Authentic Korean black bean noodle, Jjajangmyeon 진정한 한국 자장면 @ 홍콩반점0410

I have tried Korean black bean noodle (자장면/짜장면 Jjajangmyeon) a few years back in Malaysia. It was my first try and I liked it so much. However, I was curious as how authentic Jjajangmyeon will taste like. I believe most people would agree with me that Korean dramas and variety shows are the one who exposed Jjajangmyeon to the world. The way actor/actress and entertainers eat Jjajangmyeon on the show makes everybody go wildly curious on the actual taste of it.

Han Ye-sul eating Jjajangmyeon in the drama Couple or Trouble is probably the first time I know the existence of the food. The way she ate was scary and funny at the same time. In the drama, Jjajangmyeon became her favourite food after Oh Ji-ho bought it for her.

So, some interesting fact here. When I was studying in Korea, I came across the word 자장면 during my mid term exam. I was confused why did the examiner wrote 자장면 when almost everybody out there, including restaurants, were using 짜장면. So when exam ended, I asked my teacher. She said 자장면 was the correct spelling but people get used to saying 짜장면 because it is more comfortable to pronounce. Then, it was so widely used that the dictionary then added 짜장면 as an official spelling too. So in fact, for now, both 자장면 and 짜장면 can be used in Korea!

Now back to my story, I've tried eating the Jjajangmyeon in Busan before, not in Seoul. I had some good ones, and some bad ones too. It was inconsistent so I was reluctant to give any Jjajangmyeon restaurant a try, unless it is really nice.

So during my last visit in Korea, literally on my last day of the trip, I gave this restaurant a try. Some of you guys must have noticed that it is a chained restaurant in Korea, you can see it almost everywhere. The name is 홍콩반점0410. I visited the one at Myeong-dong after a day of over-shopping.

It was located at the 1st floor and fortunately it wasn't crowded. I was so hungry and I needed food fast. It was a fairly big restaurant, considered it located at 1st floor. The ahjumma gave me the menu and ask me to order it at the counter in front. 

The pillar by the wall became a space for their gigantic menu

The food are all reasonably priced I would say. They have some special menu for the Summer too. The cold Jjampong looked nice but I was so craving for some good Jjajangmyeon. The next time I come, I would probably order something else and slowly try all of the food they have.

They have Tang Su Yuk, which is the sweet and sour pork. I didn't get the chance to try it but I am desperate to try it the next time I go!

They have a variety of different Korean-Chinese food and also snacks. Jjajangmyeon is a must to try, of course! Besides that, they also have snacks like fried dumplings and fried bun with dipping sauce. It looked so tempting I had to try all! Thank god the snacks can be order at half of the normal portion size, making more space for my stomach.

The portion of the food was huge, I couldn't finish it. The food was heavenly good. No doubt why it has so many chain restaurants in Korea. I literally need this everywhere I go. Among all the food that I've ordered, none of it is anywhere below 90 marks. I could rate 5 stars for all of it. The service was good too.

This is the Jjajangbap. It has rice and omelette with the Jjajang sauce (black bean sauce). The omelette was surprisingly the star of this dish. The Jjajangbap comes in a set with the soup. I am not sure what soup is that but it tasted like the soup for Jjambong (Korean spicy seafood noodle).

Jjajangmyeon is here! Look how appetising the noodle looked. It taste as good as how it looks. The noodles were chewy, the sauce were thick and savoury. It has lots of onions and minced pork meat in it. Don't underestimate the portion of it. It was really huge!

The fried bun that comes with a sweet dipping sauce. Not sure exactly, but the dipping sauce tasted exactly like condensed milk. It might look weird but it taste really good. It was beyond my wildest expectation! The buns were also fried to perfect golden brown.

The fried dumplings were quite huge, compared to the other fried dumplings that I usually have in normal Korean restaurants.

The total bill of all the food I've order was around 15,000won. It was definitely worth it. Anybody who would like to try Jjajangmyeon and doesn't want to be disappointed, I truly recommend this restaurant!

So here is how to get to 홍콩반점0410 at Myeongdong!

Address: 서울특별시 중구 충무로1가 22-1

Phone: 02-3789-0413

Operating hours: 11am - 9pm (everyday)

2017.11.2 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

Hongdae's best Korean raw beef tartare and grilled intestine @ 홍대맛집 육대곱 (육회 vs 곱창)

I remembered when I came to Korea 3 years back in 2014, I went to INFINITE Woo-hyun's family restaurant. It was a barbeque restaurant. I didn't know what to order so I asked Woo-hyun's mother, who happened to be in the restaurant serving customers, to recommend me their signature barbeque. She recommended a set barbeque with pork, intestine and mushrooms. It was the best grilled intestine I have even eaten.  I have been looking for the same type of intestine that I ate at Woo-hyun's family restaurant all these years but I couldn't find, because their menu changed and had closed down since.

So, coming to this restaurant was another hunt for the intestine that I've fallen in love with. However, it wasn't the same.

Hongdae is a really happening area in Seoul where lots of youngsters and working adults like to hangout during weekend or after work. They have tons of sight-seeing/attractions (불거리) and delicious tempting food (먹거리)!

This is a popular restaurant at Hongdae called 육대곱 (육회 vs 곱창). It is actually a well known 홍대맛집, a famous restaurant in Hongdae. They offer a lot of different intestines and beef for you to choose from. I've chose the assorted grills which includes all the intestines and beef. Other than their main grilled dishes, apparently people are also very fond of their raw beef tartare which I have been wanting to try!

One set of assorted grills 모듬구이 costed 17,000won and the raw beef tartare 육회 was 19,000won. Trying the raw beef tartare was one of the best decision I have made in life! I think Korea's raw beef tartare just conquered the number one spot of my favourite raw food list. It was definitely intimidating yet exciting to give raw beef a try. Yes, it is all raw. From marinated raw beef to raw egg yolk. There is only one way to eat it. Eat both together! You can either break the egg yolk and stir it with the raw beef or dip the raw beef into the egg yolk.

Personally, I felt like they should have given 2 egg yolks to go with this 200g raw beef as it wasn't enough for me. The raw beef however was so so so soft and it literally blew my mind. The raw beef is actually Korea's best beef, called the Hanwoo 한우. I think eating Korean beef raw is really a good way to taste its freshness and texture. Thumbs up to this magnificent dish!

So here is the assorted intestine and beef. It was served raw on a huge stone pot and the waiters will grill it for you. It was a huge amount for 2 person. Love the potatoes and mushrooms in this. It was not the main star of the dish but definitely made it better! It took quite some time for the meat to cook so be patient~

I am not a big fan of chewy stuff because my jaw gets so tired while eating. Raw octopus is one of the chewy food that is nice to eat for a few bites but you tend to get tired of chewing it after a few bites. Same goes to these intestines. However, the intestines are so flavourful after grilling, you know why Koreans come here just to eat their grilled intestines!

The soup that came with the grilled intestine was so delicious. I think they boiled it with beef bone, hence the aromatic taste. They have white radish in it, making the soup taste sweet and flavourful.

You might be a bit bored to be eating these intestines on their own. Fret not! They also serve you with a few different sauces. The waiter knew I was dining there for the first time so he explained the taste of each and every sauce. I couldn't remember all of them but I personally liked the one that tasted like Thai chilli. It adds so much flavour to the grilled intestines.

Unfortunately, the ventilation in the restaurant wasn't working well as it tends gets a bit "foggy" and smoky inside the restaurant with all the smoke coming from the cooking tables. It gets quite warm inside too.

So here is how to go to 육대곱!

Address: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 338-1 1층

Phone: 070-8654-4474

Operating hours: 12pm - 3am (Everyday)

2017.10.26 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

Peony - The strawberry dessert paradise 딸기 디저트 천국에 가고 싶으면 피오니에 오세요!

I have heard so many Korean people recommending me Peony (피오니) when I ask for strawberry cake shop. It is well know for its strawberry as it comes in a variety of types and flavours. They have strawberry cakes, strawberry shaved ice and many other desserts like tiramisu! When I first done my research on it last year, it was in a building in Hongdae, located on the second floor. The road to the building was hard to walk because it was a slope. I was so sad to only realise they have moved to a new location when I reached there. However, it was kinda hard for me to located the new place because all the post and articles about them was directing me to the old address (I guessed they just moved not too long ago so no updates have been made yet).

Thank god, after a few months since my first hunt, I finally manage to get to the new place, still in Hongdae, but much more easier to find.

I didn't take much photo of the interior because it was so crowded and I try to avoid taking photos with other people inside. So I took some photos of the food and the exterior of the shop. Their cakes so simple yet very elegant! The look of it is just fascinating. If you are someone like me who likes simple and cute things, something white and pastel, this is your go to place!

Because I was cafe hoping that day, I had too much cakes, so I only ordered two cakes, the strawberry short cake (5,200won) and dark chocolate cheesecake (5,000won).

The strawberry short cake beats all other strawberry cake I have ever tasted. The cake itself is so fluffy! Not dense at all, not too sweet, not too dry. It has the perfect number of layer of cake and cream. The layering is so satisfying to look at. The decoration of the cake is simple yet pretty. Too pretty for me to eat at first.

Doesn't it looks like it is made of snow?

The dark chocolate cheesecake is also a must to try! The cheesecake is so dense with cheese flavour. Although it is chocolate cheesecake, the cake wasn't too cloy for my palette. It was just nice. You can taste both chocolate and cheese. It wasn't too sweet or sticky. It doesn't have the base cookie/layer like most of the cheesecake I've seen, just pure cheesecake only. But it still tasted heavenly.

Just a fact, Korea's strawberries are very much different from Malaysia. I have tasted Malaysia's strawberries numerous times and I can hardly find a sweet one, let alone a big one. However, due to Korea's weather, their strawberries are really large in size, it can actually grow as large as your fist. The best thing is that is taste sweet! So you can see Korea is coming up with so many different desserts made up of strawberries such as shaved ice, yogurt smoothie, fruit sandwich, cakes, tarts, milk and etc.

Korea's fruits are really expensive especially imported fruits such as mango, kiwi, banana and more. Strawberry is one of the fruits that I usually eat in Korea because it is slightly cheaper compared to other fruits and they are really worth the price.

Korea strawberries often sold in boxes like these and the price varies according to the size and number of the strawberries.

This box of strawberries costed around 4,000won, less than RM 16. The size of the strawberries are bigger than the one you can find in Malaysia and taste x100 time sweeter, no joke. I bought it from a lady who was selling strawberries at night along the street from subway station to Mangwon market.

I truly truly recommend Peony for people who likes cakes for dessert to try this out when you are in Hongdae. The food they offer is quite consistent. Hardly any negative comments. A lot of Koreans actually bought their cakes for birthday celebrations.

psst: their take out box is elegant too! Totally my style.

The habit of collecting receipts comes in handy!

Are you dying to go? Here's the direction to go to Peony!

It is located in Hongdae, however by walking, it is definitely closer to Sangsu station. So i would recommend any travellers who use subway as their main transportation in Seoul to get off at Sangsu station, line 6 (exit 1).

Address: 408-8, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
서울 마포구 서교동 408-8

Phone: 02-333-5325

Operation hours: 12:30 - 22:30 (everyday)

2017.6.18 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NAVER Corp.

You can also click here Peony (피오니) for navigation!

My Produce 101 trip in Korea 프로듀스101과 함께 떠나는 여행

So, I bought my flight ticket to South Korea around January 2017, and I've planned to travel in June 2017 after my exam. Little did I know, NU'EST became fixed contestant for Produce 101 Season 2 as trainees from Pledis Entertainment. People who know me must have known how much I love NU'EST since their debut and have never stop. They were the best people I have ever met. I've met them as fans at their showcases, I've met them as media at press conferences, I've met them as a traveller at radio shows.

Jonghyun

Minhyun

Minki

Dongho

I was delighted to see NU'EST again, on screen, on stage. Them going in to Produce 101 Season 2 as trainees have me caught in mixed feelings. On one side, I hated the fact that they have to become trainees all over again even after debuting for almost 5 years and had to compete with other trainees from different labels to debut. One the other side, I want them to have another chance to shine. As a ㄴㅇㅅㅌ for 5 years, I know they deserve more.

I was lucky enough to travel to South Korea during their final week on Produce 101 Season 2, having able to spot some of the supporting events fans made for them, such as the subway advertorial boards, bus advertorial poster and promotional videos on buildings. I was a fan of Produce 101 Season 2 just because NU'EST was on it (not after the show ended tho).

I went to as many places as I could to see the subway advertorials their fansite made for them to promote them for more votes.

Minhyun at Hongdae

Dongo at Sinchon

Jonghyun at Hapjeong

Minki at Myeongdong

I also went to Produce 101 MYCT pop-up store at Sinchon and the main store at CJ E&M that were selling official merchandises of Produce 101. I wanted to buy the black jersey Jonghyun wore during position evaluation practice, but it was sold out and didn't restock until the day I left Korea, which was really really a shame. They had Produce 101 MYCT merchandise on sale that week so I've bought a phone case for 15,000won and got a Produce 101 powerbank for free.

Produce 101 MYCT store at Sinchon's Hyundai Department store, B1 (현대백화점)

Produce 101 MYCT main store at CJ E&M centre (상암센터점)

They have proomotion for the merchandise every week, this week was 1+1 event of powerbank and phone case!

With the sky rocketing popularity of the trainees of Produce 101 Season 2, it is hard to not spot other advertorials and supporting events of the boys when I was in Korea. So for people who likes other trainees other than NU'EST members, here are some exclusive photos for you guys!

Subway advertorial boards of other trainees of Produce 101 Season 2.

Lai Guanlin at Hongdae

Park Ji-hoon at Hongdae

Kim Samuel at Hongdae

Ong Sung-woo at Hongdae

Yoo Seon-ho at Hongdae

Ahn Hyeong-seob at Hapjeong

Lee Eui-woong & Kim Yong-guk at Sinchon

Yoon Ji-sung at Hapjeong

Bae Jin-young at Myeongdong

Joo Hak-nyeon at Hongdae

Takada Kenta at Hongdae

Chung-ha (I.O.I) & Park Sung-woo at Digital Media City

There were also some bus advertorial events too but I only manage to spot a few.

Park Ji-hoon

Ahn Hyung-seob

The only promotional video I manage to spot on one of Hongdae's building.

Bae Jin-young

p/s: The shops are closing around July since the tv show has ended, so I am not going to blog about the direction to the stores.

But here is a special clip on the Produce 101 MYCT main store at CJ E&M centre!