Seoul Eat's Meet-up Group at Gimpo The Seoul Eat's Meet-up to the Gimpo Farmer's Day Festival was a big success and we had over 35 people come out on both days. I would like to thank the city of Gimpo, Big Farm, and all of the participants for making it out with us.  The day started at 10am and we took the bus to Gimpo city. The first thing we had was a full lunch with a variety of Gimpo's best produce. We had different jeon (pancakes), kimchi, rice with beans, japchae, soy marinated crab, pig skin and steamed skate. We had this with bowls of delicious Gimpo Makgeolli. We were lucky enough to meet the Mayor of Gimpo and the head of the Agriculture Cooperative. We had a toast with them before heading off to see all the different exhibitions that they had. I'll be showing you what we did in another post with pictures. Dan Lunch with Delicious Gimpo Food Me with the Mayor of Gimpo and Areumgumju of Big Farm Giant Bundaeggi Making Yeast ...

Gimpo Farmer's Day Food Festival  The city of Gimpo is famous for more than just the airport. There is a thriving agricultural industry there that is famous for their rice, livestock, mushrooms, fruit, ginseng and much more. It is located on the coast so they use a lot of marine products in their food and cooking as well. The area is also famous for their milk and they produce some quality cheeses in the area. Every year, in order to celebrate the harvest, the city of Gimpo has a Farmer's Day (김포 농업 인의날). It is a day of dance, food and festivities. They'll bands there and B-boys performing (at 2pm as well. ) At the festival you can learn to make traditional Korean basket weaving, rice cake making, and try a wide range of fresh agricultural products. They'll even have a liquor and makgeolli tasting tent and they'll show you the process of how you can make your own makgeolli. Oh, and they'll have a cheese making tent. Yes, you heard me; Korean's can ma...

Time: Saturday, July 23 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm Start: O'ngo Culinary School Cost: Dutch Pay- about 10,000 won I am planning a Seoul Eats Meetup this Saturday at 5pm to have Temple Cuisine and then go to Haap. We'll first go to Balwoo Gongyang Kong to have a Temple Cuisine Dinner and then we'll go to my favorite patbingsu place for dessert. Who knows after, we might head out for a drink.  It will start from my cooking school. Go here for directions: http://www.ongofood.com/?page_id=24 We'll go dutch. Dinner and dessert should be about 10,000 won. If you can make it e-mail me at seouleats at gmail dot com or RSVP here. Find out more about the restaurants we are going to here: Haap: http://www.seouleats.com/2011/07/patbingsu-from-haap.html Balwoo Gongyang Kong: http://www.seouleats.com/2011/06/lunch-at-balwoo-gongyang-kong-redux.html Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either wi...

I am not the best cook, but I am good at making homestyle American food. Almost 31 people came out for the first meet-up. It was a lot of fun. Thank you Sooji for helping us plan it out. If you are interested in learning about future meet-ups join the Seoul Eats Facebook Page at  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5539724983 . 

Dear Seoul Eats Readers, This year has been quite an adventure. The cooking school is going well and our company has many food related projects these days (whew, I might actually be able to take a salary one day). We have been promoting mainly through Facebook, Google, my blog, magazines, and other ways. I just recently discovered meetup and I think it's a great way to meet with the foodie community here in Seoul. Our space is available to be used and we would like to invite you to take advantage of our space for cooking classes, dinner parties, and events. Did I mention we have ovens? If anyone is interested in doing a small dinner party or baking party, we would be happy to help you out. Our goal for the space is to develop a community in Seoul around food. Join the Meetup Group here: http://www.meetup.com/Seoul-Eats-Dining-Group-and-Cooking-Classes/ Also, our designer Michelle Min and programmer Robert recently put the finishing touches on our website. You can check it...

Suji's Restaurant and Bar and Restaurant in Itaewon are serving up some scrumptious deli sandwiches and they have a great Terrace as well. Here are some food porn shots of the food: http://www.seouleats.com/2010/04/brunch-at-sujis-much-better-than-i.html This Friday Night at 7pm let's have a Seoul Eats Meet-up to have dinner. Suji's has been kind enough to give us 2 pitchers of beer for free, now I just need help drinking them. We are going to pay dutch, so you're just liable to pay for your own food. Also, those that think Suji's is too expensive, I learned that they have actually dropped their prices by 30% in the last year, so it's not as expensive as you may think. If you are going to come, please let me know. Also, those that are interested in learning how to cook Korean food, we have a few spots open for our Dakgalbi cooking class on Saturday at 4pm at the Korea House near Chungmoro Station exit 3. If you would like to come, please e-mail me at seoul...

I love Thai Food and the only good place to get it is at Yum Thai near Sinsa Station. I was just there on Sunday Night, but all that did was make me want more. Here are all my various posts on Yum Thai: http://www.seouleats.com/search?q=yum+thai I get off work late that night (I'm preparing a beer making class) so I was thinking we should meet up at 9pm for beers and some Thai food. You can get to Yum Thai by following these instructions: YUM THAI 02-594-7988 Go out Sinsa Station Exit 1 and walk straight for about 3 minutes. Across from J-Tower. The best Thai restaurant in the city. E-mail me at seouleats@gmail.com to let me know you are coming or not. We'll just split up the bill after people eat or you can go dutch. Cheers, Daniel Gray

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

Zed's Curry I got this message from the lovely Susanna  (known as Zed by her friends) . On May 5th, she'll be cooking curry at Phillies in HBC. Susanna is an amazing cook. Her curries are to die for. I'll be there after our trip to the orphanage (if you are still interested in signing up, here's the link http://www.seouleats.com/2010/04/volunteer-to-cook-for-children-on.html)  You can sign-up on Facebook for Susanna's event here. A Spicy Wednesday Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Time:        6:00pm - 9:30pm Location: Phillies , HBC Its our favorite bar and its my favorite hobby .................... Come and try my special flavors , have a beer and chat! It will be worth it! A selection of lamb, chicken and vegetable curry served with rice and salad. 10,000 won a plate.................available until sold out! I will donate the profits to charity..................... Hope to see u there! Zed

You all know that I'm a fan of this restaurant. I really believe in Chef Susumu Yonaguni's food philosophy. He grows and makes most of his ingredients (he has a farm outside of the city where he grows his herbs and vegetables, he smokes his own salmon and duck pastrami, etc.) Susumu is a advocate for true food and, luckily, he is passing these lessons down to his students. On next Thursday, April 1st at 7:30 PM, Seoul Eats will have the next meet-up at OK2 Kitchen in Itaewon. The chef will prepare a 7 course grand prix menu using the best ingredients available on that day (Susumu prepares food according to the freshest ingredients he can get from the markets and his farm). The price for this meal will be 65,000 (including VAT) per person. If you would like wine paired with your meal (you will get 3 glasses of wine chosen by Sommelier Ahn Sung-hwan) it will be 77,000. Reservations are recommended and you can secure your spot by sending payment in advance to: Bank: 외환은행 KE...

Since, it's a big holiday weekend, I have gotten quite a few e-mails about a possible meet-up. Since, it's the holiday weekend, the only places that will probably be open will be in Itaewon. So, Saturday, February 13th Seoul Eats will be meeting up in Itaewon. Let's meet up at 1pm in front of Hamilton Hotel. We can decide where to eat once we get together. Right now I'm thinking curry at Currytown. They have a great Indian buffet for 15,000. Or I'll see if I can arrange something at one of the restaurants nearby. If you would like to come, send me a message, call or just show up. Happy Eating Dan Also, I will be at the Haiti Fundraiser at Roofers on February 14th at 8 pm. They'll have performances, door prizes, and a silent auction. You can read more about it here: http://www.seouleats.com/2010/02/hope-for-haiti-fundraising-event-this.html Directions to Roofers: Itaewon Station, exit 3. Walk straight one block, turn right at Dunkin’ Donuts. Walk up the h...

Tomatillo on February 3rd, 2010 donated all of their profits to UNICEF to help Haiti. They raised 5.3 million won throughout the day. I think they did an excellent job and I would really like to applaud their initiative and the staff's hard work. UNICEF also provided volunteers who worked all day to help the restaurant. Seoul Eats had a meet-up at the Yeoksam branch and over 30 people came out. Thank you all for coming out supporting such a great cause. Here are some of the people who came out. Tomatillo will have donation jars throughout the month, so you can continue to support Haiti. Dan http://www.tomatillo.co.kr Directions Jongak Branch: Go to Jongak Subway Station. (Line 1) exit 6. 50m on the left Hyundai Coex Branch: Go to the Samsung Subway Station (line 2) It's in the food court area of the Hyundai Dept. Store B2. Gangnam Finance Center Branch: Go to Yeoksam Subway Station (line 2). Enter the GFC near exit #2(underground) and walk thru the revolving doo...

Dear Seoul Eats Readers, I hope you are all eating well. The last Seoul Eats Meet-up with the 2S2 Seoul Community group went very well. We had over 30 people come out. We started with Tteok Mandu-guk (Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup) then went and had corn hotteok, and then we went to a cafe. Everyone had a good time. I wanted to let you know that I would like to do another Seoul Eats meet-up this Saturday on Janurary 23, 2010 at 12:30pm. This week it will be at Lugo Italian Restaurant in Apgujeong. Recently, I met the chef, Mark Battle and I was totally impressed with his philosophy of cooking and the cuisine that he is bringing to Seoul. The interior of Lugo has a kinetic New York feel to it and his menu doesn't have your typical, boring Italian Fare. The thing I found most impressive on his menu was his mozzarella made to order and topped with figs or topped with prosciutto and roasted peppers. Because the mozzarella is made seconds before arriving at your table, it retains...

At the Seoul Eats Meet-up, we first went to Koong for lunch and then we went to the street to get Hotteok. These are stuffed donuts that are fried. The filling is a mix of cinnamon, sugar and peanut. It's so good on a winter day.

We started with a group of 15 for lunch at koong in Insadong for Tteok Mandu guk. Some of us had a little Baeksaeju to start the day. The tteok mandu guk (rice cake dumpling soup) is quite famous at koong. Why is it famous? They have excellent broth, the dumplings are packed with awesomeness, and the ricecakes look like 2 little pearls smashed together. Kimchi and Turnip Kimchi The ricecake from Koong The Mandu from Koong Then we headed off to find Hotteok. Hotteok is a common winter street food. It's basically a fried rice donut with melted cinnamon, peanut caramel in the center. Here the dough is crispier because they use corn meal. Yum. Melissa is double fisting her's because it's just that good. Thanks for coming out! You can join the facebook group to get regular updates on future events here.

photo by Robyn Lee of Serious Eats. I hope everyone is having a great New Year. In Korea it is customarily to eat Rice Cake Dumpling Soup (Tteok Mandu-guk). Eating the dish is supposed to bring good luck and it means that you are officially a year older. So this Saturday, we will be going to Koong, a famous rice cake dumpling restaurant. This week we will also be joined by 2S2 (Second Saturday at 2pm): A community building organization.  This group meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Twosome place in Insadong to meet up. I really feel groups like 2S2 are needed in Seoul and we should support them, because they are helping to build a better community in Seoul. So this weekend we will be meeting at Anguk Station Exit 1 at 12pm and then head over to Koong Mandu Restaurant for Rice Cake Soup. At 2pm, people can join the 2S2 group at the Twosome Place for coffee and dessert. They will also be doing a book exchange, so you can bring a book as well. Please send me ...

Chef Meili's in Itaewon is not well known for his desserts, but he should be. This dessert menu shows his range of skills. His Apple Strudel is the best in Seoul. My personal favorite is the Kaiser Schmarren. The Kaiser Schmarren is a fluffy Austrian pancake that is topped with apple sauce. The apple sauce at Chef Meili's is homemade. Here it is. It's a thousand times better (and healthier) than a silly waffle you often find these days in Seoul. Oh, and have the hot chocolate at Chef Meili's. It's amazing. I am experimenting with video again. I'm going to get better over time. The camera only has manual focus, so it's a bit harder than my old camera. The good thing is that the quality is much better. This video was taken after the Seoul Eat's Meet-up at the Wolfhound. Dan