The Buoy

General Notes

Korean cafe / dessert shop by day, bar / restaurant by night. At first when it opened, it was purely a cafe. Later on, they added the bar / restaurant. Overall, excellent ambiance with great food and drinks. It has a modern but comfortable aesthetic and is really spacious for a cafe. The cafe is a great place to hang out / catch up / go on a date / even study. I've been here both for the cafe and for the restaurant and both are great, super comforting.

Negatives

> I haven't tried any of their sweets, but I've heard that their roll cakes are not that great. They make it with rice flour, which might have something to do with it.
> Unlike most Korean dessert cafes, their cafe portion closes pretty early, so it doesn't function very effectively as an actual dessert cafe.

Dishes Tasted

• ★★★☆ wagyu charcoal grilled galbijjim steak -- seared short rib steak glazed with sweet soy sauce , vegetables and chimichurri. Grilled well, very nice flavor, pairs nicely with chimichurri for some contrast.
• ★★★☆ chili jjamppong sundubu -- spicy chili-garlic silken tofu stew inspired by korean jjamppong, topped with seared brisket. Flavorful, tender, and the brisket is so delicious. I just wish I had some rice with this.
• ★★★☆ golden toast -- crispy fried toast topped with avocado puree, tofu pine nut ssamjang, and fish of the day tartare. This was topped with hokkaido scallop and ikura, it was an excellent combo
• ★★★☆ cucumber perilla salad -- cucumbers, perilla seeds, chili oil, soy pickled onion. The flavor is nice, great as an appetizer for some veggies
• ★★★☆ Ssuk Tiramisu -- pretty yummy, the ssuk flavor is not particularly strong though so it mostly just tastes like tiramisu.
• ★★☆☆ Kimchi Onion Jam Panini -- caramelized onions, sauteed kimchi, bacon, spread of fresh house-made herb aioli, mozzarella cheese. The pieces of kimchi are a little too big, and the dish feels generally a bit unbalanced (could use a touch more sweetness, a bit less cheese). But overall pretty good. The salad is way overdressed.
• ★★☆☆ Onigiri (kimchi + spam) -- it's ok
• ★☆☆☆ Onigiri (tuna) -- The texture of the tuna didn't meld super well for onigiri, and the taste is not particularly noteworthy
• ★★★★ Onigiri (crab) -- Also delicious!
• ★★★★ Onigiri (tempura) -- Delicious, love this combination.
• ★★★☆ Einspanner (black) -- delicious drink! would have liked a touch more cream and for the cream to be a bit more intensely "xiang", but otherwise delicious. Very unfortunate that they don't have this in decaf.
• ★★★☆ Einspanner (ssuk) -- ssuk I believe means mugwort powder; it's a green, herbaceous addition. It works pretty well, although definitely took me a bit to get used to. It's apparently pretty common in Chinese desserts.