Just having a Ninkasi Oatis Oatmeal Stout. It's from Eugene Oregon and has a 7.2 alcohol percent by volume. It's a thick beer with a strong soy sauce flavor and a Guiness-like finish. I can't say it is the most easy drinking. It is complex and thick like a stout. I think it is better as a draft but in Korea that is not an option. It's 7,500 won a bottle at Craft Han's in Itaewon.
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In Korea everyone is juicing. Right now I am doing some orange juice but the popular drink is haedok juice or detox juice. It's green and made from onions, turnips, carrots, anything green and much more. I don't have a recipe yet but my wife is going to make me some tomorrow since she says I need to lose 20kg. Yeah right. Anyway, if you need to get an expensive gift for your Korean foodie, then a good juicer is the cabbage patch kid of 2014. Good ones start at 300,000 won. We got ours from hurom.
One of the hot issues in Korea is how restaurants have been serving unclean gopchang or pig intestines. The food inspection bureau found out that many of the restaurants were not properly cleaning the intestines so there was an excess amount of fecal matter in the food. The food inspection bureau inspected 25 restaurants but 18 of them failed the cleanliness test. Another issue is that a group selling site "wemakeprice" sold coupons for many gopchang restaurants and many a very customers are demanding a refund. Pig intestines although cheap require lots of soaking and scrubbing to properly clean. Restaurants were skipping repeated cleanings so they could cut down on labor costs. If you pass by a pork intestine barbecue place and you see a notice, it's to prove that they were tested and the place is clean.
I know I have mentioned this place before but people keeping asking me for the location so here it is again. Hong Cup does a sweet and spicy fried chicken in a cup with some chewy rice cakes and tater tots. It's great with a beer or for just walking around. If can add cheese if you are feeling cheesy. Hong Cup Geoloc: 37.55295,126.92159 South Korea Seoul Mapogu Seogyodong Yanghwaro16gil
One of Korea's must eat dishes is Chogaejjim and a good place to get it is at Golmokgil over by Nonhyun Station. You get a huge bucket of various steamed clams, giant mussels, scallops and more. The broth is later used to make a satisfying kimchi noodle soup. It's not cheap (starts at 49,000) but it is a unique and delicious way to eat clams. It is best in winter so go now. Golmokgil Geoloc: 37.51971,127.03363 Address: South Korea Seoul Gangnamgu Nonhyeondong Eonjuro147gil 9-3
My buddy Chad wanted to have a guys night out so we went over to (another one of) Korea's Chinatown around Daerim station exit 12. There are quite a few of these Chinese areas such as in Ansan, Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Busan, etc. Daerim station's Chinatown has the little stalls and such but it also has many top notch Chinese restaurants for people that want real Chinese food. What I mean about that is: Koreans generally don't like a lot of typical herbs associated with the foods such as cilantro, Szechwan peppers, or star anise. So in order to get this, you really need to go where the Chinese eat. To start we had some spicy lamb stew called maratang at Bongja Maratang. According to Chad, it is the most famous place in the area. Maratang is a spicy stew with glass noodles, veggies and lots of lamb. I have to say that here it tasted really Chinese because I could taste the Szechwan peppercorns, the star anise and cilantro. It was like an oriental curry. We also had some meat ...
Bongchu Jjimdak is still one of my favorite Korean meals regardless of how many times I have eaten it. It's the sauce that makes it. It's savory and sweet with nice heat from the red chilies. The sauce permeates into the chicken, the potatoes, and thick dang myeon (sweet potato noodles). The carrots and cucumbers add freshness and the dish is warm and filling- especially on cold winter days. I love that the chicken is not dry. The flavors really get all into it and the chicken on the bone adds additional flavor to the sauce. The best way to eat this is with rice. It will sop up the sauce. I recommend getting it with nurungji or scorched rice. The crispy rice will sop up the delicious sauce and tastes like a pregnant fried rice. Bongchu is a chain and you can find them everywhere but I like the one in Insadong and in Hyewha. Dan Bongchu Jjimdak Jongnogu Insadong Insadonggil 20 Seoul, South Korea Geoloc: 37.57254,126.98669
It is all the rage these days and I am trying to figure out why. I mean they do have a savory, sweet flavor with a more of a buttery taste than honey. I guess that could be it. I mean it does taste a bit like Outback's Honey butter. Maybe it's nostalgia or something but these little guys are all sold out everywhere. Convenience stores are putting out signs that say, "we don't have them" to stop having to answer the question if they do. I guess Korea just likes food fads and the mad dash to get them. I mean look at Churros and softserve ice cream. Dan
I was recently invited to Bulldogs which is a new British pub that is serving creative bangers and pub fare in Itaewon. This is another restaurant addition to the street across from the Hamilton Hotel. This street is really hopping these days as restauranteurs are trying to get away from the high rents of the Main Street. Entering the place you are greeted by a giant chrome bulldog in a cage and portraits of famous Britains like the Queen and Sean Connery. The place has a urban, London feel to it and it is well lit and spacious. My friend Jason and I were greeted by the owner, Tom, who said he wanted to bring a bit of London to Seoul. We started with some beers. They have Platinum on tap here and according to my beer snob friend, ’It's not all that great. They tend to have a metallic tinge.(7,000 won)’ I was glad I went with the ginormous Pimms cocktail (12,500 won) which came in a jar too heavy to lift. The gin infused concoction had orange slices, mint, and cucumber which m...
This is a compilation of places I have traveled over the year at my work. I worked as a food tour guide for years for a local company but I recently left to pursue other projects. Here are some of the great places I was lucky enough to travel to with foodies from all around the world. Korea is a wonderful place to visit and I highly recommend that you do so soon.
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