Caffebene Is Here in Malaysia @ Sunway Pyramid

An impromptu outing with Coffee Kaki  (CK) led me to Caffebene (which means Good Cafe) on a busy Sunday afternoon. This international Korean coffee chain finally hit our shores with the first outlet in Sunway Pyramid.  Thankfully, finding a parking bay was easy if that meant parking on the roof ... at 1.20pm, ample bays up on the roof. For easy access to Caffebene...enter car park through the Sunway Convention Centre and head up to CP7 (Level 7), unless you manage to find empty bays available on the lower floors.  Taking the escalator to the mall all the way down till you hit the shopping mall floor where TGIF and Padini Concept Store is located.  Caffebene is just a floor below.  Once you are there, try to control yourself from over ordering with all the goodies in store (for those unfamiliar with Caffebene, check out their menu HERE and you will see what I mean!).

Anyway, CK went to get a table while I stood in line to order.  They will give you a device that flashes and vibrates when your order is ready.  However, when CK went to pick up the order, CK came back with a staff who carried the order to our table instead.  One of their signature items is Bingsu.  Bingsu (shaved ice with toppings) is a popular dessert found everywhere in Korea.  Well, Caffebene's has a wide range of Bingsu (green tea, strawberry, cookies & cream, coffee - to name a few) and they are truly a feast for the eyes as well as your tummy.  With the current hot weather in Malaysia, surely this was as easy choice for me (no hot coffee for now!).

See what I mean? Isn't it lovely looking? This is a Coffee Bingsu (Single RM10.80/USD3). It looks heavenly and it taste nice too, though CK found it a tad sweet. It was generously "smothered" with toppings!

I thoroughly enjoyed my Strawberry Bingsu....The Strawberry ice cream sweetness level was just nice, sitting on a bed of generous red bean.  There were quite a lot of strawberries on and in the shaved ice.  They looked like a type of strawberry variety as they were all rather tiny and of the same size (I had even thought that they could be raspberries) and on the sour side.  This was okay as it went well with the sweetness of the shaved ice dessert.  The Bingsu is rather huge, it seemed almost bottomless at one point but on a hot day, I manage to finish it on my own.  Otherwise, I think it's a good size for 2 to share.  Would definitely come back for this!

Bulgogi Brothers, Oppa Korean Style @ Paradigm Mall

Chaswood Resources Holdings Limited recently added Bulgogi Brothers to its list of brands with its launch in Paradigm Mall.

Established since 2006, Bulgogi Brothers is a popular casual dining restaurant in Korea and is one of Korea's renowned restaurant chain.  Bulgogi Brothers first outlet in Korea is located in Gangnam; the same place in the title name of the most recent viral video, "Oppa Gangnam Style" as performed by PSY.  Bulgogi Brothers features the representative Korean food - the fire meat - BULGOGI, hence its name.  While I was not involved in any parody video of Gangnam Style (unfortunately), I was invited for a food tasting session of selected dishes just before its opening.  Lots of delicious photos ahead!

Starters - Sweet Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Sugar Snap Peas

Banchan - I especially enjoyed the sweet pumpkin paste (middle left) and the radish (top right)

Yukhoe (RM45.90) - julienned raw beef marinated in a mixture of chillies, pears and cucumber.  I absolutely love this dish, though raw, the beef had a rather firm texture to it and tasted sweet with the mixture of the sweet diced pears. Best eaten immediately when served (it's a cold dish, not as good if it drops to room temperature).

Haemul Pajeon (RM27.90)- Korean style pancake with seafood and green onions

I found Bulgogi Brothers' pancake a tad thick and therefore lack the crisp.  Average fare to me ...

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights, NOW @ One Mont Kiara!

(PORK-FREE)

Yay! One of my fave Korean eateries is now nearer to me.  Ko Hyang opened recently in One Mont Kiara and I've been going there pretty regularly since it's near to my office.  I've blogged on Ko Hyang at The Gardens, Mid Valley City before, read about it HERE.

By now, most folks are aware of this well known simple Korean food eatery but there's one thing I concluded from eating at Ko Hyang, One Mont Kiara.  Can you handle the truth??? Hahaha...Come closer to the monitor screen now.... Okay, ready? Wait, will I regret telling you folks this? Will I find myself waiting for a vacant table after this?  Will the quality be compromised when it starts getting crowded? Okay, okay...here goes.

While Ko Hyang @ The Gardens already dishes out delicious Korean delights, Ko Hyang @ One Mont Kiara does it EVEN BETTER; both in terms of taste and presentation.  (You can do some comparison by clicking on my previous post to check out the photos there with the ones posted here - these recent ones were taken with my Sony Ericsson phone though).  I haven't tried the other locations at Sunway Pyramid and Fahrenheit  88, I wonder how they fare.

I usually have either Kimchi Fried Rice, Jap Chae or Dolsot Bim Bim Bab. Remember that I said that it's better here at One Mont Kiara in terms of presentation too? Check out these photos and the ones on Ko Hyang's website...The presentation is almost the same as the pictures on the menu, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), unlike The Gardens.

Did you look at the pics from their website? See what I mean? This is the Dol Sot Bim Bim Bab-Stone Pot Rice with mixed vegetables, chili paste and your choice of beef or chicken.

Jap Che - look at the garnishing.  Notice the julienned omelette? They actually separate the egg white from the yolk (just like the pic on the menu), thus adding even more colours to this delicious stir fried sweet potato noodles with vegetables.  Again, you can have a choice of beef or chicken (it's always beef for me!).  This noodles are fragrant and not oily.

The Making of Gimbap

After shopping for the essential ingredients from Desa Sri Hartamas, I went over to Korean Princess's home and got our hands busy, rolling up some Gimbap (well, Korean Princess did way more than me as I was busy taking photos and had to keep my hands as clean as I can, gloves or no gloves).

Sprinkle sesame seeds onto rice and pour some sesame seed oil into the rice, then mix them well.


Place a large seaweed sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down and spread the rice evenly over the seaweed.  Start from the bottom with a margin of about half inch and work your way up with 1 1/2 inches at the top of the seaweed . 


Then lay out the cucumber, eggs, crabstick and pickled radish across.


Roll the bamboo mat slowly and carefully.  Remember to apply even pressure on the bamboo mat.


Unroll the mat and you can then apply some sesame seed oil onto the roll for added aroma like we did.  Make sure you have a sharp and wet knife (once again, we coated the knife with sesame seed oil and it worked well) and slice the roll. Remember not to saw but to cut firmly down so that the Gimbap will retain its round shape.

맛있게 드세요

Enjoy Your Meal!

Ko Hyang Korean Country Delights @ The Gardens, Mid Valley City

I have not been blog hopping for quite awhile and have only kept up with what's new of late through friends (food bloggers and non food bloggers). When I was told that Masak-Masak had blogged on a Korean eatery which has been garnering good reviews, I knew I had to pay them a visit at The Gardens, Mid Valley City.

After some shopping one day, it was time to fill our stomachs and I remembered this time (at times I do forget!) to drop by Ko Hyang since Glorious Jade and I were already in the vicinity. It was a rather late lunch and we wanted a quick bite, which was good I suppose as that meant Ko Hyang wasn't as busy as it would be during the usual lunch hour. The menu wasn't that extensive which was understandable as Ko Hyang has a very simple set up. I saw a Korean lady there and I suppose she was the owner and she had quite a substantial number of staff helping her out in this small eatery. We promptly put in our orders and as usual the banchan was served to us first as we waited for our food to arrive.

There were just 3 varieties served and both of us enjoyed the Kimchi tremendously. Being the most common banchan served in every Korean restaurant I've been to, I would say that Ko Hyang's kimchi is the best I've tasted so far! We have eaten some that tend to be a tad sourish but Ko Hyang's Kim Chi was absolutely delish and the taste was spot on. Spicy and pungent enough without being too overwhelming, I guessed what made it that good was that the pickled cabbage served was smaller than usual. So, it was very flavourful.

Next served was Bulgogi with rice (RM16.90). The sesame seed, onions, carrot and spring onions added more sweetness to this dish. Though the beef was quite well marinated, it would have been better if it had more gravy, a bit on the dry side for me.

Daniel Henney Made Me Cry!

Am down with slight cough and cold, will make this post short and sweet. I came home last night after my usual meeting and was elated to know I could catch "My Father" starring my Daniel Henney on Astro Box Office movies. I thought seeing Daniel would make me feel better. I WAS WRONG...

I watched the movie and cried and cried at the end, making me sad and and feeling none the better but worse. However, that's goes to show one thing though. Daniel Henney's acting has improved by leaps and bounds. I'm not saying that because I adore him, the critics say so too and "My Father" came in at No. 1 at the Korean Box Office! I'm so happy for him. This sentence wasn't here earlier but I thought I should add that Kim Young Cheol deserves a mention too for playing the role of the "Father" as he also gave a strong performance. Do watch "My Father" if and when you get the chance.

Gosh! What are the chances of having someone who looks like this who's also a great actor???

Gees, you're such a heartbreaker! You made me cry, Daniel!

I am so looking forward to seeing Daniel Henney in his first international movie role in "X-Men Origins : Wolverine".... 1 May 2009. I've already blocked that date in my schedule! ;o)

After putting up this post, I feel better and I'm going off to bed with a smile. Have a good weekend ahead everyone! During this weekend, I will definitely be watching the repeats of "My Father" on Astro Box Office for sure (I'll record it too!). He he he...

P.S. Mrs Pitt, hope you are reading this post, knowing how you feel about Daniel Henney too!

If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want - I go to the bathroom ~ (Alicia Keys)

Korea House , SS2 Petaling Jaya

After posting on Daniel Henney, I'm still thinking of him and hence decided to post on the quick Korean lunch I had with Glorious Jade. We had a few errands to run and could only do a quick lunch and since we were in SS2 area, we decided to go for the set lunch at Korea House. They have several set lunches but we usually settle for the Bulgogi set which is priced at a reasonable RM9.90++(USD3).

Of course at such a price, one does not get the regular serving of Banchan (small side dishes) but instead about 4 varieties (as compared to the usual 8 or 10 varieties) are served in a lunch box together with the Bulgogi and steamed rice in the usual metal bowl. The set also comes with a bowl of seaweed soup and slices of watermelon.

The Bulgogi is cooked differently if it's the set lunch (unlike the usual Bulgogi I have for dinner). At such a price, the portion is still quite a lot albeit it has added cabbage apart from the usual onions to make up the volume. The beef is thinly sliced, tender and well marinated with soy sauce and sugar. The set will definitely fill you up. For those who would like to try cooking this at home, click HERE for the recipe.

So cute, the watermelon in a shape of a Christmas tree.

Once in awhile, we'll order the Kimchi Chigae. It comes piping hot, it's good stuff but I still prefer the Kimchi Chigae from Haeun Khon located on the 3rd Floor of Amcorp Mall. Haeun Khon is usually where I head to when I'm craving for Kimchi Chigae.

If you're around SS2 during lunch hour, do drop by and try out Korea House's reasonable set lunches. They also serve the usual Korean BBQ fare. The Korean lady boss is really friendly, greeting customers with a big smile and always say the same thing to me each time I'm there "Long time no see you!". Hahaha...service is good too ;o).

Korea House (same row as Teapot Cafe, towards the end of the block nearer to the Police quarters and BHP petrol station)
185 Jalan SS2/24
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel : 03- 7873 0031

"All things KOREAN (especially Daniel Henney!) has become my flavour of the month (or maybe a year???)" - wmw

Daniel Henney - Weekend Eye Candy

It's another weekend and I was chatting with this friend of mine about men and that conversation "inspired" me to put up another yummy post on my favourite guy, Daniel Henney.

My No. 1 - Daniel Henney. I have written some posts of him HERE, HERE and HERE (plus a few more-click on the Daniel Henney labels at the sidebar).

Daniel Henney is so gorgeous - this 186cm tall actor/model will be starring in another movie soon, My Father. Can't wait to see it! Downplaying his good looks with a really short hair do ('cos he's in the army), this is Daniel Henney's first attempt at drama. I have seen clips of it and his acting has improved (since the last I saw him in Seducing Mr Perfect, but of course, he needn't have to act but just look gorgeous. I for one and million other women and even some men won't complain! He looks good in anything or better still nothing....hehehe!).

As a volunteer in the U.S. Armed Forces based in Korea, Daniel Henney's James Parker in "My Father" is an adopted son who goes in search and finds his biological father who is a condemned murderer on death row. Daniel Henney won the Best New Actor award at the 6th Korean Film Awards for his role in this movie which is based on a true story.

Photos from http://www.myfather2007.co.kr/

This video shows Daniel appearing on a Korean variety show, watch how the women hosts throw themselves at him! It's so funny! Here are the links for the rest of the show.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5 (only up to 3 minutes 27 second mark)

With that, have a great weekend everyone. I know I will .... ;o)

"If Daniel Henney is really a form of candy, I will probably end up being a gone case diabetic!"
- wmw

Bonjuk, Desa Sri Hartamas

(NO LONGER IN OPERATION)

Hardly recovering from our Saturday outing (from all that laughter and food), I received an sms from Lyrical Lemongrass this evening asking, "Bonjuk tonight? Can?". Boo_licious had told us about this 1 month old place and its delicious Korean dishes ;o). So, before anyone could finish saying "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", Precious Pea was already at my place to pick me up for dinner at Bonjuk. Boo_licious, Lyrical Lemongrass and the two of us arrived almost at the same time for a rather late dinner (look at the clock).

Andrew, the friendly young Korean guy who runs the place, greeted us warmly and proceeded to explain some of Bonjuk's dishes. Bonjuk is basically traditional Korean porridge and as their website says, "Porridge with a soul". The food is cooked only when ordered, hence fresh. As quality is ensured, this is probably one of the reason why the prices here are higher as compared to other Korean food.

The interior; the place is clean and pleasant

Boo_licious's medium order of Octopus and Kimchi Porridge (RM12.95) - It tasted very much like the usual Kimchi Chigae (Kimchi Soup) that I usually drink; except for the fact that this is porridge. Nice and spicy.

Lyrical Lemongrass's medium order of Seafood Combo (RM14.95); a mixture of squid, shrimp, mussels, clams, and octopus was simple and tasted very homecooked indeed.

My Beef & Bulgogi Bibimbob (RM24.95)with a mixture of mushrooms (which I love), vegetables and beef. The beef portion wasn't a lot though, it was kinda "lost" after I mixed them up together with the rice. The mixture of sauces and the ingredients however made this bibimbob taste great! I was expecting it to be served in a hot stone bowl but I was told that one can request for it as it's served in a normal bowl as per the menu.

Precious Pea's Spicy Octopus Bibimbop in Hot Stone Bowl (RM21.95). She liked it a lot and was first to finish her meal! We had to take photos of her food as quickly as we can as she had to mix it up so as to not eat burnt rice!

Service was good and attentive; with the staff ensuring that our glasses of plain water were filled at all times. During dinner itself, they brought out a tray several times; filled with small saucers of chilli, kimchi and other appetizers, they asked us to help ourselves to them. Andrew then came out with a treat for us; Korean pancake.

It didn't have the usual floury texture and was surprisingly light whilst soft though it was slightly thicker than the usual Korean Pancakes that I have eaten. Dipped into the sesame seed soy sauce, it was nice. We tried eating it with kimchi for a spicier version and it was just as good.

I guess I'll be receiving more smses in the future asking, "Bonjuk tonight?" after our enjoyable meal there. The four of us can't go on meeting like this.....LOL! Looks like we have started our own mini makan gang...

Read SooYin's review on Bonjuk; for location and details of Bonjuk, check out the link HERE.

Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles. - Korean Proverb

Daniel Henney - Seducing Mr Robin

For a true non food post but still something yummylicious is to blog on my Daniel Henney. All the more when his recent Korean movie, Seducing Mr Robin was released on Dec 7. I've never been accused of being shallow, but honestly, it doesn't really matter whether he can act or not, Daniel Henney makes me weak! What can I say? I go weak in the presence of beauty! I had previous postings on him since I first fell in love with him (along with thousands of his fans!) in My Lovely Sam Soon. It has been awhile but this first movie of his gets me all excited again. So guys, this is pretty much an article for us girls! Hee hee...

All photos are from http://www.hancinema.net

Seducing Mr Robin, a romantic comedy

"Min-joon, an absolute believer in true love, dedicates herself to the men she dates, but each time it results in a painful breakup. Today, she’s going through the most disastrous heartbreak ever – being dumped on her birthday! The confident professional Min-joon can be so clueless when it comes to love. Distracted from this unpleasant surprise, she bumps into an exotic foreign car. A very handsome young man steps out of the car angrily. To escape from the scene, Min-joon pretends not to understand English, but when Min-joon arrives at work, she finds out that the foreigner, Robin, is none other than her newly appointed boss…"
Source http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr

To say that I won't be paying attention to anything but just to gawk at him would be true, which is why I said, even if he didn't know how to act, it's perfectly alright. They can just screen an entire movie of him standing around, not uttering a single word and it would still be considered a masterpiece to me! LOL

Yes, stand there. You don't have to say a single word. I'm yours!

Yes, just stand there....
Daniel, you can drive my car anytime!

How lovely if you were my boss! I'll pay you to work for you! Ha ha ha....

Daniel! You sing too! You're truly a man after my heart!

I am so looking forward to watching this movie. Of course, I'll get the DVD too and watch it a gazillion times. Mrs Pitt, Holymookie, Korean Princess, Lyn, WWS and WWY, you'll join me too right? Ha ha ha....Sigh, meanwhile, I'll be contented watching this video of Daniel singing "Kissing Me", one of the movie soundtracks. Hope you gals will enjoy it too. Don't forget to pause the other video at the side bar first or else you'll hear two sources being played at the same time!

[MV]Alex & Daniel Henney - Kissing Me
Uploaded by iluvjin


When love is not madness, it is not love. ~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Korea House, Desa Sri Hartamas & Seo Gung, SS2

Korean food finally comes to SS2. Seo Gung (located opposite of Wong Kok, one block away) is located on the 1st floor and the big signboard made it easy for us to spot the place. It would have been easy to miss it as entrance is by a small staircase.

We found the prices high for the BBQ fare. Even the Bulgogi was at RM48/person (as compared to RM28 at Korea House in Desa Sri Hartamas. At Korea House, we normally opt for the Bulgogi to be cooked in front us. We will be given the usual small side dishes (a count of 8 plates in all). It does not come with rice, do take note that a metal bowl of rice here is RM5!

PICS FROM KOREA HOUSE, DESA SRI HARTAMAS

The Bulgogi here tastes different each time. At times it's really good and at other times, the gravy can be a bit diluted (could be that too much water was added or it had too little marinate sauce to begin with, cutting down on some of their ingredients perhaps).

Coming back to Seo Gung, SS2 we opted for the Bulgogi that is kitchen cooked and also Kimchi Chigae. It was a bigger stone pot as compared to the one from Haeun Khon, Amcorp Mall. Here, we were given a total of 10 side dishes, the most that I've come across. The Bulgogi was good (RM20), the beef was tender and the gravy was nice. They didn't give me the lettuce and I forgot to ask till we were half done with it, so I left it at that. So, I don't know whether they forgot or it's just not included. However the Kimchi Chigae still lost out to Haeun Khon's version. The Kimchi Chigae (RM15) here was spicy enough but a tad bit more sourish for my liking. Oh well, to each his/her own. However, I would be back here for the Bulgogi again! They have set lunches but different items are available on different days (a big confusing). The Kimchi Chigae set is available on Mon, Wed and Friday for RM12.90, no Bulgogi set is listed (bummer!).

Oh, here's the link again for Kimchi Chigae's recipe. Do let me know if it's good. It also has lots of other Korean recipes.

PICS FROM SEO GUNG, SS2

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. ~ Fran Lebowitz

Seoul, Korea - Part 5

Freedom is Not Free

We next went to the Korea War Memorial. The civil war between North and South Korea took about 2.5 million lives. Read about the war here.

One of the many tablets with names of war casualties

I wandered around takings photos here on my own. It's a quiet place and apart from the tourist, I didn't see any locals. I felt sad looking at some of the endless list of names of lives lost. I am blessed, I guess, to be born at a time when I'm not subjected to the atrocities of war in my own homeland. It got me thinking about the people caught in such "madness" in war torn countries. Stop the war!

From sad memories, the tour took us to the Suwon World Cup Stadium, one of the pride of the Koreans when they hosted the World Cup in 2002. I must say, the stadium was magnificent and so colourful!
Just before that, we had a stopover for some quick shopping at Insadong Street. There are lesser stalls here as compared to the earlier Itaewon but its shops had their own appeal.

A stall selling biscuits and snacks

Aren't these wooden pens and pencils cute???

We then had our first Bibimpap for lunch. Some of us enjoyed it, some didn't. Maybe it was due to the fact that we ate sitting down on the floor and most of us had pins and needles in our legs! Ha ha ha...

Before & After mixing the chilli paste

We then ended up at Coex Mall which was really huge, by the end of the 2.5 hours there, I had only covered a less than a quarter of the 85,000 sq. metres of this underground mall which is the largest in Asia. It was here, I saw the love of my life, staring at me from one of the retail shops, Beanpole International.
There he was, my Daniel. At least I can say that I saw Daniel Henney while I was in Korea. Just don't ask me for details! Ha ha ha...I had seen him on big ad prints on buses and on the city streets but I was in the tour bus and didn't get a chance to take a pic of him till now, on my last night in Korea.
With the mushroom steamboat we had for dinner later, we went back to the hotel. Apparently, my room mate said that I slept so well (which means I snored!) 'cos I must have been so happy that I saw Daniel. LOL! The next morning, we had Udon noodles for breakfast and after some last minute shopping near the airport, we said goodbye to Seoul!

Recaps :-
Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

Where is the "good" in goodbye? ~ Author Unknown