Inner Journey

  Lately, we went to a kind of fusion Italian restaurant ‘Mafia Salon’ nearby the Sinjungdong Lotte department store. In this restaurant, not only common Italian dishes, but also, they serve many Korean style side dishes that are good match to soju and beer. This place is one of Leo’s favorites because, there, he loves crab meat cream-based pasta. Yes…recently we ate many noodles and pastas and they are also my preference too. My first impression is that this place seems to be a beer hall, but unlike others, customers are not 9 to 5 works, but families and lovers. I usually have different types of cocktails and highballs rather than beers here. Usually, Leo hated any types of seasoning and sources, but when it comes to pastas and Chinese noodles like Jajangmyeon (black bean source noodle), he is OK. The crab meat pasta served in Mafia Salon came with crab meat, sliced vegetables, pieces of galic bread, mussels with cream source, which was originally a bit spicy for Leo. Therefo...

  Now, it’s getting hotter and hotter and we are looking for something cold to eat and drink. This time was the first time for me to eat Naengmyeon in 2023. Naengmyeon (cold noodle) is a food that is mainly eaten in Korean and made with rolling noodles mostly made of buckwheat in cold broth with hard-boiled egg, pork, pickled radish and sometimes with Korean pear. Of course, I did not think much of this food because it is, more often than not served as a desert after having meaty main dishes. I bet you may always find out this food as a choice in Bulgogi and spareribs restaurants. Although it comes to you with clear broth, you are given bottles of vinegar and mustard thus you can add both of or one of them. I usually only add mustard to my naengmyeon to enjoy a kind of spicy taste on the palate.   When discussing the type of naengmyeon, it should be considered that the food called naengmyeon in the first place has nothing to do with specific recipe, but rather a common nam...

  Now, it seems that almost everybody talks about whisky and whisky. And it is no surprise that many companies in the distribution and hospitality industries are trying to adjust their position to meet this trend. Recently, I witnessed many newly released highball products in the freezer of convenience stores and competition seemed to be escalating. W ith high popularity of whiskey following handmade beer and wine, "Mixoloy," which is a mixture of alcohol and drinks, has become a mainstream trend. There is rumor that some companies even go further to release some salted and aged sashimi meal kit, which may be perfect match to whiskies and highballs According to the industry media outlets, major convenience store companies are increasing various product lines and strengthening marketing to grow highball as a strategic product. Notably, the RTD (Ready To Drink) highball-type products that do not require lemon or carbonated water and can be drunk immediately after purchase ar...

    Recently, with canned snail, I bought and drunk two cans of Kozel White, which is Czech's leading beer company’s newly released lager beer product. Kozel White adds the scent of fruit. I think the taste is much better than average lager beers I recently had and it goes well with widely available cheap snacks. It has been more than 10 years since he entered the Korean market with "Kozel Dark", which I think did good job in the market. Actually, there are two beer halls named “Kozel something (I do not remember exact name)” nearby my apartment and I visited one of those places. This Czech stout has been popular brand since it had been imported in Korea and the company now definitely want to strengthen its presence in Korea by new weaponry to participate in summer beer war.   Last Month, with their executive officers, Kozel held a press conference at a Czech restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul to introduced Company’s new lager. Kozel launched the new product in the Korean mar...

  Sook ju namul is the name of mung bean sprout in Korea. Suk Ju namul is inexpensive and common vegetable in Korea and other far east countries. The photo is stir-fried sook joo namul dish served to us for free in a lamb skewers restaurant. Because we are regular to this place, this food is always given for us even if we do not order and both me and Leo enjoyed its crunchy texture and taste. In Korea, bean sprouts are more common than mung bean sprout, but in other Asian countries, mung bean sprouts are more often used for culinary purpose. One of my favorite Japanese foods is fried beef with mung bean sprout. Sook Ju namul contains a lot of minerals and vitamins necessary for the human body and helps relieve hangovers. In summer, it easily goes bad much faster than other vegetables such as bean sprouts and spinach thus caution should be exercised in handling.   Because of this nature, some people believe that the word “Sook Ju” stems from the name of the traitor. Arguably...

  On last Sunday, just before our ritual of culinary tourism over weekend, we went to Leo’s favorite cat café, Savannah Coshca, which is home to almost 20 adult cats and kittens. Although this is the place for Leo, I also enjoyed much because cats have been one of my best animal friends.  The cat with dark fur in the first photo goes by dark cloud and the cat in the second photo is Deoku who is indeed pussycat loving sleeping in customers arms and on pet furniture. Leo bought two chicken breast packs for pets and fed flocking feline friends with pleasure. Their feeding frenzy, some savannah cats even jumped in an attempt to catch bowl containing breasts. As a matter of fact, me and Leo are allergic to furs of animals as well as pollens thus we sometimes sneezed and having runny nose.  But such problems never stopped enthusiastic cat lovers like us go there! I remember that, especially on chilly, snowy days, cats provided both warmth better than blankets and brought se...

  This time, I happened to choose two cans of Hanmaek in the fridge of a convenience store. This beer is a relatively new (in 2021) product of OB Beer. I was trying to find out Hite-Jinro’s new beer Kelly, but it was not anywhere yet. In reality, it was first time for me to know that Hanmaek is in the market because I have been very insensitive to what is going on with domestic beers. The spokesmodel of the Hanmaek was an actor Lee Byung-hun. I think if you watched “Mister Sunshine”, then you may be familiar with his name. It was very unusual to employ such famous entertainer to promote it, reflecting on company’s seriousness to increase market share. Hanmaek is a 4.6 % ABV (alcohol by volume) lager beer made by OB Beer with the intention of making a lager representing Korea. Unlike some malt beer released in last few years, domestic rice is used to produce this beer. OB Beer did not properly distribute its product in restaurants as it was released in the COVID-19 time. Even th...