KOREA : SEOUL FOOD DIARY

What foods do we eat in Korea? We are fans of Korean food, in Singapore a lot of food stalls that sell Korean food. Some have been modified to suit our taste but there are also some who sell authentic Korean food.

While in Korea, we are not looking for special foods. We are just looking for food that we and our daughters can eat together. Usually We order one food that me and my husband want to share, usually we choose foods that are rather spicy. And another menu is the food that our daughter can eat and is usually either soup or fried food.

Here are some of the foods we tried during our trip to Korea. All the menus are in Korean character. Some menus have no translation in English or alphabetical letters. Some are also not displaying the food images. So we are sometimes just guessing or using Google translate image to translate

1. Day One

Lunch

Location : Hyundai Department Store - Coex branch

h'Kitchen

Our accommodation is located very close to this Mall. In the Basement, there are many food stall, restaurant and also supermarket. The first day we arrived was on Saturday, so this mall was very crowded. And of course, the first time we came here without any tour guide was very confusing, because of language and cultural barriers.

This place provides some Korean food. How to order is like you order in the fast food chain. We have to find a seat first, then one of us order the food in the cashier. We are given a sequence number to pick up the food and we will take the food in each counter.

My husband ordered the food below, bibimbap and noodle soup, but the soup we ordered turned out to be cold noodles. So our daughter was forced to eat this bibimbap, without the sauce of course.

Dinner

Location : Gangnam, click here for the map

Actually we are looking for a restaurant near Gangnam for dinner, Surrounding this area there are some recommended restaurants (by using Mashita apps found in IOS). But because it's late, we can not find it also the weather is too cold because winter and night wind then we decided to go to the nearest restaurant.

Many Koreans eat this restaurant. They came in one large group or small group. Usually they order alcohol also to drink. as we watch it in dramas.

But in this place there is only one waiter who also double work as a cashier. The restaurant also provides barbecue food. This time we ordered wrong food. We think the meat is served with a broth that is not spicy. So our daughter can only eat eggs and vegetables from this side dish. Fortunately this side food can be refilled. Because we actually too full to order another full meal.

Language barrier is primarily issue, but if you can speak Chinese. there are several restaurant waiters who can communicate using Chinese.

2. Day Two

Lunch

Location : Bears Town Ski Resort

They sell some snacks near the ski area for visitors. Also provided a place to sit. Close to where each ski place there is also a food stall that sells a full meal. We ordered kimchi soup and Jajangmyeon or noodles with black sauce. Michelle can eat this noodle because the noodle is not spicy.

Dinner

Location : Najuga, Gangnam, click here for the map

We actually went back to Gangnam to find the restaurant we were looking for last night and also to look around the area. But did not find it, so we decided to go to a nearby restaurant again.

From the front view, this restaurant looks interesting, so that's why we decided to go in. Also there are many people who eat at this restaurant. There were pictures of the food besides the name so we had no trouble ordering the food.

I recommended this restaurant because the food is really tasty and fit to our taste. We ordered two beef soup but the flavors were different. One is with sweet broth and the other one was rather salty. Michelle is very like the taste of the soup. She ate greedily without any leftovers.

Actually we plan to eat barbecue food in this place, but because it was late, they did not allow us to order barbecue food because they will close soon.

The atmosphere in Gangnam on Sunday night is not so crowded compared to Saturday night, the day before.

3. Day three

Lunch and Dinner

Location : Lotte World Adventure, Aqua Plaza

There is a restaurant called Aqua Plaza that sells food like pizza, pork cutlet (pork cutlet) like the picture below, pork cutlet rice and bibimbap rice.

Michelle loves the rice with the pork.

What we love from this Korean food, we get a side dish that can be refilled. The side dish are perfect to eat with the rice or without rice.

4. Day four

Lunch

Location : Yongsan station, I'Park Mall

Because we were in rush to go to Nami island because of the train ticket that we already bought earlier. So we went to nearby restaurants which is has few empty seats. We only had 45 minutes to eat and had to catch our train schedule.

So we went to nearest restaurant at Yongsan station which also provides good Korean food. We ordered fish stomach soup and bibimbap. Michelle can eat this soup without any complaints.

Dinner

Location : McDonald's, Samseong and click here for the location of the food stall below.

Upon our arrival from Nami Island, we decided to take back our food to eat in our accommodation place. Because it's rather late, not many restaurants open here. So we bought food from a nearby McDonald's and also a small restaurant that sell Korean food. This place provides food that is not too expensive and still affordable.

It's located under the Metro apartment, so it is hidden.

5. Day five

Lunch

Location : Myeongdong, click here for the map.

We ordered the kimchi pancake and meat soup as you can see in the menu below called Yukgaejang Seolleongtang. The meat is not too much because the meat is shredded. The kimchi pancake is a bit too big for both of us to eat and not very suitable to eat with rice.

Actually we were interested in food promotion below that is display at the side of the restaurant, but apparently we were entering the wrong restaurant. That food menu is available on the restaurant next door, precisely on the top floor, we have to climb the stairs first to get to this restaurant.

6. Day six

Lunch

Location : Everland resort

Dinner

Lokasi : Myeongdong, click here for the map.

Because it was too late to eat after we came back from the Everland resort, we take back our food from the nearest location from our accommodation in Myeongdong.

The seller is a married couple and it seems that they also do the delivery services. They have gimbap menu, soup menu and some other Korean food. the price is also not too expensive and it tastes good too.

I share the gimbap with Michelle and she loves the rice with this seaweed.

7. Day seven

Lunch

Location : Doota

This the last day of our trip in Korea, we spent it to do the last shopping session for souvenirs, clothes and hang around at the Dongdaemun area. We also walked to Doota mall to find food. On the B1 floor there is a food court that sells a variety of foods. Click the link located above for directory mall instructions.

At the top 6F floor at the same mall has store that sells cute ice cream, it is called BAEKMIDANG ice cream that Michelle likes. For some reason despite the cold weather outside, the kids are still interested in eating ice cream.

So short story after quite some time spent to shop to bought the souvenirs and children's clothes. I still have the shopping urge to shop for my own. So I asked them to rest and wait for me at the cafe and drink hot chocolate here.

Dinner

Location: Myeongdong, click here for the map.

Our last day in Korea we spent eating barbecue near the place where we were staying. The price is not too expensive and the portion is also good for three of us. The restaurant is open for 24 hours.

For a detailed summary of this barbecue food please click here

In addition we also try street snacks such as steamed fried tofu skin, steamed / fried squid like picture below, tornado potato, rice cake, etc. There is also a cheese sponge cake that looks interesting below. You can buy it along the main road to Myeongdong in small store. I didn't remember the name actually and can't found the store in Google.

In addition, we also tried their drinks, especially milk with a variety of interesting packaging. As well as ice cream, biscuits and soju that we bought from small department stores like CU, 7-11, etc. This shop is opened and scattered everywhere. It was very rare for us to see big supermarkets chain like Giant in Seoul.

Street snacks are also spread in various corners of Seoul, especially in places such as Gangnam, Myeongdong, Dongdaemun. We tried a variety of snacks, but not all are captured. There some snacks that are tasty and some are not. There are some unique too. Michelle is pretty likes this fried crispy tornado potato.

We also tried some of the bakeries in Korea as below Gontran Cherrier, Tous les Jours. And also tried the ice Americano (in my opinion the taste are too bitter for me, not a coffee fan)

8. Day Eight

Lunch

Location: Airport

The day we had to return to Singapore. We took one last time to eat Korean food.

Overall we are satisfied with the foods that we ate at Korea. At least it did not tasted bland and the food are spicy and soup is tasty too. Michelle especially can also enjoy foods such as beef soup and have no problems at all.

Perhaps also because of the cold weather that causes us to be more easily hungry and also because we have always walked.