#koreaeats

[blushandtulle]

Seoul, Korea

Was not a Korea fan till I discovered K-dramas! We decided to make a short trip up, 3 days in Jeju and 7 days Seoul

Hotel Shin Shin, Myeongdong

This is where we stayed, the heart of Seoul City

Great location, within walking distance to Myeongdong shopping district and the train station

Also, if you're thinking of travelling out to Jeju Island, there's a bus stop conveniently down the road from the hotel that goes straight to the domestic/international airports. Really great

Downside: You have to drag the luggage slightly up a hill, but if you're fit I see no worries there!

Surrounding the hotel is a convenient store and a few restaurants around. If you like the amenities at hotels, you'll love the one at shin shin :)

This was one the bulgolgi restaurants down the road from our hotel, yummy!

Location: 04526 17-5, 남대문로5길 중구 서울특별시 South Korea

My regular in the mornings!

Tosokchon Samgyetang, Gyeongbokgung palace

We visited the famous Gyeongbokgung palace, first ever to be built during the Joseon Period. Be sure to stay for the changing of the Royal guards ceremony (11:00,14:00, 16:00). There's also an english tour at around 11am.

On other Palace worth visiting is the Deoksugang Palace.

Getting there: Line 1 City Hall station Exit 2

While you're in that area, remember to visit the famous Samtzeyang ginseng chicken. We went there at 10.45-11am to beat the crowds/tour buses as per a friend's friendly insight. Order the soup that comes with the additional hundred-year old ginseng roots served in a tub. Add it into the soup to get that extra punch.

Tosokchon Samgyetang

Hours: 10:00am to 22:00pm Tel: [phone], Jahamun-ro 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul 서울 종로구 자하문로5길 5 (체부동)

Subway: Gyeongbokgung Station,Exit 2. Go straight about 170m and turn left onto Jahamun-ro 5-gil Road. Tosokchon (토속촌) is located 10m ahead on the left.

Gwanghwamun Square

We took a stroll down the road from the palace. This stretches 550m in length and 34m in width. Children running around the fountain of this expansive plaza. This is where the two historical figures in Korea stand- King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sun-shin.

Sejong Center for the performing arts

Ganjang Gejang street, Sinsa-dong

There's a whole alley street dedicated to Ganjang Gejang. Just walk into any shop and indulge

These are live crabs put to sleep in the fridge and marinated for 6 hours with soy sauce, chili pepper, ginger, dried kelp, onion and garlic. After being salted and fermented, they are served like crab sashimi. Plus they mostly come with huge amount of crab roe which taste creamy and sweet.

Remember to mix some rice into the crab shell at the end to lick up its goodness!

Getting there: Sinsa station line 3, Exit 4. Turn right after 20m to the start of the alley

Mapo Naru House

During one of our shopping trips in HongDae, we came across this traditional Korean restaurant on the 2nd floor of one of the shops. One of the best meals we had. We had the cold noodles, Naengmyeon, with a serving of Ganjang Gejang at the side :)

Getting there: 

Mapo Naru House 마포나룻집 (South Korea, Seoul)

364-19 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-guSeoul, South Korea 서울 마포구 서교동 364-19번지 

Tel: [phone]

Opening Hours: Mon 11.30am - 10pm                         

Tue to Fri 1130am - 7am                         

Sat 1130am to 3am

Great Eating spot around Sinsa-dong 

This was another find while strolling around Sinsa-dong. I can't exactly remember where and what we had but we queued up quite a bit to dine here. Food was really good. All I can remember is it was when we were looking for Cafe Deux Amis!

Let me know if you do manage to find it and if you enjoyed yourself!

Gwangjang Traditional Market (광장시장)

Have a seat at this auntie's stall. She serves a mean bibimbap! Apparently she's been doing this for 20years

Just sit and she'll start dishing up once she realises you're a tourist.

Bibimbap- very different to the ones I had in Singapore, this is full of vegetables and taste really fresh!

Jeon - Korean pancake with kimchi, meat, seafood/vegetables

Getting there: Jongno 5-ga Station, Exit 8 or Eujiro 5-ga Station, Exit 4. Hours: 7:00am to 10:00pm. 6-1 Yeji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Yoogane (요가네) Dakgalbi, HongDae Branch

Yoogane is a huge franchise chain in Korea. Known for it's dakgalbi, stir-fried marinated chicken. They place a huge pan in the middle of the table and place the marinated meat with vegetables for you to cook. If in doubt of what to eat in Korea, have this!

Getting there: 163-11 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, SeoulHongik MRT Exit 9

Maple Tree House, Itaewon

We chanced upon this Galbi restaurant located behind Hamilton Hotel while shopping around Itaewon. We loved it! Slighty more pricey, but famous for its Korean Jeju Black Pork Belly and Korean Beef Sirloin. They serve a refreshing ice-cold plum tea as well which I loved! Ended buying some back from the supermarkets!

Getting there: Itaewon station. 116-1 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Hamilton Hotel 2F, 116-1 Itaewon dong Yong san gu, Seoul Tel: [phone] Daily: 11.30am – 10pm Nearest Station: Itaweon

Noryangjin Fish Market 

Even if you're not a fan of seafood, it's sight to visit this fish market. Long rows of aunties trying to sell their seafood. If you're thinking of buying some, just head up to the 2nd floor after where they'll cook them for you. Be careful of steep prices! Also, we tried their Sashimi, and it's not fantastic, we deduced Korea was much better for their cooked foods.

Nevertheless, we had a feast.

Getting there: Line 1,9 Noryangjin Station

N Grill, N Seoul Tower

We decided to dine at the 10th tallest tower of the world! It stands 236.7m tall and the view was amazing! We ate at the revolving restaurant right at the top which gives us a free entry in. 

The food was reasonable and we enjoyed our experience. Tip: Slight steep climb up the tower, might not wanna wear those high heels. Saw some victims of heels taking a long time to climb up!

Getting there: Bus 2,3, 5 from Myeongdong

1-3 Yongsandong 2(i)ga-dong Yongsan-gu, Seoul Tel: [phone] Mon to Fri: 11am – 2pm, 5pm – 11pm Sat & Sun: 11am – 11pm Nearest Station: Myeong-dong

Gomtang, Hadongkwan

Also known as Beef Soup, Hadongkwan restaurant is one of the oldest and famous restaurant, serving Gomtang for over 70 years!

For some, the soup may be slightly bland, but this is how its meant to be taken. Clean and neat.

Getting there (Myeongdong/Gangnam branch)

10-4 Myeong-dong 1-ga, Jung-gu, 100-021, Seoul, Korea [phone] Opening Hours 7:00am - 4:30pm Closed 1st and 3rd Sundays

891-44, Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu (강남구 대치동 891-44) [phone] Open daily 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m (closed the first and third Sunday of each month)

[bitesofseoul-blog]

Taj Palace (Itaewon)

It hasn't been until recently that I've really started to get into Indian food, I find myself craving curry and naan on a daily basis. When my friend mentioned that there was an Indian place in Itaewon that had a buffet, I knew that we HAD to go.

Taj Palace is located in the heart of Itaewon, in the more grimy area close to hooker hill. Upon first entering the restaurant, I was a a bit disappointed with the decor.  The majority of Indian restaurants I have visited have been beautifully decorated and have a relaxed vibe to them. Taj Palace felt very sterile, like an American chain restaurant with no personality. There was no music playing in the background, only silence.

Unfortunately, the buffet is only open on Saturdays and Sundays and we visited Taj Palace on a Friday. Although, as you can tell from the picture, the buffet looks like it could have some serious potential! 

The menu at Taj Palace was huge, but I little bit difficult to navigate. My friend and I decided to order one of the special course meals, which was priced at 26,000 won per person. We were a bit confused by the pricing as it was 26,000 won per person, but one person could not buy the course meal, you needed atleast 2 people in order to buy the course meal. We were left wondering how the course meal would work if 4 people wanted to order it, would we get the same amount of food for a much more expensive price? It all seemed a bit shady and unorganized.

We ordered a course meal that got us three different kinds of curries, a drink, rice, naan  and tandoori chicken. Unfortunately, Taj Palace is a Halal restaurant so there was NO alcohol at all! Our options were basically sprite or coke. We were a bit let down by this, as beer goes really well with curry!

The tandoori chicken

The three curries we purchased (Saag chicken, Makal Palak Khumb and a vegetarian deep fried curry) were all quite tasty. I was particularly impressed with the Saag chicken curry. The curries were the perfect size to share with a friend. The tandoori chicken was also fairly good, a bit spicy for my taste, but the chicken was moist and flavourful. The meal came with A LOT of naan (yay!) and a decent size bowl of rice. Overall, I was impressed with all the food we had. It isn't the best Indian food I've had in Seoul, but it certainly isn't bad!

Look at all that naan! 

Service was a bit slow, while the servers were friendly their English wasn't the best. We had to remind them to get use our drinks, and there was some other small misunderstandings between us and the servers. Unfortunately the lack of atmosphere really took away from the food for me. I remember less about the food, and more about the awkwardness of the restaurant. 

Final Say: Taj Palace has a strange atmosphere, with minimal decorations and no alcohol served at the restaurant. The food is good, but a bit overpriced. While I enjoyed the food, I wouldn't return to Taj Palace as there are much better curry restaurants in Seoul. 

Directions: Go out Itaewon station exit 3 and walk straight for about 2 minutes. When you get to the intersection turn right and go up the hill for about 2 minutes. Taj Palace is on your right on the second floor. 

Address: 2F 132-2 Itaewon 1-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul