Fast forward 5 years and Paul's dietary restrictions (no chicken nor beef) make it difficult to enjoy the full spectrum of Korean cuisine. Luckily, a shopping and eating trip with friends Elsa and Yvonne gave the opportunity to try these dishes and more!
Aside from enjoying Sinshon soulongtang, vegetarian temple food at Sanchon and fine Hansik cuisine at Yongsusan Biwon (see other posts), we also ate:
Korean porridge at Migabon
Migabon has the good fortune of being the shop above Sinchon Soulongtang. I've heard stories whereby those who could not wait any longer in Sinchon's queue would just go upstairs to Migabon. Since we visited Migabon in the morning, we often found the queue was at Migabon, as opposed to Sinchon! We purposely did not get the hotel breakfast so we could enjoy better food outside. This meant that Migabon became our go-to for early morning porridge. We tried abalone, beef and mushroom, ginseng chicken, pine nut and mushroom. Our favorites were the abalone with chunks of chewy abalone meat and the ginseng chicken which had jujube dates and a strong flavor of ginseng. Each porridge came with a few side dishes - kimchi, burdock root, radish and beansprouts.
Prices were incredibly reasonable - the abalone porridge was only KRW 8,000 or just under US$8.
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| Chicken and ginseng porridge in the forefront |
Samgyetang at Toshokchon
Toshokchon is the place everyone writes about to get samgyetang. Housed in several traditional korean houses (hanok), Toshokchon is located close to Gwanghwamun gate and is just a short 5 minutes walk from Gwanghwamun station. We got the black chicken as well as the regular chicken version. The black chicken was more flavorful with wild ginseng. Koreans believe you fight "fire with fire" and rejuvenate the body in the hot summers with this energy-giving soup. Each chicken is filled with glutinous rice, jujubes, garlic and ginseng roots. We also ordered a kimchi pancake which was delicious. At Toshokchon, unlimited cabbage and radish kimchi was presented in earthenware pots. We were also each given a thimbleful of ginseng wine. Although this was a delicious meal, I was unhappy to realize we were all very thirsty a couple of hours after. This is usually a sign that MSG was used in the soup broth which was a shame. Onwards and upwards - this means I will be hunting for the best samgyetang in Seoul for years to come. Your recommendations welcome!
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| Love the unlimited kimchi in the pots (top left) |
Charcoal BBQ at Wangbijib
Wangbijib is a chain of restaurants that still use charcoal fire. There are 2 branches in Myeongdong - we took a while walking over to the main branch - only to be walked over to the other branch by a kind staff member. We enjoyed marinated beef galbi, pork cheek meat and assorted mushrooms. Luckily, it was all grilled by a staff so we did not ruin the food with amateur cooking skills. Banchan dishes included thin radish slices, kimchi and beansprouts. We wrapped the meat into lettuce parcels korean-style.
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| Marinated galbi grilling |
Knife-cut noodles - Kalguksu
Chewy and al-dente, korean knife-cut noodles make for a satisfying lunch. We chanced upon a restaurant serving these noodles in the basement of Ssamziegil Mall in Insadong. This chain is known for their cold chicken knife-cut noodles. We also ordered noodles in a mushroom and perilla seed broth which was very good.
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| Mushroom and perilla seed broth noodles |
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| Cold chicken noodles |
More green tea cakes at O'Sulloc
Could not resist revisiting O'Sulloc for our green tea cake fix. Aside from the famous roll cake, we ordered a green tea torte, green tea tiramisu and the Hallebong cake with a chocolate base. Simple is sometimes best and it was the roll cake that shone through. All accompanied by O'Sulloc's speciality green tea. Of course, we ruined our appetites with this afternoon treat as we didn't realize what an amazing dinner we would have a few hours later!
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| Green tea overload |
My first time eating the souffle pancakes that originated in Japan! Light and incredibly fluffy, the recipe entails beating the egg whites to a stiff peak before folding gently into the batter. At Innisfree cafe in Myeongdong, we were told that the souffle hotcakes will take 20 minutes. Aside from the pancakes, there were some beautiful cakes, drinks and desserts. We enjoyed a canola-decorated green tea cloud tiramisu, strawberry latte and a pear and rosemary ade.
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| Souffle pancakes served with whipped cream, blueberry compote and a little fruit |
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| A closer look at the canola decoration |
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| The Innisfree cafe early in the morning |
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| Specialities on display for cherry blossom season |
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