Tang Restaurant by Shinnonhyeon Station Exit 4 It's hard to find good pho in Seoul, but it turns out Seoul has a kind of pho that's kinda hard to find back in the states.  From what I understand, the pho in America is from southern Vietnam.  Makes sense.  But recently I went to a place that had north Vietnam, specifically Hanoi, style pho. Located just out of Shinnonhyeon Station exit 4, Tang specializes in bun cha and pho.  I've had the bun cha there and it's very good, but this time I just had pho.  I believe the main difference between northern and southern style pho is that with the former, you don't really add things on your own.  You just eat it as is.  It's just noodles, broth, meat, onions, and I think green onions.  The meat at Tang was cooked separately, and the broth was cloudier.  The noodles are also thicker.  It's pretty good actually.  The broth has a nice, deep flavor and tastes very clean in spite of its cloud...

Tteokkochi This is just rice cake on a stick, fried and covered in a sweet gochujang sauce.  It seems to be hard to find nowadays (I may be wrong), but if you run into it, it's delicious and cheap.  I got this from a cart on top of the hill that leads to Bogwangdong from Itaewon, by Chunghwa Apartments, for 500 won.  Good stuff. Joel Park originally hails from Seattle. He is a world traveler, but the taste of Korea keeps bringing him back. You can contact Joel here:  Joel Park .

Pohang Susan 02-408-8817 Pohang Susan (soo sahn) is a restaurant (and I use "restaurant" loosely) in the fish market section of Garak Market. Most people go to Noryangjin for fresh fish and maeuntang (spicy fish stew), but I'm not a big fan. I've only eaten at a Noryangjin restaurant once and wasn't too impressed. The banchan was minimal and the maeuntang pretty much just had the fish we bought plus veggies. Maeuntang: Spicy Seafood Soup with octopus At Pohang it's different. Instead of buying the fish from a vendor and bringing it to the restaurant, the restaurant already has the fish in its tanks, presumably handpicked daily. If there's anything they don't have, just ask them and they'll have a guy bring it over from one of the vendors. Raw Red Snapper done Korean Style The quality of the fish is excellent, of course. We had wild red snapper, and it was awesome. The meat was firm and had no fishy smell whatsoever. It's such...

Hadonggwang's Gomtang Hadonggwan in Myeongdong Koreans take their beef broth seriously, and nowhere is this more evident than at Hadonggwan, a restaurant that specializes in it. Take, for instance, the owner. The fourth of nine children, she missed out on her younger siblings' marriages and her only daughter's graduation to keep constant watch over the slowly simmering soup. Or consider the case of former president Park Chung Hee, who, craving the rich broth, had it flown from the restaurant to where he was then traveling: Jejudo. To be honest, I don't know if it's really thaaat great, but it is pretty damn good. "It" is gomtang (Gom 곰 means bear, but it comes from "고은다" which means Korean slowly simmer for a long time.) to be precise, a broth made from simmering beef bones, brisket, and intestines for hours. It's the ultimate comfort food for Koreans. In fact, my last meal request would probably be some form of beef broth wi...

I would like to welcome a new writer to the Seoul Eats Team: Joel Park. He is a food lover that is going to be focusing on finding great Korean Eats in the city. Here is his first story on Pyeongyang Myeonok. Dan There are four restaurants in Seoul that routinely come up when naengmyun aficionados talk about Pyeongyang style mulnaengmyun: Pyeongyang Myeonok, Pildong Myeonok, Eulji Myeonok, and Wooraeok.  Collectively they are known as 평양냉면 4대천왕 , or the Four Heavenly Kings of Pyeongyang Naengmyun.  However, look up reviews online and you'll find they're mostly negative.  Many Koreans are underwhelmed when they try the naengmyun.  But step in one of those restaurants during lunchtime and you'll probably have to wait in line.  So what's the deal? It's all a matter of generational differences.  Younger Seoulites grew up with foods like candy and chocolate. The clean, subtle taste of Pyeongyang naengmyun just can't excite their sugared-out tastebuds.  ...