Seoul Eats

I just watched one of those investigation videos where an Alec Baldwin sound-alike narrates you through the horrors of livestock farms and slaughterhouses. First, I want to tell you all that I've been an animal lover ever since I stopped mutilating the creatures I would find desperately trying to locate a way out of my swimming pool on Long Island. The facts that I was a child, and that children do what children do, do not keep me from feeling pain when I think about those days. I love meat, though, and I doubt I'll ever stop eating it. I would push all my chips forward after betting that most of you dig on meat with as big a smile as I do. There are alternatives, though. Instead of aiding and abetting these corporations who hire the obviously demented, you can do your research and find out where you can buy "humanely" slaughtered meat. If you love meat, and can't part with it, then I suggest this, for your health will benefit as well will many other things. I

Here is an informative site about vegetarian restaurants in Seoul. Sanche Kangnam-Gu, Togok-Dong 411-11 Subway line3, Maebong station entrance 4, walk 100m toward the Yangje terminal 02)554-9223 9-10:00 large set W18,000 sanche set W13,000, codonopis lanceolata set W15,000, sanche bibimbap W7,000, perilla noodle W7,000, sweet and sour mushrooms W20,000 Owned and operated by Ms.Soon-Nam Kang, a famous Korean author ('The Meal Table is the Medicine Table'), which is about eating uncooked vegetables and living a natural life style. All the spices, seasonings, and foods are prepared naturally here, and this makes this vegetarians as well as for those looking for natura-style remedies. All the ingredients used for food here are from organic farms, and no chemical seasonings are used as spices. The foods are prepared only with natural ingredients and natural sauces: kimchi in fermented with juice from greens, salad with tofu, radish, and onion in its dressing; Jochung, grain sy

Has anyone eaten at Gamrodang in Samcheongdong? It's an upscale vegetarian restaurant with beautiful looking food. I would like to recommend it to some people, but I haven't eaten there yet. You should check out their website! Here's the link!

I got an interesting request the other day. Some high profile restaurateurs are coming to Korea and they are looking for some high end, high profile restaurants or chefs. They are looking for more a Korean chef that uses ingredients in a new and unique way. I've been thinking Gaon in Apgujeong, but I'm wondering if there are any other restaurants out there that are at the top of their game. Here's what they are looking for: "What makes him superior or unique? Is he changing the way people look at Korean food? Using traditional ingredients in unconventional ways? That's the type of chef/restaurant we're interested in profiling - especially because it will contrast nicely with the stories we do in the country side." Any recommendations? I can offer you a free meal^^ Dan

I don't know how Joe from Zenkimchi does it, but he consistently finds all the really weird food in Korea. It must be the grocery store in Ansan. Here we have a Popsicle with gum. Yum...cold...argh...cavity! Oh wait, I have gum. Jump here to read the rest!

I love this show. I don't understand what they are saying but I still love it. For example I love this girl. I don't know why, but I like cutesy girls with spunk. Oh the food looks pretty good too! I am constantly checking Dramabeans. To get my updates on the show. The website is laid out very well. It makes me jealous. Maybe I should study up on programming. Here's what Dramabeans had to say. Really cute episode. Kim Rae-won is particularly fun to watch as he blunders through courtship, which is both cute and amusing, because he reminds me of so many hapless guys trying to figure out women and faltering badly, even though the answer seems so obvious from an outside perspective. (Women aren’t really so complicated, guys! It’s just that you often approach us either by thinking that (1) we think just like you and therefore react to things like a guy does, or (2) we are aliens whom it is pointless trying to understand, so why bother trying? A little effort goes a

When I read the Dan's butter toast post, I couldn't stop thinking of butter toast all morning. I ran to the Tom N Toms to get their butter toast. It looked exactly like the one on picture, slightly bigger than what I expected. The picture was very flattering on how it looked like but it didn't deliver the texture of the bread. It was quite crispy and the inside was soft and warm but not as moist as I expected. The topped whipping cream was too sweet, didn't go well with plain bread. I would rather choose the honey butter Toast from paris croissant(top picture). The inside of bread gets moist with butter and jam. Outside, the bread is very crunchy. Also it's not too sweet. Now it's your turn to try Pariscroissant's Honey Butter Toast, dan. :p Mandy

Here are some Cow Intestines that I had with my friend Sunny. They taste like meaty cheerios. Dan

Mangosteens are my favorite fruit and Lotte decided to make a flavored gum out of it. Now, I'm not saying that it tastes exactly like mangosteen, but I admire their effort. Dan

From boat... To land... To hand... To grill... Check out our makeshift meal... ...Hot sauce marinated mussels! -Cheri

I've collected exactly 129 points from 똘깨마을 맷돌순두부 - meaning that at least 129,000 won has been spent at this Sinchon soondubu joint over the past 8 months, not including the few times I didn't have my frequent diner card on hand. o_O (Don't get me started on loyalty cards. I've collected over a dozen in this city and have only reaped the benefits of ONE thus far.) Without fail, visits to 똘깨마을 맷돌순두부 (my littlest cousin's favorite btw) always include an order of 들깨 순두부 (perilla soondubu) , the only non-red option on the menu, and quite a nice and savory, non-spicy alternative if you ask me. However, on my most recent trip, I was feeling adventurous fishy so I decided, what the heck, I'll have the 삼치구이 (grilled samchi/Spanish mackerel). It was pretty good but nothing exciting, simply decently grilled white fish. I think sticking with the tried-and-true soondubu's a better option since you'll get a couple yellow corvinas to eat on the side (for free) anywa

Was a Bust It was pretty awful. I mean there was very little food that you could eat, but plenty of plastic representations of food. It was also very small. There were only 5 or 6 tents for each section and there wasn't anything special going on. There was one tent where you could make dukk (rice cake) with dozens of screaming kids and then there was another tent where you could get a warmed elmer's glue like drink that tasted like...warm elmer's glue. Besides that not much else was happening. It's really a shame too, but I thought it was going to be a food festival. Instead it turned out to be a food disappointment. On the flipside, I got to see my good friend Lily and my new good friend Verena. We had our own Seoul Food festival and walked around. Dan

Mango and Sticky Rice ㅠㅠ

All parts of the pig can be eaten. However, I'm not sure if they should be eaten. In the first picture I'm eating Jokbal- Pigs feet which are slow boiled for two to three hours in soy sauce, ginger, black taffy and many other secret ingredients. The meat becomes very tender, the fat pillowy, and the skin chewy. I've had better jokbal. This one tasted like feet and my first bite had a toenail. gross.

A quick shoutout: If you're in Seoul, head straight to Tom N Toms Coffee and get the butter toast! It's bound to clog your arteries, but who cares when something so bad can taste so good at 1 in the morning!

They taste like the see and they look like a cucumber. You can get these are Noriyangin and most seafood restaurants. These usually come as a side dish. Dan

Your body’s all you've got. It is the first and last line of defense against any, and every of the many lurking opportunistic bio-evils. I’d rather eat a hearty grub than a processed piece of puffed plastic child-treat. The Conflicted Glutton never rests. He is conflicted because health is his chosen path, but gluttonous because the path is laden with all of this food lovers favorite foods. On the right there is bittersweet dark chocolate. To the left, bacon cheeseburgers. Further on down the line a zig, or a zag is required to sidestep the jar of strawberry jam. How many times has he tripped while attempting a zig only to land face-down in that jar of jam? He will go for the jam like a vicious hyena and run it off in the morning. It’s a hard case being a health nut and a food nut simultaneously. I’m addicted to endorphins as well as calories and carbohydrates. I’ve long rejected these fad diets that rely on limitation to achieve success and gone the route-the much happier and s

If people would like to meet up tomorrow, we will be at Gyeongbukgung Station Exit 7 at 1pm to go eat Korean Royal Cuisine. Later, we'll be heading to Cheongyechung around 3. If you get lost, send me a call (send me an e-mail at seouleats (at) gmail.com to get my phone number, I won't post it here.) I hope to see you tomorrow! Dan Click here to see more information on the Seoul Food Festival.

http://foodfestival.seoul.go.kr/seoulfoodfestival/eng/html/main/main.php Okay here is the official website for the Seoul Food Festival. Here's the deal. The festival is happening at different places around Seoul. I would like to go to the Royal Food Festival in Gyeonhuigung and Cheongyechung on Sunday. Here is the write up on Gyeonghuigung. http://foodfestival.seoul.go.kr/seoulfoodfestival/eng/html/program/program01.php And here are the directions http://foodfestival.seoul.go.kr/seoulfoodfestival/eng/html/guide/location.php I think it would be best to meet up at Gyeongbukgung Station Exit 7. Gyeongbukgung is on the Orange Line and up past Anguk Station (Insadong). We should meet up at 1pm. If you are late, then you can call me. Please e-mail me to get my number (sorry, I don't want to post my number on the site.) and I'll see you then. If you would like to meet up at Cheongyechung, we'll probably get there around 3ish. Dan

Valerie Rock found Yoda being passed around a Chicago bar and took him home with her.(Photo: Chinanews.com.cn) Via chinanews.com.cn

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhuanet)-- Mega-Olympian Michael Phelps packs in 12,000 calories a day to fuel his medal-winning. So let's see what Michael Phelps eats in a day. His breakfast: a large bowl of porridge; three doorstep-sized sandwiches of white bread, butter, fried egg, fried onion, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise; a five-egg omelette tastefully garnished with parsley; three slices of French toast liberally sprinkled with sugar; three pancakes topped with chocolate chips; and two large cups of coffee. Next to it is lunch, which consists of 1lb (that's a very large bowl) of pasta with tomato sauce; two large ham-and-cheese sandwiches with more lettuce, tomato and don't forget the mayo; plus four bottles of a proprietary high-energy sports drink. For dinner, it's another pound of pasta, a large cheese-and-tomato pizza, and another four bottles of the same proprietary high-energy sports drink. The average adult man, depending on age, height and