Two weeks in Seoul, South Korea, and we spent most of it eating.
We stayed in Gangnam, the plastic surgery capital of the world, in a hotel that was mainly for guests recovering from their various cosmetic surgery procedures. While our bandage-covered neighbours embarked on their journey towards perfect beauty, we went on a culinary adventure to eat all the Korean food we can't get in Ottawa.
Stew in Gangnam
With the thirteen hour time zone difference, we were pretty jet lagged when we arrived. We tried to sleep but awoke at 4AM, ravenous with hunger. But where would we get something to eat?
It turns out that Gangnam is pretty bumping at 4AM and lots of restaurants were open, including the stew restaurant across the street from our hotel. Hordes of young people were pouring out of night clubs at that point, filling the restaurants in search for a bite to eat and maybe more soju and beer to drink to keep the "night" going, often to kill some time until the Seoul metro trains were running again so they could stumble home to sleep, while others made their way to church.
Bindaettuk from Kwangjang Market
Kwangjoon Market was busy, crowded with people sitting on stools at the street food stands eating mandu (dumplings) and ttukbeoki (spicy rice cakes). We couldn't get a spot anywhere, and instead we grabbed some bindaettuk (mungbean pancakes) and kimbap to go, and enjoyed them with a refreshing drink of sikhye (rice drink) next to the much calmer Cheonggyecheon stream.
Lotte Department Store Food Court
If only we could get dishes like bibim naengmyun (mixed spicy cold noodles) at department store food courts in Ottawa
Sae Bohm Tteukguk (sp?)
Found this place while my partner was in search of tteukguk (rice cake soup). It's his favourite Korean dish. It's one of my favourites too, actually. The menu for this place had pages and pages of different kinds of tteukguk. Also, makgeolli (traditional Korean rice liquor)!
Mini fish buns at Hammersmith Coffee
We liked to start our day checking out different coffee shops and nibbling on the little cakes that they serve there. Korea has tons of coffee shop on every corner - Koreans really like their coffee! My family likes to buy these fish bun things at the Korean grocery store in Canada and this coffee shop franchise serves miniature versions of them.
Kwanghamun Seokgalbi restaurant (sp?) at Coex Mall
Tasty dishes, and a popular lunch spot for the workers near by. This restaurant was located above the Starfield Library, which was one of the most spectacular libraries I've ever seen.
I also saw an office worker in a suit riding around on a longboard during his lunch hour, which was kind of cool.
Chodae Restaurant (Gyeonggi-do)
This was an amazing restaurant that my aunt recommended. It's located outside of Seoul on the Han River, nestled in a beautiful garden. The restaurant offers an inspiring riverside view while you dine on the set menu of many, many, many courses (I lost count of how many), featuring playful yet elegant modern takes on traditional Korean dishes. All for, like, 30 Canadian dollars, which is an unbelievably reasonable price.
There's also a nice cafe next door in the garden where you can enjoy some ice cream or milk tea.
Hongdae District
Hongdae is an artsy hip neighbourhood in Seoul where the university students hang out. It's a pretty bumping place, with clubs and bars and karaoke bars and clothing stores. There were entertainers singing on the street and food stands everywhere. I bought a kebab of fruit dipped in liquid sugar syrup from one of the snack stands and made a total utter delicious mess of myself. I dripped/exploded syrup all over my face, hair, shirt and even my spouse. It was totally worth it.
In Hongdae, we stumbled upon a makgeolli salon hidden in an alley off a side street. It featured a biggest selection of makgeolli we've seen since we arrived in Seoul, including some really eccentric fruit flavours. We asked the server for his favourite recommendation and drank the whole bottle with an anju plate of bulgogi jeon (pancakes).
Myeongdong Kyoja
Some fifty years ago, my grandmother used to meet up with her friends at a restaurant in Myeongdong to eat kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup). Today, that restaurant is now a popular Michelin Guide-listed hotspot with long lines out the door during meal times. Luckily, the lines moved quickly so I could eat at this famous spot and re-trace my grandmother's old life in the home country. Besides their noodle soup and mandu, they're also famous for their super-garlicky kimchi, which I couldn't get enough of. Also, they had robot busboys! It was totally worth the wait in line.
Budae Jjigae
My first time trying budae jjigae (army stew). This became popular after the Korean War, thanks to the influence of the US military based in South Korea. It's basically instant ramen with a bunch of weird random stuff thrown into it, like canned sausages, processed cheese and baked beans. This was my first time trying budae jjigae because we never had this kind of stuff growing up. The budae jjigae place across the street from our hotel cured its own bacon for the stew, which was delicious, especially when accompanied a bottle of soju.
Kyo Bakery
Chan In Dak Galbi
This was an amazing restaurant that specialized in this dish that we called "Korean paella" - it probably has some other name but I'd never had anything like this before. You order your chicken and accompaniments (including cheese!) and it all comes cooked in a pan that gets dropped in front of you. It came with an abundance of lettuce too, so you could eat it as lettuce wraps. Before I came to Seoul, I've never had so much processed cheese with my Korean food before, because obviously it's not "traditional" - but I've really come around on this and think that cheese works in Korean cuisine... as long as you're not lactose intolerant.
Bonsuwon Galbi (Suwon)
This was actually not in Seoul, but the nearby city of Suwon, where much of my family is from. Suwon is famous for a number of things, including the Hwaseong Fortress that is an UNESCO heritage site, but Koreans are also known to go to Suwon for galbi. And Bonsuwon is the place to go for galbi that you can have cooked on the grill at your table. There was a long wait to get a table and it was a bit pricey for Korean standards, but again, totally worth it. As usual, we ordered too much and came away completely full from the feast.
Bukchangdong Soondubu
Whenever I go to Koreatown in Toronto, I always eat at Bukchangdong Soondubu for its famous soft tofu stew. It's so hip and popular that it even appeared on Kim's Convenience. Anyway, I was excited to finally have Bukchangdong Soondubu in South Korea!
Jin Jin Sura
This was another fine dining restaurant in Gangnam offering a set menu of many many courses of Korean dishes. It seems like it's a popular place in Seoul for Koreans to go for 상견례, the formal introduction of the prospective bride's family and the groom's family before the wedding. I guess my spouse and I could have pretended we were about to get married.
Korean fried chicken
It had to be done, right? You can't go to Korea without getting chi-mek (fried chicken & beer). As usual, we ordered way too much and it was delicious
Korean baseball game food
We caught a baseball game at Jamsil Stadium, and maaaaaan do I wish we can get these kinds of baseball snacks in Canada. More chicken and beer, dumplings, milk tea, tteokbukki, Korean pizza with corn, bulgogi, and pepperoni. The baseball game was really fun. The cheerleaders danced in perfect K-pop choreography, everyone was singing all the time, and I think the team we were cheering even won.
Ssam kyup sal
Now that our trip is over, I know I'm going to miss the plentiful Korean food during our trip. I'm not going to miss the delivery guys on motorcycle riding on the sidewalks though.
