Giggles & Getaways

Sometimes you just need a therapy day. And by therapy, I mean, a couple of your best friends, DJing in your car, and driving to delightful foods.

This describes Saturday as we set out to complete the epic quest for Costco loot. We had the usual side quests – trip to Walmart, Dollarama, stop at a friend’s…

Luckily for us, the friend we were visiting lives in Kingsclear – and while we had a great time visiting them, we also got the chance to stop at Boulangerie Seoul in Silverwood on our way back into town.

Boulangerie Seoul

We pulled up to Boulangerie Seoul before lunch, and it was already quite busy with the buzz of people enjoying their coffee, lunch, and treats. We had no plan and stood in front of the bakery case for what seemed like forever to try to decide between the delicious looking delicacies.

Everyone was patient with us, and we finally decided on:

• Nicole: Bombolone – Similar to a large, round donut with custard filling.
• Lily: Almond Croissant – When they said “almond” they weren’t kidding. Filled with almond cream and topped with sliced almonds.
• Janet (Me): Bressane – Very much like a sweet bread.

We also got 3 egg tarts, because I love them so much, and any time I see them, I get some. Nicole and Lily had never tried them, so I got 3 to share.

Everything was wrapped in a plain paper bag with a stamped label of Boulangerie Seoul and handed to us with a smile and a thank you. We were in a bit of a rush (see: quests above), so we didn’t sit in to eat, but grabbed our loot and headed back to the car.

Immediately opening the bag, we decided to devour the egg tarts first, and save the rest for later. Much “oohs” and “aahs” were voiced for the tasty and light egg tart shells, and the custard they held had just enough sweetness to be a treat without being overwhelming.

It was good, very fancy atmosphere, kinda cosy, super good food, drinks looked interesting.

~ Lily

The treats tided us over until it was time for lunch, and we arrived at Tokyo Ramen for what we assumed was the lunch rush.

Tokyo Ramen

We had been hearing about Tokyo Ramen for a long time and were excited to be able to finally be in town when they were open! Unfortunately, we came at around 12:30 and were politely advised that there was about a 20 minute wait. We were in it to win it, so we went to the parking lot and waited for a call.

After almost exactly 20 minutes, we received our joyous call that they had room for us, and we were greeted with many bows, given menus and shown to our seats. Then we were advised that it was quite busy, and we may have to wait 40 minutes for our food to arrive after order it. Again, we were here and we’d been waiting already, so, we figured we might as well continue! We mulled over the menu for a long time (It’s huge and there are so many options!), and when we had our order, we went to the counter.

There, we hit a bit of a snag, because Ms. Lily has a shellfish allergy. We were politely advised that almost all of the ramen is made with oyster sauce, and if she wasn’t sure if she would react to that, then they had been advised to avoid casualties in the restaurant. I mean, can’t blame them really! So poor Lily was shutdown and ordered a smoothie. Nicole and I ordered Ton-Kotsu Ramen, and some gyoza as an appetizer. For drinks, I got some hot sake (which was filled to the tippy top!), and Nicole ordered a matcha milk tea.

The gyoza were just enough as an appetizer, with 3 of us, we got 2 each. We had them fried, and were not disappointed. The ramen was also perfection. Flavorful, not spicy. I was able to easily enjoy this without thinking I might need hospitalization for tummy trouble.

A bit slow, but the food was good and the people were nice!

~ Nicole

Now, the sake may have been hitting me, because we had a bold idea. Since Lily wasn’t sure if she would react to the ramen, and we were close to the hospital, we decided to let her try a bite as we were leaving. Then if we needed to swing by the hospital on our way to Costco, we totally could. (With a sober brain of course that’s not a great idea, and I don’t recommend it to anyone else).

Thankfully, she didn’t react, and will be going again as it was delicious. Next time though, we’ll be armed with an EpiPen and some Benadryl.