Tropical nights at Bungalow

Following is part of a series on Seoul’s hottest bars and clubs. ― Ed. Imagine yourself on vacation in a tropical country, sitting in a lounge chair digging your toes into white sand and seashells from the beaches of Boracay. Especially on a cold night in December, just the mere image is enough warm you up. This doesn’t have to end as a thought in Seoul if you know the right place to go: Itaewon’s Bungalow Tropical Lounge.From regular American-style pubs to unusual gay bars, nightlife in Itaewon

Dec. 19, 2012

D.I.Y. holiday eats

With Christmas less than a week away, now is the perfect time to start cooking and baking hearty dishes and toothsome sweets perfectly for the cold winter months. To help out, culinary artisans share their holiday-friendly recipes. Cuisson82’s chef de cuisine Kim Young-won unveils the secrets to his tender, rib-sticking boeuf bourguignon, as served at the casual French restaurant. Chocolatier Go Young-joo of Cacaoboom shows how the key to whipping up the gloriously rich hot chocolate served at b

Dec. 19, 2012

Recall: Butcher's Choice Beef Burgers

 Canadian officials warn the public not to consume Butcher's Choice Hickory Barbecue Beef Burgers because they may be contaminated with E. coli. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Loblaw Companies Ltd. said the following products -- distributed nationally -- are being recalled.-- Butchers Choice Hickory Barbecue Beef Burgers 2013 FE 10 EST 752 0 60383 89364 4.-- Butchers Choice Hickory Barbecue Beef Burgers 2013 FE 01 EST 752 0 60383 89364 4.The recall is the result of E. coli O157:H7 produ

Dec. 15, 2012

Candlelight dinner at Novotel Ambassador Gangnam

The hotel offers a special romantic dinner package “Candlelight Dinner,” promising special Christmas memories and a meaningful year end. The package, featuring a romantic dinner at its French restaurant The Bistro, is available from Dec. 22-31. “Candlelight Dinner Package I” covers one night in the Premier Executive Room while “Candlelight Dinner Package II” also includes a breakfast buffet at Executive Floor Lounge or the SQUARE as well as a special course dinner at The Bistro with two complime

Dec. 14, 2012

New Year celebration party at Millennium Seoul Hilton

Celebrating the end of year and beginning of 2013, the hotel’s traditional English-style bar, the Oak Room will host a New Year’s Eve Countdown Party on Dec. 31. The last party of 2012 and the first of 2013 will provide guests with a memorable time with friends and families. Available from 6-8:30 p.m., guests may also enjoy a Carvery Wine Buffet. Diners can feast on a buffet of various hot and cold dishes including ceviche, green salad, mashed potatoes, fried rice, German sausages, and more. A j

Dec. 14, 2012

Romantic Christmas Eve dinner at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul

Celebrating Christmas, the hotel’s Western-style restaurant JW’s Grill presents two special Christmas Eve course menus perfect for spending a romantic Christmas Eve with a loved one or a special time with your family on Dec. 24. The “A Course” features traditional Christmas bread and cakes, smoked salmon in three different flavors, black-truffle flavored mushroom soup, fresh pear and endive salad with turkey, Black Angus rib-eye steak and fried scallops. The “B Course,” consists of traditional C

Dec. 14, 2012

Winter jazzfest packages at Lotte Hotel Seoul

Celebrating the launch of the carvery buffet this season, the hotel offers “Winter Jazzfest Packages” for guests planning to continue partying through the night in a comfortable hotel room available through Dec. 30, when the carvery buffet ends. The “Winter Jazzfest Deluxe Package” includes a one-night stay in a Deluxe Room and carvery buffet. The “Winter Jazzfest Suite Package” offers a one-night stay in a Corner Suite Room or Junior Suite Room and carvery buffet. The suite package also provide

Dec. 14, 2012

Conrad Seoul offers weekend stay package

As part of the Hilton Worldwide promotion, Conrad Seoul offers the “Any Weekend, Anywhere” package that includes discounted rates on rooms for stays through Dec. 31, 2013. The package offers guests 25 percent discounts on the best available rates and additional points to HHonors members of the Hilton hotel chain with double stay credits for stays of two or more nights. Available for bookings made by Feb. 14, the promotion is applicable to stays for about a year until Dec. 31, 2013. The purchase

Dec. 14, 2012

Yaksik, (sweet rice with nuts and jujubes)

Yaksik is a sweet dish made with steamed glutinous rice, honey, soy sauce, jujubes, chestnuts and pine nuts. It may also be called yakbap (medicinal rice). It is said that yaksik was prepared and served to the crows as a reward for saving the king’s life in the Silla Kingdom.Ingredients:● 1 1/2 cups glutinous rice, 8 cups rice steaming water ● Salt water: 3 tbsp water, 1/2 salt ● 5 jujubes, 3 chestnuts, 1 tsp pine nuts ● Jujube stone tea: 5 jujube stones, 1 cup water ● Sweet steamed rice seasoni

Dec. 14, 2012

Multi-layered pies at Peace Piece

Ask Peace Piece owner-chef Kim Yi-yeon why she bakes American classics like key lime pie and she will explain, in a somewhat roundabout fashion, that she had an idea of pie: pretty to look at, tasty to eat, the kind of dessert often seen in movies, large-scale, time-consuming, tall creations that convey, through the silver screen, the gorgeous deliciousness to be enjoyed if only the audience could get their hands on a slice. With her own detailed vision of pie floating in her head, Kim said she

Dec. 14, 2012

Curry in Seoul

When K-pop group TVXQ told me animatedly during a press conference last month that they loved Indian food and were keen to visit India for more, I was curious about the Indian cuisine experience in Korea. “Most Koreans see India as the land of Buddha, yoga, backpacking and ― curry!” a senior Korean media professional told me. No doubt, all Indian restaurants in Seoul have curry, naan, samosas ― north Indian dishes that are mascots of Indian cuisine the world over ― as their main items under the

Dec. 12, 2012

Christmas market food at Courtyard by Marriott Seoul

The hotel will hold a Christmas Market Food and Beverage promotion from Dec. 22-25. The hotel’s multi-dining restaurant, MoMo Caf will present a special Christmas buffet called “MoMo’s Christmas Market.” The buffet will include roasted turkey with cranberry sauce, a grill station with all kinds of meat carved by the chef, pasta made on-site and served fresh at pasta station, cold seafood corner, 20 kinds of European Special Christmas desserts and fresh fruits section. Also, the chef’s recommende

Dec. 7, 2012

European dinner buffet at Mercure Gangnam Sodowe Hotel

Caf SODOWE of the hotel presents the “European Dinner Buffet,” which will entertain guests with 70 diverse dishes including the main dish of steak and fish, available starting Dec. 3. These homemade dishes will be made fresh with no additives. Menu items include pastas, pizzas, Belgian waffles, Mediterranean seafood salad, Scandinavian grilled salmon, a French snail dish, Turkish pilaf, Italian mussel, gratin, French traditional tuna salad and Swiss cheese. The buffet with steak as the main dish

Dec. 7, 2012

End of year packages at Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel

For the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s celebration, Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel presents the “Christmas Package” and “Welcome 2013 Package,” which will allow guests to create a special memory at the hotel with family, friend and lovers. The Christmas Package features a one-night stay at a deluxe room, one “Franc Franc” Gift Box and access to the hotel’s gym and swimming pool, located on the 27th floor. The “Welcome 2013 Package” includes a one-night stay, two glasses of 2013 Champagne Co

Dec. 7, 2012

Christmas package at Hyatt Regency Jeju

The hotel introduces the “Christmas in Love” package for couples and families who are looking for a Christmas getaway. Available from Dec. 23-26, the package covers one night in a standard Mountain View room, a Christmas buffet for two, Christmas celebration gifts and the Hyatt’s signature mug and a doll. The hotel also prepared a Santa Claus surprise visit for children as well as a “Kids Village” program, which will offer a children’s cooking class to make Christmas cake and cookies. Both event

Dec. 7, 2012

Australia gourmet promotion at Seoul Palace Hotel

Seoul Palace Hotel presents the Australia year-end gourmet promotion at The Goong Buffet & Caf until Dec. 31. Presented by the hotel’s newly appointed executive sous chef Marty Kindleysides, the promotion menu includes grilled Australian Angus beef fillet with beef cheek tortellini, foie gras, chestnut puree and natural jus, and Australian lamb cutlets on garlic potato puree, grilled scallions and Dutch carrots with lamb jus and more. The Australian dishes with a touch of Asian elements can be t

Dec. 7, 2012

Patjuk (rice and red bean porridge)

Patjuk is a porridge of non-glutinous rice and sweet red beans that have been boiled and strained. Patjuk is served on the winter solstice (dongji day), which has the longest night of the year. It is traditionally believed that the red color of the beans can expel demons and help cure mild illnesses. Ingredients● 1/2 cups non-glutinous rice ● 1 1/3 cups sweet red bean, 4 cups hot water ● 12 cups boiling water ● Rice ball: 1 cup glutinous rice powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp water ● 1 tsp salt1.

Dec. 7, 2012

Good sushi for a bargain

Sushi Shi-ro marries affordability, quality and artistry in one fell swoop. Situated near Hongdae, the pristine, minimalist sushi bar serves sets that range from 20,000 won to 40,000 won for lunch and 30,000 won to 60,000 won for dinner, and given what is doled out in return, dining at Shi-ro is a bargain. At the counter, the patron is coddled and practically hand-fed carefully crafted sushi, one perfectly seasoned piece at a time, till the very last palate-tingling moment. The experience, which

Dec. 7, 2012