Lotus Flower is Not Only Pretty, But Also Tasty

When I came to Korea last summer, Mom and I went to a unique restaurant in downtown Seoul that served temple food. There, I ate glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf, and it had such unforgettable scent that I had to try it again. I searched for a restaurant that serves the same dish in Andong, and found out about Andong Hwarhyun, or "Andong Lotus Flower."

You don't understand how excited I was to see the sign directing us to the restaurant, which was located in a very secluded area. Even though the actual distance was only about 18km, it took us about 30 minutes to get there because the road was windy and we came out the wrong exit twice on our way haha.

I loved the exterior of the restaurant. It looked like a residential house that I could see myself being the owner in the future ;)

Because we called in a couple hours before to make a reservation, the table was already set by the time we got there. I liked the simple white table cloth with sturdy china. The lotus leaf tea tasted soothing as well.

Mom already chose the "Lotus Flower Course Meal" (~$20/person) for the two of us. I wanted to check out other items on the menu, but it looked like the course meal was pretty much the only menu it offered.

While waiting for the food to come out, I took some pictures of the interior, which looked very homey. There were lots of traditional china and pots stacked together.

The course meal started with black sesame seed soup/porridge.

It was perhaps the richest and one of the thickest porridge ever. There were bits and pieces of lotus root, rice, and pine nuts. The porridge tasted a bit too creamy even without any cream because it was so thick!

Next course was called "Goo Jul Pan," or 9-separate dishes. It was served with sweet vinegar sauce on the side.

Basically you put all eight different vegetables (in this case, two different types of mushroom, carrots, egg whites, egg yolk, cucumber, egg plant, and radish all sliced into beautiful thin pieces) on the thin, chewy flour pancake dyed with all-natural pink dye.

You dab a little bit of the vinegar sauce, wrap the pancake, and put it in your mouth! It tasted so healthy and fresh.

When we were half way through the dish, the waitress brought us our next course. She explained to us what each dish was and how it was made.

Look at those beautiful color! It's bell pepper and other greens wrapped in pickled radish. It tasted a bit bland, to be honest.

This tofu roll was apparently made with chopped chicken breast. I would have never guessed it had any chicken in the dish because it just tasted like regular tofu. I liked the mushy texture.

The never-ending healthy dish course continued with fresh salad in dressing that tasted alcoholic and fried chicken infused with lotus leaf.

Because of my strict diet on no-fried-food, I didn't taste the chicken. Contrary to what it looks like, the sauce wasn't spicy at all.

I loved, loved, loved the fresh salad! I was glad to see that it wasn't made with iceberg lettuce.
I wasn't quite sure what the dressing was, but it seemed to have had some kind of alcohol/fermented drink.

As I mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of the glass noodle. However, the flavor and the seasoning in this japchae was spectacular! Perhaps it was a bit salty, but I loved the diverse combination of the vegetables with the noodle.

Two different kinds of Korean pancakes/jeon. The one on the top was lotus root with eggs on the outside, and the red one is made with diced tofu and kimchi. The lotus root jeon tasted too much like egg, but the kimchi/tofu jeon had strong, spicy flavors from the kimchi with soft, mushy texture of tofu.

The split mackerel steamed in lotus leaf with spicy pepper sauce on top. The mackerel had a very strong fishy taste and the slimy scale on the outside freaked me out a bit.

The white kimchi with apple slices on the outside. It was interesting to get a taste of sweet apple/fruity taste with kimchi, which is always served as a savory dish.

And finally the dish I have all been waiting for...glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf! Unfortunately, I was really full from all the previous dishes. Mom and I decided to share just one of them.

Tada! The rice revealed.

As soon as I sniffed the rice, I could smell the strong scent from the lotus leaf. It had a thinly sliced piece of lotus root on top, as well as some brown beans, almonds, walnuts, and other nuts. The glutinous rice was chewy especially on the surface. The rice tasted great even without other side dishes.

The whole table with vegetables, kimchi, pickled radish, and really spicy bean stew.

The course meal ended with Korean dessert. Clockwise from top are three pieces of grilled glutinous rice cake drizzled with honey, two pieces of apple, and cherries, ginger, and lotus root overly sweetened with sugar.

I really loved the rice cake because it had the perfect combination of chewiness and sweetness.

Bon Appetite: Happy Italian Dining in Andong

A new restaurant opened in Andong. My parents, who eat out quite often and probably have been to every eateries here, insisted that we check it out.

Bon Appetit serves Italian cuisine ranging from pasta and risotto to pizza and steak.

The restaurant is located on top of the newly built Andong Tower that overlooks the Andong Lake created by the Andong Dam. Sorry for so much Andong-ness. The view from the top was incredible!

The two different types of appetizer bread were whole wheat and white. Nothing too special except I like them being served warm and slightly toasty. The balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing didn't go too well with the bread.

The salad was so fresh! I wish there had been more variety in greens because it consisted mostly of iceberg lettuce, especially at the bottom.

At first I wasn't quite sure what the dressing was. It was a mix of oily-ness and sweetness...

And then I discovered a kiwi seed! The kiwi dressing was sort of overwhelming and it would have tasted a lot better if it didn't have too much dressing.

The squid ink risotto I ordered was served on a huge plate! I asked for it to be cooked with less oil, and in deed it was not greasy at all :)

The risotto had squid, clams, and shrimp with a little garnish on top.

Judging from the marks on the squid rings, the squids must have been grilled prior to being added to the risotto. Little attention put into the food like this makes it much more delicious :)

Squid ink risotto or pasta is a dish people say to never order when you are on a date because the blank ink literally dyes your lips/teeth blank. I loved that the risotto was not greasy, creamy, or buttery, but I wished there was more seasoning because it tasted a bit bland. I asked for hot sauce on the side.

The seafood pasta in tomato sauce was quite tasty.

I dislike when restaurants put clam/mussel shells in the dish to make the dish appear bigger, but I suppose it adds to the visual presentation.

The pasta was undercooked, which is just the way I like because the pasta usually cooks in the dish while you eat it.

The tomato sauce was a bit spicy.

I couldn't tell if the pasta was fresh or dried noodle.

The margherita pizza definitely needed more greens and some slices of fresh tomatoes...

Pizza tastes the best when eaten right after being served. Look at that cheese!

I was surprised that the pizza was not greasy at all at the bottom. I, of course, dabbed the top with napkin to get rid of some grease from the cheese.

The crust was very thin and I loved that the pizza had plenty of marinara sauce.

From Chicken to Noodle: Wang Be Sung Again

For the sake of increasing diversity in my blog, I tend not to visit the same restaurant and post about it. Yet there is one and only Chinese restaurant that my family goes to in Korea: Wang Be Sung. We modified our order from last time so I don't feel too repetitive.

Since my brother joined us this time around, we also ordered a big dish called "Gganpoongi," or fried chicken wings in spicy chili sauce. Unfortunately, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to avoid fried food, so I didn't eat the chicken, but I have tried it before last summer.

About 20 pieces of chicken legs are fried, tossed in slightly sweet and spicy chili sauce with chopped vegetables (carrots, bell pepper, onion, and scallions), and served on a huge plate.

You can tell that the chicken was fried right before being served. Underneath the crispy surface is moist, juicy meat.

It's impossible to take a bite of this chicken without saying, "ho, ho" from the heat.

Usually fried food tastes the best when eaten right from the fryer, but this chicken is tasty even when cold.

As we were enjoying the "appetizer," the waitress brought the noodles. Jjampong, or spicy seafood noodle, had so many different types of mushroom, greens, and seafood piled on top. We had to let it cool before diving into the dish.

Judging from the oil floating on top, I am guessing that they added a spoonful of chili oil to the broth for the extra spiciness. I didn't try the broth because it looked too red.

I only had the noodle and the mushroom, which didn't entire soak up all the spices. Still, the noodle was a bit salty from too much pepper seasoning, but it needed a hint of salt.

The noodle had a very chewy texture.

Next came jjajangmyun, or noodle in black paste sauce. Like I blogged about last time, Wang Be Sung has the best jjangmyun because they don't put pork, cook with less oil, and has abundant vegetables and shrimp.

The sauce and the noodle came out separately so the diner can control how much sauce to pour. We put the whole thing.

Again the noodle was equally as chewy as the one in jjampong without the chili oil smothered on the surface. When I was little, I used to taste the noodle before it was mixed to judge the quality of the restaurant based on the noodle. Wang Be Sung's is supreme!