Cone Life! - Gelato & Ice cream - Sangsu, Seoul, South Korea

Gelati Gelati - Sangsu-dong

Tiramisu and salted caramel chocolate (double scoop) - 4,000 won

There is no better way to end my trip to Seoul than with cones of sweet sweet goodness. Gelati Gelati is your typical italian gelateria, with the simplest flavours on offer hidden under silver lids (which I do not like! I eat with my eyes first) the gelato here definitely satisfied my tastebuds on this hot summers day. 

My tiramisu was on point here, probably the best tiramisu gelato I have had and it went so well with the salted caramel chocolate. A match made in heaven. 

Check them out [MAP]

Fell + Cole - Sangsu-dong

Super cute blue box tucked away in the streets of Sangsu-dong. This ice creamery reminded me of an ice box, maybe that was the look they were going for. Gastronomic ice cream made with all natural ingredients in small batches, they also have vegan options too.

With flavours like pineapple cayenne and perilla leaves my mind didn't know what to choose, what ended up on my cone was carrot cake. A flavour I have yet to try in ice cream form but a flavour that is always warming to my tummy.

Boy was I glad I chose this flavour! It actually tasted like I was eating carrot cake, tiny gratings of carrot and pecans. I couldn't get enough, I tried to savour the moment for once and make my ice cream last as long as possible. This is the ultimate ice cream spot for me, I haven't had a flavour this good since.. I really can't remember. Cudos to Fell + Cole!

Carrot cake ice cream (single scoop) - 5,200 won

Raspberry champagne sorbet (single scoop) - 5,200 won 

Ice cream sandwiches

Their cute 60's inspired mod interior.

Check them out [here] or [MAP]

Betty Jane x

Daily Caffeine Fix - Hapjeong / Sinsa-dong, Seoul, South Korea

There are an abundance of cafes in Seoul with only a handful that satisfy my tastebuds with a nice atmosphere. I have narrowed it down to four of my favourite cafes out of the ones I have tried.

Arco Coffee Roasters - Sinsa-Dong

Cafe latte - 5,500 won

Double espresso - 4,500 won

Hands down the best coffee I have had in Seoul, these guys take their coffee seriously. Now go get one!

Check them out [here] or [MAP]

Deniro Coffee Roasters - Hapjeong

A sweet place to have your daily coffee tucked away from the noisy streets of Hapjeong is Deniro coffee roasters. 

Cafe latte - 5,500 won

Double espresso - 5,000 won

Deniro roast their beans onsite for espressos and lattes only. No wonder it tastes so good. 

Fresh brownies made inhouse.

Great coffee accompanied by a pleasant atmosphere. The owner was so lovely he even gave us a free packet of oreos. Love this place!

Check them out [MAP]

Humming Bella Coffee & Bakery -  Hapjeong

A large cafe with two floors of seating and also an outdoor courtyard which is lovely.

Some of the goodies on offer.

Crunky Valhrona - 6,000 won

Such a light and airy chocolate cake witch chunks of crunky chocolate throughout. This cake had so much potential, the flavours were nice but the cake was a little on the dry side which ruined it for me.

Cafe latte - 5,000 won

Double espresso - 4,500 won

Check them out [MAP]

Anthracite Coffee Roasters - Hapjeong

Cafe latte - 6,000 won

Double espresso - 4,000 won

Check put my previous blog post on them [here]

I hope you get your caffeine fix in Seoul.

Betty Jane x

Eight Flavours of Pork Belly - Palsaek Samgyeopsal - Sinchon, Seoul,South Korea

The one restaurant I have been waiting to try during my trip to Seoul, so my expectations are going to be high. The thing is I come across reviews for Palsaek Samgyeopsal all the time and its always amped up, of course I am going to expect fireworks.

The entrance is adorned with photographs of people who have eaten here, all korean celebrities of course. First impression.. tacky! But ready to eat!

We sit down and have a look at the menu, though the food is already being served to our table. As we try to find out why we are being served when we have not even ordered yet, the waitress gushes and tells us "its just the set". 

Anyway it looks like they are only serving this "set" so the same for everybody..yay! Not impressed, terrible service.

The eight flavours of juicy marinated pork belly, boy am I excited!

The marinade verdict in order - 

Ginseng, great flavour to start off with. I don't eat ginseng anything back home, so I was curious to see how this one tasted and it was delicious.

Wine, probably not the most exiting marinade but it changed my mind once I ate it, yum! So far so good six more to go.

Pine leaf, ok for me it pretty much went downhill from here. I didn't mind the pine leaf marinade, yes it was very piney and its not a marinade I have had before but there just wasn't any wow factor in this one.

Herb, probably the most un-exciting marinade ever. This tasted so stock standard like it was marinated with italian herbs. Yawn.

Garlic, I don't know why this is even one of the marinades. Couldn't they have come up with a better marinade than garlic? It just tastes just as its named. 

Curry, at this point I've lost all hope and am pretty dissappointed. I am eating pork marinated in curry powder and nothing else, like.. from a packet.

Miso, finally.. One on the board I am looking forward to try after having four unimpressive flavours. I'm not sure if I like it, I know its marinated in miso but maybe a little too much, it just tastes very fermented beany for me.

Spicy, for sure this one will be good right? You can't go wrong with spicy, ok maybe you can if there was no spice! I was expecting a flame thrower in my mouth. 

What a fail, sheer disappointment on my experice here. The service was a joke, the ambience of the restaurant was like eating in a cafeteria and the marinade flavours were unimpressive. I think the only thing that saved this place was that you get to eat a load of juicy tender pork belly!

Grilled kimchi, a mix of mushrooms and garlic. Feel free to grab some more if you run out, its self serve.

Mixed green leaves to wrap your pork in, I prefer to eat mine on rice.

Haemul Jjigae (seafood stew)

It turned out cheaper than I thought it would be, total cost was 30,000 won for the set which feeds two people (add rice for an extra 1,000 won per bowl).

I honestly think you can find a much better barbeque joint than Palsaek Samgyeopsal, I know its sounds exciting to try eight different flavours of pork but trust me getting two good flavours out of eight isn't a win.

But if you still want to check them out [MAP]

Betty Jane x

Cheap as Chips! - Pizza School - Hapjeong, Seoul, South Korea

Being cheap tonight so grabbing a pizza from Pizza School. It's pretty hard to find a cheap western style pizza in Seoul, but pizza here was decent and cheap as chips.

Pepperoni Pizza - 6,000 won 

Voila! For the price I paid I couldn't be happier, sure there could have been more sauce and more pepperoni on the pizza but I won't complain. The base was decent, and had alot of cheese. It hit the spot and I'd happily go back.

Check them out [here] or [MAP]

Betty Jane x

Deux Amis Patisserie - Sinsa-dong, Seoul, South Korea

Cake day!

On the walk from the station I crossed numerous patisseries that made my mouth water. However I was determined to stick to my guns and head on over to Deux Amis. 

Some of the cakes and tarts on offer at Deux Amis.

Green tea cake with yuzu cream - 6,500 won

My cake of choice was extremely disappointing. Three layers of dry green tea cake and yuzu cream, with half a layer of azuki bean paste. I'm pretty sure you can tell how dry the cake is by this photo. 

It could have just been my poor choice of cake, though it is a patisserie and nothing on offer should be at this low a standard.

Anyway if you want to check them out [MAP]

Betty Jane x

Finger Lickin' Good! Korean Fried Chicken Hot Spots - Hapjeong /Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea

The Cafe BBQ - Hapjeong

Chicken platter - 27,000 won

Koreans sure know how to make fried chicken, some of the best fried chicken I've ever had has been in Seoul. Well seasoned and super crunchy! 

The first place, well I'm still kind of unsure what this place is called so I'm gonna go with "The Cafe BBQ".

We ordred the "chicken platter" which consisted of chicken, a small side of fries, corn chips and a free garden salad which fed three people. 

Check them out - Right outside Hapjeong station exit 3

Outdark Chicken House - Hapjeong

First restaurant in Seoul to actually have customer service, I was stunned. Though the service here was better than most places they still mixed up our order. 

After repeating twice that we only wanted the fried chicken and not the half and half combo, we still got served the half and half combo which consisted of both fried and marinated chicken. 

As we were starving we let it slide and dug in. The chicken was super crunchy and well seasoned I couldn't have been more satisfied, the marinated chicken was better than I expected so I guess it was a win win situation. 

The only negative about the marinated chicken was that it's messy and they don't provide any wet towels here.

Half and half chicken (fried and marinated) - 17,000 won

Our chicken came with a decent amount of fries and wedges topped off with tteokboki(fried glutinous rice which it could have done without). By the end of it we were stuffed like two christmas turkeys!

Outdark gets pretty busy during dinner so make sure to get there early to avoid waiting in line.

Check them out [here]

Betty Jane x