seoul food
Confession: Korean food might be my favorite kind of food. Don’t tell Japan.
Here are a few of my favorite meals from our recent trip to Seoul:
Arirang Restaurant:
For a somewhat fancy meal, we went to Arirang for Korean barbecue. It was pretty expensive (about $55 to $65 for one dish of meat, which is recommended for one person). It was a great barbecue experience, though. We ordered two different qualities of beef, and they were both succulent and juicy.
They gave us a really great selection of sides to munch on. My favorite was these delicious pickled perilla leaves they gave us for wrapping up the meat. They were deliciously sour which really complemented the meat well, and this was the first place where I’ve had that offered to me as a side. I also appreciated the soup that came to start off the meal. I don’t know what it was because it wasn’t on the menu and I don’t speak Korean, but it was some kind of squash concoction with beans in it. I ate mine and Keith’s (oops).
The lady running the restaurant was super sweet which makes up for the high prices. She was having a birthday party for her friend in the backroom, and brought us some birthday cake on the house! You can’t beat free cake.
Jeonju Jungang Hoekwan:
Of all Korean food, I probably love bibimbap the most. It’s so different at each restaurant, so I never get bored eating it.
My favorite bibimbap by far is in Seoul at Jeonju Jungang Hoekwan in Myeongdong. This place has bibimbap down to an art. It has just the right proportion of rice to veggies. The stone bowl stays super hot (I don’t know how they get their bowl hotter than everyone else’s) so the rice gets nice and crispy. The bulgogi is marinated to perfection. And (side bonus) they have some of the best kimchi around.
Tosokchon Samgyetang:
Both times I’ve gone to Seoul, we’ve made a pilgrimage to Tosokchon Samgyetang. For those who haven’t tried this dish, samgyetang is a ginseng chicken soup. You get a stone bowl of soup with a whole chicken sitting in it, stuffed with garlic, rice, ginseng, and other delicious herbs. The chicken is so tender it just falls apart as you pick at it with chopsticks. You can get a black chicken if you’re feeling a little more adventurous. This is considered a super healthy meal, and is especially popular in the summer.
Apart from the deliciousness, I just love the eating experience at this restaurant. You can sit on the floor (traditional) or at a table with chairs. They give you a big pot of kimchi to share for the table. It’s no wonder there’s usually a line out the door.
Finally, no post about eating in Seoul would be complete without mention of street food. I saw so many great street vendors dishing up mouth-watering dishes of sundubu, meat skewers, gimbap, and twisted potato sticks as I walked around Myeongdong and Namdaemun Market. I didn’t eat much street food this time, though. I can only eat so much in four days!
I did, however, try a hot dog on a stick coated in a mass of french fries though. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the hot dog — I just thought I was buying a big stick of french fries.
I have so many questions. Why is this even a thing? Is this the unhealthiest concoction known to man? Why have I never had it before? Why aren’t I eating one right now?
