few doors down it is £1.20 per packet….

Try if you dare!

p.s. I took the spicy ramen challenge ^_^ … didn’t know this was a super popular ramen

Tiffany Bar (Korean Restaurant/Karaoke Bar) – London Vauxhall

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I’m on a low-carb diet at the moment – it’s really agonising! My body feels like I’m depriving it of carbohydrates (not entirely, but I am). 😦 But before this treachery to myself, I had to try out a newish Korean restaurant / karaoke bar based in Vauxhall.
Must thank the person who commented earlier in the year about this place. Thank you!

Tiffany Bar has been opened for 3 months. It’s about a 30 minute walk from where I live and I thought I’ll try finding it… it’s actually not far from Kennington Station if you know the back passages, and it’s very close to Vauxhall Staion. Miss Pinky was a bit upset I didn’t invite her – BUT I’m sure she was in Scotland at the time.  >_<"

As you go in, you’ll see some very fancy work… you wouldn’t think this was a karaoke bar at all, or even a restaurant even though it’s right in front of a set of traffic lights. The place is a little tiny but I think it can fit a few people in there. The karaoke rooms (as I was passing) looked big. I forgot to ask about the prices of the rooms – but you can hire them for 2 hours at a time… There’s a lot of Korean music and there are a LOT of other world music, European, Japanese, Chinese…. lots!

The menu looks quite small but the owner John said he can make things (Korean food) that’s not on the menu. I wonder if he’ll make fried chicken?! Probably not… I think I’ll have a kimchi chigae or black bean noodles of he’s able to provide. Yay!

The Hite beer here is the imported version… not the canned ones!

I had a lot to drink that evening. I was given a complimentary Korean seaweed soup. It’s a little salty, tastes a bit like miso soup but not entirely. Tastes quite good.

I ordered the bulgogi bibimbap, and I forgot to ask for a fried egg and spicy sauce!!! It was very filling. Lots of beef. Lots of veggie. I wanted more!! ^_^ John’s mum made this. Heheh.

Since I was there I ordered the fried prawns. I don’t usually see it served this way. It had a salty edge to it, and filled my stomach with joy.

What’s the equivalent in Korean to itadakimasu? Jal meokkesseumnida … such a mouthful to say!!

Well finally I finished. The owner served this tea beforehand, but left it to the end… Interesting tea. Tasted a bit like brown rice or a sort of barley tea, Hmm, very interesting. Wonder where I can buy this…

Total cost came to £18 (if I remember correctly… need to start writing down my spending spree!).
My geeky rating: 5/5 (just because the owner is such a nice person)
Good points:
– A place to sing karaoke!!
– Homemade style Korean food
– Not too pricey – but worth it if you live around the area… Vauxhall is an expensive place to live in. MI6 are around the corner don’t forget >.<""
– Quietly hidden but not hard to miss
– Lovely talkative owner – I think he is open to suggestions and lots of customers!
Bad points:
– Need more selections on the menu (I’m sure it will be big in the future)
Address: 353 Kennington Lane, Lambeth , SE11 5QY

Haitai Ddukbokki Crisp Snack

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Back to blogging!!!!
Have to show you this last Korean snack I bought before going on holiday. This is a crisp version of the famous spicy rice cakes,,, ddukbokki crisp snack from Haitai.
The first bite wasn’t spicy… maybe after the fifth or sixth bite I got to taste the spiciness but generally it’s quite a sweet snack. 
Does it remind of the original stuff? Not really. My version of ddukbokki is more spicy and less sweet. Shop version is usually more sweet and less spicy… It has a slight toughness because of the heavily coated sugary substance added in… but sorry folks, apart from the flavour, definitely not like ddukbokki.
I think I got this snack at Centre Point in New Oxford Street. Didn’t cost too much. ^_^ 
Happy snacking!

Nongshim Honey Twist Snack & Lotte Honey Potato Chips & Lotte Honey&Butter Corn Snack

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My dear snackers… South Koreans are obsessed with honey snacks! So I bought a few of them just to see what they’re like.^_^
First one I bought were these Honey flavored twist snack costing £0.89p from Nongshim at Centre Point Korean Store. At first I only saw the Honey and Apple sign, thinking it was honey and apple flavoured, then when I ate them….

They are actually the most sweetest crisps I have ever had! Each twist is coated with honey.

You can buy this in other Asian stores… but I’m not tempted to buy these again. :p
Next one I also bought at the Centre Point store costing at £3.99. Expensive!!! >_<"" These are purely honey flavoured crisps as well.

The crisps are very light and puffy. It took me a long time to eat these as they were quite sweet too but also had a slight buttery taste… or could that have been the potato taste?

Not sure if I will be buying these again either…
Last one I bought at H Mart Mini were these Lotte Honey and Butter Corn Snack. This cost £1.79!! The cheapest big bag I’ve seen so far. ^_^

They are incredibly tasty. Quite buttery in taste and has a very slight sweet honey taste. The best out the three (and I haven’t finished them yet!). 

I will be buying these ones again in the future!! 
Are there anymore honey and butter snacks out there? (Not talking about fried chicken though)….


I am now off for one week to a hopeful sunny Marseilles!! See you all soon!!!

Taekyung Topoki and Noodle Cup (Rabboki)

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Continuing with some more Korean snacks!! Just a few more days until the holiday…!! Yay!!
So. I bought these rather interesting pot noodle lookalikes in H Mart Mini. They looked funny and interesting with the characters on the labeling. 

I can’t read Korean yet, so I looked at the pictures diagrams. These pots are actually a bit like rabokki (rice cakes and noodles mixed together with a sauce).

I tried the blacked bean sauce pot rabokki first…
So this was what was in the pot: rice cakes, noodles, sauce pack and a plastic fork.

You put the rice cakes in first.

Then the noodles and then the sauce… then

Add 80cc of hot water (or maybe it’s cold… don’t know)…

Then wait for 3 minutes and 30 seconds??? Uh… Nope… You’re supposed to microwave it!!! Ugh. I don’t have a microwave at home. >_<"" I ate this anyway. Bleugh.

So wanted to enjoy this with this Scarlet Soju… 😛

So I tried this spicy rabokki at work, this time I used the microwave.

Ta-daaa… this is what it’s supposed to look like… It doesn’t look much, but does fill a tiny hole in your stomach. No doubt I had more food after this!! >_<""

It’s worth a try if you’re looking for the tiniest microwave Korean snack. But I don’t think I’ll but this again.

Rabokki cup cost £1.99 each… expensive.
Scarlet Soju cost £5.99.

Seoul Bakery/Cafe is Back!! – London Great Russell Street

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Oh yes! Seoul Bakery/Cafe is back! But will they be changing their name to something different?
Yesterday was their grand opening and I absolutely wanted to join in and re-see happy faces eating Korean food in this tiny cafe. I walked past the cafe twice as there was no sign on top of the shop (which I think will be up soon). I practically walked up to the British Museum! ¬_¬”
Well I crossed over the road, counted the door numbers and found number 14 Great Russell Street. It looks small inside and only seating up to 15 people, whereas in the old cafe there were only seats up to 13 people. 2 extra seats is good enough!

The place looks similar to the previous one but of course with bare walls. So the first thing I did was write on the wall!! Whoopee. I can’t do this stuff at home or work so at least I had the freedom to write on someone else’s wall. ^_^ 
This is what I had… menu is practically the same. They had no cold noodles so I had to order something different.

I had iced coffee… and for some reason this tasted good, better than the last time I had it!
Pancakes came out first… I actually ordered one with cheese on top, so I think this was someone else’s… Indeed I had someone else’s pancakes and took the other one home as takeaway. 😛 Pancakes are of same consistency.
So instead of cold noodles, I had the beef thin noodles. With yesterday’s heat I think I could handle this as this wasn’t spicy… It was hot… the soup was good, clear and just had the right flavour. 🙂 … You know what, I want these metal bowls for cooking… where can I find them?

Total cost came to £24.15, the waiter took off £1 but I thought there was no need so I added an extra pound to cover costs… service was a bit slow but that didn’t really matter. As long as I got my food!!
Not bothering to add good and bad points or geeky rates as you know this place is a great for the Korean fans!! ^_^
p.s. It’s cash only