Noodles & Abalone

I like to have noodles to start the year with. I can probably eat noodles for all my meals. Heh. I'm not following any tradition. I just eat what my tastebuds want. I didn't even bother to hunt down any 'best of' dishes at whichever restaurant. I just went to whatever convenient. Got all I wanted in the first week of 2023.

At Chang Korean BBQ at Dempsey, the banchan for the new year week had cockles! Wheeeeee. I do like how they put gochujang and bits of chives, garlic and spring onions atop the blanched cockles. It was so good that I asked for another serving. 

While the table had other items of jigae, I simply wanted naengmyeon and grilled abalone. Chang's grilled abalone comes in a set of four pieces. Very cute. Ordered two portions of that so that I could have four pieces all to myself. Wheeeeeee. The table ordered ribeye and chicken and all from the BBQ menu. The staff grilled them at the side for us. Added an ox tongue; I quite like that. 

The other night, since the man wanted protein in the form of fish, we hopped in for a casual dinner at Matsuya. Their sashimi is decent, and so is their sushi. The man usually opt for sashimi if he doesn't want rice. I get to have cooked items too. 

I was pleased because I could have my soba again. I've been having soba and udon at home too. Might as well continue with this form of carbs. Muahahaha. These are such happy, satisfying 'noodles'. I could just eat them plain with dipping sauce and a ton of spring onions. But I usually have a hard-boiled egg with it. 

I had zaru-soba, grilled abalone and easy pan-seared thin slices of beef yakiniku. Mmmmm. Matsuya's abalone is small, but tasty. Priced as a single piece, it's always served with the liver slathered with mentaiko. I usually ask the chefs to hold the sweet sauce. I'm not fond of it. The man didn't want any abalone, so I just had this one piece. Didn't feel like being too decadent. Oof.