WE TURNED ONE!

We here at Forever Hungry often forget things. It's because each of the Buggers have their own busy schedule, and we're also almost always looking out for more and more delicious foods to try. But the thing that we seem to have forgotten, and it is one hell of an important thing, is the fact that FOREVER HUNGRY IS NOW ONE!

Okay. We know that we have pretty much failed as the Buggers of Forever Hungry. I mean, forgetting the day Forever Hungry was launched is essentially similar to forgetting our own birthdays. It's embarrassing to have to type this now because it makes us seem pretty much like the Buggers that we are. And the fact that we've only remembered that we turned ONE almost 2 weeks later just goes to show how incredibly busy we've all been.

When we began Forever Hungry, there wasn't much of a game plan. We simply went around trying different places, taking pictures of the food and posting it up on the blog. We wanted to write about all the different places we tried, all the different foods and the times we could hang out as the Buggers. That was the entire purpose of us setting up Forever Hungry.

But so much has happened in the past one year. We're really thankful for the chances we were given. We got to try out a lot of Korean cuisine when we traveled to Seoul early this year. It was pretty amazing to be able to travel overseas, to a place like Seoul and just try out all the different kinds of food they offered. How can we forget when we killed our tastebuds on the tortuously spicy jjimdak?

We also got invited to a few events by Nuffnang, which included a crazy time at Genting's theme park, guzzling chocolates at the Chocoholics event and sending ECF to embrace his potential at Chin Swee Temple. We're really thankful to Nuffnang for allowing newbies like us to join these events, letting us meet different bloggers. It's like allowing us to further improve our street cred in the blogosphere.

We're also thankful for all the restaurants who invited us for food reviews. There were a lot of desserts to try, allowing us to settle our sweet tooth cravings. We got to try out the world's best sandwich as well, which was awesome in so many aspects.

The highlight of the year definitely goes to us being nominated for the DiGiWWWOW Awards in June of this year. It's an amazing and humbling experience to get into the Top 5 of the Nuffnang Fave Makan-Makan category, and while we lost out to the far more experienced Fried Chillies, it was still an eye opening experience for us.

We also expanded slightly to Melbourne, Australia, doing a few reviews on the restaurants. Because nothing says Forever Hungry than traveling 3000 miles just to eat. That's precisely why we have a Urbanspoon badge on the right side of this page. Sure we're still new, but give us a while. We'll push those numbers up.

It's been a year already. It's true that time flies really fast when you're having fun. And if anything, the Buggers at Forever Hungry are having the time of our lives. Here's to this year and to even more years ahead.

Cheerios!

Seoul Metro, Lonsdale St., Melbourne CBD

There are a ton of Korean restaurants in Melbourne, which is something I am really glad about. But sometimes, it isn't about the quantity, rather the quality of said Korean restaurants, most of which, sad to say, fall way off the mark. It's just that a lot of the Korean restaurants here in Melbourne aren't really sticklers for the purely authentic Korean dishes, opting for a more globalized, fusion approach instead.

But there's always a silver lining. If you're in Melbourne and somehow want to satisfy your craving for Korean food, perhaps after a lengthy session of Korean dramas and variety shows, why not try out Seoul Metro?

This small little restaurant is hidden like a ninja in the shadows, and it offers quite a variety of Korean cuisine to satisfy your palate.

For one, the place is almost impossible to stumble upon, so unless you have a friend who has been there before (I was introduced and brought there by a friend), or you have read reviews about the place, you may not even realize that there is a restaurant there. Seoul Metro is located in one of the office buildings along Lonsdale Street, with nothing more than a overhead sign to attract visitors.

I walked right past the restaurant without even realizing that I missed it. Once you enter the building though, there are numerous telltale signs of something discreetly Korean up ahead, most notably the huge posters of K-pop stars plastered on the wall.

Seoul Metro is the restaurant right beside a car park, which explains why it was relatively empty at 6.30pm.

It's so hidden, ninja grottoes are jealous.

Once you enter the restaurant, you'll feel a very Korean vibe going around. It is a small restaurant, which is kinda fitting, seeing that there aren't many walk in customers.

You'll also notice the huge namesake of the restaurant, the Seoul Metro railway line map up on the wall for all to admire.

Again, the place is small and cozy, which is one of the highlights of most Korean restaurants.

We sat down and ordered 3 things off the menu, as ravenous as we were at 6.30 in the evening. The prices are pretty standard for a Korean meal in the city, ranging from AUD 10- AUD 25.

We ordered a serving of jap chae, the ever present budae jjigae and a helping of spicy pork bulgolgi.

The jap chae, or sweet potato noodles with beef slices mixed with sweet sauce and veggies, was absolutely heavenly.

I can never get over how delicious the sweet potato noodles are, and the sweet sauce with the beef gave the dish a savory-sweet taste. Because it was a sharing dish, I couldn't just grab the plate and wolf down all of it for myself. The serving portion was quite large, enough to feed 3 hungry adults.

Of course, the budae jjigae is a must try in almost every Korean restaurant.

Unlike the ones that the Buggers tried in Korea, which you can read about here, this budae jjigae has more ingredients mixed in, with a mixture of ham, sausages, veggies, tofu, kimchi, fish cake, deokbokki, cheese (?!) and pork but significantly less in terms of the portion of each ingredient. There weren't nearly enough pork slices to go around and finding a deokbokki was almost similar to striking gold. Maybe it was because we ordered a medium sized one, but I wasn't really satisfied with the portion for this budae jjigae.

Last dish we ordered was the spicy pork bulgolgi, just so the hungry adults could have a proper meat fix.

I was happily eating the deliciously and generously coated pork slices, without signs of the spiciness hitting my tastebuds. It turned out that the spicy pork bulgolgi was more sweet than spicy. For a few moments, I was so excited because I thought my tastebuds had leveled up to handle spicy foods. That still remains a dream for me.

Overall, Seoul Metro can be called a hidden gem, literally. It's well hidden despite being smack in the middle of the Melbourne CBD. It's not actually that difficult to find, but you just have to keep your eyes peeled out as you walk along Lonsdale Street. If you're ever in Melbourne and want Korean food, you should really go try this place out.

Here are some extra details about Seoul Metro:

Map:  

Cheerios!

 

Buggers at Broga Hill

We have had a lack of posts these few months because all the Buggers are just getting back from their respective overseas locations. Well, except for me because I'm still stuck here in Melbourne. One more month, one more month....

Anyways, many people have been asking us, "Hey, give us more of the Buggers." or "We want to know more about the Buggers." Well, I guess the only other draw in this blog besides the food is us. And I know we're pretty interesting people so here's an old post, waaaaay before Forever Hungry even existed. It is about the Buggers, and it may shed some light on why we're awesome.

Other than eating, the Buggers are pretty fit and physically active (except Marcus "Black Hole" Toh. Seriously, even his mom complains that he doesn't exercise enough). This is when 4 of us Buggers went up to Broga Hill for an early morning hike. And it was absolutely an awesome experience.

Here's the post in its entirety.

***

As tired, brain dead and sleepy as I am now, I have an obligation to write about my trip up Broga Hill. Yes, I climbed up Broga Hill this morning. Yes, I did it due to peer pressure. I mean, everyone of my friends was talking about Broga Hill this and Broga Hill that.

I mean, Broga has stalks of...these things. But c'mon. It's Broga!

I kinda assumed it would be fun and because it is in my nature to be curious about what the majority likes, I just HAD to go see Broga Hill for myself.

 As shown. I've now seen everything.

So this morning, I crawled out of bed at 4.30am. This is possibly the earliest I have ever gotten up in my life and I never want to do it again for whatever reason. Dazed and suffering from a severe lack of sleep, I forced myself to take a cold shower, another thing I never want to do at 4.30am in the morning. Waking up early is never an easy task for me, seeing that I never seem to be able to sleep early. But all this has nothing to do with Broga Hill, so let's move on.

 This is how I saw things at 5.30am.

Of course, going to Broga Hill requires friends. I mean, who is going to report me rolling off a cliff if not for my friends right? I kid. Sheesh, I told you my brain was dead. I'm telling sick jokes now. And of course, I went with the Buggers. None of my other 'friends' was willing to wake up at that insane hour just to climb a hill. To see who is your true friend, ask them to wake up early in the morning and follow you on a perilous journey climbing hills in pitch black darkness. Chances are, you won't find many true friends out there.

 

So Broga. Was it worth it to wake up so early in the morning to check out the place? I would have to say it depends. It was certainly an experience walking the trail in absolutely pitch black darkness with only my handphone providing a small glimmer of light. It didn't help that Seah was half awake and was slipping at the more slippery slopes. It also didn't help that I was the one bring up the rear and hence had to depend on ECF's rear as a guide. As Seah likes to put it, 'ECF, when I first saw your ass, I suspected you were gay'. Y'know, I'm just saying.

 

One grouse I had though. I woke up super early so that I could be among the first few people up on the hill. I wanted the top to be empty so that I could have it all for myself. I'm just selfish that way. But waking up at 4.30am apparently couldn't beat some hardcore hill trekkers, When we reached the first peak, there was hardly enough room to stand. I cannot imagine that there are some people who are so hardcore, they are willing to wake up earlier than 4.30am. In fact, some of the people up there look as though they have not been sleeping for a while. I saw this girl who was rocking gently, fast asleep while standing. I know Broga Hill was a popular place but to forgo sleep, hardcore. Seriously hardcore.

Hardcore.

And the peak of Broga Hill just came too quickly. I was so happy to reach the top and then I saw the sign.

Killjoy. 

And sighed. Only 400m. I was so elated that I managed to climb my first hill and it turns out to be quite a killjoy. 400m is peanuts. PEANUTS. I don't want peanuts. I want peanut butter with jelly and foie gras. I want something tougher than 400m. 400m is what my future boss will snicker in my ear when he sacks me. 400m is not something to be proud of.

The view was quick good, the weather was nice and my brain is now no longer processing words. Instead, let me just show you pictures. It'll help both of us.

This is how I looked at 5.30am.

Slightly more awake. Slightly.

 

 

Jun: 'I did it. I did it!'

I have no idea what he's pointing at. It's his signature pose.

Couple in their couple tees.

Seriously, what are the odds of wearing the same shirt?

Looking for rubbish.

 

See, Broga is not all hilly slopes. Nope, there are jungles too.

 

 

 

Patriotic Malaysians.

 

Climbing down was more tiring than climbing up.

You can read the original post here: http://leonhart90.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/saturday-at-broga.html

***

Well, that's it for the Buggers' Broga adventure. And if you're here for the food, we promise that we will try to get in more delicious blog posts in soon. Let the Buggers settle down first and we'll eventually get back to being awesome.

By the way, did you know that you can always email us if you have any queries (ladies) or any invitations (restaurant/cafe/dining bosses). You can contact us here: http://www.foreverhungry5.blogspot.com/p/contact-us_19.html

Cheerios!

FH Quickie: Hardware Sociéte

It's been a long time since our last post and what better way than to start it off with a Quickie? This time, the Quickie comes from Down Under, which sounds about as sexually ambiguous as we can get on a blog meant for minors.

So Hardware Sociéte.

Since coming to Melbourne, I've heard a lot about this place, mostly from Marcus 'Black Hole' Toh. He's always telling me how good the brunch is, but never able to wake up in time for it. Well, we got to try it (not the brunch menu because *surprise surprise* we woke up late.) There's always a long line outside Hardware Sociéte because it's a relatively small place, all cozy and snug. So expect wait times to go about half an hour to 45 minutes.

Hardware Sociéte is primarily a cafe, more suited for a nice cup of coffee or chocolate, than as a place to have a meal. But since it was lunch time (I cannot stress enough the fact that we woke up late),we missed out their 'incredible, fantastic and amazing' brunch menu (Toh, M. 2012). Nevertheless, food still had to be eaten.

Their lunch menu didn't have a lot of choices. Like I said, the place is a cafe. You don't go to a cafe and expect them to have a full range of food. But that being said, Hardware Sociéte does have some pretty good food.

This is their signature hot chocolate. Don't go ewwww yet because this is pretty much the unmade chocolate. Hardware Sociéte believes that you make your own hot chocolates because only you know how you want your hot chocolate to taste like (the correct answer is amazing).

What cafe is not without a cuppa coffee? Honestly, I'm not so much of a coffee person so this cappuccino tastes pretty much like every other cappuccino I've tasted so far.

The special for that day, lamb leg with a side of potatoes and vegetables. It's not very tender but oh man, the taste is just exquisite. And look at that small portion, which believe it or not, can pretty much fill anyone up. Yes, even the Black Hole was (temporarily) closed up.

Atlantic salmon with octopus.Again, the portions look terribly small, but are in fact a disguise which can even fill up the greatest of stomachs.

Seared scallops. Juicy. Very juicy.

Chicken breast, which isn't too dry either. Perfect.

Of course, what meal would be complete without the people you're eating with?

Here's a little fun fact. Remember our post on CoffeeSociété? Well, the owner shared with us that the actual inspiration for opening up CoffeeSociété is because he wanted to do something similar to Hardware Sociéte. 

If you're in Melbourne, why not pop over and make your own hot chocolate? You won't regret it.

Address: CBD, 118-120 Hardware St, Melbourne, VIC (map)

Phone: 03 9078 5992