Tosokchon (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★☆☆

Tosokchon is best known for having former Korean President Roh's favorite ginseng chicken soup. Located on Chebu-dong in the historic Jongro-gu district, it's a popular dining place for the local Koreans as well as tourists from around the world.

Situated approximately 15-20 minutes away from the Gyeongbokgung station (if we were jogging like us.), the restaurant is far more accessible by taxi than by foot.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the side street where Tosokchon is located may not be as eye catching as we would all hope. But simply look for the crowd lining up in front of the vintage-looking entrance and you won't miss it!



You can't go wrong with the signature Samgyetang (chicken ginseng soup) here. Young chicken was stuffed with glutinous rice, gingko nuts and other oriental herbs before being boiled with the rich flavored ginseng soup.

The result was a bowl of ginseng soup that was milky and smooth with a strong ginseng flavor. I hope it's providing me with the promised anti-aging effects.



Unlike the Samgyetang, the roasted chicken (Tongdak) came as a bit of a disappointment for us. The general lack of flavor (or seasoning) was discouraging. At the end, we had to pepper our roasted chicken with a great deal of salt and barbecue sauce to make it work.

This meal was not as fulfilling as we once hoped. But as a tourist to Seoul, we owe it to ourselves to have at least one ginseng chicken soup on this trip and in that case, Tosokchon was a fairly good choice.  

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: ₩₩₩

Address: 85-1 Chebu-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Gyeongbokgung

Tel: +82 2-737-7444 

Hwaroyeon (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★★☆

This is my go-to Korean barbecue restaurant in the heart of Seoul. Easily accessible from the Myeong-dong shopping area, it is the place to be if you want to try some real charcoal-grilled meat.

My personal favourites are their beef brisket and rib-eyes. Absolutely amazing! And unlike other traditional barbecue houses, this restaurant is modernly designed and relatively clean.

Expect to pay a premium for these delicious charcoal grilled meat but at the same time don't forget to save yourself 1,000₩ for a 32cm tall soft ice cream right after the barbecue. There should be an ice-cream booth right around the corner.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ₩₩₩₩

Address: Myeongdong 1ga,Jung-gu, Seoul
Closest Metro Station: Myeongdong
Tel: +82 31-554-8592
Website: www.hwaroyeon.co.kr

Santa Lucia Restaurant & Skybar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Having been on Azure's VIP list, I was informed of the grand opening of Santa Lucia, who's from the same management group when they first opened in 2008. But I was a bit reluctant to visit because of a bad dining experience at Azure previously. However, after reading so many raving reviews of the restaurant, I decided to give it a go.



The dining room was comfortably situated on the 38th floor of the Panorama Hotel and although the hotel building was sandwiched between several tall architectures, we were still able to see a little bit of the harbour view from where we sat.



The restaurant did not have an extended menu but we still managed to find a few dishes we liked. We started off with the pressed duck liver pâté with sea eel and Alaska crab meat salad served with cauliflower jelly. A thick slice of sea eel stuck on top of the duck liver pâté like a sushi, was a surprisingly great match. This dish made a great first impression on us. The flavor of duck liver, though strong, did not overpower the fresh taste of the sea eel. Very impressive ! 

To the contrary, the crab meat and cauliflower jello was a bit of a weird combination. The crab meat was very fresh but it never seemed to mesh well with the jelly.





We moved onto our main course - the seafood platter. The portion was big enough for sharing among two people. This was supposed to be a cold dish but we elected to ask our server to grill the seafood for us, with the exception of the raw oysters. The grilled lobster, prawns, abalone, scallops etc were all very fresh and delicious and the fresh oysters were tasty with a strong salty water flavor.

 

Dessert was a bit disappointing though - there were about 7-8 choices but they were mainly ice-creams and sorbets. We elected to go for the mango napolean cake. It was okay but nothing special to write home about.



This dinner has been a pleasant surprise mainly because of our low expectation coming in. The food was okay but better was service. Our server was very attentive in taking good care of us in order to ensure that we have a memorable dining experience throughout the night. 


Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: 38/F Hotel Panorama by Rhombus, 8A Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui East
Tel: +852 3550-0262
Website: www.hotelpanorama.com.hk/dining-en.html