The Spice Table - Restaurant Review

I know I have been woefully neglect in posting. I have had posts in my head but have not had the time to actually get it up! I have been on holiday and I have started another blog dedicated to my baking journey (www.buttersugarcream.com) which has taken a lot of my time to getting together.

As a first post back from a break, I would like to do a restaurant review of The Spice Table at Itaewon. This place opened in the Spring (if i'm not mistaken) and claims to do Vietnamese, Malaysian and Thai cuisine. After talking about going there, my OH and I finally did one Sunday afternoon.

Located opposite Los Amigos, you head up a tall set of stairs next to the Ramen shop. The interior is gently lit with warm wall lights and you are greeted by a tall wall of wine bottles as you enter. The floor has that unfinished industrial feel complimented with the heavy duty iron chandelier.

The menu has a reasonable selection of entrees and mains. I love my desserts and the fact that I can't remember their dessert selection says something. I ordered the Vietnamese Beef Noddles in an Oxtail Broth and my OH went for the Red Curry Fried Rice.

I must say I really enjoyed my Vietnamese Pho. The soup was cloudy with flavour and really made you want to keep slurping it down. The noodles were just the right texture and firmness. Soft but not to the point of being sloppy everywhere. They could have done with some Thai mint which would have made the dish perfect. It was the best pho I have had so far in Korea.

The Red Curry Fried Rice was full of flavour though a little dry. Could have used with a bit curry. We went back there with some friends a few weeks later and what was funny was when I called to make the reservation, they reconfirmed with me that I was calling "The Spice Table which is an Asian Fusion restaurant". I figured that they had some customers who made reservations but were surprised to find themselves not at The Spice (the new fine dining restaurant by Edward Kwon, also in Itaewon) but at The Spice Table.

Our friends agreed that the food was reasonably good and wouldn't mind going back there. The next time I go, I must ask them which was the Malaysian dish as I could not pick one dish out that was 'Malaysian'.

The Spice Table
02 796 0509

Cupcake Clutch - SATC The Movie

I'm a big fan of cupcakes and have been experimenting a lot with flavours and decorating. I'm also a big fan of Sex and The City. So when I saw the Judith Leiber clutch from the first movie carried by Charlotte's daughter, Lily being reviewed by The PurseBlog, I was like "Ooooooh! I WANT!". But that will burn such a hole in my pocket that I don't think I'd quite recover from it. US$5,000!!!



Sigh, it's going to be one of those things I am just going to have to admire from afar.

Eclipse Trailer - Better quality

The trailer that I linked to the last post is really not very clear at all. I found another better trailer from an official site here. I am quite excited about the new movie. I'm wondering whether I should read Eclipse again to just jog my memory or surprise myself by just watching the movie and letting it all come back to me. Hmmmmm...

I'm planning a Twilight party with some friends at my place 'cos I needed some friends to play the Twilight AND New Moon board games I got for Christmas! It's not going to go overboard in Twilight paraphernalia but we're going to keep some key things like the apples, having the movie play in the background, wine, red drinks... basically a Red theme whenever possible. I don't think I will be printing out life sized posters or drink bottle labels (as I saw one party hostess did), that's just too much effort for a small gathering. All in all it will be a chance to drool over Robert Pattinson in numbers rather than by myself. And... who cares if he doesn't look quite as good in real life?

This is a fanart sketched by akalilith - pretty amazing huh?

Total 'Eclipse' of my Heart

Ok, so it's a cheesy title for this post but there's nothing cheesy about Eclipse - the 3rd instalment of the Twilight Saga. Twilight got me hooked on the saga, New Moon was just laying the groundwork for Eclipse which prepared the pedestal for Breaking Dawn. So this movie HAS to be better than New Moon. Catch the HD trailer here at: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/thetwilightsagaeclipse/

...or watch it right now:

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I am a big fan of banana cake. Whether it comes in a loaf form or round cake form, I'm happy to sample some. The ones I like the most are the super moist ones. The ones that still spring to the touch. I have tried some of the banana loafs in Australia but I find that their banana 'bread' is really like Italian bread. It is dense and often dry.

To satisfy my craving for a good banana cake I decided to make my own as it is hard to find any here. The most common cakes at cafe's or bakeries are cheese cakes or cream cakes. I went through a few recipes and have hit the jackpot with one and my friends have been asking for the recipe, so here it is.

SERVES 16 Using a 9" Cake tin

You will need:

2 cups of bananas (use bananas that are really ripe ie. when the skin is all black and just sort of falling apart... they're perfect)
2 tsp Lemon juice
3 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Butter (room temp)
2 1/8 cups Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tsp Vailla Extract
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk

Frosting

I use this fantabulous Cream Cheese Frosting that I have posted about when I made Red Velvet Cupcakes. Check out the recipe here.

The Method

1. Preheat the oven to 135C or 275F. The temperature is low for baking a cake but don't touch that dial. It works, trust me.
2. Grease and flour a 9" cake tin.
3. Mash the bananas with a form and mix in the lemon juice. Let this sit for awhile.
4. Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
5. In your large mixing bowl, cream the butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. The mixture should turn very pale, the fluffier the butter and sugar mixture the lighter and higher the cake will rise.
6. Beat in the eggs one at a time on the low setting of your blender so you don't curdle the mixture. This will help emulsify the mixture and hold moisture which will also act as leavening for your cake. Scrape down the sides of the bowl at the end and add the vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternatively with the buttermilk. I do this in 3 portions each. Don't try to rush this. You want to make sure the mixture is well combined. If you live in Seoul like I do and can't find Buttermilk. It's easy to make your own. For each cup of buttermilk that is needed, add 1 tbsp of lemon to a cup of milk and let it sit for 10 mins. It may curdle a little at the top so just stir the milk before you add it to your cooking.
8. Finally add in the banana's and quickly use a wooden spoon to just stir it in. Don't overmix.
9. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and pop it into the preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 mins. I would check your cake att the 55mins mark as ovens differ. Best would be to get a oven termometer to measure the temp properly. To check insert a toothpick or a wooden skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean then your cake is done.
11. Remove it from the oven and put it in the freezer immediately for 45mins. Don't worry, your cake won't freeze but it will cool down very quickly which I think maybe how it stays very moist.

Check out the above link for a yummy cream cheese frosting recipe. As a final touch, you can add walnuts on the top of the frosting.