Seoul Eats

Vegan Bake Sale When: Saturday, September 17 ·  11:00am  -  4:00pm Location Suji's Restaurant, Noksapyeong Station, Exit 3 We will be hosting a bake sale outside of Suji's in Itaewon to raise funds for the famine in the Horn of Africa. Mipa Lee of Alien's Day Out and Kia Veselsky, along with other vegan bakers extraordinaire, will provide the baked goods. All proceeds will go to the United Nations' World Food Programme. Come early! Mipa and Kia's bake sales always sell out! You'll find us with our spread just outside of Suji's.   Sign up on our facebook page! For info on the crisis in Africa:  http://www.wfp.org/crisis/ horn-of-africa For directions:  http://sujis.net/sub2_3.ht m What kind of goodies to expect:  http://www.aliensdayout.co m/2011/01/bake-sale-succes s.html Please visit:  www.seouleats.com  &  http://www.aliensdayout.co m/2011/08/vegan-bake-sale- fundraiser-to-battle.html If you can't make it: Make an easy online

Originally Published in the September Issue of Seoul Magazine. Reprinted with permission. Pick up a copy of Seoul Magazine at reputable places around Seoul for other great recommendations. Dan Jesters Famous Meat Pies In Korea, Australia is foreign. The newest arrival in Itaewon are flaky meat pies that are, apparently according to my my Aussie friend Jody, “the Aussie preferred, late-night drunk food.” For about 4,000 won you can get a buttery, crusty pocket stuffed with a variety of fillings. The “Stockman” has chunks of steak in gravy, the “Billy T” has minced meat with cheese, the “Pavoratti” has chicken carbonara and the “Spud Deluxe” has minced meat, mashed potatoes, and bacon. They even have sweet pies such as apple and blueberry. All the pies are made without any preservatives and they come out hot and flakey on a pitchfork thingy. They are all so good that I usually have to get two. I have found my new addiction in Seoul. Jesters Pies www.jesterskorea.com Seoul,

Our friends over at 10 Magazine is organizing an Expat Festival at the FC Seoul Soccer game. More info below The Expats’ Festival held on September 24th, an FC Seoul soccer game that includes lots of games, free food, and giveaways before the actual match starts. Plus foreigners who buy a ticket before the game get a W2,000 discount (W10,000 instead of W12,000), a free drink (beer), and a free hot dog. You can read more about it on our website. 10 Magazine  (우140-893) 서울특별시 용산구 이태원로 211 (한남동) 한남빌딩 10층 1010호 Suite 1010, 10th fl. Hannam Building 211 Itaewon-ro Yongsan-gu Seoul 140-893 Phone: (82-2) 3447-1610, www.10mag.com Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! www.seouleats.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.

Dear Groupon and Coupang and all other Coupon discount... companies?, Thank you so much for taking the call me and email me and even stop by my office with promises of millions of customers filling my classes and tours. Thank you for your promises of making my company a world-wide brand through giving classes at 50% off with a hefty portion (20-25%) of the remainder to go to you as a "helper's fee"; with an extra 10% going to the government. Thank you so much for offering me any money at all to pay for my utilities, my staff salaries, and rent. I apologize for not taking part in your incredible deals that will make me rich beyond imagination and I wish you luck in your endeavors. Maybe there is a restaurant or business desperate for your "marketing skills." And maybe those coupon seeking customers will become regular customers. Maybe those customers would be happy to pay 100% or even 150% more for the same food the next time they visit. After all, the best wa

Beer For Books You can drink beer (or a cocktail) and help benefit children in developing countries by giving them books. I think that's a pretty good deal because the more you drink, the more help you'll give. For each drink you have, Suji's Restaurant will donate 1000 won to Room to Read , a non-profit that provides books to children around the world. There will food and a raffle for bottles of wine and gift certificates from local businesses. Photos from the event will be published in 10 magazine. It will be on Thursday, September 15th from 7pm-11pm at Suji's Restaurant. For more info see: www.roomtoread.org www.beersforbooks.org RSVP at Suji's Korea Facebook Page View Larger Map Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.

Hwae Tteokbap Koreans believe that the perfect ratio for food is 7 to 3. They believe there should be 7 parts grains and vegetables to 3 parts meats and proteins. This is why bibimbap is considered to be one of Korea's representative dish. Since my job requires me to visit a great many restaurants in a course of a given week, this is something that I try to keep in mind so I can eat healthily. In the last year or so I have gained a bit of weight and it is something I have been battling for the last couple of months or so. The thing that is most troubling to me is my bulging "beer belly." The main reason I have been so worried about it is that the belly is evidence that fat is building up around my organs and it might lead to future complications. You might have noticed on the blog, that the restaurants I have frequented these days tend to be healthy or even vegan restaurants. These are places that I eat at often while also getting up early in the morning to

Alien's Day Out  Who doesn't like homemade cookies and cakes delivered to your door? (If this applies to you, please stop reading my blog and go away). These days, I have been thinking of gifts to get friends and a big hit have been Mipa's Vegan Cakes and Cookies from Alien's Bake Shop . I have ordered twice for my vegan friends and I would happily do it for my omnivore friends as well. Everything is fresh baked, creative and delicious.

Samarikant Samarikant Sometimes I forget how transient of a city Seoul is. There are always people coming and going and new people are always looking to find places to eat. I got an email from a reader that said, "PLEEASE STOP TORTURING ME WITH THESE DELICIOUS PICTURES! Can you put the addresses and contact info so I can find them!" Why, yes, that is a good idea. I'll be putting places that I eat on google maps and embedding them below the post. I'll ask my writers to do the same. Now on with the food. Samarikant is an Uzbek restaurant over by Dongdaemun that specializes in Uzbek Food. They have great Russian Beers and Vodka as well. The food is made fresh in house and a local baker brings their bread. I did a food tour for the fine ladies of SIWA   and this was our first stop on the tour. The food is rich and filling and the beers are authentically good. I love their soups and meat dishes like the meat-stuffed golstovy. Their beet salad is good

Uzbek Watermelon I spotted these odd looking melons at Samarkand in Seoul ( over by Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station exit 5). They look like cantaloupe but are the size of watermelon. I didn't have a chance to try them because I was short on time. Has anyone tried them? To the left are some Russian yogurt biscuits that taste like scones. They were great with tea. Dan Uzbek Watermelon Uzbek Watermelon Uncut

So you might have seen my awful attempts at making videos . I don't have the gift for making videos. Luckily, the good people over a t PSeight do.  Director, producer, and cameraman, David Kim had asked me to introduce Korea on video and I was very happy to do this. Here is a video he took of me visiting one of my favorite little makgeolli places in Insadong. The place doesn't have a name and the roof looks like it is going to cave in, but that's the charm of this place. Here is some more information on the video: Daniel Gray of Ongo Foods Communication and Seoul Eats visits one of his favorite restaurants in Insadong, Seoul. This restaurant was started by an old lady and they basically serve only a couple of dishes like fried fish and makgeolli (Korea rice wine). For more info on how to reach this restaurant, contact us: fet@pseight.com Or tweet us, fb us, or tumblr us! Daniel’s food blog can be found here: seouleats Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary T

Hi folks, I would like to introduce Troy Zitzelsberger to you. He is an unofficial food critic in Seoul (aren't we all) and he is going to contribute from time to time. He is here introducing J-Chili Food Cart in Itaewon. Cheers, Dan  JChili Late night, after hours…Itaewon. As I emerge from the depths of Spy Bar I spot a gleaming beacon of Joy known to all as J Chili. For at the bewitching hour, there is nothing better than a greasy all beef patty fully loaded with whatever strikes your fancy.  I approach the counter like millions before and all that remains is a decision, bacon deluxe or BBQ. I choose both with hot sauce to boot. J Chili  With all the powers of my burger combined: lettuce, onion, tomato, bacon, cheese, BBQ and hot sauce. I am now ready to indulge and indulge I did. It was love at first bite. The reasonably sized all beef patty was juicy, the condiments were flavorful, and the bun held up against my kung fu grip. And now to answer the question t

Steaming Bowl of Clams Golmokgil is one of my favorite places to go in winter, but my friends Suji, Kyu, and Sean wanted to eat them in August. I'm cool with that and luckily the clams at Golmokgil are still delicious and plump in Summer. There are mussels and scallops and giant scallops and razor clams and conches and many other types of shellfish in the giant bowl. They steam at the table as you can pick out your favorite vittles and dip them in the vinegared chili sauce.  It's soooo...good.  The shellfish steam in a colander and the drippings make a rich clam broth that is later used to make noodle soup. It's one of the best meals you can get in Seoul! Highly recommend! Gol Mok Gil 70-1 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul South Korea 02-544-8358 PS. After Dinner we checked out the band at the Grand Hyatt. Always a great time! Clam Broth Noodle Soup The Band at the Grand Hyatt View Larger Map

Deep-Fried Oreos And they are good! I really wasn't expecting them to be, but the chocolate pieces have a dipped in milk quality and the cream becomes like...warm ice-cream. It's sort of bizarre, but I like them! I wouldn't eat them everyday- especially since they have deep-fried bananas and fun-sized chocolate bars that they deep fry as well. Good dessert and one that I would consider having again. I think this is a contender for Thisiswhyyourefat.com. Cheers, Dan PS. Read more about Bao on the post just before this. Deep-Fried Oreos

Brown Rice Stirfry with veggies at Bao These days I eat pretty healthy and I exercise (My mom would be proud). But I find it is hard to eat healthy outside- especially in the Haebangchon and Gyeonidan area. At home and at work, I usually eat brown rice instead of white but you can't find that at almost any Korean restaurants, so I could forgo the rice (which would make the meal less satisfying) or...I could just eat white rice (which isn't very good for you). This is why I was so happy that I found Bao. It's a great noodle shop that serves up great plates of noodles and rice with lots of veggies and meat in different Asian sauces. They'll stirfry rice, wide noodles, thin noodles, and...brown rice.  I love the texture of brown rice when it has a great sauce and stirfried, it is even better. Over the weekend I had the brown rice stirfy with the Singapore sauce- curry with a nice spicy kick. My friend, David , got the wide noodles with the Malay Sauce: Cocon

Here are some pictures that I saw near my home. The artists are doing s great job of making this drab wall look colorful. I am sure the kids at PSA Hagwon will really enjoy it. Dan

H-Makgeolli in HBC I haven't been to this place in a long time and I don't know why.  The food is, as it always was, very good and the staff that is working there are very accommodating and kind. They still have a large variety of different makgeollis there. I was there about 1 week ago with friends and we had the Buckwheat Flower (Maemil kkot), Corn, and Blackbean. The corn was pretty good but the Black bean one was too sweet. Everyone's favorite was the Buckwheat Flower- very smooth and with a slight acidity. Another thing I really like about this place is the care they put into making the food. The Acorn jelly salad (totori muk) was very fresh and the jellied acorn with veggies is a fine combination. The crunchiness of the carrots really helped bring the dish together.  After this dish we had the Kimchi Pancake. This is really good. The batter is crisp and the kimchi is sour and a little spicy. Panfrying really brings the flavor out of the kimchi. Like I

I am happy to announce that my company, O'ngo Food Communications , is now in an official partnership with COEX for Korea Food Expo . It is Korea's largest food expo. It will be 8 days of food and festivities with a total of eight shows in one. You'll find: ·   International Food Fair  ·   Hotel & Restaurant Fair  ·   Makgeolri Expo ·  Premium Agrostock Fair  ·   Kitchen Fair  ·   Seoul Cooking Show ·   Rice Fair  ·   Food Packaging Machinery Exhibition Also, COEX will be sponsoring our Highly-Rated Food Tours food tours for 55, registered overseas buyers as part of a networking session. It's a great way to experience Korea through the cuisine. More information below. Dan O’ngo Food Communications culinary tour + networking session welcoming first 55 signups High-end tour group O’ngo Food Communications, Seoul’s #1 must-see attraction as rated by TripAdvisor.com, has partnered with Korea Food Week to offer a Korea Night Dining Tour Program for

Korea Culinary Tourism Association KOTCA 1st Conference I am happy to announce that the first Culinary Tourism Association in Asia, KOCTA: The Korean Culinary Tourism Association will be having their first conference on Tuesday, August 30th at 4pm at the KTO Building near Myeongdong. At the conference we'll announce how Culinary Tourism can be used to promote Korean food overseas and how it can revitalize the tourism industry in Korea. Food is the attraction for many tourists to Korea and they need the proper direction and education in order to discover it. The KOCTA president, Jia Choi PhD, will announce our chapter to Korean press and the government ministry. She'll talk about the scope of culinary tourism and how it can benefit Korea. The keynote speaker will be Jang Tae-pyeong: a former Minister of Nongnimbu: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Erik Wolf, President of the ICTA: The International Culinary Tourism Association will speak via web conference. Eungumju

Dae-Ahn Sunim I feel quite lucky these days because my good friend, Monk Dae-Ahn is an amazing person and amazing chef. She is a creative and logical person that is pushing the envelope of what is considered Vegan Cuisine. She is like Thomas Keller for she takes Korean favorites and adds her own spin on the dishes. She transformed pork cutlets into Kongkas: bean cutlets and the bean meat is absolutely...meaty. I mean I couldn't believe it wasn't meat. Her mushroom sauce on top is exquisite as well. Last week she started making kimbap: Korean vegetable rice rolls and these were the best rice rolls I have ever had. The vegetables were all delicious (and organic) and the rice she uses is a mix of brown rice, barley, and other grains (so it is healthy). It is a delicious snack and one that I will have to get the next time I need a snack.  Here is a mix of different rice rolls she has made. Balwoo Gongyang Kong (Located on the 2nd Floor of the Templestay building a