taykexin: Wanderlust in Seoul, Korea! [Part 1: SEOUL DELICIOUS]

When in Korea... EAT!

I'm seriously not much of a foodie so pls don't trust my judgement.
These are also not my recommendations,
most of them were chanced upon while walking along the streets.. we didn't plan much!
But everything tasted (pardon my pun) SEOUL delicious to me!

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The mains are like stars of the show.

Over-ordering is the norm, especially when 4 hungry girls are involved.

What: Bibimbap, Pajeon, Topokki

Where: Randomly chanced upon in Insadong

Nakji Dolsop Bibimbap
(Spicy Octopus Bibimbap) in a stone pot!

Topokki (hot & spicy rice cakes) :D
Topokki is THE staple in Korean meals!
Oh-so-chewy, it's tough to resist if you're on a non-carbs diet!!

Haemul Pajeon
(flat cake w seafood & spring onion)

Banchan!
All these little small dishes are perfect companions for rice and the best part?
They are refillable!

YUMMY.

What: Korean BBQ

Where: City Hall Area

Website: www.newmaul.com

So this was actually after the DMZ tour and our tour guide

recommended this place so we tagged along!

We ordered the mild spicy pork set.

The Star of the Meal..
BBQ Pork wrapped in lettuce, slathered in some korean hot sauce
and topped off with a block of garlic!!!!
And some beer to go along with the heatiness :)

Kimchi Stew w Veggie & Chicken!!
Super nice Korean chap chye to go w rice and seaweed :D

Kimchi Cold Noodles..
OMG, i cannot stress how crazy i went over this icy cold Kimchi noodles!!!
Its like longevity noodles dipped in an icy kimchi broth, topped with cucumber slices and an egg!
Those glistening pieces you see over there, they are crunchy bits of ice!

What: Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken)

Where: Near Shinsegae Mall

I read so much about the famous Ginseng Chicken over at Tosokchon

but i didn't get to travel there for it.

Instead, this Samgyetang was discovered on a rainy night,

at a random eatery along the streets near Shinsegae.

It was pouring and we couldn't get to Myeongdong for our gyoja,

so we ran across the street and spotted this place and headed right in :)

Sometimes the best food comes at the time when you most need it :)

What: Hello Kitty Cafe

Where: Hongdae (Hongik University Station)

Where everything was too pink to function.

Seriously, men in pink.

TOO MUCH PINK.

A complete set of hello kitty meal.

I was having an overdosage of Hello-Kitty here help -_-

Sweet potato Latte!!

It was such a weird drink.

Like drinking Orh-ni but worse hahaha

What: Patbingsu (i.e Red Bean Shaved Ice Dessert)

Where: 29-4 Samcheong-ro 2-gil/104 Sogyeok-dong

We were in Samcheongdong area so my friend recommended this quaint bingsu shop,

located in an obscure corner of the street.

Traditional redbean milk bingsu w Injeolmi (glutinous rice cake coated with bean flour)

This is similar to what you'll have in Singapore and Taiwan,

except that the ice is very thinly shaved :)

Gaeran Bbang (aka Egg Bread)!
This might just be my favourite street snack on earth!!!!
Eggs on toast never goes wrong,
and one can imagine how awesome it is when the toast is slightly moist... like Mcgriddles!!!!
The only downside is to this is when they are left out in the open for too long and the eggs get tough.
So catch them when they are fresh outta stove!!

Before these little things go onto the heated pan..

OH I LOVE YOU.

Anything dipped in spicy sauce seems like a good idea to koreans.

Gamja Dog

This monster of a corn-dog has so many layers of heart-clogging goodness it horrifies me to describe it.

It's essentially hotdog coated in cornmeal batter,

then re-coated with french fries batter that comes with potato chunks,

deep-fried,

then drizzled with ketchup for the finishing touch.

Grand Slam Wam Bam, I wonder why the Koreans beat the Americans to this mutant creation.

Topokki

(soft rice cakes)

This is the staple and most commonly seen in all kinds of Korean food.

But in its most basic form, it is made of chewy rice cakes, fish cakes and mixed with sweet chili sauce.

Topokki stands can be found at a lot of shopping streets in Korea,

and these Koreans love to stand right in front of the topokki grill and finish their cup on the spot,

instead of taking them away to enjoy while walking around.

I don't know if it's their competitive culture,

but they sure know how to be efficient eaters.

Hotteok
(sweet korean pancake)
The Koreans love their oily pancakes and this sweet dough is my nemesis.
The dough is mixed with cinnamon, brown sugar, honey and nuts,
then placed on a greased griddle to cook.

Then they would slit a hole in the pancake and stuff it with sweet fillings.
This one that i got was stuffed with sunflower seeds.
Uh huh, chewy sweet pancake with sunflower seeds...
MINDBLOWN.

Sausage and Tobokki wrapped in Glutinous rice

Just look at the topokki wrapped in glutinous rice.
How?? How did someone invent that??
Can i take fishball, and wrap it in glutinous rice?
ANYTHING seems possible with Topokki.