INSIGHTS FROM SUNGKYUNKWAN SUMMER EXCHANGE 2010
Chinese food in Korea? Not so Chinese after all. Portions are huge but taste is lacking. Perhaps we did not choose the correct restaurant to have Chinese cuisine, but if your schedule is tight, my advice is to skip Chinese and focus your food-hunt efforts on something Korean.
Sunset at a road section off Doota Shopping Mall, at a street in Myeongdong. The sky always looks better in a foreign country, just like the Chinese saying 外国的月亮比较圆 (Foreign country's Moon is rounder than your own country's).
Doota is a mid-tier shopping mall with shops selling fashion clothes and apparels, some of which bear their own unique brand and design. I bought myself a belt and cuffed long pants because the quality of the items is pretty good. Many other malls usually have shops which sell repeated stuffs from the same clothes distributor (a sight I abhor), and I will refrain from wasting my precious shopping time. But Doota is definitely a place for you to create your fashion statement. So the next time you're in Myeongdong, remember to drop by Doota!
After much shopping, it's time to fill our stomachs again!
Ginseng Chicken Soup: Rich broth with rice stuffed inside the chicken. As the chicken meat was tough, I still prefer the Singapore version of Herbal Chicken Soup which is double boiled to make the meat tender and soft.
Korean BBQ: Ordered the Samgyeopsal (triple layered pork). The thing about Korean BBQ is that the sauce and condiments provided helps to enhance the taste of any meat. Verdict is clear from the gesture shown by our Dutch friend above.
No chairs, we took off our shoes and sat on the floor with the low tables.
OK, here's an awesome BBQ place I'd like to recommend. This shop is located in Gangnam, I have forgotten the name in English, thus the only clue left is the signboard in the image above.
A familiar sight in Korean BBQ places, fume exhaust pipes are installed at every table so that customers do not get choked from inhaling too much smoke, giving a pleasant dining experience.
We ordered the thinly sliced beef which was easy to chew, and tasted great because they were thin enough to absorb the sauces.
Once cooked, the meats are usually eaten by wrapping in lettuce or mint leaves, together with bean paste sauce and garlic. Of course, there are the usual side dishes provided, such as laver soup, kimchi, marinated anchovies, fried beancurd slices, rice etc.
TIP (for cheapos):
As we were only students and ordering large portions of meat was expensive, we resorted to cutting the meat into smaller slices, and wrapped more leaves with the unlimited rice and side dishes that can be reordered for free. RESULT - More stomachs filled at the same cost!
Food menu at an eatery in theme park, EVERLAND.
Price was reasonable but taste was not fantastic enough for a second visit.
Hello Kitty Café! Not that I love kitty, but with girls in the group, it was an unavoidable place to go. As with most themed cafes, the shop's décor and food designs are definitely insta-worthy. This is the place to go to if you haven't any idea how to make your female partner happy, or at least it helps to bring their attention away from shopping (which requires walking).
Live seafood stalls
Restaurant catering to cooking of live seafood
The clams....
The prawns ...
Verdict - I was excited to hear many online reviews about how Korean seafood is fresh and fantastic. To my dismay, it wasn't the case for this restaurant. Prices were expensive and portions were small. We were not able to taste any sweetness from the prawns. For the clams, there was a weird stale taste which fortunately was masked by the spicy sauce provided.
So I had the sudden craving for duck meat while in Seoul. However, we realized that duck meat is uncommonly eaten in Korea. It was only after guidance from our Korean friends that we managed to sniff out this restaurant that required a super loooooooooooooong 40-min train ride, yawn~
Nice and tender duck (ooligoogi in Korean)
Normal Korean BBQ fare as usual. One thing about BBQ is that there is hardly any carb intake, and even after eating large amounts, you'd realize that there isn't any significant weight increase.
Budae-chigae: Instant noodles in spicy Korean broth
Roadside stalls selling meat skewers.
Live (moving) Octopus Tentacles
There isn't much taste to this dish, but it comes with a sesame light soy sauce, garlic and green chilli. The tentacles being freshly chopped and alive are what makes it chewy, so do not be faltered by them moving! Dip them into the sesame sauce, stuff in garlic and chilli, bite and chew them steadily ... BOOM! A myriad of flavours and textures! In the streets, you can expect this dish to be priced between 10,000 - 15,000 KRW.
Cold Buckwheat Noodles, served with grilled pork on wooden platter
Priced around 17,900 KRW, we ate this in a restaurant at L2 of a building in Hyehwa. Noodles are extremely chewy, and condiments include white sesame seeds, egg, rice cake slices, cucumber shreds. As for the broth, it is cold with a mild sour and vinegar taste, ideal for lifting your appetite. One notable point is that the ice in broth was nicely ground and blends nicely with the noodles. There is also grilled pork with that smokey BBQ taste which complements with this soupy dish. Cold buckwheat noodles is a uniquely Korean dish and I'd strongly recommend it -
Kimchi Pancake
This is common fare in Korea. When dipped in sesame dark sauce, it gives an impeccable mix of sesame fragrance and kimchi tardy taste. Also present in the dish are carrot slices, eggs, and some variations include seafood (e.g. prawns, squid, crabsticks). The pancake does not taste too starchy, hence it is a perfect Korean dish to order when in groups as starters.
And that's all for Part 2. Stay tuned to the final part, Part 3!