5 weeks in Korea

I just posted to Non-Food Chat about a trip I'll be taking to South Korea next month. I'll spend four weeks in Gwangju, then have one week all to myself when I'll probably spend a good deal of time in Seoul, and try to travel to at least one other area in the country. I'm quite eager to try sannakchi and bundaegi, and if it is offered I will think hard before I turn down a bowl of poshintang, but I'm also curious about any previous experiences of LTHers in Korea; any particular establishments or dishes you feel I shouldn't miss?

Thanks,
Mike

The hotel resturants in Korea are now world class, but the down side is that they are no different from others in any large city.

There is too many places to recommend. But couple of points may be;

1. Try food courts at departments stores. No chains! All unique.

2. Try street carts to get the true local flavors and culture. Quality of food may vary but Soju is always consistent.

I went back in '96 with my mother and it was a great experience. One culinary thing that stuck out in my mind was eating at a couple of restaurants that specialized in Hwe (the Korean version of sashimi).

I went to 2 such places and I apologize for not being able to give you names. Both were in or near Pusan.

Both of these places had lots of fish tanks on the main floor with the dining area on another floor. Basically all of the fish was alive moments before you eat it. I've also had this type of sashimi at Heat but in Korea it seems very commonplace. I can still recall seeing the cut up tentacles of the baby cuttlefish still squirming on the plate and inbetween chopsticks as they were being eaten.[/code]

m'th'su wrote:...then have one week all to myself when I'll probably spend a good deal of time in Seoul...

Mike, what did you find food wise in Seoul ?

I'm heading to Seoul this fall and am starting my food research.

thanks,

There is a kalguksu place that I loved when I was there about 18 months ago. It's a bit out of the way, but when has that ever stopped a true LTH-er?

From Apgujong station, go out exit #2 (you should come up to street level next to a bank). Take a left at the first block (if I remember correctly, it's a very small street - almost an alleyway). Look for Yoo Ga Na on the right side of the street, on the first corner. There should be a bagel place just before it, as well as big steamers in the window. Oh, and out of the steamers come some wonderful wang mandu. Get the kimchi ones - I didn't care for the meat ones. I don't think anything on the menu was over 5,000 W (about $5).

In Insadong, definitely more central in the city, there is a place that specializes in North Korean style mandu. It's off on a side street of the main drag of Insadong. I wish I could tell you the name or the address, but if you've ever been to Korea, you'll know the address doesn't really help much, and there are a lot of streets that don't seem to have names! I would have to look at a map to even be able to tell you whether to be walking north, east, etc. I'll do so if you're interested.

I had some very good food while I was there, but unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to get to most places, as I was just following my parents around. The kalguksu place sticks out because I love kalguksu and mandu so much.

-gtgirl

gtgirl wrote:I wish I could tell you the name or the address, but if you've ever been to Korea, you'll know the address doesn't really help much, and there are a lot of streets that don't seem to have names!

Heh. You said it.

Willie, my three days in Seoul were preceded by a month of back to back, all-stops-pulled sumptuous feasts in the south, that by then left me with a serious case of eater's fatigue. At that point all I wanted was street food, which was fortunate because anywhere you are in Seoul, you're no more than a few steps away form someone selling something edible on the sidewalk. It's even more concentrated at nightfall when thousands of mobile tented restaurants called pojangmacha appear everywhere serving anything you can imagine, but primarily soju. All you need to do is sit down and point.

One of my favorite places to eat however, was Kwangjang Market which had a large food corridor with have-it your -way bibimbap stalls, thick crispy bindaetok, soondae, hocks, etc.

Two proper restaurants I will recommend:

Yong Su San in the shadow of the Blue House.
http://www.yongsusan.co.kr/
This is a 30-some year old well-established, high-end multicourse sort of place. I hear they have a branch in LA. Lots of very refined small plates of things you've seen before and many you may not have.

Next is Naksan Garden a very popular bulgogi spot near Seoul National University. This place is much more casual, but special in that you cook the meat on a domed griddle, then cook your noodle course in the juices that collect in a trough around the bottom. Good stuff.

There were quite a few places I wanted to try while I was there but had neither the strength, nor opportunity. My biggest regret was not getting to the giant Noryangjin Fish Market detailed on Fatman Seoul: http://fatman-seoul.blogspot.com/2004/1 ... arket.html
If you haven't checked out FatMan Seoul--excellent resource in general.

Also, there's a halfway decent guidebook you might want to look at called Seoul Food Finder by Andrew and Jinny Salmon with recommendations for all cuisines, not just Korean. They'll also point you to Seoul's oldest and most established dog restaurant.
http://www.seoulselection.com/shopping_book_view.html?pid=13

m'th'su wrote:There were quite a few places I wanted to try while I was there but had neither the strength, nor opportunity. My biggest regret was not getting to the giant Noryangjin Fish Market detailed on Fatman Seoul: http://fatman-seoul.blogspot.com/2004/1 ... arket.html
If you haven't checked out FatMan Seoul--excellent resource in general.

between my first post and yours I had just read about the fish market, but not through the fatman website.

Thanks for the info.

I only have a few days, one of which is being taken up by the USO DMZ tour which is a 3/4 day tour.

--

This is a 30-some year old well-established, high-end multicourse sort of place. I hear they have a branch in LA. Lots of very refined small plates of things you've seen before and many you may not have.

I can't say I'd recommend it based on the place in LA, but of course it could be very different.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9256

m'th'su wrote:Also, there's a halfway decent guidebook you might want to look at called Seoul Food Finder by Andrew and Jinny Salmon with recommendations for all cuisines, not just Korean. They'll also point you to Seoul's oldest and most established dog restaurant.
http://www.seoulselection.com/shopping_book_view.html?pid=13

just purchased the book, interested to see what they suggest.

Sweet Willie wrote:I only have a few days, one of which is being taken up by the USO DMZ tour which is a 3/4 day tour.

--

While this site is geared towards dining, I've put in other information that some may find helpful if traveling to Seoul/Korea.

Photos will be forthcoming!!! as soon as I can figure it out.

Flew United from Chicago ORD to Seoul ICN (Inchon Airport).
I could have routed through Tokyo/Narita but if one flies out of San Francisco SFO, the SFO flight gets into Seoul the earliest (5:35pm) as opposed to 8:00+pm if coming in from Tokyo/Narita, so the choice was clear to route through SFO. Met up with a friend at the Red Carpet Club at SFO. United’s biz class product is so-so, so nothing to really report except the curry chicken w/rice was certainly one of the best airline meals I’ve had. I slept most of the way thanks to better living through sleeping drugs.

Arrived into ICN slightly delayed but no big deal as customs was a breeze. Just missed a hotel bus but because they run frequently, we waited no more than 20 minutes for another one. There are numerous hotel bus routes, most stopping at 3-7 hotels, signs are in Korean and English so pretty easy to figure out. Seeing as the hotel I was staying at (Renaissance Seoul) was far away from the designated Westin Chosun hotel meeting spot, I decided to take the KAL Limousine bus (14,000 won) to the Westin with a friend who was staying there and I had flown over with. Exchange rate was roughly 1,000 Korean Won = $1 USD. Traffic was somewhat heavy and we arrived at the Westin about 7:30pm.

The Westin is in a great location for the tourist, close to subway stops and even more important in my opinion is the fact that there is a “happening” area (Myung Dong). I stayed at two hotels, the Renaissance and InterContinental COEX. If traveling to Seoul for business, the location of your hotel should come first, not what chain it is affiliated with. I would stay close to wherever you are doing business as traffic sucks in Seoul. Location far outweighs chain affilitation.
For the Leisure traveler, (stating the following after staying at the above two hotels and becoming quite familiar with the Westin Chosun area) hands down the area around the Westin trumps Renaissance and IC's. But there are other areas to stay in of course, one of my travel buddies stayed at Yim's House for $40 a night.

The area around the Rennaissance is very commercial, no retail (unless you consider the myriad of massage parlors behind the hotel retail, BTW if you do walk out the back of the Renaissance you will get approached by men asking if you want "massagi" or "Koeran girl"). The area around the IC's is very sterile compared with other parts of the city, you will pay for that sterile mall like environment not only in won/$$ but also in terms of quality of your experience, Highly recommend staying elsewhere in Seoul if for leisure.

Friend and I met another bud at 8:30pm in the lobby and proceeded to walk a block to the Myung Dong area. Found some tents that served food cooked from the nearby storefronts. A Korean friend translated the business card that was given to me as the following: Restaurant Gahnaeree phone: 776-0037. We ordered some soju and Korean Beer while we looked over the menu. Couldn’t really read it but there were pictures. So we chose pajun (a Korean seafood/scallion pancake of sorts), a pot of mussels, and fresh chopped live octopus legs. Mussels were ok but because they were cooked too long, they were too soft. Pajun was quite tasty, especially with the chili paste sauce. The live octopus legs were the best tasting of the evening, slightly citrus w/a taste of the sea, quite delicious (MAKE SURE TO CHEW THOROUGHLY)
Taking in sight of Seoulites off of work and doing some serious drinking was quite fun so we hung around for awhile and took it all in. Got back to the Westin about 10:30pm, not too late as we had to get up early for the DMZ tour.

I then proceeded to take a cab to get to my first hotel, the Renaissance. Not impressed per the above comments.

Got up at 5:45am and took the subway to the Samgakji stop, going over the Han river was beautiful as some clouds in the sky were blazing red due to the rising sun, this reflected in the river. Took a short walk to the USO office to check in for the DMZ tour. I had read that the http://www.uso.org/Korea/default.cfm?contentid=347 USO Panmunjon DMZ Tour was the best to go on, as it also includes taking in the 3rd tunnel of aggression. The tour last ¾ of a day, departing at 7:30 and arriving back ~ 3pm. There is a full description of the tour at the link provided. The DMZ tour was well worth the price of admission, $44.

Upon returning we then proceeded to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Memorial_(Seoul) War Memorial Museum as it is ½ block from the USO. Did not spend the time that probably should have been spent here, there are quite a few aircraft on display, a B-52, some MIG’s were highlights for me. Then took couple dollar cab ride back to the Westin.

Our meeting time this evening for dinner was 7:30pm. One bud went back to the Hilton to freshen up, while the remainder of us went back to the Myung Dong area looking for where we would have dinner that night, plus we wanted more soju. While searching tried a number of street food stalls. One that had a large wok of heated oil, the maker would roll this fluffy looking stuff into a log and drop into the oil. Some of these logs contained sausages; others were wrapped by a leaf. I followed the locals and put chili ketchup and mustard on mine, tasted like a Japanese fish cake. The next stall was serving fried tofu on a stick, complete with chili dipping sauce. The final stall we actually sat down at, at this one we purchased some mandu (Korean dumplings) and what we termed Korean pasta which was actually thick (1/2” circumference x 2” long) pieces of pasta (maybe rice flour?) that had been heated in a red tomato/chili sauce. The heat of the sauce was the long, slow to build kind that burned nicely. All of the above were delicious and I would order again in a heartbeat. Having snacked ourselves and located a restaurant, we then went to the nearby Hof and Soju Bar (actually the name of it) which was close to our tent dinner of the night before. That soju is tasty stuff.

We walked back to the Westin to rejoin with our bud and then walked to our restaurant Nobizib a Korean BBQ joint located a couple doors away from the TGI Friday’s in the Myung Dong area. Nobizib has an active blue “oven” outside the front where the charcoal is lit before transferring to the pots that they will bring to your table to cook over. The western style seating downstairs did not fit our group of 5 so we went upstairs to the Eastern style of sitting on the floor. A photo of the restaurant and its interior (and food) can be found here: http://www.pusannavi.com/food/restaurant.php?id=24
The site is in Korean and I can’t find an English translation tab. The phone is 02)756-4084 & 02)756-4030. We started out with raw crab in a sesame chili oil/paste mixture (this was phenomenal!!!) and then proceeded to the marinated beef on the table side grill, of course there was the obligatory bachan or sides that come with it. The whole meal was excellent and not too expensive at 50,000 won per person and that includes some beers/soju.

After dinner I was beat so I took the subway back to my hotel. The remainder of the group went out for awhile.

In the morning of the last day I proceeded to take a cab to get to my second hotel, the InterContinental COEX. Not impressed per the above comments. Before getting onto the subway I purchase a couple of bakery items and a roast beef w/shitake mushroom sandwich from the InterContinental COEX bakery/deli which is on the Lower Level. The pastries were a bit underdone and not flaky like a French pastry but I believe that is how Koreans like them. The sandwich was terrific.

This day we were to meet at the Westin at 10am, someone (ahem) decided to sleep in a bit due to the prior night’s soju, so we got a bit of a late start. Our plan was to go to two palaces Gyeongbok and Changdeok and in-between palaces have lunch at the Noryangjin Fish Market

Started at the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongbokgung Gyeongbok Palace as it is a self guided tour unlike Changdeok where you must be on a guided tour (English tours at 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm) The painting on the palace is quite vibrant and the palace grounds are much larger than expected when first viewing the property after exiting the cab.

We then headed to the http://fatman-seoul.blogspot.com/2004/1 ... arket.html Noryangjin Fish Market for lunch. This place is not as big as Tokyo’s but with a great benefit, you can buy your own seafood and then proceed to the second floor where there are restaurants who will prepare your newly purchase seafood for you. Talk about fresh. Our group decided on a big seafood share project, we purchased common crabs, king crab, scallops, prawns, oysters, and octopus. Next time I go, I'll be more daring. We then regrouped and walked up to the second floor to choose our restaurant, the restaurant we choose was called Pusan First but my Korean bud mentioned that anyone probably wouldn’t know that and you should ask for Pusan Ilbunjee. This place was one of the restaurants that faced the open market.
The raw oysters and live octopus were served first, oysters were just ok and I think that is because they had been pre-shucked. Live octopus was good but not as good as first night (don’t know why). The scallops were grilled and were the sweetest scallops I’ve ever had, simply amazing. The two kinds of crab were steamed, again amazing stuff, sweet as can be. The restaurant serves beer and soju (YES!) as well as sides to go with the meal. They charged us 10,000 won per head to prepare the meal. A bargain we all thought.

After lunch we had a bit of time before the 3:30 tour at the http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/seo ... gindex.htm hangdeok Palace, Someone had come up with a Buddhist temple to see. Being 5 we had to take two cabs, two in one and two & myself in another. Unfortunately our cab driver sucked and couldn’t find the temple. Any goodwill we were to give this guy faded when we showed him the Korean spelling for Seoul Tower and he couldn’t find that. We three exited our cab and decided to stroll down some of the very narrow alleys where we were let out. It was a bummer that we were still full from our lunch as one of the alleyways had a number of tiny restaurants grilling fish in the narrow alley and packed with Seoulites, these restaurants we passed were I believe on Pima-gil, perhaps Pimat-gol (or at least near where these two alleys meet)

We looked at our map and decided we had time to walk to our 3:30pm tour at the next palace. We passed the US Embassy which was swarming with riot police, not with any sense of urgency but they were present in huge numbers. We were concerned that some protesting was about to happen so we hustled up and away from the embassy. We arrived just in time for our Changdeok 3:30pm tour and met back up with our two buds who were waiting for us.

This is where my body simply said no more walking around. I had had it. I excused myself from the tour and one of my friends graciously went with me. We talked for awhile at the Westin reflecting on the trip. I mentioned I was going to turn in for the evening and go back to my hotel.

I took the subway back to the IC COEX. I ate at a number of places in the COEX mall, none of which was worth repeating. The bulgoki burger at McDonald’s was interesting but again not worthwhile (had to try it)

I had seen an ad for a reflexology place in the COEX Mall and kept a look out for it on my walk back to my room but didn’t see it. I called the front desk and inquired if the COEX had a spa, they did but it was closed, I then asked if they could recommend a massage spa nearby. They mentioned they had an in-house masseuse for 40,000 won for 45 minutes, not a great price but seeing as I was only spending 5,000 PC points for the room and my legs/back were in great need of a massage I readily agreed. The masseuse was at my door within 5 minutes of my call. After 5 minutes of massaging I happily agreed to the 90 minute session. The massage was terrific and afterwards I sat in my dark room sipping my huge 1,100 won bottle of water and watching the lights of the distant Seoul skyline along the Han River, thinking of when I can return to this wonderful city as there is so much more to experience.

Slept like a baby and got up early, departed via the KAL Limousine bus from the IC COEX at 6:10am, 25 minutes later we were finally leaving for ICN from the last hotel on this limousine’s route. If one is staying in the COEX area, I would recommend taking the direct bus from the nearby Korea City Air Terminal. Had boarding pass in hand and was through customs by 7:45am.

I took a United flight that left at 10am, stopped in Tokyo/Narita for two hours and arrived into ORD 45 minutes early due to very strong tailwind, NICE !! I was at work by noon that same day.

I hope to go back in Sept of 2008

Sweet Willie wrote:The final stall we actually sat down at, at this one we purchased some mandu (Korean dumplings) and what we termed Korean pasta which was actually thick (1/2” circumference x 2” long) pieces of pasta (maybe rice flour?) that had been heated in a red tomato/chili sauce. The heat of the sauce was the long, slow to build kind that burned nicely.

a fellow traveler has cleared this up, this rice flour dish is called tteokbokki (떡볶이), and yes, it is indeed made from rice flour. It contains no tomatoes though, just gochujang (chilli-miso) paste.

My friend and I are going to Seoul for a wedding after the first of the year. Neither of us speak Korean, and will have 1.5 days all on our own. Noryangjin Fish Market is definitely on the list. We'll be staying at the Grand Intercontinental downtown. Not really looking for anything fancy.

Also, need ideas for things to bring back to the States for family and friends, including people at the office. I don't want to check my luggage, so anything liquid is out.

Thanks

Pucca wrote:Also, need ideas for things to bring back to the States for family and friends, including people at the office. I don't want to check my luggage, so anything liquid is out.

Thanks

If you go to Namdaemun Market, you can find places that sell lots of little trinkets, some nicer than others. Norigae (embroidered decorative items that used to accent clothes), folk masks, fans, carved loons, etc. I had my parents bargain for and bring over a bunch of stuff to use for wedding favors. The loons are used to symbolize marital fidelity, so those are good gifts for married couples. Namdaemun is kind of a crazy place, and I don't know how to give you directions to find the building where these items are sold, but it's fun to wander around there. Just remember that they're actually in one of the buildings, on the second floor, and haggle over the price. And all the stalls are separate owners - you can't pick something up in one place and pay for it elsewhere.

Nicer (and pricier) stuff can be found in Insadong. Good things to look for are celadon pieces, hand-dyed silk scarves, and stone seals (I think it takes a day or so to have them carved). And stop in one of the hanji (handmade paper) stores - it's 1000won (about $1) per 25"x37" sheet and makes great wrapping paper for gifts. If you like mandu (dumplings), there's a wonderful place in Insadong that specializes in Northern style. I'll see if I can find a map and give you a general idea (it's difficult, because there's really not many street names).

Good luck and have fun!
-gtgirl

gtgirl, thanks for your reply. My friend and I had a great time! We spent a lot of time exploring the markets and trying different kinds of foods from the street vendors. I really enjoyed the ho dauk! They were warm, gooey eggy pancakes with a very hot caramelly peanut sauce toward the end.

After seeing Anthony Bourdain eat baby live octopus on No Reservations, my friend insisted on trying them for herself. We captured some great video of her eating them. I couldn't believe how strong they sucked onto the plates as my fellow diners tried to pluck them off the plate w/their chopsticks. They even become suctioned onto people's lips!

We didn't make it to Noryangin Fish Market b/c it was a little out of the way given our short stay. The seafood we experienced in the restaurants were so fresh tasting!

I ended up bringing some lychee rice cakes, citrus peel tea, and sesame cookies home for my family and friends. I have yet to distribute them.

I lived in Korea for a year. though it was back in 93. I don't remember the restaurant names but here are some must tries

1) Bibimbop.....my all time favorite Korean dish. No where have I been in the states that was good as it was over there
2)Yakimondu or the steamed mondu. Yaki is deep fried dumpling, great while out partying at night. steamed though rocks. The sauce they serve with it is diliciouso!
3) Bulgogi, chaegogi. Beef or chicken respectively with rice and veggies very good.
4) Kaegogi.....woof woof. Yes it is dog but damn good dog. These are specially bred for the dinner table. Cost about $35 a plate back then so not sure of price now. A must try
5) Octopus.....LIVE> you will see this at the market in Seoul. They are alive in airated tanks they pull it out and chop em up serve with a hot sauce on the side. Tasty though the wiggly guys don't want to let go of you so chew thoroughly. I think Bourdain ate this on No Reservations. I had it way before him Try it ...or you shall forever be branded a wuss
6) you can try the kimch. But they had 30+ dif types and I did not find one I truly liked.
7) watch out for those vendor items that look like corn dogs....really fish
try a street burger....they will put things on the burger you have no idea what it is.....very tasty though

Also while traveling try to get to Chaegi Do Island. Awesome place....reminds me of Hawaii