Rose wines to pop open for spring or anytime

It seems almost unfair to rose to start thinking about it, and talking about it, and looking for it when spring comes around. Then again, how many of us think about turkey and stuffing outside of November? Or corned beef and cabbage outside of March? No one is stopping you from planning those meals on any day of the year, calendar be damned. Yet you don‘t. At least most of you don’t.Did my college roommates and I cook up an entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner one spring semester? Sure we did.

May 19, 2017

[Home Cooking] Snack on ddangkong jorim

This is a simple but delicious side dish that’s made with peanuts. Made similar to kongjang (soy braised soybeans), this braised peanut dish is sweet, sticky, savory and nutty with a pleasant chewy texture. It’s a popular basic side dish.For this dish, use raw shelled peanuts with skins. Around here, we’re lucky to have good quality Virginia peanuts, one of the largest varieties. Raw peanuts retain the skins intact and absorb the sauce better with a softer texture as a result, but you can use ro

May 19, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Luxury sedan package at Sheraton Grand IncheonSheraton Grand Incheon Hotel is offering package combining accommodation and rental of a Jaguar XJ Sedan until June 30. Guests can stay at an executive suite, offering a view of the Central Park in Songdo, that comes with breakfast. They can also rent the luxury sedan for driving along the Songdo Coastal Road. The package also features a set of macaron and coffee at the Menagerie bakery inside Shiheung Shinsegae Premium Outlet. Free access to the swi

May 12, 2017

Sleeper hit expands budding burger empire

When Downtowner, a burger spot, first opened in Hannam-dong last year, it was a quiet and uneventful affair. “On our first day, sales were 100,000 won,” said CEO Joon Lee, 36. Lee revealed it took two months for word to spread. Now, people stand in line to get their hands on one of Downtowner’s famous burgers.When a second location opened several weeks ago in Sinsa-dong, there was already a line of people waiting to grab lunch on the first day of business. Word had spread fast. Lee attributes th

May 12, 2017

Seoul becomes a field of salad eateries

With healthy dining options being a big new trend, Seoulites have been looking to eateries that offer fresh salads to quell their appetite for delicious low calorie options. The following is a list of hip, healthy salad spots that have cropped up throughout Seoul recently.  What A Salad (Instagram) What A Salad (Instagram)What A SaladThe Itaewon store offers custom-made North American-style chopped salad. Diners can curate dishes of their liking from a rich assortment of some 40 different salad

May 11, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Sri Lankan food fest at Millennium Seoul HiltonMillennium Seoul Hilton’s flagship buffet restaurant Cafe 395 will host a Sri Lankan food festival from May 17 to 26 in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Embassy in Seoul. Chef Selliah Karuppan from Colombo Hilton in Sri Lanka will fly to Seoul for the event, which will feature authentic Sri Lankan dishes, including a prawn salad, sting hopper pillaw, beans tempered, egg and plain hoppers with condiments, pumpkin custard and bibikkan. Cafe 395 will al

May 5, 2017

[Home Cooking] Egg fried rice (gyeran bokkeumbap)

This egg fried rice is flavored with lots of scallions. It’s a quick and easy way to whip up a light meal and use up leftover rice and eggs.The key to this recipe is the oil flavored with scallions that’s used to cook the eggs and fry the rice. It gives this simple dish a nice flavor.To keep the eggs soft, first make scrambled eggs that are a bit runny, remove from the pan, fry the rice, and then add the eggs back to the pan to combine with the rice at the end. The eggs remain nice and fluffy th

May 5, 2017

[Herald Interview] Chefs ferment chemistry between Korean, Western cuisines

Chef Federico Heinzmann each day cherry-picks nature’s best ingredients, cooks them using ingenious recipes and delivers his creations on the table in ways uniquely Korean and earthly at the same time. Working with Korea’s renowned Buddhist monks, the Argentine executive chef at Park Hyatt Seoul’s The Lounge has dug deep into the country’s culinary roots in search of innovations, which would satiate even the trickiest bon vivants worldwide.Heinzmann came to Korea seven years ago from his multicu

April 28, 2017

[Eye] Young restaurateur on top of a cloud

Located on the 81st floor of Seoul’s new landmark Lotte World Tower Signiel Hotel Seoul, Michelin one-starred Bicena is the highest situated Korean restaurant in the city.For most restaurateurs, moving locations soon after winning the coveted Michelin star would be a challenge that they would rather avoid. Lucia Cho, 35, CEO of Bicena and the Michelin three-starred Gaon, however, embraced the challenge with open arms. “It presented a new opportunity for us,” Cho said about the decision to move t

April 28, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Chinese buffet at Sheraton Seoul D Cube CityThe Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel is offering a Chinese buffet promotion from Monday to May 16 at the restaurant Feast on the 41st floor. The dishes are prepared by guest chefs from Le Meridien Zhengzhou in China. They include various congees, such as rice congee with preserved eggs and pork, congee with fish fillet and congee with beef and egg. Also included are regional dishes: deep-fried shrimp with spicy salt; baked chicken with shallots and gin

April 28, 2017

Eat, cook, read at Cooking Library

Devoted to all things food, Hyundai Card’s latest project is an establishment where visitors can eat, cook and read about eating and cooking. Called Cooking Library, it is a space that offers an in-depth look into the craft of cooking, where the “production, literature and experience of food come together,” said Lee Mee-young, vice president of the credit card company’s brand division, at the press opening Wednesday. “The idea is that the visitor can indulge in all five senses.”Open exclusively

April 26, 2017

[Home Cooking] Yeongeun Bokkeum (Stir-fried lotus root with peppers and mushrooms)

Lotus root (yeongeun) is the underwater stem of the lotus plant, which is rich in fiber and essential nutrients such as vitamin C and potassium. My favorite way to eat this crunchy and starchy root is to simply stir-fry (bokkeum) it with some other vegetables. To prepare the lotus root for cooking, peel the skin, slice or cut into bite size pieces, rinse, and then soak in the vinegar water. This will remove any impurities inside and the slight bitterness of the lotus root and prevent discolorati

April 21, 2017

Earl Grey espresso and ricotta fig toast at Cafe Halfmoon

Located on a quiet stretch of a Cheongdam-dong street, Cafe Halfmoon looks like it would lead a relatively obscure and tranquil existence as a neighborhood hangout.  Cafe Halfmoon serves up eats and drinks in a communal space with an open kitchen (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)That is not what happened when the cafe opened in January. “The first day of our soft opening we had one customer,” said co-owner Yoon Young-sim, 26. That moment was short-lived.“The second day people started showing up,”

April 21, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Promotions and packages

Green tea promotion at Park Hyatt SeoulThe Lounge at Park Hyatt Seoul, a newly renovated Korean tea house, is offering a green tea promotion until April 23. The promotion includes a selection of premium green tea for two -- Woojeon, Gokwoo, Sejak and Jukro varieties -- and hwajeon, flat sticky rice cake decorated with flower petals. The promotion is available every day from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with prices starting from 42,000 won. The tea is served in a traditional Korean tea ceremony. Along

April 14, 2017

[The Palate] Gyeongdong Market, the endearing traditional marketplace

The traditional markets scattered throughout the country are important resources for their local neighborhoods. Well-known marketplaces, like Namdaemun and Gwangjang, are examples of where Koreans can find their most basic of needs. But their authenticity is somewhat reduced by having been glossed up for tourists. By comparison, Gyeongdong market in Dongdaemun-gu, northeastern Seoul, is where one can truly experience a traditional marketplace within the city, and feel the honesty and warmth of i

April 14, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Packages and promotions

Tea house opens at Park Hyatt SeoulThe Park Hyatt Seoul’s The Lounge tea house, located on the 24th floor, reopened Monday, offering quality dishes and beverages to customers. With spectacular views of the city, The Lounge features traditional tea, modern cuisine and desserts from 9 a.m. to midnight. The green teas come from tea estates on Jeju Island, Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, and Boseong, South Jeolla Province, while executive chef Federico Heinzmann and his team use seasonal specialt

April 9, 2017

[Home Cooking] Spicy braised tofu (dubu jorim)

Dubu jorim (braised tofu) is a popular Korean side dish which is typically pan-fried and then braised in a spicy sauce. This braised tofu doesn’t require pan-frying and uses a lot more liquid. It resembles a stew (jjigae), but is actually not a jjigae as the term is used in Korean cuisine. This dish is totally fine just with the onion and scallion, but this recipe also uses mushrooms and a chili pepper. You can also add a little bit of thinly sliced Korean radish to the bottom of the pot before

April 7, 2017

Asian-French tapas at Bao27

Bao27 owner Kim Hyun-sung and chef Oh Jong-il take their variation of Chinese steamed buns very seriously. If one walks by in the afternoon, between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., one might be able to catch a glimpse of the two busy kneading, rolling and shaping the dough for their baos. Not surprising, given the name of their restaurant literally advertises the increasingly prevalent Chinese sandwich- or dumpling-like treat as their specialty. Yet, it is not the baos alone that make this new spot worth a tr

April 7, 2017

[Around the Hotels] Packages and promotions

Children’s birthday at Grand Hyatt SeoulThe Grand Hyatt Seoul is offering a children’s birthday party package at restaurant JJ Gazebo. Up to 15 children can have a private garden party with pizza, a birthday cake, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, apple pie and more. After lunch, they will have two hours of play time with friends under the supervision of a recreation specialist, with activities ranging from sword play to treasure hunts, ball games and more. After playing, children can take a short trek

March 31, 2017

[The Palate] The arrival of springtime jjukkumi

As winter ends so does the robust seafood season that filled our palates with the freshest catches in the frigid months. As if to offer one last hurrah, baby webfoot octopus, known as jjukkumi, make their way onto menus heralding the advent of a glorious spring.There is no doubt that Koreans know their seafood, and there is no surprise as to how creatively they like to enjoy it. From raw soy-pickled crab to par-dried salted grilled fish, to the absolutely wacky, wriggling sannakji squid eaten al

March 31, 2017