Seoul bucket list

On my last trip to Seoul we hit everything on the itinerary that we planned.  But there's always the could've, would've, should've, so I've decided to keep a bucket list here so I don't forget next time I go to Korea!

1. Go to the beach
2. Eat crabs in Hongdae
3. Go to the DMZ 
4. Get a photo with Hyun Bin
5. 카페꼼마 (Cafe Comma) 
    (From "King of Dramas" where Anthony stood up Lee Go Eun) Hapjeong/Hongdae area // 서울시 마포구 서교동 408-27(02) 323-8555 
6. Between Pages cafe in Ssamziegil 4F - notes themed cafe
7. Free hanbok pictures at culture center or ssamzigil
8. Samcheong dong

Seoul "Soul" Food Day 7: Reunited with Hello Kitty Cafe

Lunch was in Namdaemun Market.  I love eating noodle soups and really wanted to try the famed Noodle Street in the market, but wasn't able to find it successfully so we ended up going to a random restaurant in the market that frankly, wasn't that great.  (Hence no pictures).  It's pretty amusing though how they try to speak Korean, Japanese, English, and Chinese at you like in Myeongdong, trying to figure out where you're from and their even more confused faces when you speak all the above.  As a general rule though, I'd say when you're at Namdaemun Market, avoid the restaurants and opt for the food stalls instead.

For good maps/instructions on how to find the Noodle Street and Galchi Jorim Alley (a soup fish dish), there are good references here and here.  Hope you have more success than I did!

Street food that I've always wanted to try is the red bean fishies (bungeobbang 붕어빵) that you see in the dramas.  It tastes the exact same as the Taiwanese/Chinese/Japanese equivalent ( 車輪餅 \ imagawayaki), but just one of those other things you fantasize about due to dramas, ya know?  Last time I was in Seoul they didn't sell it because it was summer; this is solely a winter street food item.  It costs between 1,000-2,000 won (~$1-$2) depending on the size for a bag.

Red bean fish snack

Next stop was one of the places I looked forward to revisiting the most. *dun dun dun* HELLO KITTY CAFE! (www.hellokittycafe.co.kr) We tried to go our first night in Seoul but got side tracked with shopping.  These are pictures from the Sinchon branch (closes at 11p).  There is also one in Hongdae that closes at midnight.  

Directions to the Hello Kitty Cafe in Sinchon:

1. Take Exit 3 from Sinchon subway station
2. Walk straight up the road.  (If you pass Skin Food you know you're headed in the right direction)
3. Turn right when you see Paris Baguette and go down the street.
4. Turn right when you see the "Naughty Cat" store 못된고양이 (it has a bunch of hair accessories outside and is decked in pink).
5. Hello Kitty's house will be right in front of you.

Strawberry yogurt toast (6,500 won,~$6.50) and raspberry mocha were pretty good.  Loved the dried fruit topping on the raspberry mocha.  Only downside is that it doesn't have Kitty's face =P  The raspberry mocha and the blueberry latte (pictured below) were new menu items.  Besides being decked out with really cute Hello Kitty everything, what I like the most is the cute coffee art they do on the drinks.  I don't think the drinks are that overpriced compared to other coffee shop chains, but the drinks are lukewarm to retain the cute coffee art on top.  That's something that normally irks me with coffee, but because Hello Kitty is there I forgive her ^_^

The blueberry latte (4,500 won, ~$4.50)....too cute!  Looking at such a happy Hello Kitty you can't help but smile keke.

And knowing Koreans' obsession with sweet potato, of course there's sweet potato latte!  Holly's Coffee is better, but this is my favorite coffee art. 

Okay, I must admit, at 10,000 won (~$10), this strawberry mini cake is probably the most overpriced item on the menu.  But it's just TOO CUTE!  Who can resist that face?!  Inside is a tiny cake with thick strawberry cream all over and the details done with chocolate syrup.  The cream is sweet and also retains a bit of the acidity of strawberries.  

This completes my Seoul "Soul" Food series.  Next up: trying out the new beauty and makeup products that I got!  A preview of all the stuff I brought back....

Seoul "Soul" Food Day 6: Chinese Take-out

We spent our last day in Jeju hiking up Mt. Halla, which I don't recommend unless you're into the whole hiking thing.  The hike up was quite boring since there wasn't any pretty foliage or flowers to look at.  Besides the crater, the view of the island from the top is also not impressive.  It's not an active volcano, so the crater was literally just a really, really big dry hole.  

The hike took us 4 hours up and 4 hours down and we didn't pack much to eat nor have the time to eat it.  So when we got back to Jeju City, we desperately needed food.  If you're too sore and tired to go to the food, then the food must come to you!  Half an hour later, this is what showed up....

(All photo credits in this post to my friend Julie who dragged us to the top of hell and back.)

 Chinese take-out, Korean style :)  And yes, the delivery is just like what you see in the dramas with the aluminum box.  They come back to get the dishes after you're done eating too.  We ordered two jajangmyuns (black bean noodles) and fried rice with jajang sauce.  Sweet and sour pork (tangsuyeok), the yellow radish, kimchi radish cubes, raw onions, and sauce came as a service, meaning it's free.  Because we ordered a set, we also got fried dumplings  The black bowls on the far left is the sweet and sour sauce and the red plates are the fried chicken.  You dump the sauce on the fried chicken.

Korean version of jajangmyun is sweet, not salty like Chinese jajangmyun is.  All the pork and veggies are stewed in the black bean sauce for lots of deliciousness.  I don't know what crack they put in it in Korea, but it tastes very different than when I try to make it at home.  Perhaps it's the pan?

Sweet and sour pork

Really different than Panda Express' sweet and sour pork lol.  Not that take-out is ever really healthy, at least I can see legit vegetables and fruit in this.  The sauce is also more sweet than sour though the tangerines give it a good tangy-ness.

Fried rice & jajang sauce

 I never thought of this pairing before, fried rice with the black bean sauce.  Must try in my own kitchen next time!

Fried dumplings

And of course you can never go wrong with fried dumplings.  In Korea, there isn't really such a thing as Ranch dressing.  It's either "Thousand Island" (which is basically ketchup and mayo mixed together), or ketchup.  Which for the record, is really tasty with the cabbage shreds.  And that concludes this very hard earned dinner.  Next, back to Seoul!

Seoul "Soul" Food Day 5: O'Sulloc + Sashimi + BBQ & Soju!

Our only full day in Jeju, so we had to be productive!  Breakfast was included in our hostel stay at Rainbow in Jeju, which I highly recommend.  The staff was lovely and we got to meet a lot of new friends which made Jeju even more memorable. So with full stomachs and high spirits, we set out!

One of the famous foods produced in Jeju are Hallabong oranges.  They're very big (bigger in size than Texas oranges) and mildly sweet.  The taste is sort of a cross between an orange and a tangerine.  Our new friend got us a box to try =)

The first food stop was the O'Sulloc Tea Museum.  On the website it sounds like a fun, interactive museum where you can learn more about the tea culture and taste tea, but in reality, it was just a really big O'Sulloc store with a cafe.

O'Sulloc Tea Museum entrance

The museum part didn't really hold up to expectations, but the food should at least, right?!  We ordered their green tea ice cream mixed with yogurt, green tea cake, iced green tea drink with red bean, and green tea latte.  Unfortunately, almost everything we ordered was a disappointment.  O'Sulloc's green tea is very, very mild in tea.  I know nothing about tea, but when you taste O'Sulloc's green tea, it feels very half-assed, like the leaves weren't roasted to their full aroma and then hurriedly packed into a box.  Some may appreciate light tasting green tea, but my personal preference is one with more flavor and aroma.  

Iced green tea with red bean drink

Green tea latte

I thought that green tea and red bean is weird, but my friend liked it.  If you like sweet drinks and the taste of red bean, you'll probably enjoy it  This and the green tea ice cream mixed with yogurt were the two items that I enjoyed the most.  You can find better and cheaper green tea latte at Holly's Coffee or another coffee shop chain  Would not recommend wasting your precious time in Jeju at this place!

We were still starving at O'Sulloc, and because Jeju is an island, tasting the seafood the island has to offer is a must!  Having Korean sashimi (hwei in Korean) is typically very, very expensive.  As in $50+ expensive.  We chose the cheapest option, which was 48,000 won (~$48).  You pay a pretty hefty price, but you will be served a lot of food and eat like a king.  Here's what came out first:

 This was my first time having hwei and in general, I'm not much of a sashimi eater, but I do know that it's expensive!  So inside I thought this is all that we had ordered and the big round dishes in the middle was the main entree.  Noooooope, I was totally wrong.  All of that above was just appetizer.

THAT^ was the main entree.  And with it came another plate of seafood plus a soup and more seafood.  @_@  I don't remember all the different types of seafood that we were served, but unfortunately none of it was seafood that was special to Jeju (that fish option was double the price and a bit too deep for our pockets).

Dinner was Korean BBQ.  We were still stuffed from lunch, but couldn't resist eating more!

 Don't really remember which type of meat this was, but it was amazing.  And a trip to Jeju wouldn't be complete without...

Hallasan Soju! lolll.  I thought it was decent soju but according to our Korean friend, it's not as good as Choeum soju.  It's only sold in Jeju, so make sure you bring the bottle back as a cheap souvenir :)

Koreans rarely only have one dinner when you're hanging out as a group, so we found a random place for round two and ordered this crazy pitcher along with more food because I was still hungry ^O^  Note: Never order nachos in Korea.  They're terrible.  Period.

Hite beer is South Korean and a really, really light beer comparable to Asahi light. Cass, another Korean brand beer, is heavier in taste though still lighter than typical American beers.  When you're a lightweight, you definitely embrace Asian beer because it's light, fizzy, and you feel a tiny bit better about your ability to drink.  And that was our full day in Jeju!  Though I didn't get crabs (what I wanted to eat the most), I think we did a pretty good job of hitting Jeju food highlights.

Seoul "Soul" Food Day 4: Sul Lung Tang & Jeju Piggy

In the morning we went to Bongwonsa (봉원사), a Buddhist temple near Yonsei.  Coming down from the temple we passed through Yonsei because I really, really wanted to drink Banana milk.  Yes, you did not read wrong.  Banana milk.  It is as refreshing and delicious as strawberry and chocolate milk, even if the idea of it sounds a little odd (or for my mom, revolting).  The industry leader for banana milk is made by a company called Binggrae and is pretty iconic in its packaging.

Credits to kimchibulgolgi.com

What I don't like about Binggrae's banana milk is that it tastes very artificially banana-y.  Which is why I HAD to go to Yonsei for banana milk.  A lot of people may not know, but Yonsei owns, produces, and manages a milk factory.  They also sell *you guessed it* BANANA MILK!  (And of course other types of milk, including strawberry, coffee, chocolate, and plain 'ol milk).  Yonsei's banana milk has that creamy, thick texture of whole milk and a less artificial tasting banana taste.  If you're on Yonsei campus and want to try their banana milk, go to the convenience store that is Yonsei owned in the cafeteria building (other commercial convenience stores such as GS25 will not sell it).  They also sell it in the Muak dormitory.  For me, this is a MUST try drink in Seoul!  

Yonsei banana milk

My banana milk craving satisfied (I bought 3 cartons haha), we were ready for some real food.  We decided to have Sul Lung Tang (설렁탕). It's a very light tasting and simple soup with only a couple of ingredients - ox tail bone for the milky broth, scallions, a few slices of meat, and vermicelli noodles.  I think the key to a good sul lung tang is that the broth doesn't exude that stinky and sour smell that is similar to improperly cooked lamb.  We went to a restaurant in Sincheon that specializes in this dish.  

Sullungtang

I ordered a dumpling & rice cake soup (ddukmandooguk 뗙만두국) which used the same milky broth as a base for the soup.  However the two dishes tasted quite different because the dumpling and seaweed taste was absorbed into my broth.

Close up of dumpling filling

Dumpling & rice cake soup

We also ordered the Korean pancake for grins.  It was deli :)

Then off to Jeju Island we went!  If you're ever in Korea during the spring or autumn months, I'd say definitely go to Jeju because it'll be so picturesque, relaxing, and pretty empty of other fellow (photobombing) tourists.  You can selca like crazy unbothered =)

Apparently Jeju has its own special breed of black pigs that you can only get in Jeju, so of course we had to try it!  I was a bit sad I didn't get to see one alive and roaming around a mountain or something, but it was pretty tasty on the table too.  The manager in the hostel recommended this hole-in-the-wall place.  And when you get a recommendation from a local AND it's a hole-in-the-wall place, you definitely know you hit the right spot.

Above is the menu.  And yes, there are only two options on the menu.  We got the one on the left.  Not really sure what the one on the right is.    

The Jeju black pig meat marinated in red pepper paste with scallions.  Looking good, but that's not it...

 And then the owner goes and piles more veggies on top of the meat.  We were ridiculously hungry and it looked delicious, but is this really for only three people?!

 Pictures of the additional side dishes we were served. 

The final product!  The Jeju black pig has a very distinctive taste/fragrance that lingers in your mouth that my friend didn't like.  Not really sure how to describe the taste as I have never had anything like it.  The texture of the meat is firmer and tougher than normal pigs.  It seemed as if the pigs had real muscle and climbed a lot of mountains all day long.  You can eat this wrapped in the lettuce leaves much like Korean BBQ or just alone with rice.  Needless to stay we were pretty stuffed after all of this and pumped to see the rest of Jeju!  More to come~또오세용~ ^___^V ~please visit again!~

Seoul "Soul" Food Day 3: Bon Juk, Gam Ja Tang, & Mr Pizza

Because we had such a big late lunch the previous day, our stomachs requested that we skip dinner, so naturally we were STARVING the next morning.  Seoul is still really cold (low around freezing, high of 50s) at this time of year and we wanted to stick with traditional Korean food for our meals.  Hot + traditional Korean food led us to....

Bon Juk!  Some of you drama junkies may already be familiar with Bon Juk because it was the franchise featured in "Boys Over Flowers" as the store that Geum Di worked in.  Last time I went to Seoul I didn't make it there, so this time I really wanted to go at least once.  Here's some photos of the menu (sorry for the crappy quality)

Top: Meat/Veggie Juks
Bottom: Traditional/Kids Juks

Top: Popular/Famous Juks
Bottom: Well Being Seafood Juks

 Juk is basically Korean porridge.  They can be salty or sweet.  On the menu at Bon Juk, all of the items are salty except for the ones in the traditional section.  At first glance I was surprised at the expensive pricing of the dishes (7500 - 20,000 won which is about $7.50-$20 USD).  However, when the food came out I realized that juk is considered as a full meal, hence the full meal pricing.  Note: It is a LOT of food, so if you don't eat a lot/aren't very hungry, ask for a half portion!

The tuna & vegetables juk that I ordered...

 See what I mean by it's a full meal and a lot of food?  I have a pretty big stomach and at 9am, this was pretty hard for me to finish completely.  I think I left a little unfinished.  As with all Korean meals, it came with a few side dishes (panchan) that you can also eat with the juk.  They also served a radish soup to cleanse your palette and sweet cold cinnamon and plum (?) tea.

The next meal was Gam Ja Tang, per one of my friend's requests.  The information center told us there was a good place in Insadong, so back to Insadong we went!  I don't think they serve this in any Korean restaurant around Austin/Houston, so this was a completely new Korean dish that I was trying.  Here's the menu:

Gam Ja Tang on the far left.  It comes in 3 sizes, S (1 person), M (3-4 people), L (a lot of people).

When I heard the name of the dish, I thought it was potato soup because potato in Korean is Gam Ja (감자).  You can imagine my shock when this came out:

The white slices are potato....but definitely what I was expecting lol.  Apparently Gam Ja Tang is traditionally a hot pot style spicy pork bone soup that you eat with a lot of people.  The veggies are called "trash" (sseuregi 쓰레기) so if you like them, you can ask for more trash. Here's what it looks like when it's cooked:   

 And a picture of the humongous bones that are in the soup.

When you order they'll ask how you want the rice to go with the soup.  You can get a plain bowl of white rice (called gongjibap 공기밥 and costs 1000won p/bowl) or request that bowl of rice to be mixed with the remaining soup in the form of fried rice.  We requested the fried rice.

The rice was soaked in the soup's flavor and "trash" veggies cooked to the perfect crunchiness much like in stone pot bibimbap.  Deliiiiicious.

Even though we were already ridiculously stuffed from another large meal, if you're in Insadong, it's really hard to say no to all the food stalls that line the street.  So we caved in and got these sweet snacks:

호도과자, which literally translated is walnut snack. It was pretty cool watching the assembly line while waiting for our freshly made snacks.  It's a walnut shaped cakey/doughy outside filled with red bean paste.  I think it cost 2500won (~$2.50) for a small bag with 6? Sorry, my memory is failing me.

At the end of the day we ended up in Gangnam.  I couldn't remember which exit from the subway would lead us to the popular street lined with shops and restaurants so naturally I chose the wrong one.  We were hoping to eat food stall food, but since there wasn't any nearby, we came to Mr. Pizza (http://www.mrpizza.co.kr/).

Mr Pizza is a Korean pizza chain that sells Korean-ified pizzas.  They offer a salad buffet for 3500 won (~$3.50) if I remember correctly.  The salad buffet was pretty pitiful to what we're used to in the states, so we just got a pizza.  We ordered the regular sized Oh My Rib (오마이립) pizza with a sweet potato stuffed crust which cost 25,900 won (~$25.90).  There's no additional charge for different types of crust.  Here's the photos of the pizza from the website:

And this is what it actually looked like.  Can't accuse them of false advertising eh?  The pizza wasn't as good as I remembered from the first time I had it in Sinchon.  I'm not sure if it's because we didn't order a good pizza (one of my friends didn't like the BBQ sauce on the ribs) or if that particular branch just wasn't as good.  The sweet potato stuffed crust part was awesome though and highly recommended.

Wow, this post turned out a lot longer than I expected.  A very productive food day, I'd say  =)