Dining in Seoul

[Domestic Goddess]

I'm sorry to have missed Kris' trip here last January. I have been away for a long time (RL can really make you forget about the good stuff here). Anyway, I'm still here in Korea. Peter, if you make it here in March, there is a fabulous kalbi restaurant that has opened here in my town. The beef is so tender and smoky plus the pork samgyeopsal beautifully marbled. The restaurant is owned by a former taxi driver who is a good friend of ours. We try to eat there every week. Just give a holler when you are here.

Any eGulleteer is welcome to (contact me). My email is doddiep@yahoo.com or just send me a PM. I'll be happy to meet up with you and treat you to a kalbi dinner or grilled pork intestine lunch.

[Peter Green]

I'm sorry to have missed Kris' trip here last January. I have been away for a long time (RL can really make you forget about the good stuff here). Anyway, I'm still here in Korea. Peter, if you make it here in March, there is a fabulous kalbi restaurant that has opened here in my town. The beef is so tender and smoky plus the pork samgyeopsal beautifully marbled. The restaurant is owned by a former taxi driver who is a good friend of ours. We try to eat there every week. Just give a holler when you are here.

Any eGulleteer is welcome to (contact me). My email is doddiep@yahoo.com or just send me a PM. I'll be happy to meet up with you and treat you to a kalbi dinner or grilled pork intestine lunch.

←

Thanks, Doddie! I'll be in touch, with the Boy in tow this time.

[CoffeeAddict]

Yeah, I tried this. "Jeju shit pig" as it was translated to me. It was quite nice, but not noticeably different from regular pork I tried in Korea. As a rule, I find the pork I've eaten in Asia to be much better than any I ever ate in Canada. I don't think it's as lean as the North American product.

Sorry to reply to such an old post!

Another Korean from Canada here

I tried authentic jeju pork 12 years ago now!! I have no honest recollection of the taste but do remember really chowing down on pork like I never had before. I was pretty much raised on beef growing up.

My parents were in Jeju back in Oct 2007 and they told me they didn't see any traditional shit-fed pork there. I don't know if it's totally unavailable now but it doesn't seem to be as common anyway.

I'm inclined to believe if you have good berkshire pork you're probably ahead of the taste of the "shit" pork.

[Domestic Goddess]

They have begun selling Jeju pork in the local Hanaro grocery store here in Janghowon. I don't know if it is the cr@ap-fed one but it is tastier (judging from the grilled samples that I've tasted) but way more expensive than regular pork. It's 1,600 won per 100 grams = 16,000 won per kilo (about $19-20 dollars per 2 lbs). That's too expensive for our household budget.

[ZenKimchi]

When we were brainstorming foods for the Bizarre Foods shoot, poo pig was high on the list. Eun Jeong and I did a lot of research online and calling places. The most common thing we heard was that REAL ddong dwaeji only exists way out in the country nowadays. The restaurants that advertise it are just using marketing ploys to promote Jeju pork--which is darn good.

[FDE]

During our trip in Seoul, our local friends took us to one of the well-known restaurants in town. Right beside the Secret Garden (Changdukgung), we were in the Biwon branch of the YongSuSan restaurant. This is the place to experience the golden era of Korean imperial cuisine from the Koryo dynasty.

We went for the full-blown 20+ courses. Here are few pics:

A colourful platter of nine ingredients. Surrounding the plate were finely chopped dried fish, egg white, seaweed, carrot, beef, radish, fugus, and egg yolk.

Steamed abalone with bokchoy and a skewer of prawn, squid, and lotus.

A deep fried Korean ginseng wrapped with date! A very herby bitter course!

Grilled beef rib fillet marinated in a sweet soy sauce.

Korean Persimmon Punch. It is a flavoured tea with ginger, cinnamon and honey with dried persimmon soaked overnight (on the left).

This meal was by far the highlight of our whole trip!!!

More Pics Here.

Edited April 1, 2010 by FDE (log)

[nakji]

I'll be in Busan next weekend. Any recommendations for fish?

[Soup]

I will be in Seoul with the family (2 kids very well versed in korean food) for 2 weeks come Oct (10/1 to 10/14). This trip is really about picking up korean culture. Would appreciate any website or direct information on

1. places to eat

2. great festivals

We wanted to hit korea in the fall because I've heard the fall can be spectacular there.

Soup

[nakji]

The autumn is the most beautiful time of year there! Of course you should check out Zenkimchi's site, but one thing I would really recommend doing is to go hiking, if you're up to it, in Bukhansan park, up near Uijeongbu. You can reach the summit easily in the day, then hike down and have dubukimchi and o-gyeobsal at one of the many little huts that dot the rivers at the bottom of the park. Of course, you can load up on gimbap, kyul, and cucumbers before you hike up the mountain at the shops that line the paths on the way into the park. All accessible by subway - the orange line, I think.

Other than that, fall is the BEST season for street food. Anywhere is fine, but notable (and popular) spots to find good street snacks are the hoetteok vendors along Insadong - choose the one with the longest queue, they'll have the freshest product. And back in my day, there was a good white-bean waffle vendor outside the gates of deoksugung palace near City Hall station.

I'm jealous!

[BlueT]

Korean cuisine is diverse. It covers the whole range from meat to seafood.

But for the not-so-seasoned, I would definitely recommend trying Korean BBQ.

Can't beat it and all the side dishes will provide you with samplings of Korean cuisine.

Try this article as a guide.

Ordering food from a Korean menu ...

-------------------

Seoul Restaurants, Bars and Cafes

Korea Blog

[Soup]

I'm actually looking for specific resturants and the house specialties rather then gerenaralities like I should try korean BBQ or soondae.

I can tell you great k-places in NY, DC, LA and other cities but my knowledge of specific korean resturant in seoul is limited. However, my knowledge of korean food is not.

[tsg20]

After a week in Pohang, I'm going to be passing through Seoul station with a couple of hours to spare for lunch on my way home. Does anyone have any lunch suggestions close to the station?

[rarerollingobject]

OK, reviving this old thread with some Seoul eating adventures, aka eating some very spicy kimchi within 30 seconds of exiting our hotel. Myeongdong street food cart haul;

 

Egg bread:

 

Tteokgalbi meatball:

 

 

Crispy fried chicken and deep-fried rice cakes:

 

 

Eomuk fishcakes stuffed with chives; mozzarella cheese; sausage and two kinds of rice cake, drizzled in gochujang chilli sauce:

 

Kimchi mandu dumplings with radish kimchi:

 

And here's a video I took as I was walking around. Mostly of people's feet, it seems. Will concentrate next time. 

 

 

[Smithy]

This will be fun.  Is cheese common there, or was that mozzarella with the eomuk fishcakes a touch of innovation? And by the way, what is an 'eomuk' fishcake?

[Anna N]

The variety of offerings is astounding but right now I want to try that egg bread. 

[Okanagancook]

The smells from the street must have been awesome.  So much variety!  Thanks for taking the time to post your adventures!

[rarerollingobject]

7 hours ago, Smithy said:

This will be fun.  Is cheese common there, or was that mozzarella with the eomuk fishcakes a touch of innovation? And by the way, what is an 'eomuk' fishcake?

 

Sorry, 'eomuk' just means 'fishcake'. I always try to use the actual word when I know it, but I could've made that clearer!

 

Korean food is BIG on cheese. I'm sure that's a modernish innovation but by no means isolated to fishcakes, or this stall..they melt cheese over everything, usually mozzarella. Fried chicken, ramen, everything. Street/junk food type foods mostly, but yeah, cheese everywhere.

 

I used to think it was gross, but now I'm a total convert; see my chilli pork cheese ramyun monstrosity: 

 

[rarerollingobject]

Speaking of, lunch today; dakgalbi at Yoogane. You get a giant cast iron pan of chicken and vegetables, order sides (I ordered ramyun and cheese) and cook it up.

 

All you can eat kimchi and unending soju, and I was very full, tipsy and happy before it'd even turned midday.

 

 

[Smithy]

So much new to me!  If I were there, I'd have to simply point and hope for the best.  On that philosophy, years ago, I had a giant pickle for lunch one day and a very, very stinky plate of octopus another.  At least I have you to answer questions.  What is this?

Quote

 

...and is there a practical value to the way the fish in the third-to-last photo are so artistically harnessed together?  Is that binding material seagrass?

[Wayne]

11 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

 

The items in the last photo are, I believe, king oyster mushrooms.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by Wayne (log)

[rarerollingobject]

@Smithy, they're baby king mushrooms. Normally king mushrooms are giant, perturbingly phallic looking beasties, but these were small and delicate. If I had kitchen access here, I'd be sauteeing them in butter and soju and doenjang (Korean soy paste, like miso.)

The fish - not sure. I imagine you buy a brace of them? For general fish-having purposes.

[rarerollingobject]

2 minutes ago, Wayne said:

 

The last photo are, I believe, king oyster mushrooms.

 

 

 

Jinx!

[Wayne]

54 minutes ago, rarerollingobject said:

 

Jinx!

 

Had to google Aussie slang for that one .

 

 

[rarerollingobject]

Some more things; honey butter fried chicken from 678 Chicken. With yuzu-flavoured soju. All very good.

 

Then I mooched around the streets of Hongdae for a bit and had a mango bingsu (shaved ice, mango chunks, mango syrup and cubes of cheddar cheese!!) and rice sticks, filled with melty mozzarella, covered with a slice of melted American cheese, doused in cheese sauce and topped with Parmesan cheese. And condensed milk for drizzling over the lot. Obviously. 

 

!!

[rarerollingobject]

Breakfast of champions; yukhoe (raw beef, marinated in soy, honey, sesame oil, black pepper and garlic), on a bed of julienned nashi pear, with a raw egg yolk and sides of chopped chilli, garlic, doenjang bean paste, a salt/pepper/sesame oil dipping sauce and a beef radish soup.

 

And despite being breakfast, a 750mL bottle of makgeolli, sweet Korean rice beer, cause I ain't playin.