City Guide Review: Honey Bowl
Review by Deborah Wood, ETA 2014-2015 City: Hongdae (홍대) Restaurant Name: Honey Bowl Food Served: Brunch Restaurant Address: 서울특별시 마포구 합정동 410-21 View Map Directions: Hongdae Branch 1) From Hongdae Station. [~20 min] Take a left out of Exit 9. Take a right at the big street after Coffee Bean, and follow it for ~15 minutes. You will cross over one street with streetlights. A second will be in sight when you should take a right just after a CU. Honey Bowl is the 2nd building on the left. 2) From Hapjeong Station. [~10 min] Take exit 6, and continue straight along the left side of the road. After passing Chili & Sesame, take a left at the next road (독막로7길), and then the next right. Honey Bowl will be on your right. 3) From Sangsu Station. [~5 min] Take exit 1, and continue on the right side of the road. When you get to a parking lot in the middle of a perpendicular street, take a right. Cross the lot in order to take the first left. Honey Bowl is the 2nd building on your left. Cost: ~10-15,000 won I visited the Hongdae Branch, but I believe the following is true of all three branches. Although based on the first floor, the restaurant is built for an outdoor eating experience. Most of the glass “walls” appear to be windows that can be collapsed so that the restaurant becomes a kind of indoor terrace during the warmer months. As a result, the restaurant can be busy at peak brunch times in the summer, especially on weekends, but most times of day and year, you can find a table quickly and order whenever you are ready. In winter, the establishment is chilly, but several heaters are set up to keep the small space warm. Brunch options are varied (including Eggs Benedict, French toast, combination plates, and even crepes), but they also offer some miscellaneous other dishes, such as sandwiches, pastas, a pasta sandwich, wings, salads, and even beer. The Honey Bowl Special is an omelette dish, but I never tried it. For dishes that come with syrup, you can choose from several types of syrup, including fruit flavors. Most dishes with syrup tended to run a little sweet for my taste, but not any more so than at other brunch places in Korea. For more savory flavors, I prefer the combination plates. Not all staff members seem very comfortable in English, but since all items on the menu are written in English (and have Konglish names anyway), it’s still very easy to order. I believe that even someone with no knowledge of Korean would still easily order and pay for their food. For the full menu, see their website at http://blog.naver.com/jookkss.
City Guide Review: Gusttimo (Itaewon)
Review by Karen Han, manager of Gusttimo (Itaewon) City: Itaewon, Seoul (이태원, 서울) Restaurant Name: Gusttimo (구스띠모) Food Served: Dessert, Gelato, Coffee Restaraunt Address: 서울특별시 용산구 이태원동 127-11 View Map Directions: It is just outside of the exit 3, Itaewon station and next to the kebab shop. Opposite of the Hamilton Hotel. Cost: Varies, ~4,000 KRW How was the wait time? Did you make a reservation? There is no wait time unless it is the weekend. It will not take that long as it is cafe serving coffee or gelato. Was the restaurant clean? How were bathroom amenities? The Gelato shop just opened in April 2015, so it is really clean and posh atmosphere. At the same time, it is small, but cozy~ How was the service? Did wait staff speak English? Service, they have special education on service and how to work at the Gelato shop/cafe, they have some of the staff good at speaking English and Chinese. Also, great at English. What did you order? Are there any “specialities” that the reader should be sure to try? How long did it take for the food to come out? Gelato-specializing cafe, also coffee is always there. How was the food? Was there a particular dish that stood out, or was disappointing? They have traditional Italian style Gelato and it is healthy and various types of gelato are available.They make the gelato fresh every day. Would you come back again? Why or why not? I would love to come back again, and try different flavors!
City Guide Review: Shabu Maxim
Review by Monica Heilman, ETA 2014-2015 City: Gimhae (김해) Restaurant Name: Shabu Maxim (샤브막심) Food Served: Shabu Shabu Restaraunt Address: 경상남도 김해시 해반천로 34-9 View Map Directions: On the Busan-Gimhae light rail, get off at Yeonji Park station and exit left, crossing a bridge and heading down stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, go straight until reaching traffic lights. You’ll see Shabu Maxim up ahead, slightly to the right. (For an alternative route with a sidewalk, exit right from the station and walk in the opposite direction of the stairs. At the intersection, turn right. The restaurant will be on your left.) Cost: 13,000 KRW for lunch, 16,000 KRW for dinner Shabu Maxim in Gimhae is a very new restaurant that just opened at the start of this year (2015). There is another branch in Haeundae, Busan. As it’s still new, the facilities (including bathrooms) are in excellent condition and very clean. There’s even a small play area for babies and toddlers. My favorite thing about the restaurant, besides the food itself, is the space, which is open and well-lit, with huge windows to let in natural light. I’ve gone twice, both times in a large group with a reservation and sat at large tables on the second floor. The menu is your typical shabu shabu fare – raw beef that you cook in your own boiling broth, veggies and rice paper for making wraps, noodles as a second course, and a third course of juk/rice porridge with egg. If you haven’t had shabu shabu yet, it’s definitely a must-try and be prepared to eat A LOT. What’s unique about Shabu Maxim is that they’ve nixed the Korean tradition of sharing dishes and given each person their own individual pot of broth. This means you also receive separate servings of noodles and rice porridge – so you can’t rely on someone else even if you’re getting full. During my second visit, our group also got dessert, which was a choice between ice cream, iced coffee or iced tea. While I opted for coffee, some of my coworkers still had room for ice cream, which was a single scoop of vanilla. Unfortunately, the iced coffee was far too sweet for my taste, but stick with the shabu shabu and you’ll be more than satisfied.