A few months ago I wrote about a FANTASTIC Italian restaurant in Iteawon, Antonio's. Well, it is no longer Antonio's, the new name is LaTravola. Upon entering I realized not much had changed other than the name, but if you know me, you know I had to ask questions. This is what I found out - Antonio didn't want to franchise his restaurant anymore, so he sold (unless something got lost in translation, that is the story). He opened a new restaurant in Itaewon named CasAntonio. You can find CasAntonio on the second floor above Los Amigos. CasAntonio has a more elegant feel to it. You might want to dress just a tad bit nicer than if you were going to the local taco stand. The caprese salad was to die for...that ball of buffalo mozzarella was melt in your mouth delicious! The pastas are scrumptious! This it the penne arrabbiata, we had buffalo mozzarella and chicken added to this dish. I love an arrabbiata sauce and this one was right on. The amount of heat was perfect and the taste of fresh basil just right. This is something I see myself ordering again and again. SIL & I ate in the wine room. (Big surprise there huh?) The wine room holds up to 8 people and is much cooler than the rest of the restaurant. This is one of the two rooms where you can have a private party. Antonio is in the restaurant most of the time mingling with guest or playing the piano. Here we are with Antonio.
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When you arrive here, day one is pretty much a wash, first off, guest are always jetlagged. Since we live on a military post, we have to in-process them, which mean we have to fill out paperwork, (which I do early) show copies of their passports to some higher up official whom I don't know. He approves them to stay with us here on post and then they are allowed to get a temporary ID card. This process is really painless; it just takes a bit of time. After we in-processed them, we took them (just Twin & SIL) to our favorite little restaurant, you all know which one I am talking about, yes, that is right, the Mackerel Lady. Now, I have to say, I did not think this was such a great idea for their 'first Korean meal' but Hubby really wanted to do this so I went along. You ask why? Well, for some people Korean food has to grow on you a bit, and I thought this might be true for SIL. I thought she might kill over with a heart attack when we walked by the Mackerel Lady and she was standing outside with her plate of mackerel in the sun, with no ice on it.....SIL did great, although she questioned this practice several times. The in-laws also thought it was quite odd that we were eating in the Mackerel Ladies house. We just accept this as an added treat. Later in the evening Twin was feeling up to going out to explore just a bit, so we took him out into Iteawon to one of our favorite little dive bars with live music...you remember Woodstock don't you. Bob wasn't there, but it still proved to be fun. A vendor walked through selling these hats, so I had to buy one for myself and SIL to wear to the mud festival the next day! As for all first time visitors, day one proved to be fun, relaxing, tiring and overwhelming. Just wait to see what we have in store for them the next day......
The Waffle Factory is a cute little hole in the wall with enough seats for only about 20 customers, including the seating outside. I have read many reviews on the Waffle Factory in the past few months and knew I had to take Hubby there since he has a healthy love for the waffle, well actually for the Waffle House back in the states (so obviously he is not too picky when it comes to the waffle :-). Anyway waffles are few and far between here in Korea, the only other places I have found waffles are at the Flying Pan Blue and from vendors on the street, which both rock by the way. To get to the Waffle Factory, go out the walk-out gate at Iteawon, walk up past Noksapyeong subway stop, continue walking....you will see the Waffle Factory on the right hand side of the street, just before the big intersection. (Yes, you will need to cross the street to get to the Waffle House). You could also come out gate 3, the 'kimchi pot' gate and turn right....the Waffle Factory is between the kimchi pot gate and the walk out gate. So, one of my pet peeves about Korea is that breakfast restaurants do not open until 10:30AM!! Are you kidding me? Most mornings I have already had a 2 lattes and breakfast by 6:30AM. We left our house at 9:30AM (after 4 lattes) and arrived at the Waffle House a little before 10AM...we walked around a bit, then at 10 a lady came in to open, but told us she would not be ready to take our order till 10:20, however she did agree to let us sit in the air conditioned building and wait which I am extremely grateful for because it was so HUMID that day! Hubby and I ordered the waffle breakfast.... I ask for no sausage, I wanted extra bacon instead. Thank goodness I did because when Hubby's breakfast came out, the sausages were hot dogs....really! Hot dogs! I ordered my eggs over medium, I got over hard. The potatoes, don't they look scrumptious. All in all, this was a very bland and not so great breakfast. I mean I ate it, but still, not one of my favorites. Now the kids ordered more interesting breakfast waffles.... I don't know why ice cream is served on breakfast food here in Korea, but my kids love going out to breakfast here!
Would I go back....well, if my kids wanted to go for their birthday I would take them, but not before I tried to talk them into the Flying Pan Blue! See that little yellow truck just below Justin Bar? Run, don't walk to it! The smell coming from that little truck was enough to make me stop and look for it....not in a bad way like many of the smells that come from the streets here, this was an amazingly delicious smell, one that I haven't smelt in over a year. As I sniffed, I knew something great was cooking, and it was in the Mexican food category! Oh God, I thought I might be dreaming when I approached this yellow truck/taco stand. As I stood in the long line, everyone seemed very happy, but as I was watching the guys make the tacos, I was a little scared when I saw them squirt white and red stuff on the tacos. You never know what white or red stuff might be here in Korea. I mean sometimes there is white stuff on pizza...and that white stuff is a bit nasty. So, I was talking to my friend T while in line and said that I didn't think I wanted the white or red stuff on my taco. When Johnny, the owner heard me he said in perfect English "sour cream and hot sauce". Well, forgive me....of course I want sour cream and hot sauce on my taco! Here is Johnny- he calls himself the Naked Chef, I don't know why, he has clothes on. You can get beef or chicken tacos. We got both, and they are both equally delicious! Johnny is here from California; his taco stand is open in Iteawon from 8PM to 6AM every night. Tacos are 4,000 won each and totally worth it! In fact we are heading out right now to get one!
Date night this weekend: Once in a Blue Moon in Apgujeong, the Beverly Hills of Seoul. If you are on a budget, don't even consider going here. This is a place where you will want to dress up. Hubby wore a suit & I wore a sheik skirt with hot boots! The write ups for this sexy little jazz bar are fantastic. It is well know that this is one of the best jazz bars in Seoul. Every review was right on, the music was great, smooth jazz, not the crazy hyped up jazz. It was pricy, but the food was wonderful. Hubby and I had a 5 course meal & a bottle of wine. My appetizer was not as good...it was pan fried foie gras. I was a bit hesitant when it said pan fried, but I thought I would give it a whirl anyway. It wasn't terribe, but I would not order it again. On a good note, the blueberry sauce & the little salad was heavenly! Next up we had a salad, then wild mushroom soup, then a sorbet. Now the sorbet seemed a little out of place to us, but this is Korea and things are not always what one would expect. Not only was this sorbet out of place, but after the first bite it left us wondering just what flavor it really was. I tasted cinnamon & ginger, on the second bit it hit me....SWEET POTATO! Wow...I can honestly say that was a first for me. It wasn't sweet at all - more like an icy sweet potato. It wasn't bad either, just totally different. For the main course I had lobster tail and halibut, both were equally delicious. I could eat food like this every night of the week! Hubby had lamb chops in a blueberry sauce, and if you like lamb chops, you would LOVE these. Cooked to perfection. (Sorry, this picture isn't very good.) So I must admit when we saw the dessert they brought out we both though it was a little odd, but then again, Korean's do love their waffles. There was even syrup on this waffle. Surprisingly, it was pretty damn tasty. Go figure. As hubby and I sat and listened to the sweet sound of the jazz band playing in the background, we talked about how hard life in the states is going to be whenever we have to move back. We have been spoiled here in Seoul. What are we going to do for date night & are we going to have to hire a driver? I mean come on, you never have to worry about that here, cabs are plentiful! (Not that we have to worry about moving back for quite a while anyway.) We also talked about what a fabulous place this is. Once is a Blue Moon is one of those places where you want to take guest to, or go to for a special ocassion. Oh, check out this picture of the piano...isn't it beautiful? Check out the shine. So, all in all this was a great night! The Jazz Story - what a place!!! So, we are driving down this really nice street in Samcheong-dong, couple are holding hand, people are laughing, this looks like a great area, but when the cab driver let us off, we had NO IDEA where to go, he dropped us off at the end of this popular, fun loving street going no where. We started walking the wrong direction, back towards the fun when our cab driver honked at up and pointed to some dilapidated stair case going into a building that looked like it should have been condemned years before. I thought maybe he was confused, or setting us up, but no, when we arrived at the top of the stairs there our friends were waiting there to greet us. Now really, I would have never gone up those stairs if I didn't think something great was waiting for me up there. Really? Green duct tape? It just added to the charm of this little place! Not all the chairs had duct tape on them, but most of them did, sometimes the tape was the traditional silver duct tape. The tables were made from trash cans, with rounds of glass sitting atop the trash can, our table was a jack, it was bigger than a car jack, but definitely a jack of some sort. The next thing I HAD to get a picture of was the menu. Now, our friend Randy is the person that found this place. He heard about it from somewhere. His source told him the food was good, so I did not eat before I went. Now I like Korean food, so even if this was Korean food, I would be good with it. My suggestion to you however is to eat before you go!! First of all, the 'snacks' they bring out are 8 peanuts. Yes, you read that correctly, we got 16 on the second round because there were 4 of us & I'm sure they thought we might need more since Americans eat WAY more than Koreans. OK, would you like to see the salad we ordered? And here is the main course: My mom taught me: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. I am not going to say anything. I'm not sure (I didnt' get close enough), but I think the silver thing on the wall is an ash tray. Are you having fun yet? This was a great place to go & if you live here I would highly suggest it! Notice the two signs....no picture taking & no smoking....look in the left corner of the picture, between the two fingers. Yes, Antonio is the new love of my life. I first read about Antonio in a magazine, and Antonio sounded dreamy. Fresh mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, imported creams, the freshest ingredients, hand made, owned and operated by 3 Italian chefs! I knew I had to try it. Hubby and I decided to go for Valentine's day ( a little late because of all the puking going on in our house). We thought we were going to have to go to ChumgDam, which would have been find, but when I looked Antonio up on the internet I was pleasantly surprised to find out they have TWO locations, the second location just opened in December in ITEAWON!!! Waaaaa--whoooooo, only 10 minutes from our house! See, 2nd floor between the 2 green signs. You enter right behind where I am standing. The restaurnt was warm and inviting and I was going to be disappointed if I didn't like the food. From where we sat, you could see into the kitchen where one Italian chef (he is the one in the back) was preparing our meal. From what I understand, there is always one of the three owner/chefs at each restaurant preparing meals. When I looked at the menu I was a bit overwhelmed, it is HUGE! There is a partial menu on their website if you would like to take a peek. We started off with a very basic, salad, but one of my favorites, the Caprese salad. One bite, and I knew I was going to like this restaurant. The tomatoes were the freshest I have had in months & the buffalo mozzarella just melted in my mouth, it cost 18,000 won. For our main course we ordered two items to split. The first item was the margherita pizza at 17,000 won. This pizza was divine!! The crust was perfectly thin and crispy on the edges, soft and yummy in the middle. This was the best pizza I have had since I have been here. I would go back for this pizza alone. The next item we ordered was the Spaghetti al Peperono Allo Scugilo...go ahead and say that 3 times fast. In translation, that is a slightly spicy dish made with a white wine sauce, fresh tomatoes & seafood! This dish was delightful and came in at 22,000 won. After such a wonderful and authentic Italian meal, I had to ask if they had cannolis, my favorite Italian dessert. YES, they have cannolis! Just not tonight...they sold out on Valentines day and have not had time to make more. They promised to have some the next day. Even though I was disappointed, this was good news, I know they make them fresh!! So, we ordered the Tiramisu. The wonderful, melt in your mouth Tiramisu. I've never been so happy with Tiramisu in my entire life. Seriously. If you live here, and you have been craving Italian food, RUN, don't walk to Antonio's, and while you are there please order a margherita pizza to go for me!! Now seriously, who could resist a restaurant called 'Sunny Days', especially since the days have not been so 'sunny' here in Korea for the past month or so. Sure, Mr. Sun peaks out every once and a while to tease us, but then just as quickly as he came out, he goes back and hides behind the clouds again. I don't know what is wrong with him lately. Anyway, I had read about this burger joint called 'Sunny Days' a few weeks back on another blog, and this person said this was a pretty good place to get a burger, and something has had me wanting a good burger, actually, I have been wanting a Denton Independent hamburger to be precise. So, the other night I decided NOT to cook and take everyone out for a good burger. This little restaurant is in Iteawon, when you leave post out the walk out gate, it is right before you get to Starbucks on your right. First came the french fries, they aren't my favoite type of french fry, I like the skinny ones, but these were very good and hot! Next came the nachos....again, not my type of nachos, but our kids loved them and that is who we ordered them for. I ended up not even ordering a burger though; I ordered the chicken teriyaki sandwich, which is pictured below. My sandwich was good & the dressing on the salad was wonderful. Oh, and the bread was so fresh! Then came the burgers....this is the 'sweet chili burger'. The burgers did not meet the expectations we have set for a 'good' burger. Yes, Hubby and Boy 1 ate all their burgers, but Hubby said he had to NOT think of it as a burger. We are pretty sure the meat is not 100% ground beef, and we couldn't pinpoint what we thought it was. In conclusion, the staff was wonderful, the owner very nice, and the atmosphere was cozy. I would go back again if I were taking the kids and I would stick to the sandwiches. The kids love it and it was pretty easy on the checkbook, only 35,000 won (roughly $25USD) for 6 people. Hubby and I took the kids to Namsan Seoul Tower that past Monday. The little ones have never been. They were not too impressed with the observation deck, in fact Girl took her camera, but when we got to the observation deck she put it away. The picture below is of Boy 2 and I looking at the view before we went into the tower. OH....did I mention I am a brunette again? Boy 1 was so happy to be with us.... Things they did like about our adventure: They also liked lunch. We ate in the tower, at Sobahn Korean Restaurant. It is a Korean buffet, you order your main dish, then go to the buffet for all your soups, salads and side dishes. The buffet was wonderful; I could have not ordered a main dish and been completely happy. If you go for lunch, the prices are pretty reasonable for what you get. The price for adults is 22,000 won & kids are 7,500 won. And the other thing they really enjoyed was the bus ride...well, Boy 1 didn't really like much of anything (except the ribs). Still just as good as the first 2 times I went! Boy 1 ordered Chocolate Ecstasy. These are pancakes, really. Served for breakfast. Boy 1 was in heaven. Boy 2 ordered cinnamon & pear pancakes. For some reason all the pancakes come with a big scoop of ice cream on them. The pancakes themselves were delicious....throw in some pears, cinnamon and ice cream, that's enough to make anyone giddy! Girl ordered the french toast with bacon. Look how clean her plate is. I don't think she has ever cleared her plate before. |
AuthorProud Army wife and mother to 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We just got orders & are heading back to the states in March 2010. I'm bummed that our time has been cut short, but proud of Hubby for the reason why. Archives
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