Our adventures in South Korea (Seoul and Jeju Islands)!
To prepare you for our next food-making post (the making of bindaetteok), I think it’s time to post about our trip to South Korea last summer.
We had no set plans when we arrived in S. Korea. That was probably mistake #1. I had planned out the entire trip, tours, events, and all for Asia so I needed a break from all that planning! ;P And so, we came to S. Korea hoping to magically find our way around. On one hand, it wasn’t so bad because we were able to experience an “adventure” without the help of guides or tours. In a way, it was kind of like backpacking, but not really, because we had like 3+ luggages filled with clothes and whatnot that we would lug through masses of people on the subways/railways whenever we would change locations in Asia.
On our first night in Seoul, we really wanted to experience Korean BBQ at a “sit-down” restaurant where you go to socialize, drink Soju, and eat delicious meats that you cook right in front of you. (Just like we saw in the KDramas haha.) Unfortunately, we were missing the aspect of people/friends to socialize/eat/drink with. Despite the lack of extra company, this was probably the best Korean meal that we had while in Korea. While we were eating, the fire alarm went off 3 times until we finally realized that we (the only foreign people in the restaurant) were the ones causing the noise! Ha ha ha, oops! We did not realize we had to pull the tube down 1 inch above our meats while cooking. Wasc fell in love with the tube that sucked up the smoke from the stove–he really wants one now.
Wasc cleaning off his rib.
Wasc making sure he totally cleaned off the meat from the bone.
Afterwards, I was craving dessert, so we stepped into this bakery/cafe. We had blueberry shaved ice with red beans. Wasc got REALLY tired of the whole, beans in the dessert, hahaha. He just now started to recover, and is eating his favorite–mochi–again, but with discretion!
The ONE thing we had planned for Seoul was to take a cooking class together. It was wonderful! So exciting and fun. I especially liked it because we were the only ones who signed up for that day, so it was like having private, one-on-one instruction with the chef. The company, O'ngo, provides cooking lessons as well as food tours of Korea.
Pictured above (from left to right): We made “fancy” cucumber kimchee, galbi, ?some kind of delicious meat dish with lots of gochujang, bulgolgi, grilled chicken.
The man in charge of it all, Daniel, is very nice and told us all about how they strive to show foreigners the deliciousness of Korean food and how to use alternative ingredients in Korean cooking for those who have food allergies/stomach problems with a Korean staple ingredient like gochujang. Wasc really appreciated this because, although he LOVES eating Korean food with gochujang in it, gochujang doesn’t really love him. He he he. Daniel’s food/restaurant review blog, Seoul Eats, is also very helpful in determining where the best spots are to eat.
Unfortunately, we were only able to go to the Delicious Happy Sopong store for VERY tasty sandwiches filled with goodies and pressed into the shape of a fish.
According to Daniel, this wasn’t even the best place for fish bread! But we have fond memories of this place–the owner(?)/clerk/fish bread-maker was a funny, and happy, young to middle aged man who had his head wrapped with a towel like an Ahjumma at a public sauna. I just about laughed my face off. He was so nice to us though! I really wished we had gotten a picture with him, but there were soooooooo many people in line waiting for their fish bread!
This store was located in a college town. We had SO much trouble trying to find the store because it’s just so tiny and tucked in the corner of a building. But it was all worth it in the end because they were just so dang delicious. I believe the 3 flavors we bought were: bulgolgi, black berry with red bean, and……… I forgot the last flavor, can you believe it? I think Wasc may remember since he’s the one who ordered the 3rd filling. I don’t recommend this town for any other food though, except maybe Hagen Daaz for some green tea ice cream served on top of flavored shaved ice with…you guessed it! Red beans! hahaha, I felt so sorry for Wasc.
But in all seriousness, we walked around the town looking at stores until it was nearly dinnertime. I remember we had such a hard time deciding what to eat since we had NOTHING, no list or anything, to go by.
Whaaat? Why is there Texas in Seoul?? We decided not to eat here…
Eventually we walked into what seemed like a nice Italian restaurant for pasta. It was SUCH mistake. I ordered vongole (pasta with clams) because I had wanted to try it after seeing it be made so often in our favorite K-drama of all time Pasta. My pasta/clams still had sand in it… they did not clean the clams off very well.. :(
We tried to go to other restaurants that had been reviewed by Daniel on Seoul Eats, like the Buddhist temple, for vegetarian food eaten by monks…..but we went on a Sunday. This was when I learned that Buddhist restaurants close on Sundays.. So sad, we trudged though SO MUCH rain to get there!! I remember we were STARVING too! So we stopped by a New York Hot Dog restaurant and had very Korean style hot dogs. I know, so random, why would we go to a NY Hot Dog restaurant in Seoul?! Well, let me tell you, I had the cravings for a hot dog. How was it a Korean-style hotdog? Imagine a chili-dog, but instead of the hot dog being topped off with chili, cheese, etc. the hot dog is topped with bulgolgi, or chicken with gochujang.
We eventually found our way to Buona Sera!!!!! What is Buona Sera, you ask? Only the best, most amazing, Italian food in South Korea. Probably in the U.S. too. It was the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten in my life. I will say though that probably 10% of that is biased because Buona Sera was the filming location for Pasta!!!! It was so amazing, being there at the site where our favorite K-drama was shot. It was sad though because we got so lost trying to find it that by the time we arrived, the restaurant was about to close. We were the last people there. I REALLY wanted to walk around and upstairs to have a closer look at everything but I felt really bad about keeping everyone there. The service there was…magnificent. The waiter was so polite the entire time (I sensed no malice coming from his way :P) and so attentive to our table! I’ve never been to a high class restaurant like that before. Wasc told me that’s the way they’re supposed to treat you at a nice restaurant–but he also agreed that it was the best service he’s ever had. So, if you ever get a chance, we totally recommend you go to Buona Sera to dine. I loved it so much that I would go all the way back to S. Korea just to eat there… Yum. Actually, we found out later that evening that Buona Sera is located in the “Hollywood” of Seoul. Since we got there at night (it was raining, surprise!) we did not notice. The restaurant is located in the high end district of Seoul, where all the stars go to shop (this is what I’ve read, anyway). It makes sense, I remember seeing high end clothing stores on the taxi ride there.
So sad, these were the only two pictures we got of Buona Sera (the other photo is the same, but with me in it).
Somehow, while walking in one of the major shopping districts of Seoul, we happened upon a performing arts theater. Later that evening, we returned to the theater to watch the longest running Korean musical–NANTA. It has run since 1997 and even came to Broadway in 2004! This musical was A-MAZING. And guess what? It was a silent musical! Wasc didn’t think it was possible, but it is. It is a musical about cooking, romance, which has lots and lots of comedy, and lots of instrument playing/noise making. Such a great performance. Wasc even bought an apron at their in theater store (you can see me wearing it here).
Eventually, we made our way south, to Jeju Island–also known as the Hawaii of S. Korea. We must have come to Korea at a really bad time because Every. Single. Day. Was. Cloudy. The skies were grey, it was always raining. The Hawaii of S. Korea did not look like paradise/Hawaii…. It was so depressing. 100% humidity the entire week (or was it 2 weeks?) that we were there.
One day we made our way (albeit probably, most likely, illegally) to the ocean/coast. It wasn’t beautiful and blue and beachy as you would imagine Hawaii to be. Instead it was grey. Everything was grey. But, in it’s own way, it was beautiful as well. The pictures turned out great! :P
My first time to walk in the ocean. Note I am wearing Wasc’s flip-flops, haha.
Our hotel was on the outskirts of Jeju, so after walking on the beach, we took a bus to the city center. After looking at reviews of restaurants online, we found an Indian restaurant that had been highly praised all around the internet (even on Lonely Planet)! The restaurant was called Bagdad Cafe. We were so surprised–a random Indian food restaurant in the Jeju Islands! The food and atmosphere was SOOO amazing! The owners/chefs talked to us and we learned they are from Nepal and had moved to S. Korea. They spoke of having to cater to the taste of Koreans, while keeping with the taste of authentic Indian food. We ate samosas, some sort of chicken soup (which Wasc really appreciated since he was sick), and other delicious foods (sadly, I don’t remember). By the end, we were so full I had no idea how I was going to walk back to our bus stop (we also had no idea where our bus stop was). I’m pretty sure I passed out and took a nap in the cafe. When I came to there was a yogurt/smoothie dessert waiting for me. We have no pictures of the food at Bagdad Cafe, but we have videos. One day, we’ll start/finish editing them…
On our last day in Jeju (literally, we checked in at the Airport and had a few hours to spare before our plane took off for China), we asked the people at the tourist desk at the airport where we can go for Jeju’s famous Abalone Porridge. I thought porridge would be nice since Wasc had been sick during our entire trip in Jeju. The people at the desk gave us a pamphlet and wrote down instructions for us to give to the taxi driver (since neither of us spoke Korean very well), and soon we were on our way!
Let me tell you something, Wasc and I have a knack for picking delicious restaurants to eat at where EVERYONE is dressed up all fancy and we’re dressed like…. we just came off the streets. hahahaha. Oh well. When we arrive, again, we are late to the serving. They take us in anyway, but half-way through our meal, all the waiters and waitresses bring out their lunch and eat at the separate rooms around us.
When we ordered, we did not know that 95% of our meal would be comprised of raw seafood… Raw fish, raw….some kind of shell fish.. Some of them looked really scary (the red-ish looking item in the front left.)
Wasc eyeing our meal rather suspiciously and wondering, “Where the heck has she taken me to eat this time?!”
The dishes had a beautiful presentation.
I had never eaten so much raw fish in my life before… Some I liked, and some I didn’t. For example, I really didn’t like that red mush of intestine-looking shellfish (shown in the center). Wasc described it as tasting like Mercury. Hahaha. How does he know what Mercury tastes like? I thought only my Chemistry professors/older professors knew what playing with/tasting Mercury was like (before it became known that Mercury is actually dangerous ;D)
The abalone porridge was delicious. Half-way through our meal, they brought out 2 pieces of grilled abalone. It was delicious, but I think a little piece of Wasc died and went to Heaven (it was the first time he had ever had grilled abalone in his life). He says it’s the best thing he’s ever eaten. Ever. Hehe.
Well, this concludes our trip to South Korea. I know it was a long post, but I hope you enjoyed it and that it may help you plan your trip to Seoul/Jeju Islands someday.
