A Delicious Affair: Takemura

My momma told me to never go out for sushi on a rainy day—something about the sushi chefs not serving a fresh filet of fish on those days, she said. I usually listen to what Mom says, but I was craving sushi so much the other day that I just had to be the disobedient daughter.

Because I was lounging at the Harvard Kennedy School around dinnertime, I decided to go to the nearest Japanese restaurant called Takemura (18 Eliot St. Cambridge, MA). The atmosphere leaves something more to be desired, as I was not a fan of its plain wooden furniture in a dimly lit basement. Since I came with a close girl friend, thus not needing a romantic setting, the atmosphere didn’t matter too much.

Takemura’s extended menu offers a wide range of food, ranging from sashimi to udon noodle to even Korean food. The most impressive menu, however, was the different specialty roll with unique names like “Obama Maki” and “Red Sox.” Despite the weather, I ordered a nigiri sushi platter ($16.95), chef's choice of assorted fillets of raw fish served on sushi rice, while my friend had Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap ($12.95), a Korean delicacy of beef, fried egg, and assorted vegetables served on a bed of rice in a sizzling stone pot. We also decided to share salmon-scallop roll ($10.95), scallop and cucumber roll with filet of salmon and slices of avocado on top.

There was a large group of 10 dining in the restaurant, so the waiter told us that our sushi roll might be delayed a bit. We sipped on a warm cup of green tea and citron tea as we waited for our food.

The first entrée that graced our table was Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap. The sizzling sound of rice, together with the savory smell of beef, vegetables, and egg frying in the hot pot, made my mouth water. We squirted a dollop of red pepper paste and mixed all the ingredients together. The phrase “Saving the best for last” is so suiting to this dish—the lightly scorched rice that sticks to the bottom of the hot stone pot is crispier than potato chips, a perfect ending to a delicious, healthy dish.

While we were busy digging our spoons into the hot stone pot, the waiter brought the nigiri sushi platter and salmon-scallop roll on white, rectangular plates. The sushi platter had six pieces of nigiri, or raw filet of fish (two tuna, salmon, shrimp, yellowtail, mackerel) over rice, as well as six tuna maki. Both the shrimp and yellowtail nigiri were a bit on the dry side, and the rice could have been seasoned with more flavors. Furthermore, there was an imbalance in the amount of tuna and rice in the maki because all I could taste was the rice.

(This isn't exactly what we had, but it's close enough)

On the other hand, the salmon-scallop roll was a sweet surprise to an otherwise mediocre dining experience. The layers of avocado and salmon on top added visual attractiveness to the sushi roll with thin slices of cucumber and scallop. The sushi pieces were so big that I had to eat them in two bites. The fresh salmon melted right as it touched the tip of my tongue. The mishmash of crunchy cucumber and slimy scallop provided a fantastic textural combination.

Although the restaurant was packed despite it being a weekday night, the waiter constantly refilled our tea as soon as it ran out and asked us about our food. Overall, Takemura is not an exceptional, four-star quality restaurant, but a decent place for anyone craving one food item the Harvard dining hall can never serve.

Korea This Winter?

My tutoring lessons are wrapping up, which only means the days until I go back to the U.S. is creeping behind my back. Even a couple days ago, I was quite depressed about leaving Korea so soon, but not anymore. It's not that I won't miss Korea or I'm ecstatic about going back. Instead, an opportunity arrived and I caught it.



Yesterday while Skyping Mom, she told me she received a text message from someone asking for me. She told me grandma's number, and soon after the cell phone rang. The person turned out to be a girl I met at Harvard dinner in Seoul Club, and she asked me if I was interested in joining a non-profit that she has created. The non-profit is hosting a winter leadership camp for Korean high school students, and if I were to be on the board member, I would create a lesson curriculum and help with logistics. The perk is that I would get to come to Korea this winter with the airfare paid for by the sponsor of the non-profit! I can't quite describe my joy except that I am so grateful for this opportunity.



After tutoring Sally for the last time today, I met up with the creators of the non-profit for lunch. We discussed the non-profit and what is expected of me as a board member. Unless something unexpected happens, it is set in stone that I will be flying to Korea again in 4 months. Whoop~



Anyways, to continue my food posting, we went to an Indian restaurant called Dal. The boneless chicken tandoori was a bit too spicy and the chicken curry too creamy, but I was pretty hungry so it all tasted good nonetheless. I had to gulp down several glasses of water while eating this chicken tandoori.



I always say Indian food is one of my favorite cuisine, but I don't like it when the curry comes out way too oily & creamy, i.e. when the oil floats on the surface, as was the case for this curry. I guess I should just eat Indian food in the U.S.

Eat Till You Drop

When I tell my friends I have been in Korea all summer, the typical questions are as followed:



"What are you doing?"

"How are you liking it?"

"How's the food?"



The last question stumps me every time. How am I liking the food in Korea? A simple answer is: it's too great.



I love food, and I am a voracious eater. The only reason I am able to maintain my body is that I am a rather picky eater as well. There are many things I avoid, both for my health and my eccentric taste bud. For example, I don't eat pork (bacon, pork chop, sausage, etc.) because pigs scare me. I realize it's quite irrational, but this fear prevented me from consuming pork for so long that if I tried eating it now with a blind eye, I still can't do it because it upsets my stomach. I also dislike anything greasy (fried food), creamy (cream-based sauce), or chocolatey (I'm partially allergic to chocolate...).



Despite my picky taste, I still love trying new food. And today I got to eat food--albeit not new--until my stomach erupted in pain from overdose.



I crossed the Han River twice today instead of relying on public transportation; I foresaw that my day would involve lots of food consumption so I emptied my stomach in advance by exercising. I first met up with a guy from Harvard and had Chinese food. The two of us ordered mapa tofu (spicy tofu with minced meat), vegetable fried rice, noodle in clear broth with seafood and vegetables, and shrimp dimsum. The food was decent, but I realized I am not a huge fan of Chinese cuisine because it uses too much oil.


The small serving was mapo tofu was just the right sized because I didn't eat it much--too much chili oil floating on the top. The fried rice was likewise a bit too greasy for my liking.

I have had better shumai (shrimp dimsum). Nothing special with these ones, except for the oozing juice inside.

We then shared the famous Meal Top patbingsu, which, by the way, is a summer dessert I am absolutely sick of because of this article on patbinsgu that I wrote for Chosun Ilbo. I had to visit 15 cafes in 5 days, and my stomach was in pain for a long time afterward.



After this feast, I did my last day of tutoring with Belle, and her parents bought me dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant called Anna Bini. The tomato salad with fresh mozzarella was so delightful! I usually don't like cheese (that's actually one of the many food items I dislike), but I could eat this mozzarella every day! It was chewy and savory at the same time. Great texture!



The cream pasta with squid ink black noodle is the restaurant's signature dish, but since I don't like cream-based pasta, I only had a bite to be polite.



I ordered black olive oil pasta, which surprisingly wasn't as oily as I had expected! I liked the seafood in it, especially the lobster tail.



I am also not an omnivore, so I only had two pieces of steak. The only time I can tolerate steak is when it's cook to rare so that I can taste the tenderness of the meat, but this was cooked to medium. Bleh.



We ordered this chicken, broccoli, and bacon risotto at the end because the parents thought the food wasn't enough. The mom put a heaping spoonful on my plate to try, and I had such a difficult time finishing it because the chicken was fatty and the risotto had bacon in it :( I didn't want to seem wasteful so I ate the whole thing.



Anyways, my stomach is crying inside right now because it is full of food, but I am just eating as much as I can before I leave Korea because the food at Harvard doesn't even compare. And I need to get a little fatter, anyways.

A Delicious Affair: Dong Bing Go

For our fourth day of "Bingsu reporting," we went to a small bingsu place called Dong Bing Go. This place is tucked away in a residential neighborhood, so only the people who know the place will come visit here.

We ordered one regular bingsu and one milk tea bingsu. I asked the waiter to take out the condensed milk to save calories, but the girl I'm reporting with found out and asked for it on the side...haha.

The regular bingsu was nothing but simple, with ice, red bean, and three pieces of rice cake. I liked that the red bean wasn't too sweet.

The milk tea bingsu had bananas, too much nuts in my opinion, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I prefered this bingsu to the other one, but nothing that special.

A Delicious Affair: Ducati & Cafe T

I went to Samsungdong with the girl from Smith yesterday to taste more bingsu. The first cafe we went to was called Ducati, and this place is famous for its green tea bingsu ($16). I asked the waiter to extract condensed milk because I didn't want my stomach to erupt (I am partially lactose-intolerant). The bingsu looked fine visually, but it tasted awful. The green tea flavor was too bitter, even with the heaping ice cream on top. There was too much nuts and not enough red bean. I am not sure why this place is famous for its bingsu because it was one of the worst I have ever tasted.

We were contemplating whether to go to a very expensive bingsu place at the Park Hyatt hotel ($35), but decided against it because realistically not very many people can afford that kind of bingsu.

Instead we went to Cafe T near Galleria. We ordered the Milk Bingsu, which was made from shaved milk ice, red bean, too much condensed milk, and tapioca. I personally prefer chunkier rice cake. The milk flavor was too strong so I wasn't a huge fan of this bingsu either.

A Delicious Affair: Cafe the Air & Be Sweet On Green Tea Shaved Ice

I have been on the hunt for the best bingsu (Korean shaved ice with sweet red bean) in Seoul with another intern for Chosun Ilbo. Yesterday was our second day and we went to a neighborhood called Hongdae.

The first cafe we went to was called Be Sweet On, and we ordered its signature dish, Green Tea shaved ice. At about $18, I thought the bingsu was quite overpriced, but because it came with green tea roll cake along with rice cake balls and green tea syrup on the side, perhaps the exorbitant price was reasonable.

The shaved ice had a very strong green tea flavor. I spilled a lot of ice and red bean on the plate at first because it was so huge! I liked that the red bean, which the workers cooked themselves, wasn't too sweet. The ice was shaved very fine and the bingsu was also served with hot green tea on the side, which warmed my body. The cafe uses best ingredients (organic green tea powder, red bean from Korea, etc.), and I could definitely taste the difference. Yum!

We walked around Hongdae for a bit to empty our stomach, and went to our second destination: Cafe the Air. I didn't like how crowded and loud it was inside. We ordered the green tea bingsu, and I would say the majority of the customers (99%) ordered the same thing.

My favorite was the ice cream because it had the texture of soft yogurt/ice cream. I am not a fan of nuts, and I was disappointed that there was no rice cake. Also the red bean wasn't made in the cafe. It was also too milky.

I have to go to other bingsu places in the afternoon, and I am already quite tired from consuming such cold food...it's upsetting my stomach! It's not easy being an epicure...

A Delicious Affair: Jin Jin Bara

On Saturday for dinner, my dad took us and grandma to a full course Korean meal restaurant called Jin Jin Bara. Mom and I had been shopping at Lotte Department store and we unexpectedly met in the subway on our way to the restaurant. Oh family...

We made reservation so the table was already set by the time we got there.

The course began with soup and salad. The soup needed more seasoning, so I added a little bit of soy sauce that was on the table. I'm not sure what type of soup it was, but it was thick and white. The lettuce in the salad was fresh and crispy, but there was too much dressing on the bottom.


The second round of food included chicken rolled in patties (tasted more like sausage), three different kinds of Korean pancakes (my favorite was the one in the middle because it tasted chewy with sweet bean paste inside), crackled rice soup, sashimi, and jellyfish salad.





Next were japchae (clear noodle with soy sauce and vegetables), "Goo Jul Pan" (Nine
platters...similar to a wrap with nine different kinds of vegetables), and mook salad that my brother really enjoyed.



Giant shrimp with sweet pumpkin and potato puree! I really enjoyed this item and had both of it since DJ doesn't eat shrimp.

Memil noodle, which needed more ice and was too salty, steamed pork meat, galbi (beef), and octopus dish that we were too full to even taste.




Koreans don't call it a full meal unless there is rice, banchans, and fermented soy bean stew.

Finally, dessert. Rice cakes, pineapple, and fruit drink. We literally feasted that night for just about $40 per person! I would highly, highly recommend that anyone who visit Korea to try a full course meal. My stomach was so full afterward that I decided to walk home, which took 2 hours (including crossing the Han River, one of my favorite things to do!)