For those still looking for Thanksgiving dinner. Here is a Press Release fGrand Hilton on Thanksgiving. This article was written by Troy Zitzelberger The year was 1621 and after struggling to adapt to life in the new world, the pilgrims finally had a bountiful harvest worthy of an epic feast. It was so epic that it became the forerunner of an annual glutinous celebration where American’s and Canadian’s alike stuff themselves silly with delicious holiday fare. Now, how “traditional” is this special cuisine associated with the bountiful celebration of 1621? Not very. Every third Thursday of November hundreds of thousands of people (90% of the US population) eat Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie; none of which were eaten at that inaugural celebration in 1621. Instead, the pilgrims ate Duck and venison (compliments of the Wampanoag Indian tribe), seafood, cabbage, onions, corn, and squash. All of which I’m sure where delicious in their time, but...

Poong Worl in Sinsadong With the holidays coming up, I have been catching up with a number of friends and guests. Since I am known to be a foodies, we have been checking out some of my favorite places and new places. One of my new favorite places is Poong Worl in Sinsadong. It's off one of the side streets of Garusugil (Sinsadong 02-547-9923).  It's a nice little izakaya that has a variety of grilled dishes, sashimi, and more. My favorite dish there is their natto omelet. I love natto and when it is in an omelet it is fabulous. They top it here with bonito flakes so it is kinda like an okonamiyaki. We also had some great grilled fish there and some seafood ramen. The staff is friendly and the portions are big. The place is not cheap (but no place on garusgil is). The average check here will be about 25-30,000 a person with alcohol. Poong Worl in Sinsadong I think I posted a picture of hotteok from W.e. last week but I was going through my pictures and I found this ...

Chicken in a cup at Hong Cup Here are some letters I got from readers and my responses. Thanks for asking me questions and I'll keep doing my best to answer everyone! Dan Hey Dan,  As you know, we have American relatives heading to Seoul over US Thanksgiving. While they will be eating mostly Korea while here, we would like to have a family feast of the turkey type. Last year I ordered in a Turkey dinner for 20 and added my own sides. It worked out great. This year I am having a difficult time finding options. Sadly, we need to host the dinner on Tuesday the 22 and we cant make the Ongo dinner on the 26th. Suggestions??!! Thanks for your help! Sarah Hi Sarah, High Street market in Itaewon will be selling frozen turkeys. The  military base has stopped doing so. Costco has frozen turkeys and so does Haddon Mart.  If you have a military contact you  should be able to arrange something with them. They are about 100 USD  with sides and each turkey feed...

Whole Lobster Dinner at Sausalito Sausalito Lobster One of the better meals that I have had in the last years was a Sausalito Lobster. The giant lobster came out like a the centerpiece of the table and it was expertly deconstructed by the host. The host puts on a show as he dissects the entire lobster from claw to flipper (yes, there is meat in the flipper and it tastes subtle and velvety.) The fried rice made with the innards of the mustard at the end is epic. A full review is forth coming with more pictures. A lobster here costs about 50,000-70,000. Reservations recommended. Near Fraser Suites Hotel in Insadong. Jongno-gu Insa-ro 285-ro. Ph# 02-720-5077.

On a walk around Gangnam, we saw these interesting fish in the tanks. The owner told me what it was but I forget. They are majestic looking. Does anyone know what they are? Have they eaten them?

Thanksgiving Party at O'ngo Culinary School in Insadong Here is a reminder for our Thanksgiving Dinner at O'ngo Culinary Shool on the 26th! There are only 10 spots left so be sure to sign up soon! Dinner is sold out. Sorry. Dan Gobble Gobble! I guess people are craving turkey because I have gotten calls and emails for a week now asking if we are going to do Thanksgiving again this year. I am happy to announce that yes! we will. Our entire team will be working hard to create a great Thanksgiving Meal for you with all of the fixings. We'll have several roasted turkeys, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes stuffing, and whatever else we can think of. We'll be holding Thanksgiving on November 26th starting at 1pm and it will last till 3pm. Spots will be limited to 40 people so please reserve fast. Please fill out the reservation form to make your reservation. Preference will be given to those that pay in advance. You can pay by credit card via paypal (see bel...

Here is another attempt at video blogging. I think it's getting a bit better. Dan

I don't know why but I had not been back to one of my old haunts in months. I had stopped in from time to time to get sausages at the deli, but I had not stopped in the restaurant in a while. On Sunday, one of my chef friends and I decided to explore non-Korean restaurants in the Itaewon area. My friend, Ulbee, works at a Korean restaurant so she wasn't in the mood to drink soju and have Korean food. Thank goodness because neither was I. Our first stop that evening was at Chef Meili's Austrian restaurant in Itaewon.  Chef Meili is known for his sausages and his Vienner Schnitzel and his gluhwein. I have indulged in his restaurant many times in the past (especially during the holiday seasons). I don't know why but his food reminds of my holidays back home.  Sure enough as soon as I stepped in, the chef, Christian Meilinger, was there to greet me. He is a big, boisterous guy and he said, "wow, it's a surprise to see you." We talked a bit and I s...

Animal Head Shaped Steamed Bread While I visited the Busan International Film Festival, I also stopped in at the "Largest Department Store in the World." This store was the Shinsaegae and, according to the Guiness Book of World Records" it is a huge new department store that is across the street from the new film festival theatre. What I learned was that...well, people in Busan have very different tastes than in Seoul. Everything looks nice, but the flavors are a bit sweeter and a bit softer. Everything looked fine, but I can't say it was very tasty. The Sinsaegae in Seoul tends to have pretty good food. I would say very good for a department store. The food looked good and it looked western but it wasn't. For example: Ram Shaped Steamed Bread These steamed buns stuffed with meat or red bean looked very cute. I mean they were shaped like rams, rabbits, porcupines and pigs. They were even beautifully colored. The problem was that they weren't soft and p...

Tortoise Shell and Dried Lizard at Gyeongdong Market Gyeongdong Market over by Jegi Station is one of my favorite markets to explore. It is one the last truly traditional markets and it is not overrun with tourists. Actually, I think if tourists came through there in big groups, the shopkeepers would run them out of there with pitchforks.  I always manage to see things at this market that I haven't come across before. Last week in an oriental medicine market I saw a dried lizard on a stick and a tortoise shell. I asked what the lizard was for and the doctor said it was good for tonics for people with eyesight issues. The tortoise shell is good for the kidney and liver (though it might be a bit difficult to chew). In the central market area, it is always fun to walk around to talk with the vendors. One thing I always stop to get are the peeled chestnuts. Chestnuts in Korea are sweet and fresh tasting and they pop when you bite into it. They are good roasted or boiled, but...

  These days I feel like I am always running around for work and meetings and such so I have just a little time to grab some food and go. I try to eat as healthy as possible, but sometimes I like indulge in some junk food. One of my favorite goto snacks is pumpkin rice cake (hobak tteok). Nakwon tteokjip in Insadong packages them individually so it is like an energy bar. It has a slight pumpkin flavor and also black and red beans, chestnuts, peas, and some dates. It's a great snack to have and it is pretty healthy. Nakwon tteokjip is pretty creative with their tteok selection. I recently had a cheese rice cake. It looked like cheese even if it didn't quite taste like it. They also have daechu, black raspberry, mugwort, green tea, and black rice. Good stuff and they are made fresh every day. Another snack I have is gukhwa bang. It's an ice cream sandwich that is in the shape of a flower. Inside there is creamy ice cream and there is a chewy layer of rice cake an...

Tomorrow is Pepero Day. Here is a classic post I wrote about the history of the thin, chocolate covered biscuits.  Dan 11/11 or November 11 th  is Pepero Day in Korea and there is a very good chance that you will receive a couple of boxes of these long thin snacks on this day. The classic pepero sold by Lotte is a thin biscuit stick that is dipped in chocolate. Over time these have evolved into thin pretzel wrappers with chocolate inside (called Nude Pepero), Almond Chocolate, Strawberry, Blueberry, Nude Lemon Cheese, and then huge peperos that are the length of an adult's arm. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the number of these strange thin snacks that swarm the Korea landscape on 11/11. So how did it start? The Lotte Confectionary Company introduced Pepero to Korea back in the 1980s. Many people believe that the company invented this day to increase their sales. If the Lotte Company did do this then it was a huge success. It sells almost two-thirds of it's yearly total of t...