Korea wedding trip day 4: back in the Garden

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We decided to sleep in this morning. After a few stressful days of working from my hotel room while on vacation, we finally got to relax a little last night... and needed to catch up on a little sleep. So... we arrived at Starfield Coex Mall about an hour later than I had originally planned. And also too late for Foursheets to sit down for a cup of decent coffee, wherever that may be.

The first order of business, though, was for Foursheets to see Starfield Library. More than 90% of people passing through here at any given time are tourists just looking to snap some photos and videos, and that is also true for us. While strolling around the library, we ran into an elderly couple who traveled from Taiwan with their bichon frisé. Pretty amazing that they brought their dog on their travels with them, and we couldn't help but think of how much we miss our asshole Kuma while playing with the doggo...

We had a little bit of time before heading off to lunch, and came across Baskin-Robbins while walking around the mall. I remember this place well from my visit last year, and now, despite lunch being less than an hour away, I just had to get a scoop of Rainbow Sherbet - my favorite since childhood.

We arrived at Eatanic Garden at the Josun Palace for our lunch, and I saw in the exact same seat as my last visit. No loveseat for us, I guess... But I had to bring Foursheets to come see Handsome Chef on his home turf, and the mood is totally different during the day. Unlike my last visit when the central chef's table was occupied by mostly visitors - partly on account of B Bestie - today we were the only tourists in town. We were flanked by local ladies today, two of whom were solo diners dressed up to show their followers on social media.

Our welcome drink was, once again, birch tree water. Light and delicate.

Chamwe melon (참외) - we have a savory silken tofu made with oriental melon (참외), and diced melon at the bottom with some melon seeds, as well as chilled melon juice along with olive oil. Nice combo and very refreshing.

Jujeonburi (주전부리) - as usual there are a few "one bites" to start, and today we had three.

Yugwa (유과) - topped with raw fish (dunno which one) cured with doenjang (된장) and wrapped in a Korean wild garlic leaf (명이나물) preserved in soy sauce. I think there were also some diced vegetables here, and the flavors were a little smoky.

Mushroom japchae (잡채) - this time it's charcoal grilled mushrooms on the outside, and the flavors were exactly what they should be.

Perilla leaf bugak (깻잎부각) - the perilla leaf had been coated with glutinous rice paste before being fried, and came stuffed with diced Alaskan pink shrimp. This was very fragrant and nice.

Tomato (토마토) - the naengchae (냉채) today was yet another stunning presentation from Handsome chef. The top layer was composed of thin strips of tomato, cuttlefish, crab roe, paprika jelly.

Underneath the top layer we had snow crab meat seasoned with pine nut sauce, very finely diced spring onions or chives. This was very, very good.

Jindo green onion (진도 대파) - at first glance the dish looked exactly like what I had last time, with a disc of egg white on top.

I didn't need the supplemental caviar myself, but since Foursheets wanted it, I guess they assumed that I wanted it, too... Well, at least it came with gold, just like last time.

Underneath we've got diced smoky spring onions, radish, scallops, and crunchy scallop skirt. So... not the same dish at all, except for the caviar and the white disc on top.

Zucchini (돼지 호박) - the square pyeonsoo (편수) were boiled and served chilled. Stuffed with minced Hanwoo sirloin along with strips of zucchini. Served with a broth made of dried shrimp, clams, and Hanwoo brisket. The apple and pear vegetable ganjang (간장) used for dipping was nice, too.

Pumpkin flower dumpling (호박꽃 만두) - these came stuffed with shrimp, and had a nice, firm texture.

Deep-fried jeon (전) - this was nice and crispy, very delicate. Unfortunately the "fresh caviar" - whatever that means - was too salty and threw it out of whack. Maybe there could have been less of the salty fish eggs so that the sweetness of the jeon (전) would shine better.

Summer peppers (여름 고추) - the hairtail was pan-fried and came with a reduction made of the fish jus together the chili pepper juice. This definitely had a little spicy kick but not too much heat. Served with finely diced squid and barley covered in what looked like squid ink.

The hairtail ws nicely done.

Samgyetang (삼계탕) - I think this is the only dish that did not change significantly from my last visit. The skin of the chicken was still very thin and crispy. The glutinous rice still came stuffed with ginseng, chestnut and ginkgo... etc. This bloc of deliciousness came on a bed of finely diced kimchi, which helped to balance the richness of the dish. The big difference this time was the extra bits of kimchi on top with apple and pear.

"Healthy porridge" - this juk (죽) came with sea cucumber and octopus. This was very thick and coated the tongue. Them finely diced baby octopus tentacles sure were crunchy and chewy!

The ginseng chicken "tea" was heavy and rich, but very nice.

Prickly cucumber (가시 오이) - slices of Hanwoo ribeye were marinated in doenjang and grilled over charcoal, which delivered a nice amount of browning and charring at the edges. The center of the beef, though, remained so tender and buttery it also felt like jelly.

We have a piece of lance asiabell (더덕) surrounded by tteokgalbi (떡갈비).

The cucumber gets sliced up and cooked with shredded abalone as well as diced beef. This was pretty oily and much heavier in terms of flavors, but also came with some charring.

I didn't want to drink before the wedding this afternoon, but I was offered a pour of a non-alcoholic wine. Now THIS was a first for me!

2021 Sinzero Cabernet Sauvignon - couldn't get too much out of the nose, but there was some fruit... Acidity on the high side and not much tannins.

2017 Cirillo Grenache 1850 Ancestor Vine - plenty of sweet fruit on the nose. Light and delicate on the palate, but not too complex.

Gaesung yakgwa (개성 약과) - I'm pretty familiar with this classic Korean "cookie" by now, having tasted it at many, many Korean meals over the years. I don't mind the sweetness at all.

One is meant to have a bite of the yakgwa followed by a spoonful of the bingsu (빙수) which, like the yakgwa, is also flavored with ginger. We've got ice cream made with the sake lees / suljigemi (술지게미) of makgeolli inside, and actually this was a little savory, along with some cinnamon. Surprised to find some beans buried inside, which made me think of it as Korean es kacang...

Chodang corn (초당 옥수수) - I was initially scratching my head a little because while the menu said "corn", all I could see was a layer of shaved black truffle on top...

We did, eventually, get some warm, creamy sweet corn ladled on top of the "truffle bingsu", which was so... CORNY! We've also got corn ice cream below - which reminded me of eating Magnolia corn ice cream in Singapore as a young child. The earthiness from the corn and the truffle worked well together.

Jeungpyeon (증편) - with corn inside and truffle on top. Tasted a little fermented.

Mother-of-pearl box (자개함) - AH YESSSSS... the finale.

Omijacha (오미자차) - this version is meant to imitate saengmaeksan (생맥산) from traditional Korean medicine, and was made with honey and ginseng, which explains the "medicinal" flavor...

Baksan - made with wild sesame seeds and gamtae (감태). Very nice and fragrant.

Jeonggwa (정과) - made with radish and kinako (黄粉).

This wooheng tteok (떡) was made with apricot.

White chocolate bon bon - stuffed with pine nuts.

This was another good meal from Handsome Chef, and I was very glad that I came back with Foursheets. Now it was time to go back and change for the wedding...