Richard Copycat's All American Diner
The Wolfhound
Hooters
Hooter's Onion Rings
Smokey's SaloonI am starting my research for an upcoming story that I'm doing on burgers in Seoul and here's what I've found so far.
Richard Copycat's All-American Diner has a decent burger. It's got good cheese, meat that's well grilled and the bun is a respectable. The cheese is the major upside here.
The Wolfhound. The best overall grilled burger so far. The meat is slightly charred on the outside and well seasoned with garlic and basil in the inside. The chips are outstanding as well (plus I love dousing the chips with the malt vinegar.)
Hooters. blah. The onion rings were good. The burger tasted like a greasy Big Mac Patty. Not much going on and I didn't appreciate having to pay extra for mustard for a 13,000 won burger.
Smokey's Saloon. Good burger. The best bun in the group. I don't understand the sliced cabbage and carrots instead of lettuce. The patty is a bit grissley and the onion wasn't grilled all the way so it was this slippery mess.
One more thing about Smokey's Saloon. As you may have read from Regina Watson's Blog and from Zen Kimchi about how the service SUCKS.
And I find that it is true.
My friend Terry and I went there at 9:20 to the Apgujeong Store, because I wanted to like Smokey's and give them a fair account. However, the waiter informed me that we couldn't sit in the restaurant because they were closing up. The notice on the door said that they close at 10pm. I tried to dispute this and they said that we could do take out. I decided that this would make a good story, so I conceded under the condition that they bring out the hamburger on a plate so I could take a picture for a story I was doing.
I usually do everything anonymously, but I figured this would clue them in that they should give better service.
No. We got our burger. I took the pictures. They packed it up and we had to sit at a 7-11 and eat the burger there.
Smokey's Saloon: Worst Service EVER!
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ReplyDeleteNow you're pushin' it, man. Burgers are my weakness-my all-time favorite food. I've denied myself the great burger while in Korea and it will be my first meal off the airplane when I get back to the States. I wanted to explain the cabbage and carrots. It's coleslaw, or Koreas poor attempt at what I refer to as my favorite condiment. Coleslaw is great on a lot of things. I love is on a Reuben instead of sauerkraut. Try this: The morning burger-bacon cheeseburger topped with a fried egg and coleslaw. Stab a fork through the yolk and into the patty to allow the yolk to permeate. Add an onion ring for kicks. So, yeah...it was "coleslaw." Good work, man!
ReplyDeleteegbert. coleslaw has a sauce smokey's didn't. it was literally cabbage and carrots.
ReplyDeleteYo Dan,
ReplyDeleteGreetings from L.A. I'm home for a wedding this week.
Thanks for the link but my family name is "Walton" ;)
I gotta say I'm glad you agree the Smokey Saloon's service sucks nuts. That place in our neighborhood I thought was another branch of the Smokey Saloon because the facade is the same, but the name is different. Hmmmmm...now I'm curious.
So you went to another location and they were still jerks? Yeah, they should have gotten a clue, but...oh well.
I don't eat cows but my friend from the States really enjoyed Kraze... let me know if you find any turkey, chicken, or gardenburgers. ; )
ReplyDeleteI know that Jacoby's and the Aussie Shop have veggie burgers. Kraze is too grissley for me. I do like the fact that Kraze has wheat buns.
ReplyDeleteExpat-jane,
ReplyDeleteSoon the whole world will know how Smokey's sucks big monkey thumbs! (dan laughs manically)
Dan
Yes, Sang-wook and that would be a good thing. ;-)
ReplyDeleteTheir service sucks a$$.
Thanks for your info. I've been living in Korea for 2 months, getting tired of eating only Korean foods and dying for good juicy burgers. I will try the wolfhound first.
ReplyDelete