Travel Photo Thursday — May 3, 2012 — Nova Scotia – Canada’s Ocean Playground
Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday. This is the time of the year when I start yearning for the beach. If I was at home in Nova Scotia, I would be beach walking on the weekends. Being on the North Atlantic means that our waters really don’t get warm enough to swim in until about August. Of course, don’t tell that to the swimmers on New Year’s Day who participate in the annual Polar Bear Swim! This week I am featuring water shots from Canada’s Ocean Playground…
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You don’t have to leave the city to enjoy the ocean…
Sunset at the Dingle in Halifax…
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The Halifax Harbour…It never freezes, and during WWII was ringed by German u-boats…
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Black Rock Beach, Halifax…home to the annual New Years Day Polar Bear Swim…
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Hirtles Beach close to Lunenburg on the Lighthouse Trail (less than 2 hours from Halifax)…
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Rushton Beach on the Sunrise Trail (also less than 2 hours from Halifax).
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If these photos spark your interest in visiting Nova Scotia, be sure to order a copy of the latest Doers and Dreamers Guide.
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W Bistro…A Bistro with a Korean Twist in Downtown Daejeon, Korea
I recently attended a tasting at a new Bistro in downtown Daejeon. Here’s an excerpt from the email we received introducing the tasting…
On April 15th at W-Bistro in Eunhaeng-dong (Daejeon’s old downtown) there will be a major tasting event. This event is to do with traditional KOREAN “jang” based dishes. “Jangs” are the Korean paste/ sauce bases that underly much of their cuisine, similar to the way French (and much western) cuisine is based around white, brown and clear sauces.
…. it will be Fine-Dining/ Haute Cuisine and as said, includes wine…but its not a drink-fest (alas!).
When we arrived we were warmly greeted by busy staff, adding the finishing touches to the restaurant and the tables. The bistro is a cozy affair with lots of natural light. We were sat at an elegantly set window table.
The title of the event was “Fermentation” , and when we took our seats we discovered why. The dishes served would feature DoenJang (Korean Fermented Soybean Paste), GanJang (Korean Soy Sauce), and GochuJang (Korean fermented red chili paste).
Our chef took the floor to welcome everyone (in Korean and English)…
Presented on a bone white china serving tray, were the appetizers…
First, Tangyeonchae… mung-bean jelly, celery, water parsley, bean spout and laver…
Then, the shrimp with pine nut cream…shrimp, pine nut, cucumber, pear…
And last but not least…Japchae…rice paper, mushroom, paprika, green pumpkin…
I enjoyed all three with my favorite being the shrimp. While being very rich, I enjoyed the nice range of flavors from the pine nut to the pear.
The second course began with Abalone with pomegranate…chili paste sauce, abalone, cumquat, daikon, and Chinese cabbage.
The vegetables and sauce complement the abalone nicely, and I loved the presentation. The comment was made that the abalone was a bit tough.
The abalone was followed by steamed tofu with Ssamjang sauce…tofu, mushroom, butterbur, beet and violet sweet potato…
The sweet potato, beet, and ssamjang combined to give this dish a nice blend of flavors, and this was one of my favorites. I thought that cranberry, lemon or basil could also be added to give it a little more oomph.
Next up was the sauteed short arm Octupus with red chili dipping sauce… short arm octopus. rice, tomato, crown daisy…
The onion and tomato combined for an explosion of flavor, and the octopus was perfectly cooked.
The second course ended with Grilled tilapia with soybean paste, velote tiapia, sesame leaf, radish, mushroom, celery, violet cabbage…; served with a sweet white wine (Korean brand)…
I loved the presentation, and this was my favorite of the second course tastings. The radish added a unique flavor. I would have preferred a wine that was not quite so sweet.
A dish of sherbet to freshen the palette… and we were ready to sample the main course…braised beef short rib with sweet soy sauce…beef short rib, asparagus, mushroom, carrot and turnip…
The vegetable were cooked to perfection. The meat was flavorful, but a bit stringy. I enjoyed the hint of sweetness in this dish.
And of course what would a tasting be without desert…Makgeolli tiramisu and sweet potato Sikhye…makgeolli, mascarpone cheese, sweet potato, rice…
One word…………………YUM!!!!
Accompanying each course was Makgeolli…traditional Korean rice wine. There are many different flavors and each brand is usually associated with the area where it is produced. If you’re interested in learning more about Makgeolli here is a link…Makgeolli
My first experience with nouveau Korean cuisine and definitely not the last.
Thank you W Bistro for wonderful evening…..
W Bistro is located in Eunhaeng Dong, downtown Daejeon; steps from the Brickhouse bar. As I am finishing this post I realize that I don’t have their address or opening hours. I will find out and amend this post in the next day or two.
(Please note…no compensation was received for this review and all opinions expressed are mine.)
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