How much can location affect a restaurant?

As long as I have been in Seoul, Taco Taco Chili Chili had prime location on noksapyeong road. But due to a new construction, they (along with my beloved namsan kimchi chiggae) were forced to move. They moved about a block down the road next to the Waffle Factory.

It was one of the first taco and burrito places in Korea and it was very popular. I think now they have a couple other locations as well. They were known for flavorful, heart food at decent prices. I used to frequent there quite often.

Tonight I needed a quick meal before a meeting so I stopped in at their new location. It was 5:30pm so it wasn't packed yet. I ordered a beef burrito (6,500 won) and a coke (1,500 won). The price was not bad and the food came out fast.

What arrived was a hefty burrito that was packed full of rice. The burrito was overwhelmingly rice- too much I think. There were some beans and I think some meat, but mainly it was rice. I think there was some cheese and salsa as well. Did I emphasize the rice?

Overall, it could have been better. I am not sure if the location will affect the business, but I know the taste will.

I do applaud the marketer who made this add though. The contrast of looking like a skinned potato and peeled is vastly different. I guess this add goes even further since potatoes are so easily malleable...yikes. Anyway, I guess ads like this contribute to making Korea the number 1 nation in plastic surgeries.

Argh! Me so angry! I so angry I wants to stabs everybody!!

Aaaarrrrrggggh.

Ok.

Korea, let's talk. I understand that you would love to usurp Vietnam for the most underground tunnels by building subways. New subway lines are good. They make the roads less congested and it's better for the environment. Let me reiterate new subway lines are good thing.

But, that is not the problem, the problem is that when you build a new line that is connected to an existing station, there is no reason to renumber all the exits.

When you do this you cause thousands of people to get confused and you cause everyone to get frustrated and they want to starts stabbing! Now stabbing is not good and many kids carry box cutters for school so they would kill most of the adults and then Gangnam would be in the hands of stressed out kids that study too much in order to make their tiger mommies happy.

(deep breath)

What I propose is that in the future you should keep the existing numbering of the subway stations. Let's say that Gangnam is numbered 1-8. If there are new stations, they should continue the numbering so it should be 9-12 or 13 or 14 all the way to infinity. This new numbering would make the new stations seem special and people will want to go there because they will be all shiny and new.

There was no reason that Hongik Dae exit 5 had to become exit 9. It could have stayed exit 5. It would have kept people happy and not walk all the way to another part of the city to later find that exit 5 is blocked off and even if you tried to get there you couldn't and there were only stabbed people near the exit!!!

Korea, new subways= good.
New subway exit numbering = knife fight.

Korea, I am happy we had this talk. I hope you can do better next time.

Dan

It is always great to meet other people that share a love of food. I got to meet with Seoul Grub a couple months back and he is definitely a foodie. His blog is a great resource for those looking for good eats. Here are some of his favorite places in Seoul. Also, if you are interested in contributing a post to Seoul Eats, please contact me at seouleats at gmail dot com.

Seoulgrub’s 5 Favorite “Grubberies” in Seoul!

In no particular order:

Vatos Urban Tacos

1 - Vatos Urban Tacos: A spunky spot located in Itaewon where they serve up “Tacos, Margaritas, and everything in between,” this place does taco’s deliciously. They have incorporated fresh, authentic ingredients to muster up a delicious fusion blend of Mexican and Korean flavored dishes. Staying true to what a taco should be, Vatos Urban Tacos has a variety of tasty taco choices, finger-licking hot sauces (plural), and a great selection of drinks to accompany your meal. I recommend getting each of the different types of meats, along with the “Makgeollirita.”

a. 2F 66-8 Itaewon-dong t. 02.797.8226

Galbijjim at Gangnam Myun Oak

2 – Gangnam Myun Oak (강남면옥): Galbijim is my all-time favorite Korean dish. There’s just something about marinated beef ribs that tickle my taste buds in the perfect way. This restaurant has got all of the ingredients right and provides a variety of supplemental dishes to enhance your dining experience. I would recommend going here with some close, hungry friends, order the biggest portion of galbijim, some soju, an order of their mandu (steamed dumplings), some naengmyeon (cold noodles), and finish off the meal by asking them to make some fried rice with the leftover galbijim marinade. After this meal, you’ll know why I love this dish so much.

a. Sinsa-dong 588-9 t. 02.3446.5539

Samgyeopsal at Hwa Tohng Jip

3 – Hwa Tohng Jip (화통집): Korean BBQ is a must when you’re in Seoul. I absolutely love eating ssam-gyup-ssal (sliced pork), especially when accompanied by great company and some soju. Although you can usually find ssam-gyup-ssal in almost any neighborhood, this place has become a favorite destination of mine, because of their double-cooked pork slices, and their kimchi stew. Whatever it is that they’ve marinated their pork in, I absolutely love it! Order their double-cooked pork, and some kimchi stew (don’t forget the company and the soju!); take a perilla/sesame leaf, lettuce, add some sliced green onions, a little bit of rice, a small piece of kimchi, a pork slice, a roasted garlic slice, and some of their ssam-jang (soy bean paste), eat it, then finish it off with some of the kimchi stew (salivating now…).

a. Jamsil-dong 177-4 t. 02.2202.8003 ‎

tteokbokki from Mokshi Donna

 4 – Eat, Rest, Money, Out: Another Korean staple you have to try is tteokbokki, a spicy rice cake dish found almost anywhere in Seoul, even on the streets! A friend asked me to join her for some ddeokbokki, specifically at this hard-to-find place. I was taken aback by the restaurant name because at first it made no sense, but I think I understood what they were trying to get at after my dining experience. This place can get a little crowded during lunch hours so take heed! I would also recommend bringing someone who can read and understand Korean because there is no English menu. The main, most popular dish is ddeokbokki, and you get to decide what other ingredients come with it. We ordered: fish cake, eggs, noodles, fried dumplings, beef, and something else (can’t recall what exactly it was). But it was THE best tteokbokki I’ve had, and will definitely have again.

a. Sogyeok-dong 144-6 (may not be accurate) t. 02-723-8089

Calguksu from Myeongdong Gyoja

 5 – Myeong-Dong Gyoza: A popular destination in Myeong-dong, that serves up delicious “Knife-cut” noodles and excellent steamed gyoza. There’s just something about this place that hits the spot compared to other places that serve up the same dish. I don’t know if it’s the broth, the noodles, the juice-filled gyoza, or their garlic kimchi, but I just love dining here. Can’t say much else about this place, except that it’s world famous!

a. 25-2 Myeongdong 2(i)-ga t. 02-776-5348

Seoulgrub is a fellow foodie in Seoul seeking out the best “grubberies” that Korea has to offer. Originally from Los Angeles, Seoulgrub lives by this philosophy: “Good stuff in, good stuff out.” You can find out more about Seoulgrub here.

I am at Sandang restaurant with some foodie friends and I wanted to introduce them to the chef's cuisine. It is artistic, healthy, and flavorful. Are are some of what we ate.

Thanksgiving was really fun yesterday. We had almost 60 people come out this year and 4 turkeys, 8 pies, a lot of 25 pounds of mashed potatoes, 25 pounds of stuffing, 15 cans of corn, 2 boxes of salad, 4 gallons of gravy, 100 rolls, 10 cranberry sauces and a lot of veggies were enough to feed everyone. I am happy that there are even some leftovers-especially pie. I love pie and I plan to spend the next couple of days eating pie and drinking coffee and making the occasional thanksgiving leftovers sandwich.

Life is Good.

Dan

Here it is: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potato, cranberry sauce on a sesame roll.

Argh! What fun!

Last night I was out with my foodie friends in Garusugil. We went to our Charlie Cha Cha Cha's place: Poong Worl. The food is good there and so is the atmosphere.

First,we had a very fresh shellfish sashimi salad. Giant scallop, oyster and more were precisely cut and put in a chilled, refreshing, vinegary seafood broth. The oysters were outstanding and so were the jellyfish noodles in the broth.

We then had a natto omelet. Also good, but the natto is a little slimey but I love so it is good for me. I really recommend their mentako omelet. It has fish eggs in side.

It is located on the left side of Garusugil (towards Sinsa station). It is near Papergarden, next to the 7-11.

Poong Worl
02-547-9923 call if you get lost.

SEOUL MAGAZINE 100th ISSUE PRIZE DRAW: JUST ONE WEEK LEFT!

 To thank its readers for their loyalty and to celebrate its 100th issue, SEOUL magazine is offering the chance to win dozens of prizes, including an iPad 2 (courtesy KT), a night in a Studio Suite at the fantastic W Seoul-Walkerhill hotel, and much, much more.

 Send a description (up to 50 words) of your favorite place, activity, hottest travel tip or other recommendation about Seoul by email to writer@seoulselection.com, or upload entries to Seoul Selection’s Facebook wall.

Please also include your email address, postal address and phone number. SEOUL magazine will enter your name into its 100th Issue Prize Bonanza draw, making you eligible to win one of the fantastic prizes. SEOUL editorial staff’s favorite recommendations will be published in a special article in its January 2012 issue. Please submit you entry by November 30. Good luck!

December is quickly approaching and we are planning some new Saturday cooking classes for people that might be too busy to make it to our classes on the weekdays. We have a shortened schedule because of Christmas coming up. Here is our schedule and the sign-up sheet. I hope you can make it to join us. Cheers, Dan

Come on small business! Let's try and fix mistakes before you print brochures and signs. If you need help, give me a call and I will happily do it.

Until then, I will keep laughing at your mistakes.

Readers, can you spot all of the English Fails in these pictures?

Dan

In the kitchen yesterday I decided that I wanted to help Hyejin make lunch. She was planning to make a vegetable stirfry and chicken cutlets. She had a medley of veggies: eggplant, bell peppers, carrots, onions, etc already cut up so I decided I to make a ratatouille. I cooked down the veggies in some olive oil and added salt, basil (there was no thyme), and lemon juice. It had a mellow flavor and the medley of veggies blended just right.

For the chicken cutlet, I was looking in the pantry and there was Nurunji (toasted rice) so instead of battering the chicken in panko breading, we finely crushed up the dried rice snack and used it to make a crust on the chicken and fried it up in oil.

The crust worked and gave the chicken a crunchy, hearty texture. I mean it had much more bite than just boring panko. The one problem was that the Nurunji didn't have much flavor. My friend Lena suggested that we add a dash of Old Bay Seasoning. I think this is something I will have to experiment with.

Dan

I didn't start out all that healthy today. I woke up and exercised on my bike in the morning. I did 10 kilometers, but it never feels as exhilarating as running outside. On the way to my office, I was feeling hungry. It was cold out this morning and I really wanted a bowl of kimchi stew, but I knew that would take too much time. Instead, I settled for Tuna Kimbap at Kimbap chungguk. (I guess this should teach me to wake up earlier).

Tuna Kimbap

I got it without mayonnaise because I hate the stuff and it guarantees that the food will be made to order.

What I noticed that most Korean people there were eating alone and that they were all facing away from the door.

I guess because I am American, I like to face the door ( I don't want anyone to attack me from behind). I reasoned that Koreans do this is because they don't want others to see they are eating alone. I guess I just don't care.

Jjajang Rice

Lunch was Jjajang Rice. Hyejin made it and it had black bean sauce with pork, potatoes, carrots and corn starch. I saw that she put a few dried red chilies in there as well. The sauce was thick and flavorful and good over rice. Now that I think about it, I prefer this over rice than thick wheat noodles.

There was also a stir-fried mushroom side dish that had wild sesame seeds. This was delicious and I told myself I should get the recipe.

Later that day, I had some ginseng extract tea to wake me up.

Birthday Cake

In the afternoon, since it was recently both of our chefs' birthday, I stopped over at Paris Croissant to pick up some birthday cake. My original intention was to get a whole cake(35,000), but getting 1 big cake that was only one flavor seemed boring. The slices looked better and I liked the variety they offered. The thing I really like about Korean cakes is that they look beautiful and the favors are enticing. The camembert cake looks like a wheel of camembert cheese and the tarts look like massive towers.

I settled on a slice of milk tea, a hazelnut tart and a carrot cake. Each cost like 6,000 won and they were the right amount for an afternoon snack.

After we did the birthday song, in Korean fashion, the beautiful cake was cut into many pieces- mutilating their beautiful appearance.

Mutilated Cake

The milk tea cake was creamy and had a hint of black and earl grey tea. The hazelnut was more cream than nut or tart. The carrot cake was my favorite for it was a much fluffier and lighter version of the carrot cake I remember.

Overall, a good food day.

Dan

Big Sized Ice Cream Corn or Cup.

Gross. Please no corn in my ice cream.

English Fail: Ice Cream Corn or Cup

WTF. Apparently the new trendy, winter drink in Korea is hot grapefruit juice. I was at the Paris Croissant yesterday in Bundang and they had this on the menu and quite a few others had it. It is fresh squeezed Grapefruit juice with sugar that is steamed till hot and frothy. There is no milk added. The taste is a bit like gluwhwien (hot mulled wine) because it has a bit of a tannic taste from the fruit. Ultimately, it is not too bad and I quite enjoyed it. I recommend you get it without sugar.

Dan