SK: Ulsan Bawi @ Seorak National Park

One of the best parts of my South Korea trip was Mount Seorak.  Just 3 hours from Seoul, the Seorak national park is just beautiful when covered in snow.  To get there, I got on a taxi from the airport to bring us to Dong Seoul Bus Station where we got on a bus to Seorak.  This was followed by a 20 minute taxi ride.  All in all, it cost around $100 for two people.  A night’s stay at the national park motel was a modest $80 and the room had a beautiful view.  The only thing was that it did not have a lift and we stayed 3 floors up.  As we had our luggage bags full from shopping in HK, it was a pain in the ass!

 

Anyways, our plan for the day was simple, hike Heundeul – bawi and Ulsan – bawi.  A total hike of around 6km each way.  Not much in terms of distance except its verticality. The only problem was that it was a  –27 degrees afternoon.Crossing the bridge

 

Still yet to reach Heundeul – bawi  but Ulsan – bawi was already in sight.  Or so we thought =.=!After an hour of walk, we settled around 2kms to Heundeul – bawi but it was rather insignificant. Just a big rock :(! So we set forth to Ulsan – bawi!

 

On the way up!Some of the better parts of the trail with guides to hold on to.  Little did we know that it would save our lives as we climbed up!

 

After another hour, we were really rushing against time. The sun was really against us and we quicken our pace.  Challenging really! It was so slippery and we had no shoes so we stopped by a small hut and bought some spikey attachments!  $5 each but really handy in providing grip ;)!

 

After almost 2 hours, we were at the base of the Ulsan – bawi.  Feeling rather happy, we thought that it was really near.  It was actually, just 1km more...  vertically.  And that was another 30 minutes up…Ulsan – bawi base!

 

As we were ascending the steps, we almost got blown off.  So I sat down. Keep calm, take a picture.  We clearly caught up to the sun. There was heaps more sun at the top.   The view here is truly magnificent during winter. Not sure about other seasons though!

 

Nothing much. Just a stair.  One of the many stairs….

 

At the top, the view was phenomenal.  Here is a picture of me in my unsuitable clothing and Ulsan-baw in the backdrop!  Almost died there! Still managed to fake a smile hahaha.

A mad combination of howling wind and darkness forced us to descend quicker than we had wished.  Better safe than sorry we thought, only to meet wolves/wild boars hunting along the river.  Glad we were on the other side! But after a mad 5 hour hike up and down, we were so hungry we quickly ate nearby in a local café.  The town is 10 minutes by taxi but we were too tired to move.

 

A winter staple. Dried Pollock soup!  Really delicious in this weather :)!  The Pollock is dried by the chilling winter air and used to make soups and other food stuff.  Absolutely odorless which made me like it.  ]At best, it was slightly salty with a rough texture, and felt somewhat like bacon =.=!

 

The little darling’s favourite BibimbapMeal in a bowl!

 

The obligatory side dishes of kimchee.  Cabbage kimchee and radish kimchee along with seasoned cucumber, seaweed, mushrooms and more vegetables.  Damn! Koreans are really healthy!We slept at 7pm that night.  Definitely needed a good rest as we had just flown in from Jeju to Seoul 6am that morning before taking a bus to Mount Seorak!  But still, this was a winning trip! 

 

We got to snoop around the area the next day before it become overly populated.Buddha statue

 

Mount Seorak was really photogenic!!

 

After Mount Seorak it was back to Seoul for our NYE count down ;)!  More to come but I am just so lazy at the moment haha.

 

WenY

Bites: Harvest Espresso @ Victoria Park (Spring menu)

I do not normally go Harvest.  But when I do, a new season starts.  My first post of this pint size establishment on the busy Albany highway backdates to January 13’ which was summer. It is now the 3rd season that I am coming here and because it is Spring, a new menu has been set.  Walking in, I received a familiar greeting that was both warm and welcoming.  On the menu, there were the sandwich staples but more importantly new hot food too.  As the weather has been unusually chilly, windy and wet, my mind quickly decided on the food to order. 

 

But before I had brunch, I shared a cake with my friends.The almond-orange cake here is gluten-free (GF) which confirms my suspicions.  The only thing which disagreed was my tongue.   Unlike most gluten-free cakes which ChompChomp and my friends describe as dry, and often dense, the one here was so yummy.  Along with a decadent cream cheese frosting, this was absolutely delicious.  It felt in no way like a gluten-free slice. But could this be a case of me having to many bad GF cakes or was this simply good? I shall let you decide! :)

 

My brunch for the chilly morning was a Seasonal Mushroom RaguDelicious earthy mushroom flavors with creamy polenta.  The only problem was that I drank the delicious sauce like soup without mixing it up first.  That caused the polenta to feel lacking in seasoning.  Good thing was that it was such a hearty dish that compensated the dull weather.   Great when shared with friends! It might be a little daunting to eat all the creamy polenta alone!

 

Next dish up was the Braised Beef Cheek Pie which takes 15 minutes and is baked fresh upon ordering.Here, the flaky filo pastry creates an opening scene for the perfectly braised beef cheeks.  Its flavors were strong and is easily any bovine lover’s heaven.  But all hell breaks loose if you are slightly more conservative like my mates who found it too beefy.  I found the beef and carrots palatable but wanted more sweetness perhaps from some baby onions.  Already dreaming of it cheekily as I type this post hehehe.  Once finished, grab your fork and dismantle the graceful celeriac remoulade.  I am not sure what a remoulade is but the celeriac slaw was spot on to cleanse the mouth from the beef I had before!  My mates enjoyed the slaw heaps.

 

Next up was the Baked Almond Brioche which I would describe as a Spring splendorLike celebrating Spring in the  garden, beautiful colors graced the plate.  The toasted brioche was crusty outside, and fluffy on the inside with a rich buttery fragrance.  A lovely toast to enjoy the well-poached strawberries with the little bits of crunchy muesli and raisins giving it more texture.  Also, the panna cotta which used my favourite English tea, Chamomile tasted delicious as it stood prettily next to the brioche. The duo felt perfect together.  The taste was good but visually, it was a spectacular feat.  It was like having breakfast and dessert together :)!

 

Baked Almond Brioche with Chamomile Pannacotta, Poached Fruit and MuesliI am not sure how many fans does Harvest Espresso have out there but I definitely am one of them.  A season-based menu keeps things interesting and so far, this has been one of the very few brunch places in Perth which I have not ordered the boring “big breakfast” because there simply is not a need to do so.  Harvest Espresso, keep it up ;)!

 

WenY

Bites: Namoo Korean Barbecue @ Perth

Korean Barbecue.  It is simple, effortless and to any meat eater, almost heavenly.  A new place in town wants to bring that to a whole new level.  Did they?  With an interesting menu and pretty good value set meals, I was there last Thursday for dinner.  After putting in my name and almost 30 minutes of waiting, we were in.  If you see other reviews around, this place looks superb.  Its interiors were stylish and for most parts, very modern.  But I was here for the food as I have been craving for Korean Barbecue for ages now.  When the barbecue hot plate was put on the stove. I was STOKED.  It was the beautiful slanting plate which I will explain further below.  Also, see my trip to Jeju Island where I first saw the concept. 

Jeju Island Part 2

The famous meat here is the rainbow pork which has 8 flavors.Their flavors include Ginseng, Original, Wine, Herb, Garlic, Curry, Miso, and Hot.

Unfortunately, the transition from kitchen to table was bugged.  And I mean VERY VERY troubled.Slant plate barbecue.  Its concept? Simple.  U put the pork belly in the middle and let it sizzle away.  As it crisps, the lard melts downwards to the bean sprouts and kimchee making it extremely fragrant and palatable to eat.  Here at Namoo, the service was SO BAD, that the kimchee and beansprouts were put too early that it burnt even before the meat arrived.  And soon it became too bitter to eat. I was gutted.  How long does it take raw meat to reach the table? =/  I asked the manager and he asked us to keep stirring it around.  Obviously it did not work…

In addition to the pork, we also had a kimchee stew that came with the set meal.It was utterly disappointing.  It felt as if they were not prepared to serve anything else except the seafood stew that was a set meal standard.  It just did not meet our expectation and added to our already mediocre experience.

A few things which pissed me off that night:

1) There were no lettuce to wrap the meat, and there was only just half a teaspoon of sauce to go with the meat.  I asked 2 different people and NONE even bothered after 30 minutes. 

2) We ordered the rainbow pork, kimchee pancake and a marinated beef cube roll.  After 1 hour of eating, we only had the rainbow pork.  Nothing else arrived.  Thank you waitress for not taking our orders on a paper.  And also a big thanks to the manager with a CBF attitude. 

3) Despite the modern interior of the place, there was absolutely no ventilation to get the smoke out.  We were literally choking towards the end of our meal. It definitely could have been better.

But putting all my unhappiness aside with the service and the stew, I was actually very delighted with the pork.  The flavors were very well thought of and it simply worked.  The ginseng and wine pork belly for example had a beautiful fragrance while the curry one simply sizzled with spices.  Garlic and herbs also complemented the pork belly well.  These were the simple joys which would have us extremely elated if it was not for the patchy – sub-quality service we had that night.  While I would typically give more established places a STERN “avoid” reputation, I accept the fact the Namoo Korean Barbecue is no more mature than an embryo.   But I definitely hope to see improvements the next time I come in.

WenY

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