Bao

The area near my summer apartment seems to be blessed with quite a few good Asian restaurants. The people I subletted from mentioned this place so I had to check it out. Bao specializes in wok-fried noodle dishes. You can get a pretty good amount of food for under $10. First you choose the type of noodles (or rice) you want. Then you get to choose from five different sauces: Chinese, Singapore, Thai, Malay, and Korean. You can also choose your vegetables (and egg too), and then for a little extra charge you can add tofu, chicken, pork, beef, squid, prawns, kaffir lime leaf, coriander, lemongrass, basil, and cashews. I went with the wide rice noodle with Malay sauce, "a silky peanut/coconut blend with a touch of heat."
Directions: Noksapyeong station (line 6) exit 2. Go straight down to the underpass and go left to get up to the street. Walk a little to the corner and you should see Bao across the street.

Chans Bros Coffee

Right down the hill from my apartment in the Gyeongnidan area is this fantastic coffee place. They pull some really great espresso. The other day I maybe the best macchiato I have ever had.
Directions: Noksapyeong Station (line 6) exit 2. Walk straight and its down a little ways across the street. Take the underpass and come back a little.

Din Tai Fung

For my quest for good eats I have been reading many Seoul food blogs and magazines. I have to say I am compiling quite a list of places to check out. Some things though just soar to the top of the list, like dumplings. I have a mild obsession for dumplings which started when I was pretty young. Our Taiwanese neighbor would cook all kinds of things and bring them over for our family to try. I have to thank her because I am sure she started my love for Asian food. I remember her dumplings being the best and to this day I think I am always comparing any dumpling to my childhood memories. I have yet to find a dumpling that beats hers.

In my readings I came across a few good reviews for a place serving Shanghai style dumplings. Before I go on I should note that Shanghai style dumplings, or xiaolongbao (aka soup dumplings) are not the same as the normal dumplings you find in Chinese restaurants (or what my neighbor made). They really are bao too. They differ in preparation and texture to dumplings and wontons.

So, its back to Myeongdong again for lunch. Din Tai Fung is an internationally well recognized Taiwanese restaurant chain. I ordered the main xiaolongbao. Its filled with pork but they have many others to choose from. I also ordered the steamed pork buns (char siu bao; another obsession) and a new item spicy shrimp and pork wontons (steamed). Despite all of the good reviews, I was not impressed. I was expecting more because the reviews were pretty good . Now to be honest all three were good. However, I am very picky with my dumplings and bao. To be fair it could have been an off day so my rule is always give it a second try before giving up on a place. I have had much better and hopefully the next visit will live up to my high expectations.

Myeongdong Kyoja

I went to the famed shopping area Myeongdong for lunch. It's a good area to sip coffee and people watch as well as get some decent food for lunch. I prefer going to Myeongdong during the day because at night it gets really crowded with hoards of shoppers.

Myeongdong Kyoja serves up some good kalguksu and mandu (dumplings) at a good price. Their menu is short and everything is 8000 won. Kalguksu is a knife cut noodle soup with some ground beef and dumplings. The kimchi here, which can be very spicy at times, pairs very well with the kalguksu broth. Last time I was here I had the hottest kimchi ever! One of my students took me here when I was in Korea for the first time (2006) and I can't seem to come to Seoul without going here.

Kalguksu is supposed to be a good summertime meal and now that I am acquiring quite a taste for it I will be searching out some more places to find the best.

Here's what it looks like from outside. They have two locations in Myeongdong, but I have only ever eaten at the one closest to the Myeongdong subway station.

Summer in Seoul; 1st stop...Noryangjin Fish Market

Okay, so this blog has been pretty much dead for a while. I find that I'm not really much of a blogger. However, I think I have found something to write about: food.

I am staying in Seoul for the summer and since I have a lot of free time on my hands I thought I would start writing about my time here. Basically I decided that its too hard not to talk about all the good food.

What better way to start off my time in Seoul than a trip to Noryangjin Fish Market. You just can't beat the value and freshness. It's certainly not a fancy meal out, but if you like good food like me and don't really care about the ambiance then this is the place to go. Also, its open really early which is good for when you are suffering from jet lag and can't sleep. I like going to see all of the live seafood tanks. You can find pretty much anything that swims here.

My friend and I arrived and as soon as we got out of the taxi we could smell the fish so I knew we were close. After looking around a little we settled on getting king crab, abalone, sea squirt, and prawns. We haggled for a good price, then the seller bagged up our "catch" and escorted us upstairs to one of the restaurants where they cooked it all up for us. Its recommended to tell the cook to "butta goey" (butter grilled) the abalone.


We also got the maeuntang (spicy fish stew). This is usually made up from the left overs if you get a fish, but you can order it even if you don't get fish. Let the soup cook for a long time and the broth becomes a fantastic masterpiece so good that it may cause you to dream about it days latter and will become one of the things you crave after leaving Korea.


I will go again and get more pictures of the market.