Hello! (:
I'm finally back from my vacation so I'll do a photo post of some of the noteworthy food we had in Seoul. We were very fortunate to have a friend who speaks fluent Korean to bring us around and basically act as our guide for the entire trip! Am very very thankful for all that she has done to ensure that we managed to try all the items on our 'must eat' food list! (:
So here are some of the places that we visited and some of the dishes that we tried:
1. A restaurant in Hongdae. Sorry I know that's not very useful but I absolutely do not know what this place is called. Frankly speaking, I think this was one of the best meals I've had in Seoul! The food was superb and I really loved that I had many choices! Would totally go back again!
2. Ugly Stove - Good brunch place to visit (: Their cinnamon bread is seriously good. You HAVE to try it! (:
3. "Holland Village" at Everland. I think their sausages were the hot favourite that day (: So you might want to try those when you are there. Personally, I prefer sitting outdoors cos there is fresh air but it can get quite cold so make sure you sit under one of these heating lamp posts (or what I call 'mushrooms') haha
4. A Korean BBQ place at Hongdae area. (Okay, basically our air b&b was at the Hongdae area so we usually went nearby to have our meals) If you are looking for quality meat, this will be the place to go to! (:
5. Army Stew. Okay I totally forgot to take the photo of the entrance of the restaurant but I know this isn't in the Hongdae area but I'm sure you can find decent recommendations when you google =P
6. Ganjang Gejang (i.e. marinated raw crabs). If you wanna try REALLY good raw crabs, THIS is the restaurant to go to. My companions were literally left speechless cos the food was so darn good. I loved their crab soup too. The broth was rich and flavourful. Definitely a must visit!
7. Korean Fried Chicken. According to my friend, Kyo Chon serves the best Korean Fried Chicken presently so it's worth a visit. We kinda over-ordered but we managed to finish 80% of the chicken so I guess that's not too wasteful. Our regret was that we didn't pack the remaining pieces back cos apparently they'll still be crispy after you microwave them the next morning!
8. Raw Octopus Meal. I think you can find many good ones around but Vivian was kind enough to find a restaurant that serves dishes other than raw octopus or only octopus cos I wasn't keen on only having octopus for dinner! So we navigated through a few small alleys to find this restaurant, which really feels more like a Korean home than anything else (:
9. Famous Bibimbap restaurant at Myeongdong area. I absolutely LOVED this meal! Their bibimbap is a must try! Would have eaten at this restaurant again if I were staying a few more days!
10. Perhaps the most touristy restaurant that we've been to but it still serves relatively decent hotpot/stew at ridiculously decent prices! (: We opted for the Jajangmyeon flavour instead of the usual red hot kimchi cos we wanted to get a taste of the jajang paste. Turns out that the black sauce actually made the entire dish taste like the black sauce hokkien mee we have back at home (: Was interesting nevertheless!
Apart from all these, we tried quite a few kinds of street food at the Myeongdong area so it's a good place to visit if you want to try street food. Of course, the prices are high at Myeongdong area cos it essentially is a tourist trap but I guess what the place offers you is convenience in that you can access a wide range of street food at one go! (:
We also tried other international franchises such as Krispy Kreme, Paris Baguette, Starbucks etc. and we realised that there is a distinct difference between the quality and taste of these internationally franchised products. You really have to try it to know it!
Alright that's all for my Seoul food journey! Will update again when I have the time to do so! (: Merry Christmas to all in advance and happy holidays! (:
