Dongdaemun

[Ce'nedra]

I never knew! And am pleasantly surprised.

For those who are living/have been to Korea, have you ever taken a visit to Dongdaemun? Please do provide some details as I'm very much interested

Central Asian cuisine strikes me as a very unusual and exotic cuisine and I'd love to learn more. How common are Uzbek, Uighur, etc immigrants in Korea? And are sightings of their food around Korea increasingly popular?

Here's some photos (of food) someone took on their trip to this 'Central Asian village':

http://flickr.com/photos/68558939@N00/sets...57594521064225/

And a passage from http://english.seoul.go.kr/today/infocus/s...232133_5093.php

The Silk Road Leads to Seoul: Dongdaemun's Central Asia Village and Namyangju's Mongolian Cultural Village

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In few places is this more apparent than in Seoul's "Central Asian Village," a small collection of shops, businesses and restaurants near Dongdaemun Stadium run and frequented by Korea's increasingly large population of Central Asian immigrants.

Although not a residential district like the ethnic communities that have formed in many North American and European cities, the Cyrillic signboards, exotic cuisine and distinctly Central Asian faces and dress that visitors find when they visit give the neighborhood its distinct character; Korea meets the Silk Road.

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Behind Exit 5 of Dongdaemun Stadium Station, Line 5, is the heart of Seoul's Central Asian community, a collection of shops and restaurants known locally as "Central Asia Village."

Mixed into the crowd is the adventurous Korean or Western "tourist" looking to sample exotic Silk Road cuisine. Gone are the days when "foreign cuisine" in Seoul meant a limited choice between Japanese, Chinese, Koreanized Western food and Western fast food. If you've got a hankering for Mongolian milk tea (emphasis on the milk), Uzbek dumplings or Russian desserts, Central Asia Village beckons.

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Enter the bakery, and your attention is immediately drawn to the shelf of large, round Central Asian breads called non. Need Russian black bread and smetana (Russian sour cream)? Hlebo-Bulochnaya will provide. Have to stock up on your supplies of samsa (samosa) or Russian-style pierogi? Luisa's got 'em. Those with a sweet tooth will be particularly keen to sample some of the desserts on sale, including Napoleons, honey cakes and baklava.

On the second floor above the bakery is the Ala-Too Café (02-2277-9212), an Uzbek café operated by the same woman who runs the bakery. Don't let the less-than-spectacular décor turn you off; it may look like a 1980s-style Korean teahouse, but the café's all-Uzbek cooking staff whip up some very good Uzbek and Russian cuisine. Highly recommended are the manty (steamed lamb dumplings), one of Uzbekistan's most popular dishes. Also well worth a try is the plov, a dish of steamed rice, carrots, onions, meat and oil. Some of the other foods available include kebabs, borsht and good old kefir, a yogurt-like drink that’s not only refreshing, but also said by Russians to be pretty good for a hangover. Prices are more than reasonable.

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