Last weekend was another incredible weekend of food. (That's why I went for a long run today, 3 miles!) I am learning that it is a lot easier to eat the calories instead of keeping them off. On Saturday afternoon (after I went to Fermentation Celebration) I went to a friend's cousin's wedding. After seeing the ceremony I was obligated to eat, so here are some shots of the food. Jelly Fish Salad Taro, Bracken and other side dishes My plate that has togani (ox tendons) broccoli, kimbap, baby octopus and more At every wedding you go, you have to have the noodle soup.

Here are two of our guests Dustin and Cindy on a food tour with Marcus. They really enjoyed themselves (according to their blog post). They were in Korea to adopt their baby boy. I hope they are all doing well. Here is the post: Since we’ve been through this before, Dustin and I knew that after meeting our child for the first time it would be nearly impossible to concentrate on anything.  Yesterday I just kept replaying our time with Malia in my head.  I looked at our photos about 1000 times.  Luckily, we had made plans ahead of time for last night.  So, after some shopping in the afternoon we went to find our guide for the food tour we had prearranged.  We went through a company called O’ngo Food Communications ( www.ongofood.com ).  Our guide’s name was Marcus.  We began the tour at 5 and got back to our hotel around 10.  It was absolutely phenomenal.  We learned more about Korean food culture and just Korean culture in general last ni...

With all the talk over the years about the issue of Korean Food Globalization, the new issue seems to be over side dishes or known as banchan. Sides have been drawn and there are those that believe that the side dishes should remain complementary and others that believe they should be charged for - therefore adding value to the meal. Before diving into the issue, I think we should (and I think we always should try to look at it from an outsider's perspective). As a person that works in the food and tourism industry , our company meets hundreds of tourists each month as we introduce them to Korean food. We get many international clients, for example on the last tour we had an American, a German, two New Zealanders, and three Singaporeans. Each of them had different ideas of "service" and "cuisine" but the most interesting perspective was that of "value." Of course, I am not trying to stereotype any of these clients- this is just an observation I h...

Chai Makgeolli from Fermentation Celebration The 2nd Fermentation Celebration was a big success with a big turnout and lots of excellent food. Here are some pictures from the event. I got to try some kombucha, chocolate makgeolli, homemade beer, salsa verde, homemade goat cheese and homemade sausages. Good stuff.

Hungry Dog in Haebanchon Hungry Dog is a dive bar turned breakfast and sandwich joint. It's the place to go after a long night of drinking. For example the Saturday morning I was there, there was a guy passed out at the bar drinking a beer as we enjoyed our breakfast.  The food is pedestrian- pretty hearty stuff and the whole place has a diner feel to it. The food is hearty, greasy and home cooked by the staff. The coffee is dark (I think it's Tim Horton's) and you can get the Hungry Dog Breakfast (eggs, beans, tomato, bacon, sausage, potatoes and toast) for 8,900 won. The coffee was like 1000 won extra. Overall, not bad. I can't say the service is fast. My friend ordered the pancakes and he got them 5 minutes after we had all finished our breakfast. The running joke that morning was...dude, you want a toast or a bean. When he got the pancakes, they were just ordinary pancakes- nothing special and not really worth the wait. The kitchen needs to be more organized. ...

I know that there has been a lot of controversy about the removal of the street carts in Insadong. Last Wednesday was the official date that the carts were supposed to be off the street so the government sent in their police force to enforce their mandates. Here you can see the pictures of the police lined up getting ready to meet the lines of carts that are trying to enter the street. Here you can see the street carts trying to enter the street, but they were met with the police force and escorted off. There was a lot of yelling and cold looks from the police, but luckily no violence. Insadong Street was free of the carts for about 1 day. As of this weekend many of the carts are back- although fewer than there was previously. A few have moved up the street from their previous location to closer to the center of the street. Photographs by Marcus Slaga

Sushi Dinner Party in Seoul at O'ngo Culinary School The first dinner party was a success and we would like to thank everyone for coming out. Here are some shots from the sushi party with chef Marcus. Hmmm...I wonder who would be interested in learning how to make sushi. Cheers, Dan Sushi Dinner Party in Seoul at O'ngo Culinary School Sushi Dinner Party in Seoul at O'ngo Culinary School Sushi Dinner Party in Seoul at O'ngo Culinary School Sushi Dinner Party in Seoul at O'ngo Culinary School

Standing Coffee Is it too much to ask for coffee place open at 8am in Korea? Luckily there is one. I was at Standing coffee after a 2 mile run. N ow if the barista could make a decent cappuccino! He poured the shots over the foam so it became a short latte! Meh. Dan

I am having fun playing with my camera so here are some shots that I took of my 50,000 won bill with my extension tubes with my Panasonic G2 Camera with 20mm lense.

My diet has hit a wall this week. I mean the week started out good. I went running Monday- Wednesday, but then work and meetings and late night drinking took over. I'll get back on the wagon soon. The other thing that is ruining my diet are all the delivery chicken places around here (Haebangchon). The newest one is BBQ Chicken. I think they make the best batter for the chicken and they fry everything in olive oil, so...it's healthy fried chicken, right? The oil does make it seem less greasy and there is a nice crunch. The spicy one was...spicy. Loved it and the plain was just like the crispy chicken from KFC. Good stuff. 02-1588-9282

Here is the sign for Fermentation Trail-abration. The crew has all done a great job preparing and they have lots of great prizes for everyone. You can even win a gift certificate for our cooking classes or tours at O'ngo Food Communications. Oh, and our awesome soy sauce pickles  http://www.seouleats.com/2011/06/soy-sauce-pickles.html Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.

KFC Double Cheese Tower Burger Talk about heart attack on a bun. This is KFC Korea's new invention. It is a crisp chicken breast topped with sauce, fried hash brown disk, a slice of cheese, squeezed cheese,  lettuce, a ton of mayonnaise on a sesame flecked bun. Yum?

Come take a cooking class or take a Culinary Tour in Seoul! http://www.ongofood.com Pictures are taken either with my Panasonic DMC-G2 Camera with 20mm Lens or with my iPhone 4G   Join the Seoul Eats Facebook Group Page to keep to date with the latest events.