Xmas in Seoul (Dec 25, 2008)

Xmas dinner in Seoul - what should we have? Korean food of course. 

This trip besides myself, we had a guest from Brisbane, who has some minor dietary constraints. So, we went to a restaurant that offered a wider selection of greens and healthy fusion cooking style. 

Haruso, is located next to the Coffee Bean at Jongno. It offers both traditional seating and table and chairs which was a big plus for me. Sitting cross-legged for extended dinners was a big challenge.

This meal was quite unique for me. I felt like I am going through a different level of Korean culinary during this trip. In my previous trip in September, I had the typical Korean fare i.e. Korean bbq, cold buckwheat noodle, bibimbap etc. This time around, we had moved on to more advanced cooking.

The starters were a selection of salads, daikon (radish) with tomato in a sesame soy dressing and lettuce with squid in thousand island dressing. We had the usual kimchi accompaniment, vinegared cucumber cold soup and a peculiar tasting sesame mushroom soup. 

Then we had a round of raw oysters dressed with a dab of concentrated miso chilly paste. Followed by stewed pork ribs with mushrooms and garlic and stir-fry squid with pepper. 

To polish off the meal, we had a miso clam soup and rice crust in plain water (this is a traditional korean way of eating crust of the rice, so not to waste). 

It was an interesting meal. Quite unexpected. Fusion of western and korean syle. Unique.