Seoul Eats

August 9-17 Hi Seoul Summer Festival. There are activities galore at the Hi Seoul Summer Festival such as Guerilla Performance, Jazz in the Sun, The Hangang Fantasy Show, Mix it up! Dance DJ show, The Hangang Birdman Contest, and much much more. 774-1119. http://www2.hiseoulfest.org August 20 SIWA (Seoul International Women’s Association) Newcomers meeting. If you are new to Seoul or new to SIWA, join the Newcomers' meeting. It's a great chance to get to know a little more about the organization and the city of Seoul. The fee is KRW 8,000. Seoul Club is located between the Shilla and Tower Hotels. By Subway ~ Line 3, Station 332 Donguk University, exit 6. A yellow bus stop is just around the corner and it will take you up the hill, past the Seoul Club driveway to the National University. Walk back down the hill and cross at the lights. The Seoul Club is on the left hand side. Email: newcomers@siwapage.com www.siwapage.com August 21 SIWA Korean Temple Dining and Traditional Art ...

Greek Salad from Cyma Lamb Chops from Cyma Grilled White Snapper with lemon and herbs Boracay Regency Boracay Regency Funny Sign Filipino Street Food You can even get patbingsu in boracay. Tomato Salad from Paradiso Grill Grilled Lobster with Lemon butter

I seriously can't think anymore. My brain has gone into vacation mode and I'm happy just being free. I think I leave in two days. I think I do^^ I might end up conveniently forgetting to pack up my bags and get on the plane. It happens you know, really. What did I do yesterday??? Hmmmm...I ate Indian at a place called True Food: Indian Food. It was ok. The Palak Paneer tasted a bit burnt, but the setting was nice.  I'll write more soon. Sorry. I have to go rock climbing and sit in the sun^^ Dan

I recently received an e-mail from Mama Seoul and they are looking to do a piece on Bizarre Foods in Korea. I want to help them out, so I am asking for your help. Does anyone know any famous dog soup restaurants, sang nakchi, poison blowfish, sulfur baked duck, budae chiggae (Other than Nolbu) Soy marinated crab, sparrow, Snake Soju, and any other bizarre Korean foods you can think of. Thanks Dan Here's the e-mail^^ Seoul Eats Folks, I have been contacted by researchers from the Travel Channel Show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. they are coming to Korea in a few weeks and are trying to come up with story ideas, locations and local guides. I am fairly new to Seoul, so I have helped out with general ideas, but they need specific restaurant locations and I am having a terrible time pinning down the Koreans that I know to specific places. They always seem to say,"It's everywhere". Anyway, I came across Seoul Eats and thought that some of you might have either specific...

We are spending our last day day at Mandala Spa and Villas. I'm chilling in the restaurant and sending this e-mail while my friends are getting spa treatments. Last night I had a deep tissue massage and I feel tremendously better. The only problem I have is that mosquitos have been eating me alive. I've got like 5 or six bites that are itching like mad. Getting a deep tissue massage on top of mosquito bites is NOT a pleasant experience. Last night we went to a Greek Restaurant named Cyma for dinner. The appetizer was awesome. They had nice pita style bread with a variety of different dips such as tzikiki, hummous, and roasted eggplant. It was lathered in glowing olive oil. Dee-lish. We then had the lamb chops which were nice cuts and well seasoned in oregano and served with roasted potatoes with cheese. The chops were very savory and I just loved gnawing on the bones after. We also had the Greek Salad- the family style one. I recommend you get the dressing on the side, but besi...

The pirate captain Jojo from Red Pirates Bar and surf shop. He is an awesome sailor and took us around the entire island and to Puka Beach to collect shells. 600 pesos an hour. Our trip took 2 and a half hours. A beautiful flower from mandala spa and villas. Vegetarian fried rice ( topped with egg:) from Mandala Spa. It had a curried rice flavor. It was healthy. Our room at Mandala Spa. It is an awesome suite. The bed is a king sized, the ceilings are high and we have our own private balcony and look out. It would be a wonderful place to take a honeymoon. (Ladies, I am available^^;;;)  I love the spa. I had a cleanse today and last night I had an aromatic massage. Tonight, I'll be getting a deep tissue massage (apparently the one I had yesterday wasn't the deep tissue one.) Our room with tax and service charge came to about 15,000 pesos a night. However, they have a special promotion. If you get a body wrap or scrub, you get a free night's stay at the spa. It is way worth i...

My article is up on the Seoul Tourism website. Lunalil, Mike, Sosun, Ji-hyun, and I went there about 3 weeks ago for some delicious grilled fish. Please go there and leave a comment^^;; Here's the article. Dan Freshwater eel is a summertime specialty. Slowly grilled, the flesh has a marbled quality like a fine rib eye steak, a silky texture that resembles lobster. It melts in your mouth seasoned only with salt, but when lathered with a soy glaze the smell simply wafts up to your hypothalamus and makes itself a permanent fixture. Click here for the rest.

We had a great day yesterday. It rained in the morning but it then cleared up.  Mandala Spa and Villas is amazing. It's so zen and luxurious. We had deep tissue massages last night and we are going to do Yoga this morning. I am going to do a cleanse later and possibly get a body wrap. Food last night was yum, scrum. We went to Paradiso Grill over by D'Mall and we picked our own seafood and had them cooked to order. We had the white snapper with ginger and soy, lobster with lemon butter, grilled marlin with garlic, jumbo shrimp with a sambal sauce, lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, a grilled eggplant salad, and Chinese Spinach. It was all delicious and not heavy. We all unanimously proclaimed it was the best meal so far. It all came to about 2,800 pesos ($60.00) Alrighty, time for yoga. Dan Paradiso Grill 288-61-39 Mandala Spa and Villas +63 36 288 5858 www.mandalaspa.com Paradiso Grill

So I'm in Boracay so far and after a day of delays and boats and tricycles (3 wheeled motorized death traps) and exhaust from canopied trucks (called taxi's) we have arrived. Yep and it is raining. I mean really raining. We spent the first night at a place called Microtel and it's a normal, simple hotel. Apparently our reservations got confused, because when I called them last night they suggested I reserve on-line. When I tried to print their confirmation form my computer kept crashing. It was some weird bug. I am here with my friends Richard and Erica and we had a nice night out at D'Mall at a faux-Mexican restaurant called Manana. The food was alright. It wasn't authentic- but not bad for this side of the world. I felt that most of the food was a bit sweet. I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of sugar in my salsa. Their saving grace was that they made their own torillas. Their drinks were good- very strong. However their pina coladas used milk instead of coconut...

Yum... Therese's blog is one of my personal favorites because she makes the best food. What I was most shocked about is that she is making all this food in Jeollado. So next time I complain I can't make a dish because I'm in Korea, I will bide my tongue. Here is Therese: This is a great pie to make in Korea the ingredients a rather cheap and available all year round . You can easily make this pie for under 8000 won. It was invented in England in the 70s. Although the original recipe called for a pastry pie base I feel the biscuit base is just as tasty and is so much easier to make . Click here for the rest

I got this letter from a reader of Seoul Eats and I was wondering if anyone could help him out. What is MSG in Korean? Where do you think has the best Jja Jja Myun? Dan "After 35 years I am going to be visiting Korea this October. I can only imagine all the changes that I will encounter.... My question is, what sort of precautions should one take with the food these days, i.e., only bottled water, only hotel food (yuck) and etc? another question I have is about MSG. My wife is very sensitive to it and I would like to know the various Korean words for it so I can tell our server to leave it out. I imagine it is as difficult to avoid today as it was long ago as kimchi and most everything else uses it. Feel free to use hangul to write the words our as I still read it but my conversational abilities are limited. Oh yeah, one other thing. Can you get makkoli or dong dong jyu in Seoul and where is the best cha chang myun. Thanks and sugo haseiyo."

I recently took my first trip to Noryangjin Fish Market (노량진역/Noryangjin Station, Line 1). It's similar to most other fish markets in the country - rows and rows of fresh sea creatures straight off the boat - cleaned, sliced, and diced in front of your very eyes. You can pretty much find anything here - small shrimp, medium shrimp, big shrimp, ginormous shrimp (or prawns?), crabs, stingrays, octopus, mussels, clams, and a wide range of unidentifiable squirmy looking things. The fun part, however, is buying your fish and having it sashimi-ed on the spot, or alternatively, taken to a restaurant in the vicinity to have your just-purchased meal prepared right then and there. (Noryangjin also has a handful of these places, located on the 2nd floor.) A word of caution: enough time spent walking around the market will make you VERY fishy... you just might not smell it till you get home! We opted out of trying Noryangjin's selection this time around, but I thought I'd share some o...

...CORN BEARD TEA! And not just any oksusu suyum cha (옥수수 수염 차) - the one with that Corn Mermaid on the bottle (made by Lotte). Someone ought to write a song about it. It's like a corn drinking addiction! What's your favorite beverage? Cheri

Recently a reader asked me this: actually maybe you know of a good spot to get homemade kimchi mandoo? most places steam up and serve the frozen ones but i'm thinking of something akin to "mandoo bar" on west 32nd st in nyc... with fresh kimchi and pork... thanks for any info! So I've been thinking and to be honest, I don't know where to get good kimchi mandu. Lunalil did a story on a place with kimchi-du and I've covered a place with pork mandu, but I would like to ask you if you know a place with awesome homemade mandu. Here are the places with mandu that have been covered on Seouleats so far. Dan

I am going to Boracay next week. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to stay or eat? Dan

Jacoby’s. As my friend was walking by she overheard some passerby’s say, “We’re going to the Five-Star restaurant of Haebangchon.” The newest bar and burger joint in the HBC (Haebangchon) has been a crowd pleaser and has been hopping since their opening. With burgers with names like the ’I wish I was Kosher’ Reuben Burger, The Southwest Nacho Burger, and The Gut Buster Burger, you know this place has a sense a humor as well as tastes. And yes, they have milkshakes designed by the famous Elinza Pretorius. English speaking staff and menu. W4,000-15,000. PH:010-7203-0525

A quest into the gustatory heart of Seoul by Matt Gross The travel article that Matt Gross wrote on Seoul is now in the International Herald Tribune. You can check out the article here. Dan

To tell you the truth, cooking was the last thing on my mind. It was a blisteringly hot early July day, the start of Korea's infamous monsoon season. The air was punishingly humid, the houseplants looked near-death, and my two hard-working fans were failing to stir up even a decent breeze. For the 47th time I wondered why-oh-why we had thought we could make it through the summer in our new house without an air conditioner. Another "ding!" in my inbox. A flurry of emails was going back and forth among some friends regarding our potluck lunch in two days. "I'm bringing curry udon!" piped one. "I'm making mapo tofu!" chirped another, from enviably air-conditioned luxury south of the river. "What will you make?" My mind drew a blank. I didn't want to go near the stove. I didn't even want to look at it. But then another e-mail popped into my inbox, this one from a dear friend that I hadn't seen in ages. We rarely find the time ...

I don't normally find myself at casual dining chains very often in the US - well, The Cheesecake Factory and CPK are rare exceptions, and local chains don't count (i.e. I love you, Boloco ). However, familiarity often brings comfort, especially when you're thousands of miles away from a decent bowl of garlic smashed potatoes. Sometimes, it's just not a jjiggae type of day, if you know what I mean. That feeling led me straight into the doors of Hooters . Well, that, and it was strategically located while I was starving and it started to pour (장마 is an entirely different conversation for another time.) I've visited Hooters on one other occasion (in Honolulu) and I have to say, based on my slightly grayed recollection, although I knew short shorts were part of the deal, the waitresses in Gangnam (강남) might have as well been wearing a one piece swimsuit. As my Korean friend looked about the restaurant, I couldn't help but laugh at his innocent remarks... "So,...

August 29-September 7 Geumsan is the prime growing area for Korean ginseng. During the Festival, you can see how ginseng grows, experience hand picking the plant, learn about its health benefits, and enjoy traditional folk dances and music events. http://www.geumsan.go.kr/festival/eng.html

Here is my article, How to Chillax in Seoul on www.visitseoul.net http://english.visitseoul.net/visit2007en/aboutseoul/whyseoul/whyseoul.jsp?cid=46&sid=1654 Dan

Wow, the NYT's story finally got out! I've been saving pictures of the various restaurants and places that Matt, Zen Kimchi , a couple of other bloggers ( ex-pat Jane ) and I went. Here are the pics^^ Dan Here we are at Gaon. Notice the multitude of dishes. Like I've said: the dishwasher is the worst job in Korea. Gaon has awesome jokbal kimchi stew. It's like spicy cream of tomato soup. All the plates at Gaon are designed in house. Spicy Vegetable Salad from Gaon. I am being attacked by Sang Nakchi (live octopus). I call this a Sea Callus. You bite and sea water gets pumped out and then you just keep chewing. It's not my favorite. Live octopus. Seafood Soup. This squid was huge! I'm talking 5 to 6 feet easy. Some sort of shrimp. Eye can see you. Sea Mollusks. Yummmm. Figs The Korean Market at night. Marinated Crab. Very cool people from the market. Stingray Sure they are selling mushrooms^^. Tornado Potatoes. Ginko Nuts Tentacles. Steak in an icecream cone (too...