The Dining Lab

The Dining Lab (더다이닝랩) is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Seoul. Located in the Donggyodong (동교동) neighborhood, I'm surprised to find this restaurant away from the more crowded area of Hongdae. The restaurant is small. They have only a couple tables and a bar area that is facing the open kitchen. If you want to see the action in the kitchen, sitting at the bar will definitely get you that. Their food is really good. I've been here a couple of times and tried different things and I love them all. I'm more of a meat person overall so I'm really picky when eating my veggies, but the way the cook their veggies here is good. Everything is cooked in the right way and seasoned really well. Although, the portion is a little small compared to the price, but I can live with that since I don't come here everyday :P. If you're looking to try something new around Hongdae area, I would definitely recommend this place.

Pictured: Salmon Gravlax & Beurre Blanc Sauce, Salmon Steak with Roast Bacon, Burger with French Fries, & Sous-vide Ribeye Steak with Roasted Vegetables.

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Take Out Drawing Cafe

Take Out Drawing Cafe (테이크아웃드로잉 카페) is one of the places in my want-to-visit-cafes-in-Seoul list. I've seen some cool photos online and thought it's an interesting space. So, after our lunch at Plant, we made our way to this place to check it out. Apparently they have two locations, which I didn't know. The location we went to is the Noksapyeong (녹사평) branch and they have another one in Itaewon (이태원) (I think). The cafe was just okay. We went there on a Saturday so there were lots of people and the place was pretty full. We ordered their most-instagrammed drink, which I forgot what the name is, and according to my coffee-drinker friends, it wasn't that good. It just looks good :) Anyway, I think the other location might have better interior design, so I probably gonna try to go to the other location some other time. 

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Hints of Spring

Haven't had a lot of chance to walk outside lately so earlier today, I wandered around Yeonnam (연남동) neighborhood and saw flowers started to bloom here and there. This is my first spring in South Korea, so I'm kinda looking forward to see all the cherry blossom around the city. My friends told me spring in Seoul could be gone in a blink of an eye. It usually lasts for a couple of weeks, sometimes it could be as short as 1-2 weeks before summer takes over. Hopefully I can catch the cherry blossom before they disappear. For now, here's a glimpse of it.

Have a good Easter weekend everybody! 

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Gentle Monster Merry Go Round

Passed by Gentle Monster the other day and saw this new installation in their exhibition space. Gentle Monster is probably one of the fascinating shops I've ever been to. They use their space as a shop as well as collaborating with the Quantum Project to host art exhibitions. I don't really know much about the space, but according to their website: 

"The Quantum Project presents a new evolution of commercial space by creating fast space that is redesigned every 25 days through collaborations with an extensive range of artists and brands." 

... and this is their 16th Quantum Project—Merry Go Round. 

"A merry-go-round depicts the nostalgia and novelty of childhood, nestled in the back of our mind. The main stage, surrounded by remains of a broken sculpture, is spinning around and around creating a truly surreal vibe: Candies are overflowing in the objects at the ring of the merry-go-round, presenting you with sweet amusement."

The exhibition will be on display from March 3 to 30. If you happen to be in Hongdae/Hapjeong neighborhood and wanna see something interesting, you should definitely visit this place. And you could get free candies too (yes, you can scoop them yourselves and take them home).

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The Bap (더밥)

With holiday is over and school kickin' off this week, everything is (almost) back to the normal routine for me. After a couple of weeks of holiday, I think it'll take me some time to adjust back to the school & work schedule. I kinda wish we have longer holidays like the rest of regular university in Korea but, oh well. 

Anyways, lately I've been craving for Soybean Paste Stew (Dwenjang Jjigae 된장 찌개) everyday and can't get enough of it for some reason :P So sharing one of my favorite places to get a traditional Korean meal such as the soybean paste stew, The Bap (더밥). Located around Hyehwa Station, this place is famous for their Stews (Jjigae 찌개) and delicious side dishes (Banchan 반찬). Ordered a couple of things from the menu, everything was great and the Dwenjang Jjigae didn't disappoint. And their eggplant side dish has probably became my number one favorite banchan. We'll see if anything will top that eggplant in the near future :)