Seoul Food

Heading back to Japan today as I've got a conference to attend in Yokohama. Spent the last few days in Korea catching up with my good friend JK. In grad school, JK was my frequent sparring partner when it came to food and music, be it in Oxford or Vienna (where he lived). Since we graduated, he's been teaching at Nottingham University's Ningbo, China campus, and since he'd never been to Korea, we decided to link up to get some good eating in.


It's been almost 10 years since I lived in Korea, and I'd forgotten how few English signs there are, even in Seoul. There are literally thousands of little restaurants all over the city, most specialising in a specific dish. Unfortunately, if you are unable to read Korean, you'll miss these little places. I was definitely surprised by home much of the language came back to me, and a good thing too. This is samgaetang - a stewed whole chicken, stuffed with rice, ginger, garlic, ginseng, and Chinese dates, and served with daikon kimchi - one of my favorite dishes.


After a massive kalbi (barbecued short rib) dinner session, we headed to a makkoli-jip, located above a warehouse-looking building. Makkoli is a bit like the Japanese nigori-zake, but much fresher, more earthy, less sweet, and more tangy. I far prefer it. Not even remotely an elegant drink!


Some obligatory sightseeing, for JK's sake. Kyongbokkung Palace.


Fortunately, the sundial indicated that it was time to get something to eat and drink.


So we wandered down to Insa-dong to one of my favorite jip, this one specialising in makkoli's more refined sibling, dongdongju. R. and my friend G. once famously were unable to descend down the ladder from the seating area after a session with the dongdongju


We did manage to get down the ladder though, and went to check out where all the cool kids hang out, Kangnam. They keep getting younger.


That evening, we met up with some old friends of mine who still make Seoul their home. Last call at Walker Hill!


Last call, technically, was in the early morning, so we wandered around the corner from our hotel for some seolleong-tong - beef rib stew. The perfect morning-after restorative, and even at 5AM, the place was packed!

A solid three-day stay in Seoul!