Hanjeongshik Damah (한정식 담아), Traditional Korean Food in Hongdae by Karika Huszar I think the main difference between American restaurant-dining versus doing the same in Korea is that here, going out to eat feels like I'm taking a short bus-ride over to my G-Ma's in Queens, NY. Which is why Michael Kenny and his wife's restaurant is fittingly named "Hanjeongshik Damah (한정식 담아, or literally, "Put Traditional Full Course Korean Food). "About two years ago, my mother-in-law sent me a container of pork galbi, which, when I started eating, I couldn't stop. I thought it was so good. From there, the idea for our own place emerged and here we are today," Michael says. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the variety of western choices in Hongdae--you've got your Dos Tacos, Nolita Cafe, Donkatsu restaurants galore---and even in the Korean sector I had trouble deciding among the Ssam restaurants that permeate every alley. Located behind the Seo...

Myeolchi Guk Su recently opened up in Sinchon, a noodle bar that really takes "fast meal" to a new level. The 24-hr restaurant literally named "Good Anchovy Noodle Soup House" specializes in---you guessed it---anchovy-broth soup. Good Anchovy Noodle Soup House You walk in through the sliding doors and to your left is a menu ticket-machine, where you enter in your order (you can choose between the main dishes: myeolchi guk su, naeng myun, or bibim naeng myun, and appetizers like hard boiled eggs and a myeolchi jumokbab, which is a rice ball with anchovies). If you think one bowl will be too small to kill your hunger (or you just want to share), there is a double-size option, which is what my friend and I ordered, along with two riceballs. The machine spit out three tickets and before I had a chance to hand it to the guy behind the counter, he had our giant steaming bowl of myeolchi soup ready on the bar. Our riceballs weren't far behind. Noodles i...