Las Margaritas

I am not, what you would call, a Mexican food connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. At all. I always get either ground beef nachos or ground beef soft tacos. However ... at Las Margaritas, there were no nachos and the tacos looked pretty expensive for ... well, tacos.

They have a menu with different combos and found that two tacos (without sides of any kind) cost more than the burrito combo, which came with the burrito, French fries, chips and salsa and a soda.

Yeah, gonna go with the set. Except ... I don't know anything about burritos. I figured it was just beef in a tortilla, like a taco ... but slightly different somehow. Well, that's a lie. I remember my Spanish teacher going on a rant about burritos and how there is no such thing in Mexico, where she's from, and how it literally translates into "little donkey." I wonder if the person who named it that used donkey meat the first time. Probably not.

Anyway, so I order my set and the chips and salsa come out pretty quickly.

So, remember, I'm not a Mexican person, so I wasn't too happy that the sour cream was dumped in the bowl with the salsa. However, lucky for me, it was not sour cream like back home. It wasn't even that sour (I assume sour cream should somewhat sour). The chips weren't salty enough, but then again, I'm from the South, where everything is covered in salt ... or sugar. Anyhow, the salsa was nice and chunky. I wanted more, but that 2,000 won charge for another basket like this kept me at bay.

Actually, it would be nice to see nachos on that menu, but I guess it's not since cheese is rather expensive here. The fries were okay. Nothing special. But that burrito ... was weird. I was surprised to find beans and rice inside - not expecting that at all. It's been awhile, so you may have forgotten how picky I am, but beans and I ... no. What I could really go for are cheese enchiladas, but fat chance since they don't even have nachos.

Other than having surprises inside, it wasn't too bad. With the chips (and salsa), fries and drink, I could only eat one of these halves. The other saved well enough for lunch the next day.

The only other thing I can say about the food is that it went cold really fast. That is partly due to the fact that I sat in a windowed area, but in that case, you have to consider it in the design.

While I wouldn't be opposed to trying their food again, their prices will definitely keep me at bay.

The Cafe Street of the Precious Pavilion / La Rue des cafés de la pavilion précieuse

Last Wednesday, I was really jonesing for some Mexican. This is a rare event as I'm not really a fan of the stuff. However, in Korea, I know this could be a difficult task. After some research, I found a place called Las Margaritas, but didn't end up going that night.

On Saturday, I decided to go there for lunch. Using the search engine Daum, I put in the address and found the route. But once I got there, nothing looked like a Mexican restaurant. I decided to ask the security guard, but he said there was never a Mexican restaurant there. I put the address in Naver, another search engine, and came up with a rather different location.

When I got there, I was very happy. The area is very nice and, even though there is more than one street, they call it Café Street. The Bojeong Café Street. "Bo" means "precious," and "jeong" means "pavilion."

I decided to try all the places in my remaining time here. This weekend, I managed to try four: one on Saturday and three on Sunday.

Here's a little preview:

Le mercredi dernier, Last Wednesday, il est alors question d'un besoin très pressant de manger la cuisine mexicaine. Il est rare parce que je n'aime pas beaucoup cette cuisine. Pourtant, ici en Corée du Sud, je connais que trouver la cuisine mexicaine sera très difficile. Après avoir effectué quelques recherches, j'ai trouvé un resto s'appelle Las Margaritas, mais finalement je n'y pouvais pas sortir cette nuit-là.

Le samedi, j'ai décidé que j'y serai allée pour le déjeuner. En utilisant le moteur de recherche du site Daum, j'ai cherché l'adresse et trouvé la route. Mais, quand je suis arrivée, il n'y a pas un resto que ressemble un resto mexicain. Donc, j'ai demandé le garde de sécurité et il m'a dit qu'il n'y a jamais un resto mexicain là. J'ai encore recherché, mais en utilisant un autre moteur de recherche qui s'appelle Naver, et il m'a dit un autre lieu très différent.

Quand j'y suis arrivée, j'étais très heureuse. Le quartier est très joli et tranquille. Bien qu'il y a plus d'une rue, il s'appelle la rue des cafés. La rue des cafés de Bojeong. « Bo » signifie « précieux » et « jeong » signifie « pavilion. »

A ce moment-là, j'ai décidé d'essayer tous ces restos dans le reste du temps à Seongnam. Donc, ce week-end dernier, j'ai essayé quatre: un le samedi et trois le dimanche.

Voici un aperçu petit (voir ci-dessus):

2016

Hello!

I've been traveling for a while and got back a little over 24 hours ago. While I was traveling, I realised the reason I haven't been keeping up with this blog is 1) I started it for school (a relatively minor reason), and 2) because I got backed up retranslating the French entries back into English. Plus, I never finished some.

So! I will start anew. Mostly with pictures, but occasionally with commentary. I hope the food speaks for itself.

Get ready, 2016. I'm coming.

ISA

Fin.

Note bene: Ce n'est pas vraiment la fin pour le blog, mais c'est la fin des articles universitaires.

Le repas gastronomique des Français est une pratique sociale coutumière destinée à célébrer les moments les plus importants de la vie des individus et des groupes (naissances, mariages, anniversaires, succès, retrouvailles). C’est un repas festif réunissant des convives qui pratiquent ensemble, pour cette occasion particulière ‘ l’art de bien manger et de bien boire ’. Cette pratique, très populaire et familière à tous les Français, se développe en France depuis des siècles. Elle se transmet et évolue en permanence.

« Catherine Colonna, dossier de candidature N° 00437 »

Vous pouvez le voir, selon le dossier de candidature que la France a présenté pour que le repas gastronomique français soit inscrit sur la liste du patrimoine immatériel de l'UNESCO, cette coutume sociale de manger comme une forme de célébration est "très populaire et familière à tous les Français". Juste pour moi, j'avais défini le mariage de mon amie, qui a commencé hier soir (et a terminé ce matin), comme un aboutissement de toutes mes aventures gastronomiques "françaises". Me connaissant, je l'ai observé autant que je pouvais, pour m'imprégner au maximum, parce que c'est simplement la nature de ma curiosité culturelle. Mais j'ai essayé de prêter une attention particulière à ce qui se passait entre les amis, la famille et moi, parce que je savais que j'écrirai ce dernier article sur mes expériences gastronomiques globales. Et pendant que j'étais assise à la réception, j'ai réalisé :

Les Français disent des conneries.

D'accord, d'accord - je suis trop fort. C'est juste le comité qui a proposé cette idée d'ajouter le repas gastronomique français.

Je lisais ce que ce dossier a dit que le long repas a rassemblé les Français, "renforçant le lien social", pour célébrer quelque événement spécial autant que bien manger et bien boire.

Mais maintenant, je ne le crois pas.

C'est vraiment incroyable de voir comment un cocktail de 3,5 heures, une réception de 9 heures, et un déjeuner avec les restes met à nu les coutumes d'un pays. Vraiment.

Le mariage nous a rassemblé. L'amour entre un homme et une femme. C'est la raison pour laquelle nous étions assis dans cette salle des fêtes de Saint Michel en Picardie. On s'en fiche de la nourriture. En fait, quelquefois, la nourriture était plus une arrière-pensée au fur et à mesure que la soirée avançait.

À l'heure du cocktail qui a eu lieu dans la cour de l'église, les traiteurs ont servi des petites pains avec du champagne. Il a commencé vers 16h15 et avant 17h30, seulement un quart des invités est resté. Je suis sûre que c'est juste la famille du marié et de la mariée (mais je pense que la plupart la famille était du marié parce que cette famille semblait plus grande que la famille de la mariée) et une poignée d'amis de lycée de la mariée. Les mariés se faisaient prendre en photos, donc ils étaient eux-même absents. Leurs amis du travail étaient allés au café en face de la salle des fêtes et avaient pris un verre. Le petit nombre d'amis qui sont restés à l'église parlaient de choses et d'autres - deux femmes ont bu de l'eau et j'ai bu du jus. Le lien social était là, mais la nourriture et les boissons n'étaient pas importantes.

Le dîner a commencé à 19h30 à l'heure pile avec une diversité d'amuse-bouches. Il y avait des verrines, une mini bouchée de salade dans petits verres, et des canapés, une tranche de pain avec différentes garnitures, comme du caviar et du chèvre avec une tranche fine de concombre. Le Champagne a continué à être servi.

Après un certain temps, le DJ nous a demandé de nous asseoir, et nous avons commencé à jouer à un jeu. Il jouait une partie d'une chanson, de la bande originale d'un film (le thème pour le mariage était les films), et nous devions lever la main quand nous le savions et il pouvait choisir quelqu'un. Si nous nommions correctement le bande originale, la table de cette personne pouvait se servir au buffet. Il a répété le cycle jusqu'à que toutes les tables gagne - même la dernière table a dû répondre correctement ou être à jamais banni du buffet. Au début, c'était une partie de plaisir, mais alors que le jeu a continué, les invités ont commencé à être plus compétitif parce que ... euh ... ils avaient faim. S'ils n'ont répondu pas correctement, ils doivent se cacher en honte des autres invités. S'ils ont répondu correctement, le reste de la table est reconnaissante et contente, et le lien sociale augmente. En ce sens, la nourriture EST un lien social. Je suis d'accord.

Entre les plats, les Français jouent à des jeux, chantent des chansons de maries et / ou regardent des court-métrages aussi des maries pour passer le temps et vous empêcher de vous rendre compte que le dernier plat était il y a des heures. Ces animations semblent lier les invités plus que de manger ensemble. Les jeux font tout le monde rit ensemble. Les chansons font que les invités se sentent émus. Et les vidéos vous permettent de partager tous les aspects de leurs vies - de la naissance jusqu'au jour du mariage.

Or, il y avait encore une petite pause entre ces animations et l'arrivage du plat principal. Mais quand la nourriture est arrivée, j'étais la seule à la table. Une cousine ​​du marie m'a rejoint, mais les autres sont venus en retard, ont vite mangé ce qu'ils voulaient et ils sont repartis. Certaines personnes avaient tellement mangé au buffet qu'ils n'ont même pas mangé ce plat... les maries, par exemple.

Pour le fromage, presque personne n'est venu immédiatement et le fromage chaud a refroidi assez rapidement.

Le dessert était à 01h30 et tout le monde s'est rassis à table... juste avant de la quitter immédiatement après avoir mangé. Tout les invités ne sont pas partis immédiatement, mais c'était vraiment le signal que c'était bon de partir.

Et repensant à tous mes repas mémorables avec des amis, il y avait une raison à chaque, comme il est défini dans ce dossier. Une réunion entre moi et mes amis. Un succès - que notre cours à Paris soit terminé. Un mariage entre un mouton et un chaudron (leurs noms de famille).

Peut-être que la seule partie française est le nombre de plats et de l'ordre. Autres que les États-Unis et la Corée du Sud, je ne sais pas bien sur d'autres pays, mais je sais que leurs longs repas sont toujours courts en comparaison des repas français. Par exemple, la plupart des contrats de réception de mariage dans l'Arkansas et San Diego durent 6 heures - 1 heure de préparation, 1 heure de nettoyage et 4 heures pour la réception. Fondamentalement, vous avez 4 heures pour manger et faire la fête. En Corée du Sud, vous mangez au buffet qui est essentiellement un restaurant, et, si vous le souhaitez, attendez de voir les maries. Si vous ne voulez pas les voir, vous partez juste après avoir mangé. Les mariages en Corée du Sud sont généralement à l'opposé d'intime ou d'émouvant. Dans tous les cas, il est assez fréquent  dans le monde entier de célébrer des occasions spéciales avec un putain de repas. Il n'est pas réservé aux Français seulement.

Pour conclure, les Français ont présenté leur argumentation d'une manière qui, à mon avis, est incorrecte. Le repas français n'est pas un lien social, seulement une partie.

Vannes

So originally, I had wanted to write about the food I ate here in Vannes, Bretagne (Brittany to Americans), France ... but I'm not going to lie. Too much time has passed since then. Although the date shows I'm posting this while I was in Vannes, I actually am not.

Honestly, none of the food I was going to write about had to do with restaurants because I think I got a limonade (not the same as a lemonade) at one place, but that was the only time I didn't eat home-cooked meals. As I remember this, I also remember that I think that is what I was going to write about. The original purpose was to see how the French eat today even with the French gastronomic meals being preserved by UNESCO. Although in all of these places, I saw multiple courses, I hardly ever saw the full meal being served.

Except here.

In Vannes, maybe because I was a guest, they start with the aperitif and end with a digestif. There were multiple dishes. It reminded me of the last time I was in Korea when my Korean mom tried to feed me after I was full. My friend's mom did not push me like my mom, but she did feed me a large variety of things, so I wanted to try everything.

By the way, the crepes really are better in Bretagne. But more on this later.

Though Vannes is small in comparison to Paris, London, Stockholm - even Tallinn, food-wise, I remember it being nice. Everything I ate was good and it still looks quite common to go to the fresh markets and speciality shops. I know Paris has a multitude of fresh markets and speciality shops, but for convenience, I feel like it is more common to go to a grocery store. Thus, the feeling of picking out your fresh vegetables is much nicer. It's like going to a farmer's market in the US versus going to Wal-Mart or Kroger (or whatever your region's store is called). It simply cannot compete.

Basically, every point in the UNESCO document - about fresh food, number of courses, etc. - was true here. I feel like Bretagne, which I believe is a bit more traditional generally speaking (it's also the most Catholic region in France), is truly maintaining this French custom.

Oh, yeah, and their ice cream shops are amazing, too. Quiberon!

London

I want to start this article today by saying that this is my last article of a city that is not in France until August. Well, maybe this is the penultimate. I could be overwhelmed by American food when I arrived there a few days before August, and feel a need to write.

So I spent a few days in London. I had some new cuisine experiences and we'll start with Wasabi.

Oh, yes, that's right. It's Japanese food that I ate in the UK, the country of, not the Japanese, but the English. This was my second meal of the day, and it wasn't a big deal, but I wanted to mention a few things before you dismiss it completely.

I saw an ad for it while I wandered aimlessly near Piccadilly Circus, and the picture of those dumplings really made me want to eat soup dumplings. Great, right? -_-

Later, when I went there with my friend, I discovered that I was wrong. My friend enjoyed his sushi, but my soup would have been nice if it had been seasoned properly. But the American Southerners, who are stereotyped as someone who wants a ton of salt on everything, would have nearly died from the salt concentration. It was ridiculously salty. I would have thought that I was drinking water from the effing English Channel.

I ate what I could (basically the ravioli) and left the rest.

What I found most interesting about London is something that I noticed in my first meal there: the British method of "fast food." If heating is required, the fast food restaurants keep them in refrigerated displays, like Starbucks, where you take your cold food or drink, which is not quite ready for consumption. When you pay for it, you give this mostly prepared food to the clerk and they immediately begin to cook the food and/or mix the drink. I saw this style in several different restaurants in London and it is very refreshing because it means that your meal is literally made to order - even if the prep was not. Perhaps American fast food restaurants should do the same.

Of course the gastronomic highlight of my London trip was the afternoon tea at the Savoy Hotel.

Looking around the hotel before our reservation, we stopped by the bakery. Macaroons and other colourfully, delicious pastries were everywhere.

 

I was there during Wimbledon, so you can probably guess what they made a lot of.

When we sat down, we looked at the menu which contained two options: afternoon tea or high tea. So my parents, who lived in Dunoon, Scotland for one or two years, always told me that afternoon tea and high tea was one and the same. But not so. High tea is more like a light dinner - more savoury than sweet. These meals were supposed to be like a snack since dinner used to be around 20:00 or 21:00. The French would call it « l'heure du goûter ».

Since I doubt that you can not read the menu in the picture, I'll tell you what it says.

High Tea

A selection from our teas
A selection of sandwiches (see below)
Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with Melba toast
Toasted crumpets with butter and strawberry jam
A selection of cakes

Afternoon

A Selection from Our Teas

The Savoy Collection, black teas (flavoured or not), white teas (flavoured or not), yellow teas, green teas (flavoured or not), oolong teas, herbal teas, excellent and rare teas, flower teas and iced tea.

I wanted to make sure I would enjoy my tea (despite the possibility of changing tea once), so I chose a safe bet:

Fair Trade Jasmine Pearls

Velvety, full and enticing green tea leaf lifted by fresh and heady jasmine aroma. The taste is sumptuous, round and deeply jasmine infused.

My British friend, on the other hand, was more adventurous and chose from the excellent and rare tea section:

Iron Buddha Oolong

An intensely floral oolong tea, hand rolled and fired to create a characteristic Iron Buddha or "Iron Goddess of Mercy" Oolong flavour.

A Selection of Sandwiches

• Ham with mustard cream cheese
• Coronation chicken (a.k.a. chicken salad) on olive bread
• Scottish smoked and poached salmon with dill mustard
• Egg salad with watercress
• Cucumber, fleur de marquis (a cheese from Corse) and dried tomatoes

Scones with and without raisins ...

... with Cornish clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam.

A Selection of Pastries

• Hazelnut and espresso cookie
• Raspberry and green tea balls
• Milk chocolate and passionfruit éclairs
• Rhubarb and strawberry tarts
• Forest fruit and dark chocolate shortbread cookies
• Pineapple and coconut slice

I confess that I asked for one of each ... except the pineapple and coconut slice. I'm not really a fan of coconut. I'm sure you're shocked. Everything went well together - even the green tea and raspberry balls which I doubted the most since matcha tastes like grass to me.

A Selection of Cakes

• Blueberry
• Banana and almonds
• Chocolate

Honestly, I could not give you an honest opinion of these cakes. I tasted them so I could describe them here, but we had already eaten so much that everything tasted the same and we almost could have thrown up.

Now let's play a little game. Maybe you have watched it on TV during the day. When I was a kid during summer vacation at my grandparents' house, we watched it every morning - it's called The Price Is Right. I want you to think carefully about what you just saw and guess how much it all cost - for high tea and afternoon tea. We will return to the prices later.

When we ordered and our Hungarian waitress brought the first set, she cautioned, "These sandwiches and scones are unlimited, but be careful and remember there are still pastries and cake after these."

But ... neither of us had eaten that day and our reservation was at 17:30, so we didn't take her advice to heart. Everything was magical for me. We don't really have luxurious teas like this in Little Rock. I heard that Ashley's, where I went several weeks ago, have teas like this, but, like the dinner, it is ridiculously expensive since they know they are the only restaurant in the Little Rock area where you can just sit and have a posh tea. (Another tea room exists, but you must make reservations in advance and have a minimum of 6 or 10 people - I forget the name now)

So at the beginning ... at 17:30, we were like ...

... But by the end at 19:30-20:00, we were like ...

So what was the cost of these teas? Per person, it was £52.50 for the high tea and £50 for the afternoon tea. Notice: this is in pounds sterling - Britain's money. Which means that it was about $90 (66€) and $86 (63€). PER. FUCKING. PERSON. Thank God my friend works for the hotel and gets a 50% discount for the teas. I don't think I will ever have the opportunity to take tea here again. Never. That's a lot of money - even for the English. Maybe ... if I marry a rich husband who thinks that $100 for an afternoon tea is chump change ... well, of course I would try it again. And it would be even better because now I know exactly what to expect when it comes to how much I should eat and when. However, I probably will still feel a little guilty the next day that I spent enough money on one TEA to feed a family in a third-world-country for a month.

The first night I arrived in London, my friend met me at the airport. On the way to the house where I was staying (again thanks to Airbnb), he asked me if there was anything special I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to experience a curry in London. I often listen to Friday Night Comedy on BBC Radio 4, and throughout the years, I have heard British comedians joke about curries. So on my last night in London, that's exactly what we did: eat "curry."

We walked down the street of restaurants, and were about to enter a curry buffet when a guy approached us. He runs the restaurant next door. For £1 more than the buffet, he told us we would have a starter, main course, nan (which is the Indian bread), rice and a drink. My friend thought we would not eat more than two plates and buffet did not include a drink that probably cost more than £1. So we went with the guy.

An expensive city like that is not a city to experiment with food. So I kept to dishes that I already knew. For the starter, I chose samosas, fried pastries stuffed with potatoes and vegetables (always peas - the other vegetables vary), and which are always delicious. I always get them at Indian restaurants. Tonight was no exception, but they exceeded my expectations because I was basically dragged there by the owner, the interior looked pretty shady and, although they said we could choose anything under the various headings, it turned out not to be the case.

Just as an optional addition to our starters (my friend got tandoori chicken, which I think he did not like), we were given this yogurt-curry sauce.

My friend ordered the chicken korma and I ordered the lamb vindaloo. Note that none of us ordered CURRY. My friend told me that the English call any Indian food "curry." So, to eat curry like the English, curry is not actually required. As long as you eat in an Indian restaurant, you are eating "curry". And my vindaloo was legitimately spicy. What I had was the spiciest. The shady man who I guess was our server came back and asked if it was okay that the dish was spicy. I told him the truth: Spicy is good. He laughed in a very weird way.

I am pleased to have had the experience of eating curry like a normal Englishman (or ... Englishwoman). I also had "fast food" and a sophisticated tea. All these things are the most diverse range of meals that I've eaten during my travels since May, including Paris.

Speaking of Paris ...

Oslo

Ahhh, Oslo. Home of King Harald V of Norway, who is also 71st in line for the British throne; the Vikings; and the stave churches.

When I arrived, it was too late for dinner (hence the McDonalds), but I had more time here than in Stockholm, so I was in no hurry to go out and find a restaurant immediately. Big mistake.

The next day, I did a lot of things to try to prepare for my London leg which were not related to food. In fact, I didn't had an opportunity to eat until the afternoon when I arrived at the Norwegian Folk Museum (translation: the Norwegian Folk Museum). I went to the cafe after buying my ticket and I thought it would be a good idea to buy an ice cream. The cafe, after all, was warm and full of the smell of coffee.

Yet when I went outside to eat my ice cream ... I realised that I must have been crazy. It was cold. And it started raining just after I entered this open-air museum. Although ice cream is not a gastronomic marvel, the sprinkles were abnormal. I do not know how to describe them except to say they were like the love child of American sprinkles and Pop Rocks. Norwegian sprinkles did not exactly explode in my mouth, but they were crisp and hollow. Yet they seemed solid. A real mystery.

That night, after another day not eating, I'm starving. I went to a store like 7-Eleven to try and buy tickets for the Royal Palace in Oslo the next morning. To enter the Royal Palace, you need to be part of a tour. To be part of a tour, you need to buy a ticket. One can only buy tickets at 7-Eleven or this similar store. Bizarre. But this store's computers for bookings were broken. So I went to the other side of the same street to the same chain. There were no spots open until 17:00 the next day, but I was leaving at 13:00, so I guess I'll have to do that next time. Beside me, there is a case of hot dogs. Which looked very good to someone who is really hungry and on a tight budget. So I bought one. Or two. For about $6, which seemed cheap at the time. And they really were delicious, these "spicy" hot dogs. I would buy them again if I come back because they were good and relatively cheap. If two hot dogs cost this much, can you imagine what a decent meal would have cost? And they also had, in the true French style, croissants. In fact, they were having a sale. I could pay $2 less than I paid for the hot dogs and get one croissant, OR I could pay the same price as hot dogs and get three. These croissants were also delicious. Soft and flaky - it was like eating a croissant in Paris. However, after days of these meager meals, I thought: "Tomorrow, I am going to enjoy a good meal, damnit!"

Yes, it is Subway. So my plan was to find a restaurant at 11:00 and eat there. Finish around noon and head to the airport via the train station. After I used AirBNB again to find a place to stay here, I found that my host was - surprise! - a cook in a Mexican restaurant. She recommended some restaurants with good, but cheap (for Oslo) food. So my plan was to pool the money I hadn't used in the last two days and enjoy myself. So, Isabelle, how did you come to SUBWAY? Hmm, well, all the restaurants my host recommended were closed. Until 13:00. When I needed to be AT the airport. So, on the way to the station, I saw Subway, which I knew would be faster and maybe even cheaper. It was not the cheaper and the salami seemed kinda odd.

My friend just told me it doesn't look too weird, but when you compare pictures of the American Subway's salami and this salami ... you can see a difference. Maybe because there are more fat (or what I assume is fat because it's white).

Looking back, eating Subway was better because, even though I knew that London is expensive, it proved to be a bit more expensive than I had realised.