Tap Public Gwanghwamun Granseoul, Seoul, South Korea

by gavin, posted in Bars, Travel

It was the afternoon of my first full day in Seoul, and as I was wandering back to a metro station to head back to my hotel I opened up my map to look for some beer. Closeby I found a bar called Tap Public. It took me a while to work out that the bar was in the basement of an office building. I was searching probably for the best part of 20 minutes before it dawned on me to go subterranean and there it was!

Tap Public, 종로구 종로 33, Seoul, 03159, South Korea

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Kiwa Taproom, Seoul, South Korea

by gavin, posted in Bars, Travel

For my first day in Seoul I decided to head up a little north to the famous Insadong Street, close to Gyeongbokgung Palace. Jumping off the metro at Jong-Gag station I walked around the area for a while before heading a little further north towards the palace.

I didn’t go into the palace as it was coming toward lunchtime and I was hungry and thirsty.

Pulling up my map app I found a small local brewery close by called Kiwa Taproom very close to Seoul’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

KIWA TAPROOM, 종로구 율곡로1길 74-7, Seoul, 03062, South Korea

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Novotel Sydney International Airport, Sydney, Australia

by gavin, posted in Hotels, Travel

It was a big day for me, I was off on my first trip since COVID hit in 2020!

I had decided to head off to Seoul in South Korea and Taipei in Taiwan to investigate 2 new destinations. To get to Seoul I would need to fly out of Sydney rather than Melbourne, so rather than get a 6am flight from Melbourne to Sydney on the morning of my Seoul flight I decided to fly up the afternoon before and stay close to the airport.

There are a couple of hotels close to Sydney Airport but I chose to stay at the Novotel. It’s close to the airport but not much else, so you’ll also be eating at the hotel if you don’t have a car.

Novotel Sydney International Airport, Sydney International Airport, Sydney, New South Wales 2205, Australia

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Rice Paper Scissors, Melbourne, Australia

by gavin, posted in Restaurants

A couple of us from work had decided to head out for a bit of a project lunch. Close to the office is Rice Paper Scissors which I’d walked past often but never went into so today we decided to head on in.

Rice Paper Scissors, Melbourne, Australia

To make life easy for sharing we got the 5 dish banquet which allows you to order 5 dishes and we chose

  • Thai Fred Chicken
  • Crying Tiger – chargilled beef brisket
  • Suckling Pig Steamed Buns
  • Milawa Duck Larb
  • Something Green? – seasonal veges

Its difficult to pick a favorite dish as they were all excellent in their own different way.

We also enjoyed a bottle of the Gippsland Moondarra ‘Studebaker’ Pinot Noir along with the meal.

Given there’s nearly always a queue to eat here and the food is so good I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you ate here.

Korean Table, Melbourne, Australia

by gavin, posted in Restaurants

After an afternoon at the footy watching Hawthorn capitulate yet again we headed to the western side of the CBD in search of dinner in the small laneways.

Just off Lonsdale Street between King and Spencer Streets is a little laneway called Rose Lane and on this laneway you’ll find a Korean Restaurant called Korean Table.

Korean Table, Melbourne, Australia

It was pretty quiet when we arrived around 6pm so were able to grab a table straightaway.

The menu looks good and for the three of us we ordered

  • Mandu – Korean dumplings
  • Korean boneless fried chicken
  • Bo Ssam
  • Kimchi Bu-Chim-Gae – Korean pancake

This was enough food to fill the three of us and they all tasted great but the pick of the day was the fried chicken which was excellent.