Hanok Korean Restaurant

Oh hello old friends, it surely has been awhile since life had so rudely interrupted us. My latest obsession is Korea. I have become infatuated with a Korean actor and would just absolutely do anything for this Asian Brad Pitt. It's okay everyone Michael knows about this crush of mine.

Since I have this crazy borderline psychotic obsession with this fellow it would make sense to go to a Korean restaurant. I can see Michael's eyes rolling already, but that's alright, he loves Korean food. So lets get started.

I found out of this pleasant Korean paradise through a friend of mine who said nothing but good things about this place, and one hungry night Michael and I thought we'd give it a try. Hanok is located on Alexandra Road in Richmond in a little strip mall with various other restaurants.

It's actually a really big and spacious restaurant with perhaps about 30 tables or so, the decor was the old historic Korea, quite cute and quaint I would say. When we arrived the place seemed to be really quiet, there were only about six parties  in the restaurant in such a big place.

Appetizers

Of course I had a hard time deciding and choosing what I wanted to get, but I promised myself I would eat healthier this summer.  I was feeling something with a broth, soupy type of meal but I also didn't want to leave the restaurant feeling really full. I decided to get the buckwheat noodles with radish kimchi and boiled egg ($9.99). I figured it would be a healthier alternative to the regular noodles or rice.

Cold buckwheat noodles

When it arrived there was an unexpected coldness to this dish. I then looked back on the menu and it said "cold buckwheat noodles" and of course I missed the word cold. But I still liked the texture of the noodles, it had a nice chewy consistency and the pickled radish gave it a nice crunch on the side. My only problem was that the dish overall was rather sour and I don't think I enjoyed that taste. I know that it is a pickled dish but I didn't think it was pickled everywhere.

I wish I had given the soup a little more of a chance but because it was such a big cold dish, I felt it left a bad taste in my mouth. As for the egg, I was hoping it would have been a running yolk because I feel the yolk's creaminess could have tamed the sourness, but unfortunately it was just a regular old fashioned hard boiled egg.

Soft tofu soup with seafood

Michael had the soft tofu soup with seafood ($9.99). The dish arrived very hot in its stone bowl. Michael was a little disappointed to find out they didn't use clams in the shell for the soup like the picture in the menu showed. There was a good mix of squid, octopus, mussels and other seafood in the bowl and it was definitely cheap, filling and tasty. Can't really go too wrong after meeting those three points.

I think the restaurant was somewhere fun to go with Michael but since I ordered a so-so dish I am keen on returning to try other dishes on their menu. But since I am trying to eat more healthier a taste isn't suppose to be eating tasty and delicious food anyway. So for a gal watching her hemline it was a pretty good meal.


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Diplomat Bakery

Hello foodie brothers and sisters! It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and why not spend it eating cake! Michael and I grew up in Richmond and we both know there are many Chinese bakeries in Richmond, but we feel that there aren't a lot of Western bakeries around to get a good carrot cake when we want one. Don't get us wrong, we love our pineapple buns as much as the next person but wheres a good a good a red velvet when you need one?

Last year a gal pal had mentioned to me Diplomat Bakery located at 6111 London Rd., It is along the Richmond dyke area by the London Heritage Farm. I feel it is always so hard to come to this bakery because they open for only limited hours during the day. So we better rush our day in order to make it to the place for a slice of cake. I just only wish they opened late at night like all the dessert places, it boils my blood just the thought they close during the day.

But their baked goods is all worth it when you get to taste the little sweet devils. I went for there for the very first time last summer and got a red velvet cupcake and it tasted divine! My favourite part was the cream cheese frosting on top. Yum! Now whenever I go I never know what to get because everything look so delicious.

Tiramisu

This time I had a sweet tooth for something really chocolatey. The cakes are not expensive at all. It's around $4 a slice, and cakes varies in prices by what kind of cake it is. Michael right off the bat knew what he wanted to get and I was just so indecisive! everything looked so good, I didn't know what to get. Since I was being such a complex person, let's start with Michael, he got the Tiramisu and he thought everything came together  very well but the cake was a bit too small. He also thought it took some time to order since Diplomat seemed like they could use more staff, judging from how busy it was.

Chocolate mousse cake

I finally made an executive decision and got the triple chocolate mousse cake. I know it sounds really sweet but surprisingly it was far from super sweet.  I actually thought I may regret this one, but I wasn't disappointed. It was a light mousse cake with different layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. The cream chocolate glaze exterior was spectacular it was creamy and chocolatey and went well in the creamy mousse interior. There was a hint of chocolate sponge layer but I didn't mind it all because the mousse was just so good.

I love having a good cup of black coffee when I enjoy my desserts, so of course Michael and I got to enjoy our coffees to balance out the sweet cakes. It went down so smoothly. Coffee and chocolate, can there be any better combination?

Diplomat Bakery has been well recognized for their sweet treats but our problem with this little bakery is that we thought they weren't that service savvy. There was a long line up so it would have been nice to have more staff working or faster working staff.


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Ramen Izakaya @ NanChuu

Michael has been raving about this Ramen place for the longest time since his friends had took him there once. I was only prepared to be amazed when I see this oh so great ramen place.

Ramen Izakaya is located at 8391 Alexandra Rd., the Rodeo Drive of food in Richmond if you will, all the great diners, restaurants and cafes are located on that tiny strip. I honestly didn't know what to expect of this place except what Michael has told me.

I loved the interior of the restaurant, it really did look like the ramen restaurants I have been to in Tokyo. It was loads of fun walking through the restaurant to our table, you can just feel the authenticity come through from the environment and the staff.

A whole row of condiments to choose from at each table

Ramen Izakaya creates everything from scratch, especially the pork bone soup, which is boiled for hours before serving. When we sat down at our table I loved that there was a guide to how to eat ramen, and there were the exact condiments that we can put in to our bowls to accommodate with our noodles. My mom loves ramen with fatty pork with soup, so I know good ramen when I see it. This one was fabulous.

Fried chicken with garlic sauce and salad

I had a crave for chicken so Michael decided to order one of their specials, the fried chicken with garlic sauce and salad ($6). The chicken was like summer on a plate, it tasted citrusy with a touch of garlic, just enough not to overpower the chicken's flavour. The chicken was fried and you might think fried chicken is oily and greasy but this was far from that. It was very light and the salad was very refreshing just like summer should be. Michael thought it had a bit too much of the garlic sauce on it, which took a bit of the crunch out of the fried chicken, but he thought the flavour was perfect.

Takoyaki

Michael ordered the Takoyaki (four pieces for $3.75) and it was so delicious I'd have to say it was best I've ever had. The exterior was lightly crisped and the inside just oozed out with squid. The sauce was so good it had tang and gave the takoyaki a little zing.  In hindsight, Michael wishes he ordered the larger portion with eight pieces.

Tonkotsu Ae Soba

For entrees I had the Tonkotsu Ae Soba ($8.75), ramen cooked in their signature pork soup and then drained. What caught my attention was not only because it was soupless but it was also the staff favourite. Sold! When my noodles arrived, I found out it wasn't technically soupless there was some soup on the bottom but it didn't bother me. Of course I was keen on following the how to eat ramen 101.

First I didn't allow it to cool down. Second I tasted the ramen without any of the condiments. Third was to add whatever condiment you wanted, for me that was a hint of garlic and the special vinegar and soy for ramen and goyza. I loved that I got to add the condiments in to the noodles because I have never tried that before. It's definitely not packaged noodles. Along with the noodles was a half a boiled egg with the yolk oozing out. My one problem with my bowl was that there was bean sprouts with the noodles. I thought they gave a nice crunch but there was a little earthy taste for me that  I thought it didn't go well with the noodles and broth. That's just my own judgment though.

Tonkotsu Miso Ramen

Michael had the Tonkotsu Miso Ramen ($8.95), a full bowl of pork broth with lots of miso added to cover a bed of ramen noodles. His dish didn't come with as many toppings as mine but there was a decent serving of pork slices in the bowl, chopped green onions, bean sprouts and a thick slice of seaweed included. Anything involving miso soup usually gets Michael sitting up so it wasn't that surprising that he wolfed down his noodles and started drinking the soup, too.

I actually can't wait to return to this ramen place, there are so many other things I can't wait to try on the menu. Everything must be delicious!


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