Written and Photographed by Troy Zitzelberger M Burger Itaewon For weeks now I have been searching for a real burger. I have been looking for something juicy and delicious instead of these bland overly sauced burgers that lack bite.  When a new burger joint opens I am always a bit critical, but on a stroll on a glorious Seoul afternoon I stumbled upon M-Burger. It is located where the old Fat Panda Chinese takeout place used to be.  Now you may be wondering; what does the M stand for? Massive, monstrous, mars, miscellaneous, mamacita, or perhaps mashisoyo: honestly, I have no idea. M Burger Itaewon But however you decide to spin it, the burger that I ate was all of those things and more gently placed in a bun: with two wooden spikes holding it together. After sitting down on the veranda, we were greeted by the owner Michael, a kind and ambitious LA native. His menu is creative and exciting. I was particularly drawn to the Juicy Luicy: a burger stuffed with cheese i...

Written and Photographed by Troy Zitzelsberger Mr. Kebab This first time I had doner kebab was, oddly enough, in Berlin.  The large Turkish immigration brought with it what can be considered a new take on fast food.  These swift roll up’s, consisting of either chicken or lamb and various vegetables are a quick, affordable meal.  Meat and vegetables, sounds simple enough, but what makes this sustenance unique is the sauce.  Either a white yoghurt based sauce or a spicy red sauce (for those that can handle the heat.)  To my surprise, there are numerous kebab joints lining the streets of Itaewon.   I have taken it upon myself to try each and every one to find out which is truly, the Kebab Raja. First stop, Mr. Kebab.  Lured in one late night after pool league with my Turkish friend to ensure there would be no language barrier when I attempted to order extra meat, I approached the counter reminiscent of times past.  After my friend order...

Brunch at Chef Meili's Chef Meili's in Itaewon is a well known Austrian Delicatessen. I used to stop by quite often for the artisan sausages. The other day, I was with a friend and I wanted to find a place for brunch that had good coffee. We got to Chef Meili's around 11am and they were just starting up for the day. We were the first customers there and we sat on their patio. The restaurant was nice and clean and the weather was perfect for sitting on the porch. The brunch menu is not the most extensive- they have European fare here. You can get eggs or an omelet with sausage, bacon, or ham. The typical breakfast comes with bread and a coffee or tea. I got the eggs with sausage (14,500 won). The sausages were great and the eggs were perfectly cooked. The cappuccino I got was nice as well. Overall, it was a good meal. Now service could be much better. Although polite, the server didn't seem to understand English well and when I repeated it in Korean, he acknowl...

Seafood Tteokbokki at Beodulgol Rating 3 Stars: Recommended (Great atmosphere, inventive touches on familiar food, understanding service). Last week was another sensational food week. I was able to meet the fabulous food writer Marina O'Loughlin and her husband David and we spent the next few days eating our way through Seoul. Marina, who is a twitterholic (follow her at  http://twitter.com/#!/MarinaMetro ), was a wonderful person to dine with and by the time we got to Beodulgol, I had an understanding of what she and her husband liked to eat. They liked the local, the raw, the real cuisine that you can only get if you know the land. Of course, I didn't just go to hole in the wall places, but I think this place was a big hit with them. Beodulgol, is a local hangout that is well known for their seafood. The shellfish outside the restaurant are well taken care of us and it shows in the food they cook. Their most famous dish is Seafood Rice Cake (Haemul tteokbokki). The noo...

Chocolate Fondant Cake Last Saturday I headed over to one of my favorite cafes to enjoy a cup of coffee and have a piece of chocolate fondant cake. Cup and Bowl can make a decent cup of coffee and their pastries have a refined, homey style with a flash of creativity. It was a good cake and a great way to start out my day. Cup and Bowl Across and up the hill from Itaewon's McDonalds 070-4190-3642 Chocolate Fondant Cake from Cup and Bowl

It’s not delivery… Written and Photographed by Jonathan Bates Pizza from the Crow's Next in Itaewon It was just another blustery and frightfully cold weeknight when I got a call from a friend to come meet him. I knew what this meant (beer and pizza) and without him even touching my rubber arm, I contently acquiesced. I had heard about some good pizza in Itaewon from a few friends about a place called The Crow’s Nest – so we said “eh, why not?” and decided to meet there. Walking up the frigid stairs to the pub, the first thing I noticed was the window in the stairwell giving the perfect glimpse into the kitchen where you could see the cooks at work. It was like the pubs rendition of the infamous Krispy Creme “tour” you could go on in the States (only you don’t get a free pizza at the end of it). Walking in, it had a very fresh feel to it. The tabletops were all painted in neon colors and the walls splashed in white and covered with various memorabilia. In my opinion, it...

Hold the Gnocchi Written and Photographed by Jonathan Bates My friend invited my partner and I to her birthday this past weekend, which was to be held at an Italian restaurant named Sortino’s. Needless to say that I was less than excited when she told me it was in Itaewon as it not being my favorite area and offering little more than overpriced and mediocre-grade “western” restaurants among other things. Nevertheless, we put on our winter gear and hit the streets of Itaewon, eager for some good Italian food. I must confess that I was doubtful of having truly great, let alone good, Italian food in Korea as I was raised in a house with my grandparents who were “Off-the-boat” Italians. I knew that my friend had good taste and a knack for the finer things in life so I was hopeful that she wouldn’t steer a group of festive partygoers into utter disaster. She didn’t. Getting to the restaurant (which we found with ease), we told the hostess we were with “Harry Potter” (yes, my friend ...

PIZZARIUM, NOKSAPYEONG, SEOUL by Kerrie Doerr You can't visit Pizzarium without witnessing one couple taking pictures of their meal. At first glance, one might expect the isolated food photography incident to be the foodie of the pair's blogging adventure. However, a cursory internet search of the place reveals a dearth of articles about the Haebangchon hang-out, leading the investigator to a different line of reasoning. The few articles that do mention the joint are focused on two sole factors: pizza shape and lack of crust. Perhaps these two variables come across as novelty, as pizza in Korea usually comes as a circle laden with twists such as sweet potato wedges, pork donkatsu crust, and fried shrimp embedded in a cheese-filled crust. Pizzarium does have novelty in this aspect, as it shares none of these qualities. More accurately though, if normalcy is a quality that can be ascribed to a food adhering to tradition, Pizzarium is your most regular pizza around. Pizza al ...

Open Kitchen, High Ceilings Edward Kwon is like Ironman. He's brash, he's rich, he's very outspoken and he is known to over exaggerate. Rumors circulate around this man like a tabloid newspaper under the influence of absinthe.  Now at the end of the day, it's the food that counts. Now, I have to say that the food at Edward Kwon's The Spice lives up to the hype for the price point. You get more than you pay for and the food, I think (but don't tell Mr. Kwon), is a bit under priced for the quality you receive. For example, the Prestige dinner is priced at 39,500 won. With tax and service the meal comes to about 45,000 won for a 4 course meal. In this post, I'm going to focus on the Prestige Dinner - for I feel it's his best course. The concept of "The Spice" seems to be a culinary education. Each plate comes with a confetti of tastes, textures, and worldly ingredients. For example, the first course is: "Foie Gras, Poussin, Pork Bel...

In the last week, I've been revisiting the eateries in my area. Something I haven't done in a while. Most of the time, I've been running around to all the different parts of Seoul looking for these hidden little eateries- in search for the Holy Grail in a way. Most of these places have been quite disappointing. On Friday, I went to Indigo in Haebangchon (down from Noksopyeong Exit 2). I had not been to Indigo for almost 6 months, but my friends wanted to meet there so I went. I ordered the chicken sandwich and I think it had about 3 chicken breasts in there. The meat was a tad dry (it would have been awesome with a bit of lemon aioli or...cranberry sauce). I have to admit it wasn't a bad sandwich at all. My friend Jema got the omelet- also very big and it was shaped a bit like football. They baked the omelet in the oven (or is it the microwave) so it was puffed up like a blister. It was alright, but I prefer my omelets done correctly in a pan. The best sandwich of...

The last Seoul Eats Meet-up was a great success and we had 7 people come out to OK2 Kitchen for a special menu made by Chef Susumu and his staff. The special grand prix menu with 3 bottles of wine cost only 77,000 per person. Everyone said it was too cheap for the excellent cuisine we enjoyed that evening. Thank you so much OK2 Kitchen for the great meal. For those interested in coming to the next Seoul Eats Meet-up join the facebook page by clicking this link. Menu Amuse Bouche: Fried anago & Foie Gras Ball Appetizer: Seafood Plate: Yellow Tail, Snapper Ceviche, Razor Clam, Herring, Oyster Polenta Cake with arugula Salad with Truffle Oil Close-up of the Polenta Cake Parmesan Gelato with Home made Hame with grissini Pasta Course: Potato Gnocchi with Amatriciana Sommelier

This weekend was quite busy. On Friday Night, O'ngo Food Communications launched the Night Dining Tours and we had 5 people come. It was a night filled with food, fun, drinks, and fun. On Saturday Chef Shawn, Michelle, and I did the cooking classes for Andong Jjimdak. We filled both classes and we cooked a lot of food. The first one didn't go so smoothly- mainly because we should have prepared a bit more. It didn't really matter though because Shawn was very funny and charming. That evening I went to Tokyo Modern Kitchen in Itaewon with Yunkyeong and Bora. It's down the street from Rocky Mountain Tavern. The place is very cool looking, but service is awful, the music was uber loud (and didn't fit the atmosphere), and the drinks were small (and expensive). I mean we ordered a apple soju cocktail and it came out in a tiny pitcher (300ml) and it cost 15,000 won. Yeah, not worth the money. The Okonamiyaki was delicious and it was accented with wasabi. Sunday was ...

Egg's Benedict from Suji's in Itaewon. My first experience at Suji's was more than 2 years ago and I didn't have a great experience there. I was jonesing for a Egg's Benedict and the one I got was just awful. The hollandaise sauce had broken, the eggs were cold. It was meh. Maybe it was a bad day. Maybe it was too built up in my mind. I didn't write about it because I figured they just had a bad day. About 2 weeks ago I returned to Suji's because I had a date and well, brunches are good for dates. She ordered the Egg's Benedict and I ordered the Corn Beef Reuben Sandwich. Reuben Sandwich from Suji's in Itaewon Corn Beef Close-up from Suji's in Itaewon My sandwich was amazing- probably the best I've had in the city. It was easily worth the 13,000 I paid for it. The bread was high quality and the coleslaw had the crunch the sandwich needed without being too sweet. The meat was ample and succulent. I haven't had a sandwich with this much ...

I haven't been to Hong Suk Chun's Restaurants in a while. Back when I first came to Korea bout 5 years ago, I was enamored with Our Place (across from Helios in Itaewon.) It was my go-to date place where I would enjoy wine with hummus and thick slices of Chocolate Grenache Cake. Since then Mr. Oh has expanded to several different restaurants including My Thai, My China, and My Chelsea. Like all of his restaurants, there is a very particular since of style and "cool." He has an eye for interiors and his food is generally creative and fun. My Chelsea seems to be his foray into the brunch craze in Korea (which I thought had died a year ago, but it seems to be back because of Suji's.) My Chelsea. Behind the Hamiliton Hotel in Itaewon. His interiors have a "coolness" and uniqueness unlike many of the" faux authentic" restaurants in Korea. African Masks