Long Bread, Myeongdong

I think it's safe to say that most people know Myeongdong for its epic array of street food, clothing stores, and scores upon scores of makeup shops, and it's probably not exactly the place that springs to mind when you think of the word "brunch". Fret not, though. If you're in the area and looking for a healthy way to kick start your morning, Long Bread is here to save the day!

Long Bread is actually a subsidiary of The Flying Pan, which is a chain famous for their delicious (albeit slightly costly) brunch dishes. As the name suggests, Long Bread specialises in... bread. Hah! More specifically, though, sandwiches and paninis. Their food is a little pricy, but you can expect the same good quality that comes from The Flying Pan, plus there's also the added bonus that they use organic ingredients.

So back in March, on another of our epic brunch quests, Mae and I hit up Long Bread to indulge ourselves in some delicious, crusty paninis. I ordered the ham, cheese, and pesto panini (7,800 won):

It also came with a side of fresh, green salad, which I think was dressed with balsamic vinegar. Mmm... Tangy!

I didn't get a picture of Mae's order, but it was some kind of seasonal winter special that involved bacon, cheese, sweet potato, and yuja jam (yuja is a citrus fruit, so it tasted a bit like marmalade). I did try a bite of her panini but personally I wasn't a huge fan of the sweet-salty combination. (Bacon, cheese, and marmalade? Hmm... @__@)

On our second trip there, last month, I tried the "Say cheese! panini" (6,800 won), which was supposedly 6 different types of cheese all melted into one very cheesy sandwich:

Look at the gooey, cheesy goodness just oozing out of the centre!

Mae went for the "Long Bread sandwich" (8,300 won), which was made up of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg:

Delicious and filling!

Both times that we went, the paninis were deliciously hot, fresh, and crusty. The bread gave way to our teeth with such a satisfying crunch as we bit into it, and the fillings were abundant and full of flavour.

Besides paninis and sandwiches, Long Bread's menu also included soup (which changes daily) and salad. They had a great selection of fruit juice and decent offerings of coffee.

The interior of the place was pretty cool too. I liked that there were plenty of seats to accommodate customers, especially as lots of business people start pouring out of their offices around lunch time.

After eating, make sure to return your dishes and trays to the return counter! ^^

As far as brunch goes, I guess I'm more accustomed to the kind that's greasy and laden with artery-clogging ingredients things like bacon, sausages, and creamy scrambled eggs. So, while I did enjoy Long Bread, it's probably not somewhere that I'd go out of my way to get to, but rather a nice place to visit if I just so happen to be in the area and feel like being "healthy". If you like sandwiches and paninis though, this is definitely worth checking out! ^__~ They also have locations in Yeouido, Gangnam, and Yeoksam.

Entrance to Long Bread, Myeongdong

Long Bread, Myeongdong
Hours: 7:30am - 10:00pm Mon - Fri, 11am - 7pm weekends
Address: 서울시 중구 남대문로2가 123 (123 Namdaemunno-2ga, Jung-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://longbread.co.kr/
Directions: From Euljiro Ipgu (Euljiro 1-ga) station, exit 7, walk straight until you reach Lotte Avenuel Department Store, on your right. You'll see Lotte Young Plaza across the road. Long Bread is part of the Lotte Young Plaza building.
OR
From Myeongdong Station, exit 5, walk straight for a few meters and take the first right. Follow this road all the way to the end, until you reach the main road with Lotte Young Plaza across from you. You can cross the road using the underground shopping arcade.

Momo Steak, Hyehwa

A while ago, my friend and I were out looking for somewhere to have dinner when we happened to stumble upon this little place called Momo Jjang Steak. As we stood outside, gazing up at it in all its yellow-painted glory, I asked my friend if he'd eaten there before and what he thought of the place.

"It's not bad," he replied. "And it's cheap -- 7,000 won."

At that point, I nearly stumbled backwards on the street. 7,000 won for steak? Surely this was too good to be true! Either he was grossly mistaken (70,000 won, not 7,000 won, perhaps?), or.... he was a liar liar pants on fire. I was intrigued, and so up the stairs we went. Lo and behold, we were presented with a menu that proved he was indeed telling the truth, and that the steak did actually start from the low, low price of 7,000 won.

DROOL.

Of course for that price, you can't go in expecting premium stuff like Kobe beef. However, the meat they do serve is definitely plentiful and tasty. It also comes with a generous serving of salad, and unlimited rice and miso soup. Talk about amazing value for money!

 

There were two types of steak on the menu: regular and Hamburg. The basic regular steak was 7,000 won for 150 grams, and 8,000 won for 200 grams. The Hamburg steak only came in one size and was priced at 7,000 won. You could add extras to your dish like bacon, baked potato, sausage, roasted garlic, etc. for between 1,000 to 2,000 won more. Or.... You could be a glutton like me and go for one of the combination sets:

I ordered the 10,000 won "steak topping" set that came with bacon, potato, roasted garlic, and "cheese fondue" (basically just cheesy dipping sauce that tasted kind of like watered down nacho cheese). The bacon wasn't crispy, but it was certainly a lot leaner than some other cuts I've seen, and it made an excellent wrap for the steak before getting dunked into the cheesy sauce. Also yes, the steak came out pre-chopped like that, which was kind of odd, but meh. Saves you having to cut it up yourself. Less cutting time = more eating time. >:D

Pink, succulent, and tender.. Perfectly cooked chunks of medium steak. :3 Om nom nom nom.

As it turns out, Momo Jjang is a chain and there are branches all over Korea. Unfortunately, it has only one branch in Seoul, which is in Hyehwa, and the next closest one is in Guri. Most of the other branches are down south in places like Busan, Ulsan, and Gimhae. Sadly, Hyehwa is still a bit of a trek from my place, but I'd say it's worth it for the $7 steak. >:D
(*Edit: There are now several branches around Seoul, including Gangnam! Check out their website for more locations ^^)

Momo Steak, Hyehwa
Address: 서울시 종로구동숭동 130-27 2층 (2nd floor, 130-27 Dongsung-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.momozzangsteak.co.kr
Directions: From Hyehwa Station, exit 2, walk straight for a couple of metres and you'll find a brown brick building on your left. Look out for a small path between the brown brick building and Marronnier Park next door. This will lead you to a back road, Daehangno-8ga gil. Follow this road straight for 3 blocks, until you can't go any further, and Momo should be in front you.

Egg and Spoon Race, Edae

Perhaps it's a sign of getting old that these days, meetings with my friend Mae usually take place in the morning, and usually for brunch. This is a stark contrast to our hangings-out of yester years, when we usually went for dinner instead and were perfectly capable of romping around Seoul into all odd hours of the night. Whatever has become of our once youthful, night-owl ways? Oh, age. You make me sadface.

As you might imagine, our new early morning grandma meetings have launched us on a continual quest to find good brunch places, and nothing has us smacking our lips more than the excitement of discovering somewhere new to try out. (Unless of course, it's the food from that somewhere new, which was definitely the case on this particular occasion.) On one of our recent brunch expeditions, we decided to visit this little joint called Egg and Spoon Race in Edae (Ewha Women's University).

Personally, when it comes to cafes, there are three things that really float my boat:
1. Decent prices (I'm a cheapo)
2. Good food (I'm a dwaeji)
3. Cute decorations (I'm a girl.. Self-explanatory!)
As it turned out, Egg and Spoon Race was a wonderful little combination of all three.. Winner ahoy!

The food started from 7000 won and the menu stated that if you visit on a weekday between 11am-2pm, you can take advantage of their 10% lunch discount. Score!

Their brunch offerings consisted of the usual fare: omelettes, waffles, salads, bagels, and so on.

The omelette section of their menu

Forks and spoons make a nifty chandelier

Any place that uses Mini Coopers as its wall decorations is a winner in my books!

On our first trip there, Mae ordered the potato omelette. It was chock full of spinach, bacon, and of course, potatoes (9000 won, discounted to 8100 won).

I decided to go with the 'bagel dish' (11,000 won, discounted to 9,900 won) -- salad, sausage, egg, and a bagel with chicken and melted cheddar over the top. It also came with a serving of ricotta on the side. Double cheesy whammy!

On our second visit, I couldn't resist going for the bagel dish again, while Mae ordered their 'high toast dish', laden with honey toast, bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, and salad. Very filling and very satisfying.

How funky is the bendy spoon on her coffee cup?!

The only possible downside I can think of is that it was quite a small cafe. While this made for a really nice, cosy atmosphere, it meant that the 7 or so small tables they had filled up really quickly once lunch time hit. Lucky for us though, part of this turning-into-old-farts business means we've started arriving at restaurants early enough to beat the crowds by a long mile.

While we were only there for brunch, it's worth noting they also do non-brunch foods like steak, pasta, pizza, and risotto.

Note to self: Go back in evening and stuff self silly on dinner menu.



Egg and Spoon Race, Edae
Hours: 11:00am - 9:00pm
Address: 서울시 서대문구 대현동 54-9 (54-9 Daehyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Edae Station, exit 3, walk straight in the direction of Ehwa Women's Uni campus. Take the second right, and look out for Egg and Spoon Race on your right.

Harris Coffee Park, Gangnam

This may sound rather ironic, but, on the last day of her trip in Korea, Wendy suddenly announced that she wanted western food. We were supposed to meet in Gangnam and we were due to meet in the morning, which then meant I was posed with the challenge of finding a decent breakfast/brunch place that
a) wasn't overpriced (because I'm a cheapo), and
b) served eggs (because she was craving).
(We girls are mystical creatures and we crave randomly. Who was I to deny her requests? :P)

A quick search on the interwebs for "brunch" and "Gangnam" turned up the usual places like Butterfinger Pancakes, Bakersfield, and The Flying Pan Red. I remembered feeling less than impressed the last time I'd gone to Butterfinger and had to wait two hours for a table (staying only because the friends I was with insisted.. Americans.. hah! :P) and then after all that waiting, the food, which was overpriced in my opinion, turned out to be meh -- not great, not bad, but just okay. Bakersfield didn't serve eggs, so that option was out, and as for The Flying Pan Red... I'd never been there before, but if it was anything like The Flying Pan Blue in Itaewon where brunch averages 17,000 won a dish, I had a feeling it just wouldn't sit right with my cheapo morals.

Enter Harris Coffee Park (which incidentally is also number 2 on CNN's 2011 list of "Seoul's best brunch restaurants") and my frugal prayers were answered.

The theme of the place was Australia, given that Harris Park is a place in Australia, and that instantly won brownie points in my mind. It had a nice, modern, chic feeling to it, and made plenty of references to Sydney, where the suburb of Harris Park is located.

 

Wendy and I both decided on the "Big Breakfast" with a side of chips. After ordering and paying at the counter, we didn't have to wait very long before the food was rolled out.

Behold, the Big Breakfast! Scrambled eggs with a hefty dollop of fragrant basil pesto, bacon, sausage, French toast, seasoned and sautéed mushrooms with capsicum, and fresh salad. Om nom nom nom!

I'm no connoisseur, but the serving size was definitely generous and the food was pretty darn tasty. The scrambled eggs had a delicious, creamy flavour to them and went amazingly well with the pesto. I've yet to find somewhere in Seoul that makes scrambled eggs like Harris does.

A few weeks later, I went back to Harris with a friend who ordered the bread pudding and a chai latte while I ordered the Big Breakfast again.. It came out exactly the same as before. Consistency is good! :D

If I remember right, the Big Breakfast on its own was 11,000 won, but you can upgrade to a "set" that comes with an Americano coffee for a grand total of 13,000 won -- pretty good, considering this is Gangnam.

On that note, although the area is still technically Gangnam-gu, Harris is located closer to Sinnonhyeon station on subway line 9 than Gangnam station (line 2).

There are definitely more things on the menu besides their brunch offerings, like pasta, steak, and burgers to name a few, but I've yet to try them out. If they're anything like the brunch dishes though, I'm sure they won't disappoint!



Harris Park Coffee
Hours: 10am - 10:30pm Mon - Fri, 10am - 10pm weekends
Address: 서울시 강남구 역삼동 601-16 (601-16 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul)
Website: http://www.harriskorea.co.kr/
Directions: From Sinnonhyeon Station, exit 4, walk straight and take the second right onto Bongeunsa-ro 4-gil. After a few meters, Harris will be on your left.
OR
From Gangnam station, exit 11, walk straight for about 800 meters until you reach the big intersection with Sinnonhyeon Station exit 5. Turn right and continue straight on until you pass exit 4. Take the second right onto Bongeunsa-ro 4-gil and look out for Harris on your left.

Mustoy Cafe (doll painting cafe), Hongdae

A while ago, my friend Wendy from back home came to visit Seoul. She had with her a long list of all the different places she wanted to go to, and a "china doll cafe" just so happened to be one of them.

Now I must admit that when she first told me about it, I wasn't too enthused. Something about the words "china doll cafe" brought to mind images of reclusive people silently consuming coffee while shrouded in shadows and surrounded by creepy porcelain dolls with long hair... You know, the kind of stuff horror movies are made of.

Luckily, Mustoy cafe in Hongdae was nothing like that. Much to my surprise, it turned out to be a lovely, cozy (and brightly-lit) place where you get to decorate cute, bubbly-shaped porcelain dolls (not the creepy kind) in any way you please. That's right.. Sip on a drink while unleashing your inner artist. What could be cooler than that?

The owner of the cafe, a very friendly and cheerful little lady, greeted us with plenty of enthusiasm and explained (in English!) the different options we had to choose from: a male or female doll, cat-shaped doll, or others that were more functional, like salt and pepper shakers or pen holders, with prices ranging from 15,000 won to 20,000 won. (The price also includes a drink of your choice.)

In the end, Wendy and I chose to go with a male and female doll. We were presented with a whole basket of supplies that had everything we needed -- oodles of coloured marker pens, tissues, and cotton buds for dipping in alcohol to erase any mistakes -- and away we went!

If you're indecisive and fickle like me (I have a tendency to change my mind like a chameleon changes colours), then it might take you a while to come up with how you want to decorate your doll. Luckily though, there are plenty of previously decorated ones lining the shelves to give you inspiration.

Pretty awesome, eh?

Unfortunately, my creative and artistic skills are rather lacking, and I'm quite craptacular when it comes to thinking up my own designs. So instead, I decided to go the "safe" route of blatantly plagiarising one of my all time favourite animes, Fruits Basket. Can you guess which character he is? XD

Left: mine, right: Wendy's.. Check out the nifty detailing on hers!

There's something oddly therapeutic and very enjoyable about sitting down and doodling on your own doll, and we soon found ourselves lost in deep concentration. After we'd finished, our dolls were wrapped up very carefully in bubble-wrap and popped into nifty little boxes for us to take home.

I didn't know it at the time, but according to their website, there are actually several Mustoy locations in Seoul and around Korea: http://mustoy.com/mustoy-cafe/

Definitely worth a visit if there's one near you! :D



Mustoy, Hongdae
Hours: 11:30am - 9:30pm, closed Mondays
Address: 서울시 마포구 서교동 344-6 (Kaliope Building, 344-6 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul)
Directions: From Hongdae Station, exit 9, take the first left and follow the road all the way around the corner until you reach a split in the road. Once you reach the split, go left and head up the hill. Mustoy will be on your right.

Greetings and salutations!

Hello, hello!

Thank you for paying a visit to my blog. :3 I've only just started this recently and so for the next few posts, I'll probably just be backtracking and writing about places that I've been to in the recent past. Stay tuned for post spammage coming soon! :D

<3