A "Chinese Restaurant"

I went to a Chinese restaurant today after work with a fellow teacher friend from my school. It was surprisingly good! I would estimate that it is about 85% close to American style Chinese food overall. But, with more of a "home cooked" style of preparation and taste than a true authentic restaurant taste.

We ordered a few very simple items as the servings are quite large and there were only two of us. I was a bit unsure as to the amount of food we would actually get. My friend has been there before of course and I deferred to his recommendation. As it turns out, the servings are about twice the usual size I would normally have expected. Good thing we only ordered two items. I am still feeling stuffed as I write this.

The Fried Dumplings were nicely colored and crispy. The skin wrapping looked to be the authentic flat and square shaped egg noodle normally used. I think they were. The stuffing was a mix of Chinese style and Korean style meat and vegetable fusion. They were very good. I'd say about 95% authentic American-Chinese style in taste and presentation.

The Beef with Celery dish, really a home cooking style combination of a basic meat and vegetables dish, was also very good. The Chinese style mushrooms were a nicely added touch. The beef was marinated quiet well, but not over marinated. And, the taste was very good overall. I think the best part of it for me was that there was actual garlic cooked along with the rest of the ingredients. How I miss cooked garlic in my food. A bit too much corn starch and oil though, but that's par for the course. The beef looked a bit strange to me at first as it looked like pork in color, but it was definitely beef. Think of it as almost veal-like in appearance and you get the idea. I'd say close to an 85% rating with respect to authenticity and taste.

I know trying only two different dishes does not really show how good overall a restaurant really is, but with limited mouths to help eat the food, it will have to suffice for now. I had a good feel for the place even after such a limited exposure. I would personally stay away from the knowingly Korean-Chinese style dishes, though, as I have never liked this fusion. Just my taste and nothing against those who do like this fusion style.

As this was an impromptu meal at the end of the day, I did not have a camera to take pix with me. I even forgot to get a business card on the way out; something I told myself earlier to get on the way out. Duh! I'm getting old! Luckily, I pocketed an unused napkin while still sitting at the table. As for the address, I have no idea! My friend drove and all I know is that it is inside Bupyong-Gu halfway between Gyayang-Gu and Bupyong subway station. All in Incheon, of course. If you live here, just call them and ask for directions. It is just off a main street near Bupyong-Gu Office, so you should be able to find it. Limited parking on the side streets. Trilingual menu in Chinese, Korean and English.

Recommended

Name: See pic above. I cannot read Chinese!

Location: See above last paragraph.

Price: A bit on the expensive side, but still worth it. I would go back again with friends.

Random Readup #9

Wow, been doing so many random readups lately...

What's up my dear readers! I've been neglecting my blog lately and I will make it up to you. Things have been pretty busy lately. Check out the things that have been going on so far:

Well first of all, there's our church play based on the story of St. Jean Marie Vianney; the farm boy who became a priest despite all the trials he has gone through and the years of torments from the devil.

The guy on the left is Victor playing the big role as St. Jean, voiced over by Russell. The boy on the right is one of the characters who taught St. Jean Latin.

I have a role too, but its a small one. I'm one of the kitchen maids who kneads the dough and stuff and I have to tell St. Jean that there isn't any more supplies and he prays for it and then POOF! There's food in the cupboard!

To be honest, I originally wanted to take that role so that I could be part of the play for the first and last time AND I get to play with dough on stage.

There are dancers.

And there's the choir.

And there's Roann and I! Gee, she's been featured a lot in my blog posts lately...

Not only I was involved in a play, there's also our BEC church zone's Family Day. We youths have to plan the games and entertainment.

So this is the venue of the event:

Its in Hulu Langat; the place where I used to study back when I was in Seri Suria. Its nice to go by the familiar roads which I used to take in the mornings whenever I go to school. Ah! Good times, good times...

Plus, I've been playing by the rivers so many times and I can't believe I've never seen this place before especially since its just a 2 minute drive away!

Once again, there's Roann in the pink shirt.

Check it out! There's even places where you could pitch your tents!

And there's the place where the event will take place! Its a 10 minute walk uphill there,

Look how calm and clear the waters are.

There's even a few built in BBQ pits too!

Also, mom wanted to have her kitchen renovated so in the meantime, things are a bit crowded here with all the stuff taken out from the kitchen.

The kitchen is all sealed up so that no one could go in, but, there's a small entrance by the side just in case we need to go in.

I did go in the kitchen before, but, I'd like to keep the suspense for my readers and surprise you later. Midterm exams are here and I hope you do well for your studies, at least, one of of us will :S

Junk Food

I love junk food. To be more specific, I love potato chips and corn chips the most. But, that was back in Canada when I didn't know any better about the other kinds of "chips", or crunchy junk foods to be found.

I can go for months without having any junk food at all. And, that's a good thing as I love the stuff so much I would be over 150kg's (that's over 300lbs for those of you still stuck with imperial measurements) if I ate the stuff all the time. So, after a few months of not eating any junk food, there will be a week, or two, of "measured" face stuffing. And, by measured, I mean a large 180gr bag will last me an entire week of a few chips per night along with some healthy stuff like yogurt afterwards.

As I intimated earlier, chips were my thing. Now, it's a new type of crunchy "chip". In this case, they are shrimp flavored chips shaped like French fries. If you have ever eaten at a real Chinese restaurant before, you will know these things as the round, multi-colored, chips they serve with certain foods. They are flavored with shrimp and are just another deep fried slice of something (I have no idea what they are made of). Here in South Korea, there are entire aisles of chip styled junk foods. This was one of the ones I tried, amongst many, that I liked very much. Most of the stuff are potato chip and corn chip based just like in North America along with other things never before seen. I think most of it is similar stuff just in different shapes and/or colors. But, having found this one that I like very much, I have no need to experiment with other things for the time being.

The chips themselves are really nice and have a nice crunch to them, but they are not too hard textured as to leave your mouth feeling lacerated and/or shredded by too hard a chip like potato, or corn chips, have a tendency to do. The flavor is nice and subtle and does not disappear when you eat too many of them as your taste buds have a tendency to over saturate with flavors that are too intense. That's why the first bite of something is usually the best bite of all as the initial flavor explosion leaves all later bites over powered and a bit lacking in that initial impact.

Now, one thing to note that is very, very, different with Korean chips, and Korean food in general, is the extremely low levels of salt used in the foods, even in junk food. Whereas ALL North American junk food kills your taste buds with salt and other chemicals, the stuff here is very mild and subtle. There is actual TASTE in the food, and junk food, that is absent in North America where the predominant flavors are TOO SALTY, TOO SWEET, or TOO SOUR.

Just like milk chocolate in North America that is way over sweetened to the point where there is no real chocolate flavor in it, only SWEET. Gone is the luscious, smooth, flowing flavors of real chocolate and the melt in your mouth, almost sensual, explosion of chocolate taste that overpower ones senses. It's almost impossible to find unless you avoid like the plague milk chocolate and stick to semi-sweet and/or dark chocolate by European makers like Lindt, or custom chocolatiers like Godiva, etc. Although, even these well known makers are now veering too close to the lack of taste and the TOO SWEET side of things. Shame on them!

Anyways, the point of all this is the discovery of a new chip for me and a new junk food that I enjoy once in a while when the mood strikes. For those of you here, try them. I know the shrimp flavor might sound gross to some people not accustomed to the flavor, but they really are very good and not as bad as the name might imply.

Highly Recommended.

Locations: Most large grocery stores like Home Plus, E-Mart, Lotte Mart, Grande Mart, corner convenience stores, etc.

Cost: A hair over W1000 per 180gr bag.