Friday, November 20, 2009

Nolboo Origogi



Location:  Songpa-gu, South Korea (Chonghap undongjang)

Category: Duck, Korean
Price: $$ (~25,000)
Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Overall: A
Review:  You can't really go wrong with Nolboo.  One of the largest chains here in Korea, they have budaechigae (military base soup), kalbi, myungga (traditional Korean food, at Kosuk bus terminal).  This is one of their duck food chains and it doesn't disappoint.  Not only is the roasted duck juicy and tender, but the rice inside is extraordinarily tasty, replete with dates, nuts, and sticky purple rice

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take too many pictures of the food, and only remembered to take pictures after we had already devoured the majority of the duck, but as you can see from the thoroughness of our consumption even just halfway through the meal, the duck was extremely tasty.  One duck will feed between 2-3 people (my friend Lisa, my dad and I shared one and there was still a lot of duck remaining) and will cost about 50,000 won.  There is also a pretty good drink menu, albeit only Korean liquor.  The kimchi as well is really tasty as are the other panchan (side dishes).  Though I don't have a business card or map, I do have the phone number, you should make reservations beforehand and can ask for reservations then.  A great spot if you are in Jamsil or over by Samsung station.


Nolboo Origogi (02-425-5292)



Shim's Tapas

Location:  Hongdae, South Korea
Category: Spanish
Price: $$
Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Overall: A
Review: One of my all time favorite restaurants in Seoul.  I discovered this by accident with my sister Janet when we were volunteering for an event in Hongdae.  Ever since then, I have taken friends there and it's a great quiet, yummy spot for dates as well!  First of all, order a nice sweet glass of sangria to start the night out right:


Afterwards you can move onto the extensive menu of Spanish tapas items to choose from.  I try to experiment with many of them, as many of them are quite tasty, and I don't think I've gone wrong with any of them.  From the kaji dip (spiced and herbed eggplant on whole wheat bread...order it every time I go to shim's tapas, wait did I mention I normally hate eggplant?)



to a plethora of other dishes, including this yummy sauteed mushroom dish.  By the way, most dishes come with two slices of wheat or sourdough bread, if you need extra bread you have to order it unfortunately.

stuffed squid with whole wheat fresh bread and in the following pictures:



- sauteed bell peppers stuffed withcrabmeat and herbs 
- My favorite shim's three sisters pizza, with three different toppings, sausage, mushrooms, and anchovies (anchovies are incredibly good on pizzas)



- two different desserts: brownies and apple pie.














The brownies were better than the apple pie, which is a tad too sweet for my taste, but still delicious. I wasn't quite ambitious enough at that time, but have tried the mulled wine before, which is also very nice as an after- dinner treat:



and the empty plates as evidence afterwards:

This time in stead of just leaving contact information, I also left copies of the menu, so you can see for yourself the extensive assortment of tapas dishes shim's has to offer:












Thursday, November 19, 2009

Garak market (가락 시장)


Location: Songpa-gu, Korea
Category: Seafood, Korean
Price: $$ (~40,000)
Food: A
Atmosphere: A
Service: B
Overall: A
Review:  One of my new favorite places to take guests.  One of the great things about this place and norangji market (I've heard, haven't been there yet) is the ability to do some sightseeing while eating delicious food!  First you go to the main fish market and choose what you want to eat:

There's all sorts of stuff to choose at the market, and all of it is extraordinarily fresh.  A completely different experience from the Tsukiji fish market in Japan, the vendors will take whatever fish, crab, clam, even sting ray that you choose, and prepare it on the spot.  You can then ask them or volunteer to take it yourself (which is generally faster) to a restaurant on the second floor associated with the market and pay a nominal fee to have them prepare it (2,000 won per person for entry, to prepare meauntang, or spicy fish soup, it is 10,000 for 4 people, for steamed crap, about 20,000).  What is shown below is what comes with the entrance fee:

It does end up being a bit more expensive than just ordering meuntang in the restaurant but is incredibly tasty in comparison




I've been twice now and both times we ordered steamed crab which was really good and sannakji, which is live octopus.  It sounds really gross but is in fact, very tasty:
Actually, it looks pretty gross too, but it is really tasty, I promise.  There is actually a difference in the taste in prices, it probably makes sense to go to a place that sells a few varieties of nakji (more than 5 different types) and choose one of the one that is not the cheapest.  We chose ones both times that were 2 small octopus for 10,000 and the vendors will cut it up for you into small pieces.  The restaurant will have the sesame oil so as soon you bring it up, you can eat it right away.  


The restaurant also has a few dishes they serve themselves that don't require food from downstairs, like fried shrimp, 15,000 for a large dish, but those dishes are few and far between, and generally not as good as the food prepared with ingredients from the fish market.  However, at the time, we were still hungry (we had a few more people than anticipated join us at the restaurant) and so we ordered the dish of deep fried shrimp


One of my favorite dishes was actually a rice dish, made from the main shell of the steamed crab.  We took the insides out, and with it, mixed in rice and a bit of sesame oil.  It was incredibly tasty.  The second time I went, we had them prepare the fried rice, and although that was good, I still felt the first time I ate it, it was somehow better.  It's a great end to a great meal.


Unfortunately I do not have the contact information for the restaurant or the market.  However, Garak Market (and Norangji market) are both easily accessibly by the subway in Seoul, and most of the vendors in the market have similar seafood inventory.  It's part of the adventure to seek out, bargain, and eat well!

Dakhanmari (닭한마리)

Location:  Dongdaemun, South Korea
Category: Chicken, Korean
Price: $
Food: A
Atmosphere: B
Service: B
Overall: A
Review: I realized when I posted my last post that I completely missed the month of October in my posts!  Apologies for that my two followers as of now, I will try to update the blog more regularly.  Since I have missed a lot of time on the blogging, I do have a few restaurants to update on since then however.  The next place is Dakhanmari.  The place with the pictures has unfortunately, burned down since I took these pictures, but they have set up shot around the corner from their old place, and it tastes just the same, so this blog is still somewhat relevant:


Dakhanmari is the perfect dish for a cold winter day, or cure for a nasty cold.  One whole chicken boiled in front of you in a pot of steaming hot chicken broth, it is one of the tastiest finds I've had during my stay in Korea.  Even more important than the broth and tender bits of chicken meat is the sauce.  Preparation is key:


Somehow, this particular dakhanmari place has the best ingredients.  I swear the soy sauce isn't exactly normal soy sauce, and the mustard and hot kochujang is not normal hot kochujang either....You see in the picture to the left that there is a nice serving of mochi (dduk) and gizzard served on a plate.  You put that in before the chicken is served since it's cooked in no time flat and is a great little appetizer before eating the main chicken dish.  For new guests, I usually prepare the sauce for them, since it can be a little confusing what the correct portions are for the sauce.  The finished product looks something like this:

I personally like a lot of buchu in my sauce, and for it to be a bit on the spicier side.  You then dip the dduk, gizzard, and chicken into this sauce for the full effect of dakhanmari

After the chicken is cut and boiled (the waitress will cut the chicken for you with an incredibly versatile pair of scissors), you then dip it in the sauce and it is super super yummy

Contact information as I mentioned is not exactly the same anymore because this particular place burned down, but if you go to this location and go around the corner, you will find the new shop opened up.  There is a sign posted on their original store front as well with the location of the new shop.  I believe the phone number still works however:








Bongpiyang (봉피양)

Location: Songpa-gu, South Korea
Category: Korean
Price: $ (~7,000)
Food: B

Atmosphere: B
Service: B
Overall: B
Review: During Chuseok in Korea, there are very few restaurants that are open.  Bongpiyang is one of the ones that is open.  We ordered three separate dishes at this traditional Korean restaurant, I ordered sulleongtang, which is a beef soup/stew, perfect for the chilly weather that was starting up outside:

My friends, Eunsuk and Jooi ordered two other dishes, one of the the delicious dish featured below that had some nutritious vegetation on top of heaps of steaming meat and also nengmyun, a cold noodle dish:





Both of these dishes were pretty good, those not the best I've had in Korea.  However, this restaurant DID have one of the best kimchis I've had here in Korea, which I included a picture of below:

Doesn't that look mouth-watering.  A final shot of the main meat, veggie dish, and contact information of course




Monday, September 7, 2009

Daeduk hostel (대덕호수텔)


Location: Kangneung, South Korea
Category: Lodging
Price: $$
Food: n/a

Atmosphere: A
Service: A
Overall: A
Review: I know this is a food blog and all, but I wanted to post something about our charming little hotel that we stayed at in Kangneung.  Ok, so maybe it was a love hotel, as evidenced by the fact that you could pay for the room inside the room, and leave the key in the elevator and such, but even so, it was quite reasonable and had a beautiful view:  



We paid about W 150,000 for a large 2 bedroom suite (we had 6 people) that included floor bedding for more than 4 people, and a double queen sized bed.  

It was all very clean, and we were able to check out the next day at 6PM, which was really nice.  And that was normal pricing, not even low season pricing so not bad at all 





and it even came with closets!
The only downside was that it was far from other restaurants and activities but it was nice walk along the way






It was definitely a pretty expansive beach that was covered, with all sorts of water activities, about 10-20 minutes walk from the hostel (don't eat at the handful of restaurants in front of the hostel, they are overpriced, and not very good) 





and contact information of course

Ann's coffee


Location: Kangneung, South Korea
Category: Coffehouse
Price: $ 
Food: n/a
Atmosphere: A
Service: B
Overall: A
Review: During the weekend at Kangneung, I visited the local coffee shop that was in front of our hotel.  It has a great view and was incredibly cute, as you can tell from the decor:


They had a beautiful little patio outside with little plants as well:

You could sit outside, and yes, that is the ocean, or the east sea that you can actually see from the veranda and just quietly sip your coffee as your enjoy the view.  It was also literally right in front of our hotel so quite convenient for us.

Another view of the veranda, from the front steps.  Notice the gorgeous weather that we were having over the weekend as well.

There were also a lot of cute little plants everywhere...it was practically a jungle, but very nicely placed.  
The chalkboard was outside the entrance to greet visitors and let them know what was the special for the day.  It was a nice touch as well, along with the lovely aroma of morning coffee....


It's a huge coffee house, impossible to miss, and 4 stories high!  it's on par with all the hotels in the area

Last but not least, the coffee seemed like it was ok.  I actually ordered an ice milk tea, since I was on medication and couldn't drink anything that had caffeine, and it was nice, albeit a tad too sweet.   The eggs you see in the background are my breakfast.  yum, hard boiled eggs from home.


And of course the business card for contact information: