Silky Noodles in a Crisp, Ice Broth

One thing you should not get into an argument about with Koreans is who has the best chilled buckwheat noodle soup (naengmyeon). It can turn into a heated debate since many people have strong opinions about the elasticity of the noodles, the crispness of the chilled turnip and beef broth, and of the toppings. One place that has a consensus of respect is Pyeong Yang Myeon-ok in Dongdaemun. They make their noodles, the broth, and their kimchi in house and have not changed much in the last 50 years. It is so famous that they built a parking-garage elevator to combat traffic congestion. The noodles are lively and they swim in the light, chilled, clear broth. This Seoul landmark also has North Korean style meat platters like obokjaengban and jaeok, and their fist-sized dumplings can’t be missed.

Pyeongyang Myeonok
Seoul Junggu Jangchungdong 1ga 26-14 Zip 100-391
Phone: 02-2267-7784
Directions: Go out Donguk University Station (Subway Line 3) Exit 6 and walk straight. It is a grey factory looking building on the left.



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A food that is rich in protein and oil is perfect after a long work day (jang-oh). The eel is often killed fresh and then grilled over high heat, covered in sauce and then brought to the table. This fresh approach to preparing eel gives it a delightful crunch and a rich aroma. Over at Nakwon-dong, a famous eel place is called Gohyang and they serve the eel three ways: plain with salt or basted with chili paste or soy sauce. This is one of my favorite places to go after work. However, I try not to go too often because it is a bit high in calories. When you order, bring out a variety of different sauces, kimchis, leaves, and slivered fresh ginger. It’ll take a bit of time before your food will come out though for broiling eel takes time so while you wait they have raspberry wine (which is also believed to increase your health and stamina) or soju or beer. Making a fresh lettuce wrap filled with broiled eel, ginger, sauce and vegetables is one of Korea’s most delicious treats.

Gohyang
Jongno-gu, Nakwon-dong 94
02-763-3142
Directions: Go out Jongno 3-ga exit 5 and make a right and go down the alley between SC Bank and the guitar shop with a yellow guitar on the sign. It’s the first eel place to the right.



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Here is the fish market at 2am. I went there with one of my food tour guests. The auctions are pretty busy and the market is still open. If you are craving fish at 2am, this is the the place to go in Seoul.

I will admit that I was a Instagram hater at first. I had bought the hipstamatic app on my iPhone because it was so hot back then. I never understood hipstamatic but I did play around with it once or twice. These days I have been playing around with it and it seems to get quite a lot of interaction from people. It makes me want to look at my surroundings more as well. If you would like to follow me, look for Seouleats on Instagram.

First picture is of "Old Town Coffee" a popular coffee drink in Malaysia. This was given to me by my guests (thanks Apxara). The beans are roasted in butter so it has a full, mellow taste.

The second picture is from De Espresso Room in Haebangchon. I had a mocha cap there and it was very well made (4,000 with extra shot of espresso.)

De Espresso Room
38-11 Yongsan-gu Yongsan-dong
07077744168

The third picture is from Take out Drawing. I had the Tod's Remedy tea which had a mix of ginger, orange peel, licorice and other things (7,500 won). It was a good tea and I love the environment there to do my work.

Take out Drawing
Yongsan-gu Hannam-dong 683-139
027973139

Finally the last pictures are of books in the lobby library at the Shilla Hotel. Interesting selection, right?

Dan

[caption id="attachment_10960" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Daniel Gray[/caption]

Hi Seoul Eats Readers,

If you are available on Tuesday at 10am, I'll be speaking at the British Association of Seoul meeting about introducing Korean food through storytelling. The meeting will be in the Hallasan Room at the Seoul Club. More information below and on their website:

Date: Tuesday, 23 October, 2012 - 10:00 - 12:00
Venue: The Seoul Club, Hallasan Room
Cost: 10,000 KRW Members / 14,000 KRW Non-members
Join us for our regular monthly meeting. This month, for all you foodies out there, we have invited Dan Gray from O'ngo Foods to speak to us about 'Korean culture through the cuisine.' Check out his biography below:

Daniel Gray was adopted when he was five years old and went to live in the state of Delaware in the United States. Growing up, he would often remember a chilled cucumber and seaweed soup that his birth mother would make. In 2007, he was reunited with his birthmother and their reunion was something both felt was inevitable. Both are avid foodies. Daniel introduced his mother to red wine and cheese and she reintroduced to all the foods he had missed- including the chilled, cucumber and seaweed soup. He is currently the marketing manager and head of tours/events at O’ngo Food Communications (www.ongofood.com). He got his start in food on his own food blog, Seoul Eats. He is currently writing a Korean food comic.

Map:

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Address: 서울특별시 중구 장충동2가 208  Seoul, Jung-gu Jangchungdong 2-ga 208

Phone Number: 02-2238-7666

Directions:

The Club is easily accessible by subway, bus, bike, car or on foot. A Membership number is required to enter the building.

By Subway
For those taking subway, one station is about a 10-minute walk from the Club:
Dongguk University Station on the 3 Orange Line (Exit 6)

By Bus
Bus route No 02, 03, 05(yellow), 420(blue) can be taken from Dongguk University or Dongdaemun stadium stations to the National Theater of Korea stop.

It has been a busy week at O'ngo Food Communications. This week we have 63 people from Southeast Asia for an event. We are doing their events, gala dinners and tours. It's been a lot of fun working. This is a very motivated group and they did an Olympic's game event, early morning taekwondo event, food tour, and we just finished a running man scavenger hunt.

Dan

The Shilla hotel has the reputation of being one of the top hotels in Seoul. While I was there yesterday, I saw a number of police escorts. I was told that members of Korea's Royal Family were staying at the Shilla. I didn't know there was any Korean royalty left.



This morning our company was running a taekwondo session at the Shilla Hotel and afterwards I had a chance to enjoy breakfast.

It was quite good. It was a nice buffet spread with bagels, smoked salmon, eggs, fried rice, fruit and more. The quality of the food was good- especially the smoked salmon and the cheese. I have to say it was nice to have a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon in the morning. Their figs, pineapple and grapes were very refreshing in the morning.

The breads were nice as well and they had a good selection of jams for people to try. Their coffee was quite good as well: dark, medium bodied.

There were some things on the buffet I was not willing to try. The scrambled eggs looked like hell and so did the corned beef. I am glad it was a buffet so I could choose what to indulge in.

Dan

There are some foods you dream about. I have dreams about the crunch of garlic stems I had at Mimine. Wow. I don't know how they do it, they just do it well. The tempura is shatteriffic while not being greasy. The Kimmari is also quite awesome. The individual strands of sweet potato noodles are fried crisp and the wrapped seaweed part is flavorful and moist.

The Tteokbokki is awesome as well. The sauce is balanced- not too sweet and not too spicy. It is also not too thick so it is great for dipping the tempura in.

Mimine is great. It's gourmet. It's also expensive compared to the regular street Tteokbokki (hence, I could seeing people being critical of it). An order of Tteokbokki costs 3500 won and the assorted fried snacks cost 9500 won. The space is cramped, service slow, but the food is totally worth it.

Mimine
Mapo-gu Seogyodong 367-1 1st Fl
02-3143-7244

Directions: it is in the Hongdae main parking area near Sang Sang Madang.

Sure it is heard to open up a restaurant these days. And yes, I know it is a business. However when your approach focuses more on margins and not on the food, I tend to get a bit upset.



Mother's Fish 어머니 생선 in Insadong just opened in a prime location in Insadong. You would think that if they just opened, they would try to wow you with the food. The banchan are subpar and obviously the cheapest they could think of. Limp kimchi, soggy potatoes, stale seaweed laver, and japchae. Meh. It seemed like they decided to make banchan that they think are "foreigner friendly."

Then the fish came. It was dry and cool. It was if they had reheated it and forgot to do it fully.

The kicker was the rice. Mushy rice that didn't have the right pop it should.

Overall, the restaurant doesn't seem to respect it's guests. I think they need to reevaluate why they opened up a restaurant in the first place.

Mother's Fish
어머니생선
Jongno-gu Insadong 36-1 2nd Fl
종로구 인사동 36-1번지 2층
027374082

Hello Seoul Eaters. Lately I've had the fortunate opportunity to photograph the moment adopting parents meet and pick up their new children here in Seoul. As you know our site founder Daniel is an adoptee so he's asked me to share my work. It's been very interesting, rewarding, and emotionally charged work. The process takes around two years and I just get the apex of a two year build up of emotion, expectation, excitement, and nervousness. All that spills out in a one hour meeting where the new parents finally meet a child they've only read about and seen pictures of, and the foster parents give up a child they've spent years caring for and getting to know. Needless to say there are tears on all sides, and thankfully I'm not in any of the pictures because I'd be embarrassing. The pictures in the small room with big windows are the initial meeting, and the outdoor shots are post-adoption family shoots. Enjoy. For more photos check out my site.

Sometimes you just get lucky and find a restaurant down an alley that is pretty good. In the alley behind McDonalds in Jongno 3-ga I found Chamsut barbecue place. It looks like your average everyday Korean barbecue place and that is what it is. Here you can get good cuts of pork jowl (hwanjeonsal) and pork belly (samgyeopsal). Their marinated pork rib (wang galbi) is not very good though.

Service is friendly. Beers are cold and kimchi is sharp. What else could you ask for?

Chamsut
Seoul, Jongno-gu Donguidong 168
02-747-0192
서울 종로구 돈의동 168

Korea has some pretty impressive architecture. Here are some shots I took while out on my strolls around Korea.

Dan

[caption id="attachment_10894" align="alignleft" width="600"] Taeguk Village in Busan[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_10893" align="alignleft" width="600"] Gyeongbukgung Palace[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_10892" align="alignleft" width="600"] Bukchon Hanok[/caption]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_10891" align="alignleft" width="600"] Ewha Women's University[/caption]