Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA)

This week, I'm back in Seoul, my home away from home for a week. As much as I wanted to stay at Lotte L7 Myeongyong again for its convenient location, I ended up going a different direction at the very end because I know space would be a huge issue with me bringing my 5-month old nugget along this time. I concluded my hour-long online research with a 2-room booking at the Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun, a hotel that has just opened in early May 2016 (so about 2 months new?). As you may have guessed from the hotel name, it's right besides the infamous Namdaemun market.



Courtyard Marriott Namdaemun is not considered big for a 4-star hotel in Seoul but it has everything you need......from a nice lobby lounge.



.....to a good looking wine bar.



When I was taking the elevator up, I began to wonder if this is all too good to be true (considering the little price tag I was paying).



So I started looking for my two rooms. Mom has decided to tag along this time as she has always wanted to visit this lovely city and as a result, I've requested connecting rooms during my reservation. The hotel did their very best to accommodate us and their effort was very much appreciated.



I like simple designs with a lot of wood and this is right up my alley.




For a room measured at around 26 square metres in size, the bathroom sure looked reasonably big.



Obviously it is very popular these days to have a see-through ceiling-to-floor glass panel between the shower room and bedroom. I love having natural light in my bathroom.




The hotel is conveniently situated between two subway stations - City Hall (Line 1 and 2) and Hoehyeon (Line 4). Myeongdong station is also within walk-able distance (12-15 minutes) although I would highly recommend that you take Hoehyeon station instead since it's much closer and also happen to be on Line 4. However, if shopping in Myeongdong is a significant part of your agenda, then take a leisure walk towards the famed shopping district isn't that bad at all.



Namdaemun is right around the corner of the hotel so we ended up checking the place out a few times during our stay.



I have stayed at quite a number of Courtyard Marriotts in the world. The brand has always been a lock for a good 3-star lodging experience but this one is a little different. They have managed to throw in something a little more luxurious here in making it more than just a business traveler's haven. It's suited for solo traveler. It's good for family. Yeah it's for everybody. 

They have a small gym in the basement that looks serviceable. The concierge team is fabulous. Like traveling in Japan, I rely heavily on the hotel concierge in Seoul to make restaurant and spa bookings for me. My previous experiences were mixed even when I was staying at some of the top hotels like Westin Chosun and Park Hyatt as they often failed to respond back to my requests and inquiries in a timely fashion. But that's not the case for Courtyard Namdaemun. Their concierge had feedback for me almost instantly and they would even go the extra mile to give me advice and stuff. It's almost like you have a personal assistant in Seoul to take care of all those appointments for you. That was just very heartwarming.

What else is good? Check-in was a breeze and the sound proof system was working very well as we couldn't hear a thing from the streets. All in all, it was a wonderful stay and quite honestly, I was a little tempted to give them full marks. If I had to be a little picky, well the neighborhood surrounding the backside of the hotel (from the backdoor) wasn't particularly pleasant as there are numerous bars and nightclubs that opened very late at night. Another slightly disappointing fact is that it doesn't have a swimming pool but other than that, it was almost perfect. Almost.

Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Price: ₩₩₩
Address: 9 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Tel: +82 2-2211-8000
Website: www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/selsn-courtyard-seoul-namdaemun/

Rhoda by Nathan Green (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Getting through the dog days of summer has always been a tough task every year when there's often just a handful of new restaurant openings in the city. This July has been no different too, until Yenn Wong and her team who's behind 22 Ships, Ham & Sherry and Fish School launched two of the most exciting new restaurants of the summer - Kaum by Potato Head and Rhoda. This is the perfect news for my buddy V and myself as we haven't seen each other since early May and both of us were scratching our heads to find a place to meet for dinner this week.

The kitchen of Rhoda is helmed by Nathan Green, former head chef of 22 Ships. Named after Chef Green's grandmother Rhoda, this is going to be a neighborhood restaurant serving seasonal dishes that's meant to be shared among friends and family.



Rhoda's food menu changes almost everyday and promises some of the freshest ingredients available in the market, including some nose-to-tail cooking.



We got here at around 6:30pm and the place, which included a bar and separate dining room, was already buzzing. They reserved 2 seats at the counter table for us and that was really great coz we gotta see Chef Green in action up close and personal.



The menu was divided into several categories including snacks, cold, grill, something a little bigger, sides and desserts. Of course, we had to be careful in making sure that we picked a little something out of each category.

Starting things off for us were raw Hokkaido scallops served up with pink grapefruit and basil ($198). For those who have been to 22 Ships, these probably looked all too familiar. Chef Green is very good with mixing Asian influence into his dishes and this is a classic example here. The scallop sashimi was fresh and they're nicely matched with some acidity from the grapefruit.



Next up, we had something from the snack section of the menu - chicken wings glazed with Xérès vinegar ($118). I thought this was OK. The wings were meaty and flavored nicely with Xérès vinegar giving them a sweet and sour type of flavor. Not bad though it didn't blow me away.



Instead of going all out for something from the "something a little bigger" section, we opted for some lighter portions in the "grill" section. The salted king prawns with smoked eggplant and crispy shallots ($168) was the obvious choice since both of us love seafood.

This has a bit of "typhoon shelter prawns" in it with all the exotic spices. I like the smoked eggplant too, meshing wonderfully with the salted prawns but was it just me or are those "king prawns" a bit small to be considered king prawns?



Anyways, there was no doubt in my mind who the star of the night was....and that honor belonged to the last savory dish of the evening - middle white pork loin marinated in soy and garlic ($298).

I like the fact that they didn't over-do this with the soy sauce. It's just right on the money. And the pork loin was perfectly done with a little pink in the middle. Very lovely texture and it's wonderfully tender and juicy. Delish!



We wanted to try at least one dessert before we go and eventually decided to share one order of the vanilla cheesecake with rhubarb and raspberry ($108) among the two of us. I have never been a fan of thick and dense cheesecakes so this vanilla cheesecake was just perfect. It was light like a soft custard with a good balance of vanilla and cheese flavor while the rhubarb sticks and raspberries provided just enough acidity to offset the richness of the cheesecake. I probably won't mind having this again on my next visit.



I was a little disappointed not to see dishes like the "re-invented" clam chowder on the menu tonight but I guess that's part of the fun about dining here. You don't exactly know what's available on the night until you arrive! 

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 345 Des Voeux Road West, Sai Wan, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: HKU
Tel: +852 2177-5050
Website: www.rhoda.hk

Lifetastic (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I have a bunch of backlog reviews to write before heading to Seoul this weekend so I better make this real quick. Lifetastic is a café in and out of my radar screen since its opening and it's been on my to-do list for the longest time. But the fact that they have got the best watermelon cake in the city has made it virtually impossible for me to ignore, even when it's located a bit far at Shek Tong Tsui. So when my buddy V and I decided to meet up at Rhoda tonight, I decided to come early and kill two birds with one stone.

Located on the hilly Hill Road, Lifetastic is a breath of fresh air in an area dominated by local eateries but I see this as an transition period (old meets new).




Anyways, I was being seated at the corner of the cafe and after peeking into the menu for 5 seconds, I wasted no time waving at my server. Yes, I'm going for the watermelon cake.



This is the perfect choice for the summer. With the tremendous heat in July, the combination of watermelon, strawberry, pistachio, almond dacquoise and rose-scented cream never sounded better. I like the toasted pistachio and dried rose petals too, for the contrasting textures and flavors.



This was just beautiful. I heard that they've actually soaked the strawberry and watermelon in rose water to give it a bit more flavors and that was just icing on the cake for me. Honestly I really didn't mind having another slice of that but quickly realized I have dinner in approximately half an hour.



While I was real happy with the watermelon cake, I found myself slightly disappointed with my iced French chocolate. This is a bit watery (even without ice) and the chocolate flavors were a bit weak. Perhaps I was expecting something along the line of Angelina's super thick chocolate drink here so the bars were set way too high before I even had my first sip.



The strawberry watermelon cake alone is already worth the visit. Now that I'm addicted, it looks like I'm obligated to check out BlackStar Pastry’s infamous Strawberry Watermelon Cake when I'm in Sydney later this year!

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop B, G/F, 31-37 Hill Road, Shek Tong Tsui, Western District, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: HKU
Tel: +852 5243-9851