Seoul, A Food Paradise

I have decided that I should dedicate a post to all the yummy food that we came across in Seoul. For food lovers, I'm sure you will find this post quite useful if you wish to travel to Seoul and sample their traditional delights. Mind you, these are just some of the dishes we managed to try. There were so much more!!

Caution! The following photos may cause you to start craving for food!!! Be prepared to take the risk if you wish to continue :P

Take-outs are very common in Korea as it's a very busy city and people hardly leave their workplace even for a lunch break! As Korean fanatics, we also tried ordering take-out from a Korean Chinese restaurant. This restaurant serves a famous dish, Jjajangmyeon 짜장면(Black Bean Paste Noodles), where you will often see if you do watch dramas or variety shows. It tastes really good despite its dark gooey appearance. We actually ordered a half-and-half mix so that we could try out more varieties. 

This particular restaurant offers meals which allows you to mix two different dishes. We had a Jjajangmyeon and Jjamppong, 짬뽕 mix as well as a Jjajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork mix. Jjamppong, 짬뽕 is a spicy red noodle soup with seafood in it. The metal cases you see below are used to carry the meals during the delivery. The food is served in Styrofoam bowls wrapped with cling films to prevent them from spilling over. For the Korean Chinese meal, you get a different type of side dish apart from the custom Kimchi. It's a yellow pickled radish, the very same you can find in Japanese restaurants together with some raw white onion slices. It's a great complement to the meal.

Take-out Delivery for Korean Chinese food.

We loved the Jjajangmyeon so much that we actually came back for seconds and thirds! 

Jjajangmyeon 짜장면(Black Bean Paste Noodles). 

During our visit to the Namdaemun Market, we were exploring the streets for lunch and came across a place which seems renowned for its pork ribs. After browsing the menu, we decided to order Bbyeosot Bulgogi ,뼈솣 불고기. It came with Gamjatang 감자탕 and it was a fantastic combination. Gamjatang is spicy pork bone soup. Despite it's name which contains, Gamja 감자 which means potato, it is often served without potatoes. The soup is different from the usual Kimchi soup base we often get when we order various types of spicy soup meals. The Bbyeosot Bulgogi is a platter of grilled BBQ pork ribs served with their specially made sauce, topped with nuts. This dish was really fantastic. The ribs were grilled to perfection and the meat were succulent. The sauce itself isn't spicy at all but goes well with the pork ribs. 

We also had a chance to try out some of the common local meals, BibimMyeon 비빔면 and Bibimbap 비빔밥 . The BibimMyeon was served together with a pot of broth where you pour the amount broth as you much as you like into the bowl of noodles. Then you mix it until the chilli paste has dissolved and cut the noodles with a pair of scissors (Otherwise, you will be having a hard time to eat the noodles). Bibimbap comes either in a steel dish like the one we had or in a hot stone bowl. Bibimbap is a bowl of rice, served with mixed vegetables, egg and  Bimbimbap sauce. All you need to do is mix it all up and it's ready to eat!

Top right to left: Gamjatang 감자탕 , Bbyeosot Bulgogi ,뼈솣 불고기,
BibimMyeon 비빔면, Bibimbap 비빔밥

Just a brief history on how the Bibimbap dish came about. From what I've heard, this dish was made with the leftovers from the previous day's meal. Times were tough and people made use of whatever they had and mix it all up for a simple meal. However, today, it has evolved into a proper dish which is one of the Korean favourite dishes. The most popular Bibimbap is the Jeonju Bibimbap. Do drop by Jeonju and try it out if you have the chance!

Jeonju Bibimbap. It looks really pretty doesn't it?

Behold the famous Kimchi hotpot (Kimchi Jjigae 김치찌개)! One of the favorites which can be found everywhere in the world. The pork ribs (Dweji Galbi 돼지갈비) we had was stir-fried, which is different from the usual BBQ one. We also enjoyed the Fried Chicken, a.k.a. Yangnyeom Chicken 양념 치킨. It may look really simple but it tastes awesome! Crispy on the outside while the chicken meat is tender and juicy on the inside. We had a mixed platter, half original and the other half with the sauce. Both were equally good. The dish was surprisingly less oily than what I had expected. I wished I had went back for more of it. ( ≧Д≦)

Kimchi Jjigae 김치찌개, Dweji Galbi 돼지갈비, Yangnyeom Chicken 양념 치킨

Kalguksu 칼국수 is a bowl of knife cut noodles served with broth. There are clams and some vegetables in the soup. It tastes really good and is great for those who can't take spicy food. Below it is the dumpling soup, Mandu gug 만두국, where the dumpling is made up of minced pork meat, vegetables and potato noodles. It is served in beef broth. It's a great combination and the broth was really yummy! Do take note that this one bowl of dumplings is enough to make you full. They are huge and packed with filling. 

Another thing I forgot to mention is that, although the price of the food is not relatively cheap in Seoul, but you get a meal worth of what you are paying for. They are known for their generous helping, so if you are not a big eater, do not order a lot! It's best to get a friend to share your meal with you. 

We came across a small stall near Bukchon selling ice cream topped with honeycomb. This was the first time I ate honeycomb just like that, and it was really yummy. It blends well with the ice cream and just melts altogether in my mouth. Beside it was a shop selling Ginseng Chicken Soup, Samgyetang 삼계탕. It was pretty good but the best we had was the one in Insadong. Look out for my earlier post if you had missed out on this one (A Visit to the Hallyu City Part I). 

Kalguksu 칼국수, Ice Cream with Honey Comb, Mandu gug 만두국, Samgyetang 삼계탕

The area of the hostel where we are staying actually have many good restaurants around. We passed by a small shop where many locals were dining in and decided to give it a try. Usually a crowded place means that the food is good. And oh yeah, we weren't disappointed at all! We definitely had one of the best BBQ pork ribs during our stay in Seoul. They were well marinated and goes well with the lettuce wraps, Ssambap 쌈 밥. 

Kimchi Jjigae 김치찌개, Dweji Galbi 돼지갈비

For those of you who may not know what Ssambap is, it is a dish where meat is wrapped in lettuce topped with rice. You can also include some side dishes in the wraps, depending on your preference. The basic ones contain meat, garlic, rice  and Ssamjang sauce. It's actually quite a fun way to eat and tastes really good at the same time. 

Ssambap 쌈 밥

So, I guess that's it from my food trails in Seoul. I have already included some of them in my previous posts. Do take a look at them if you are interested! o((*^▽^*))o