Whoa, that Whole Foods is crazy. The aisles in there were literally wide enough to fit a Jeep into them, especially the frozen foods aisle. As you can see, we came away with a nice haul. Several bags full of goodies to keep us going along with a box of six wines our fantastic friend Lindsay gave to us. The wine gift basket was from My Wines Direct and yes, they do ship their CA wines to PA!

Picky just happened to have a relatively clear schedule during the promo and went on a few adventures while Messy was toiling away in her office. With his smart phone loaded with music and plugged into the sound system, he rolled through some parts of North Philly in search of graffiti. He found a few good walls, but this was his favorite spot after backing up the Jeep onto the sidewalk and next to an abandoned lot. He couldn't figure out what exactly that loading dock-like structure was for in the background. While tempted to put the Jeep into full 4×4 and storm the lot, he moved on.

Way down in South Philly is FDR Skate Park, one of those spots photographers flock to like a moth to a flame. Every once in awhile, you just gotta drift down there. With the Jeep, Picky was able to hit a lot of spots around town quickly as opposed to the usual combo of foot/bike/SEPTA. It was midday and the place was fairly empty other than a small photo shoot and a handful of kids. The half pipe stands a few yards from the main run. An imposing sight for most. For a little fun, Picky dropped the Freedom Drive II into full-time 4WD and gunned it through the rough dirt lot full of who-knows-how-deep fresh puddles. With 19" of clearance, it has enough to get over most things. You can cruise over the biggest of speed bumps without a hitch.

Before picking up Messy, he stopped off at another South Philly landmark, Frangelli's Bakery at 9th and Ritner Streets. They make delicious yeasty donuts. They're more like a layer of condensed croissants than a Dunkin Donuts cake donut. Fantastic. The donuts were so good that he went back a few days later only to see that they had just shuttered their doors for the rest of the summer. But rest assured, they've reopened their doors as of today, September 8th.

For a special treat, we went up to North 5th Street into Koreatown. A place nearly inaccessible to car-less Center City residents. Sure, you could take a bus up there, but that would take forever. While it's still a trek from Center City in a car, we made it out there and chowed down at Jong Ka Jib, a soft tofu soup specialty house. Highly recommended by everyone who had ever eaten there, we walked in with high expectations and out with extremely full and content bellies.

Over the weekend we took a last-minute trip to the beach with some friends. We buried our feet in the sand, swallowed enough seawater to remember our childhoods all too well and took in some mid-summer sun.

On our way back from the shore, we had to take a pit stop at Weber's for some root beer floats. One of our passengers mistakenly asked for out drinks to go so we didn't get the full drive-in experience, with the frosty mugs in a tray clipped to our windowsill, but such is life. We still enjoyed our floats! (Weber's also sells their awesome, slightly spicy root beer in 1 gallon glass jugs for those who want to enjoy it at home.)

The Jeep was plenty roomy for the two of us and three of our friends. There was enough room for a run to IKEA to get some much needed shelving for Messy's records (now hanging in our living room!). The city gas mileage lingered at around 14mpg which was abysmal. The 2.4L I4 DOHC 16V engine seemed to like the highway much better where the mileage jumped up to the rated 28mpg.

During our test drive, we clocked nearly 800 miles in the pouring rain and the searing heat. The Jeep handled any puddle we threw at it and the dual-climate AC worked like an ox at all times. And finally, a quick clip showing off one of the very cool features of this fully loaded model: remote start!

Inside the bar area the dishes started to come out. The crowd was a mix of faculty, administrators, friends and family. I could tell right away that there were definitely people there who had never eaten let alone seen Korean food before from their body language. This was a pretty cool setting to try it all out for the first time.

So what's at the center of every proper Korean meal? Kimchee. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Brunch, lupper, midnight snack. Koreans eat it all day and with everything. I love the stuff. At this point, I eat a fraction of what I used to eat growing up and I love each and every time I get a chance to have it. This was a very different take on my people's national dish. In fact, most of the dishes prepared were interpretations of traditional dishes. There were hits and misses according to my native tongue. This kimchee missed. It was beautifully presented, but it was just plain sweet. The water it was sitting in was an odd purplish-red. I thought this was a harbinger for the rest of the food given the Americanized palates of the students regardless of their fortnight spent in the motherland.

Kimbap. Korea's on-the-go food which is similar to Japanese maki. Cuts of thinly sliced and cooked beef, julienned carrots, zucchini and pickled daikon rolled in vinegary rice, rolled into dried seaweed. This stuff was closer to what I grew up with. Proportions weren't quite where I like it, but that's being nitpicky, but hey, that's me, right?.

Scallops on fried lotus root topped with a soy, scallion sauce. This is something I've never seen before. Maybe it's a take on something they saw in Korea, maybe it's something I just didn't grow up with. I'm not the biggest lover of seafood and I thought it was quite tasty.

Ah japchae. It's a time consuming noodle dish which I'll describe as fried rice, but with noodles. This take on japchae was rolled into [wonton?] wrappers. Not quite salty enough, but very well done.

The guests happily dug into everything.

A shot of one side of my overflowing plate.

A shot of the other side.

Into the presentation we went. The class presented their professor, Dr. Jeehyun Lee, with a lovely gift in a familiar white ribboned, turquoise box. She brushed away a few tears as she soaked in the applause. She was the one who tirelessly led them across her homeland.

Here's Andrew Haught talking about some of the things they did early on. The group went up to the Seoul Tower where they decorated a tile commemorating the trip. Tiles are stuck onto the observation deck of the tower by visitors year round.

Marilyn Miquel spoke of the facilities at Youngsan University. You can see in the photo all the monitors at each cooking station. I've had a tour of Drexel's kitchens and while they are very nice and well equipped, there's nothing like this anywhere. The instructor can place cameras in various spots to give students the best view possible, she explained.

After the presentation, the students peeled off to the kitchen to put the final touches on each of their dishes. They then manned their station and dished out portions for all.

I lined my plate with bulgogi, ttokbokki and spicy chicken. The bulgogi was on the grainy side and that may not have been the fault of whomever prepared it. The ttokbokki's sauce was a little gloppy and there was a big thing missing from it: the heat! The spicy chicken had a nice meld of oniony heat to it. A few days after the event, I was talking to my sister in law and she remarked at how hard it is to make ttokbokki and I gotta agree, it's tough to get the cylindrical rice cakes cooked well. But like most of the other dishes, it was the spice factor which was most bothersome.

The students and guests tucked into their food in the bistro. As I watched everyone enjoying themselves, I thought of what an experience it must be for all of them. It's one thing to learn classic French techniques, but Asian cuisine is a different set of tastes which haven't fully saturated this continent. I have to commend Drexel for taking the leap to create the country's first and only Korean Cuisine course. I spoke with Dr. Lee, whose mother is a culinary instructor in the southern end of Korea, as everyone was eating and she told me a little about the journey.

She's a food science person, so not a classically trained chef and hopes to hand the course over to a chef in the future, but she knew she, a native Korean, would have to be there at the start to get the relationship with the Korean government on solid ground. She said some of the students struggled with the different coursing and portion sizes of Korea. She sent a group of them to Outback Steakhouse to get their fill and they were fine for the rest of the trip. But the first thing they said when they landed stateside was that they missed everything about Korea. She had them hustling around 10+ hours a day and I didn't have to ask her how much sleep she was getting; close to none. I thanked her for her time and let her get back to her guests.

From all of the empty plates skewed across the room, it was obvious that most of the guests enjoyed their eats. And looking at this photo, I see that I forgot to mention the drinks! They had a ginger-cinnamon drink which was just about perfect&emdash;it was just missing the pine nut floating garnish. I learned later that the bartender of the group was allergic to nuts so I understood their absence. There was also a raspberry wine and a few other drinks I can't recall.

I had a great time at the event. IT's always wonderful to see people discover what I consider to be the best food on earth. I know I'm biased having grown up with it (and with excellent cooks in the family), but I truly do believe that it's the best. Thank you for having me Drexel!

The full set of photos all at 1200px size

We really love the tofu from Fresh Tofu, a company based out of Allentown, PA. Their delicious, organic, Kosher tofu is available for purchase around town at Whole Foods, Essene and Fair Food. According to their website, if you've eaten tofu at Horizons, Govinda's or Magic Carpet, you've eaten Fresh Tofu's product.

So, you have your block of tofu. Slice it up. We normally slice 6 or 8 pieces from a block depending on who's cutting. Now here's the trick (thanks mom!) to getting some firmer texture out of your dish: salt each side of tofu and wrap it in a piece of paper towel (or wrap all of them up, flat, in a dishtowel) and rest it on a tilted surface, allowing the water to run off into your sink. The salt sucks out the water (osmosis!) leaving you with a more firm piece. Allow the pieces to dry out for around an hour.

Now the marinade. The main ingredient is a Korean red pepper paste called kochu-jang. It comes in glass or plastic jars measuring about 1 pt. and you kind find it at any Asian grocery. Here's a base recipe:

• 2 T kochu-jang
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed and finely chopped
• 1 T rice or cider vinegar
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 t sesame oil
• 2 t toasted sesame seeds
• a few chives or scallions cut on the bias for looks
• 2 t sugar

Mix up the ingredients in a bowl and voila, you've got paste.

Now the base upon which to serve everything. We really like greens. Tatsoi, kale, chard, spinach, mustard… Use what you like. Our preferred method is to saute or crispy fry the greens in olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic. Takes all of 5-8 minutes. And remember that greens cook down considerably. When we shop at farmers markets, a bundled bunch is usually good for two servings for us.

Now back to the tofu. Get a fry pan out, drop in a good amount of oil (not just coating the pan, but not like you're submerging things in it) and get a good fire going underneath. If you have a splatter guard, have that handy as well, there's still a good amount of water in the tofu. Unwrap the tofu and gently place the pieces into the pan. If you have a flat, slotted spatula, it'll do well. Don't move the pieces around in the pan after you put them in, you'll rip the tofu apart. Let it cook until golden brown and then flip and wait for golden brown again. Our 10" cast iron skillet takes 2 loads to go through 8 pieces, but it goes by quickly. You may need to add a little more oil to the pan in between sets as it'll be soaked up by the tofu. If you're worried about too much oil, pat dry the fried tofu in a paper towel before eating.

Now plate it all up. Get a nice base of greens and lay the tofu on top. Give the red pepper sauce a good final stir and spoon it on there. Top with sesame seeds or scallions, if you like. Enjoy!

For his entree, Picky opted for his standby at Korean restaurants: dol sot bibimbap, the hot stone bowl of mixed rice topped with a fried egg. The bowl is crazy hot and you mix in the hot pepper paste – he asked for a second plate of it – and the rice gets nice and crispy and the veggies cook down a bit while in contact with the scalding hot stone bowl. This is a shot of the dish before the paste is added.

Messy really wanted the jajang myung, buckwheat noodles in brown sauce with freshly chopped veggies, but they were all out, so she opted for the tofu chige, soft tofu soup in spicy broth. It ended up being a little too spicy for Messy's still-adapting-to-Picky's-heat-tolerance-after-seven-years palate. She added in the bowl of rice to bring down the heat to a more approachable level. Although she found it a little too tofu-heavy, the dish did well to warm her up for the rest of the afternoon of errands about Center City.

Here's a shot of Picky's halfway mixed bibimbap after adding in the hot pepper paste. He gobbled this up quickly and had plenty of room to have about a quarter of Messy's soup.

A shot of the empty restaurant as we were about to leave. By that time, it was when they were getting ready to change over to the early dinner crowd. Usually, there are much more people in there.

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2

The final, final word: Authentic, spicy Korean food at a nice price.

2034 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 569-1200
Mon – Sun 11am – 9pm

We grabbed two menus and were directed to the lunch section – the prices were about a dollar cheaper than the dinner menu for each dish. After looking through the lunch menu (eight choices of which two were marked specifically vegetarian), we both opted for a favorite standby: dol sot bibim bob. Mixed veggies served atop white rice with sesame oil and Korean hot paste all served in a sizzling hot stone bowl. Messy opted for the vegetarian option which, to her surprise, did not come with the usual egg on top. Upon a second look at the menu, she decided that the tofu option for $1 more would've been the better choice. The wording on the menu is slightly confusing. Although the tofu dishes are vegetarian, the "vegetarian" choice does not include tofu. Messy found this variation on bibim bob to have its pluses and minuses. She enjoyed the little beans that had been cooked into the rice, but she did not care for the large pieces shitake mushrooms which were prominent in the dish.

Picky opted for the beef version. There wasn't much beef. He second guessed his selection as well and thought he should've gone for the galbi or bulgogi both being meat-centric dishes. But the lure of the sizzling stone bowl is hard to pass up for Picky when it's an option on the menu.

Korean cuisine is known for the side dishes called panchan. When at a sit-down Korean restaurant they'll constantly refill your small side dishes. At Giwa, you only got three sides, which were yummy, but insubstantial. And the thing is, there are other yummy Korean restaurants with comparable prices where you get a whole lot more. All in all, Giwa was good, but if you're looking for more ambiance and more side dishes, you might want to head to Pastoral or Miran.

Messy ***
Picky **1/2

The Final Word: Good Korean food in a fast-foody atmosphere.

Giwa Korean Food
1608 Sansom Street
M-F 11 am -8 pm
Sat 12-9:30 pm
Closed Sundays
215-557-9830

We were so excited to learn that Tampopo opened up a second restaurant East of Broad Street, and even more excited to learn that this time it is more than just a take-out joint; it's a classy spot with table service and a menu that is somewhat more expansive than the original Tampopo's. Nestled in an unlikely spot on Jeweler's Row, Tampopo is a great space with a cool minimalist/modern interior. It is a very spacious setting, complete with a sushi bar with polished chrome stools with comfy-looking padded seats jutting out from under the counter. On the night we went, there was hardly anyone else in there, and we were seated at a cozy booth. We did notice, however, that some of the chairs at the smaller tables looked uncomfortable — they were a kind of backless, wooden, one-person bench.

Our server brought us a bowl of complimentary edamame, which was quite tasty, better than either of us expected. This was a surprising treat since edamame is listed as an appetizer on the menu. We also ordered vegetable Korean pancakes (bin dae duk), one of the items that is not on the menu at the original Tampopo. It was a good sized portion for the two of us, but was a couple minutes undercooked which significantly took away from the texture and flavor. (It should be firm on the inside and very crispy on the outside for a nice initial crunch.)

Messy ordered avocado rolls, which she has had at the original Tampopo many times. They were good, and seemed to be a little bigger than those at original Tampopo (although we did not perform an actual side-by-side comparison). Picky had the hot spicy beef don, which is also on the menu at original Tampopo. Picky found it to be basically the same as regular Tampopo's except not as spicy. And as an added bonus, this location is BYOB. We didn't bring anything to drink though, and we didn't ask if there was a corking fee either.

For dessert, we each had two delicious scoops of green tea ice cream. It was quite yummy, but Picky's had a little bit of ice in one of his scoops.

If you work near Jeweler's Row, this is a great idea for a lunch hot spot considering the good portions of healthy dishes at reasonable prices.

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Everything the original has — plus chic ambiance.

Tampopo Asian Grill
719 Sansom St (Jeweler's Row)
(215) 238-9373
Lunch: Mon – Sat: 11:30am – 3:30pm
Dinner: Mon – Sat: 5:30pm – 10pm
Sun: Closed

When Messy found herself craving JaJangMyung noodles (noodles in black bean sauce) that Picky used to make for her back when we had a car and access to a Korean grocery store, we decided to try out a restaurant that we've walked past a million times: Pastoral. Why have we walked past it a million times yet never ventured inside? We don't know. When we first stepped into Pastoral, we found that the clientle was ENTIRELY Asian! A promising sign. The interior was very nice, all wood with plenty of tables. There were also tables to accomodate larger parties. But sadly, the service was slooooooowww. We ordered barley tea (boree-cha) and got it for dessert. The noodle dishes Messy craved were only offered at lunch, so we had to pick something else. They don't have any vegetarian options on the menu, but you can ask for no meat or no anything-else-you-please and they'll make it to order.

As for their panchan (complimentary side dishes), Picky enjoyed the kim-chi much more than that at Miran. Messy had the opposite reaction, finding Pastoral's kim-chi pretty much unpalatable. (Note: Messy is not Korean). We had the reverse situation with the oi-kim-chi. Messy found it crisp and delectable, while Picky thought it was not yet ripe and way too sweet.

For our entree, we decided to order the same kind of mixed rice as at Miran, BiBimBap, in a hot stone bowl; at Pastoral, they call the dish kop-dol BiBimBap. We found it on par with Miran. Picky thinks they served their rice slightly underdone as to cook the last bit inside the sizzling bowl. Picky thinks that the kochujang (hot chili sauce) was nicer, a finer tasting blend. When we were almost done with our BiBimBap, our server brought over our boree-cha and apologized, she had completely forgotten we ordered it. Messy thought it was too cold and tasting just like the tea they serve at Chinese restaurants. Picky thinks it was watered down –perhaps a second pot of tea was made using the same barley– but plenty hot for his tastes.

Picky still has yet to try the traditional Korean BBQ dish, kalbi, at a sit down restaurant in Philadelphia.

Messy: ***
Picky: ***1/2

The final word: Good above average Korean food.

Pastoral Korean Restaurant
205 S. 13th Street
215-545-8511
Mon – Sat: 11.30am – 10pm
Sun: Closed

The first thing we noticed upon entering Miran was that it full of Korean people (always a good sign to see Asian people an Asian restaurant). Even though it was busy, we were seated fairly quickly. Miran has a simple décor: a single room of about a dozen tables with mostly bare walls. A black drop tile ceiling with foil exhaust piping twirling down to the tables, which each have their own grill, complete the room.

The first thing you get at a Korean restaurant when you sit down is the panchan which is a set of side dishes including kimchee (pickled cabbage), oi kimchee (pickled cucumbers), some root dish and something else we couldn't identify (but it was good). The kimchee was slightly underipened and just a little bit too spicy for Messy; it wasn't too spicy for Picky who's used to spicier. The oi kimchee was fresh and crisp to both of our liking. The roots we could take or leave. The unidentified dish which sort of resembled thin, sweet strips of tofu, was delicious.

We started off with one of Picky's favorite Korean appetizers: Dukkbokgi, which is dish of stir fried cylindrical rice cakes in a hot chili paste. At first, Messy had a hard time adapting to the spicy level and gelatanous texture, but she grew to really love it. They also gave us bowls of miso soup — miso broth, really, because there was nothing in it. Picky is not a fan of miso and passed his over to Messy; she didn't like it either. We didn't order drinks as the menu only indicated Sprite, Coke or bubble tea; however, we did see other people drinking beer and wine – Miran may be a BYOB, although this is not explicitly stated. So we had water which, sadly, came in little glasses and only half full.

Our main course was dol-sut BiBimBap. BiBimBap translates literally into "mixed rice", it is normally is a bowl of white rice with thinly sliced vegetables, a form of meat and a fried egg on top. The dol-sut part is a piping hot stone bowl which slightly fries the food as you mix it. You also get a small dish of hot chili paste. The bowls were gigantic, and the food was sizzling and delicious. They don't offer any desserts there, but when they brought out our check (under $30 for all that food), they also brought us cubed halves of oranges to sooth our tingling tongues.

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***

The final word: Authentic, spicy Korean food at a nice price.

2034 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 569-1200
Mon – Sat: Lunch: 11am – 3pm; Dinner: 5pm – 10pm
Sun: Closed

Tampopo has lots of good take-out Japanese and Korean food on the cheaps – in fact, the cheapest Korean food Picky has ever had, in his whole Korean life. The vegetarian rolls are also very good, but not as filling as the traditional Korean specialties like Bi-Bim-Bab and spicy Kal-Bi [spicy beef teriyaki on the menu]. Basically any of the "bowl" dishes [hot-and-spicy or teriaki tofu/beef/etc.] are great choices, as they are served in bowls with plenty of white rice, and they don't skimp on the meat/tofu. We also noticed a few creative variations on standard roll options for the adventurous, but we did not try them. The most expensive thing we saw on the menu was $8 and that was for a 12-piece order of eel roll with cucumber. [One of the few things we have in common: we're not big fans of eel rolls.]

There's not too much available in terms of seating, as Tampopo is primarily a take-out place. There are a few tables, but no table service. However, the service is extremely fast and they do deliver [$15 minimum], but unfortunately, not to our neighborhood.

Messy ***
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Quick and yummy, for cheaper than one might expect.

Tampopo
104 S. 21st St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 557-9593
M-F: 11.30 – 2.30 [lunch] 5.30 – 9.30 [dinner]
Sat: Noon – 9