Castella – Unjung/West Pangyo

We had a bit of time finding Castella, as it’s located off the restaurant road that runs parallel to highway 57. It’s around the back of a nondescript multi-story building – you literally have to drive the wrong way down an on ramp for a few seconds in order to leave their parking lot.

Despite the trouble we had locating the cafe and parking, it was worth the effort. After perusing a menu full of delicious looking pictures of chocolates, cakes, and bonbons, we began with the half-baked namesake. The outside was soft and airy and resembled angel food cake, and the inside was a warm, sweet, sticky pleasure.

The fondant au chocolat was a perfect little volcano cake – moist chocolate cake filled with sweet milk chocolate lava. This was my favorite.

The tea was wonderful. On the advice of the server, I ordered her favorite – a citrus ginger blend. The aroma was all spicy ginger, while the taste was sweet like tangerines. It was a great combination and went well with the bitter flavor of the drinking chocolate, which was thick and heavy in pure cocoa.

My only complaint with Castella is that it is too far off the beaten path for me to frequent very often. The quiet atmosphere, comfy seating, and tasty sweets make it a perfect place to hunker down with a novel or an ideal spot to have a romantic coffee date.

Desserts

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Tea and Coffee

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Sandwiches

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Noran Moon – Unjung/West Pangyo

The thing that initially lured me in to Noran Moon was the architecture of their restaurant – the enormous door that swings open at the middle in taxi-cab yellow always caught my eye when we were out strolling around the neighborhood. When you walk inside, the first thing you smell is wood smoke and Italian spices – the promise of yummy pizza.

We began with a glass of house red, some fresh baked bread and green olives. At 6,000 Won, the glass of wine was more generous than I would have expected, and the olives were a good start.

The salmon was a surprise standout – the fish was fresh and pleasantly seasoned, served with olives, arugula, and onions. I appreciated that they didn’t over-garnish or over-season, as the natural flavor and quality of the fish was very good.

The pizza is by far the best thing at Noran Moon. They use a wood oven to fire their pizzas, and the crust comes out light and airy on the edge and nice and thin everywhere else. The sauce is very sweet and goes well with the mozzarella they used for the margherita. On a previous trip, we sampled the porchetta pizza, and the thin salty meat was especially good with the sweet sauce.

The carbonara sauce was rich and creamy, the ham slightly salty and tender. The quality of the noodles didn’t stand up to the rest of the dish, but everything was well prepared. A good side for us, but it was definitely out-shined by the pizza.

Even though the tiramisu was almost overwhelmed by cocoa, the custard was thick and creamy, and the bottom layer had a good texture to play against the otherwise soft dessert. After so much food, it was just enough sweet to finish out the meal.

Noran Moon is especially pleasant in the summer – the back patio has a great view of the oven and kitchen. A few other dishes from a summertime visit:

Caesar salad with salty cured meat

Pizza porchetta

Barely sweet bingsu – it felt like we were eating clouds. Delicious.

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Cafe Chez Moi – Unjung/West Pangyo

There’s a reason they label the walk near the stream in Unjung a cafe street – the neighborhood is steeped in coffee shops. Cafe Chez Moi is one of these cafes, but they also advertise brunch – a surefire way to get me in the door. Every five minutes or so as we sat waiting for our food, we saw locals popping in to grab loaves of fresh baked bread. This is an uncommon sight on this side of Unjung-Ro – you see plenty of locals sitting for hours at these coffee shops, sipping on a series of Americanos, but far fewer establishments where people come in specifically to buy just bread.

In traditional Korean style, Cafe Chez Moi doesn’t just serve a simple ham and cheese, they garnish it with pesto and olives, use  multiple types of cheese and add sauteed sweet onions. The set is completed by a mixed greens salad and a cup of creamy pumpkin soup topped with pepitas. The soup was a real winner – seasoned and sweet with just the right amount of crunch from the pumpkin seeds.

We also sampled the German pancake. I’d never had this soft buttery version of the classic, and I was happy to get to know it – served with lemon curd, ice cream, and honey banana compote as choices for toppings, it pleased my short attention span and my taste buds.

I also had to order Cafe Chez Moi’s affogato – how can I resist honeyed ice cream for breakfast, especially when when served with such an adorable cup of espresso. It was a tasty and, at 6,000 Won, a less expensive version of the treat.

Bottom line – a comfortable cafe with great people watching windows and tasty German pancakes, Cafe Chez Moi is a good choice for brunch on a cold winter weekend.

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Burger Mill – Unjung/West Pangyo

When Mr. Big closed, I didn’t expect another burger joint to open in its place. I’m quite glad that Burger Mill decided to do just that.

This was my favorite part of the meal. Every great milkshake needs to start with good quality ice cream – this one was thick and creamy and tasted like the ice cream we used to get back home in Maine at a local farm.

On a whim, I ordered the “tornado” without knowing exactly what that meant. Turned out that the tornado is an order of delicious curved fries, crispy around the outside and soft in the middle. It was a good gamble.

The onion rings were fresh and well prepared, but strangely sweet. The breading was seasoned and crunchy and not oily at all. The order came with a ranch dipping sauce.

The burger was quite tasty. The bun was soft and the patty seasoned well and cooked to medium. Even though it’s winter, the produce was crisp and fresh, and the sauce that garnished the burger was spicy and complemented the taste of the beef rather than overwhelming it.

I took another chance and ordered the “bulgogi dog”. In general, I don’t really like hot dogs, but I decided to give this one a shot. Turns out there’s no hot dog in the bulgogi dog – instead, it was a little like a Korean steak sandwich, garnished with cheese, onions, lettuce and relish. It ended up being quite delicious.

Located on the cafe street that runs along the stream in Unjung, Burger Mill is just a stone’s throw from us. I’m glad to have a local burger place again, and even if I weren’t a glutton for ground beef, I’d come back just for the rich milkshakes.

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