Authentic (and asian-ghetto) Chicken Stew (닭도리탕/Dak Doritang) in the back alleyways of Seoul

계림닭도리탕 - Gaerim Chicken Stew

 

서울특별시 종로구 종로3가 167 (돈화문로4길 39)

167 Jongno 3(sam)-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

google map// naver map

+82 2 2263 6658

Open MON- SAT from 11:30 ~ 22:00  (Closed on Sunday)

Chicken Stew (닭도리탕): 19,000 WON (+2,000 for noodles/ramen/rice etc.)

Drinks: Beer, Soju etc. (~3,000 WON)

Is it weird that I actively search out restaurants that have been around for longer than my parent’s lifespan never mind mine? I understand that age doesn’t always correlate to quality, but there’s something about a restaurant that’s been around for 50 plus years and stood the testament of time that promises a good meal. Especially if it’s a nitty-gritty blue-collar restaurant tucked away in the alleys of Jong-ro.

It’s been a while since I blogged, and I think this one is a good one to re-immerse myself in documenting the travels through the hidden dark alleys of Seoul spooking all those that I’ve invited to partake in this mini adventure!

The restaurant I’m writing about has been around for more than 50 years and the authenticity of the food and the history proves that it’s not some ‘number’ made up for advertisement purposes (as well as the décor and the aged patrons downing soju like it’s sprite).

The place is a little tricky to find – the easiest way is to walk out of exit 12 of Jonro-3ga (종로3가) walk straight until you see am opening along the main road to the right in between buildings (see the map below for reference!) Sneak inside the alleyway and you’ll soon find a long narrow alley parallel to the main road. Continue walking past dodgy businesses and restaurants and you’ll soon come across a bustling restaurant with a sign!

 

Although many of you think Koreans are all about the endless numbers of banchan (side-dishes), this place only gives you two – raddish kimchi (깍두기) and beansprouts. The menu doesn’t really give you any choices either. There’s couple of lunch options but at night there’s only one thing on the menu, the eponymous 닭도리탕 (Dak Doritang) for 19,000 WON. The portion should be enough for 2-3 people, as you can add 사리 (sari) in forms of either fried rice (w/ the sauce) or addition of hand-noodles. Just a little bit of history to note, 닭도리탕 is actually Japanese/Korean stemming from the word Toriniku (chicken meat). As such nowadays people tend to call it 닭볶음탕 rather than the former name. 

The place gets filled up crazy fast after 7PM and queues begin to form (even on weekdays) so make sure you come between 6-7PM if you want to be seated straight away. 

After being seated and ordering the only thing on the menu, soon the ladies bring out a beaten pot filled with horrifying (or awe-inspring) amount of garlic in a red sea of chicken, potato and rice cakes. We did worry a little when we first went that it’ll be numbingly spicy and overwhelming but surprisingly it’s hardly spicy and the garlic flavour is well balanced by the stew! It’s really odd actually knowing how much garlic went in!

After waiting for a while – you’re ready to dig in! Actually the rice-cakes (떡) received the most compliment! Unlike the generic store-bought ones you get everywhere, it had a really chewy and soft texture. Also the stew has quite a lot of chicken. Also the CHICKEN is so MOIST and TENDER! It’s often I find the chicken in seoul to be way to dry and tough… but the chicken they use here is a perfect combination of lean meat and fat that you end up sucking all the meat off each bone…

The building spiciness usually calls for soju and beer – and although I am a bonafide ‘wine-whale’, there’s something about spicy Korean food that matches beautifully with soju and cold beer. Maybe it’s the old man inside me that craves these releases of spicy no-bullshit 아저씨 food w/ soju… Personally I blame my dad for  raising his daughter to be his drinking buddy.

Anyways – this is my favourite find recently! And despite the copious bottles of soju/beer all of us were really refereshed the next day. I think the supposed super ‘health benefits’ of garlic must’ve helped….

So for those of you daring enough to venture into the back alleys of Seoul –this is definitely the place for you!

And on that note this is the end of my entry! I’m not sure who read these anymore.. but I think I’m on a roll with going to these grungy/off-the-beaten-path Korean restaurants.. if you have any recommendations or would like suggestions just let me know… (or if you also like hunting down sketchy but ridiculously yummy korean food- let’s go together cause sometimes venturing out into dark alleys alone can be a lil scary at night)

Okawa Sushi

오가와 (おがわ) - Okawa Sushi

B1F 서울특별시 종로구 당주동 5 (새문안로5길 19)

5 Dangju-dong,

Jongno-gu, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

google map// naver map

+822 735 1001

Lunch: 11 AM or 1 PM

Dinner: 6:00PM or 8:00PM

(Always call to reserve) 

Lunch Set: 40,000 WON 

Dinner Set: 60,000 WON 

Drinks: Beer, Sake, Soju etc. (we went for sake - which came in a big glass! I thin it was around 5,000won - 7,000won) 

This tiny place is literally 5 min walk from my house that I wish that it was cheap enough to be my 'go to sushi place' but sadly a little too price-y for me to be a regular... However, I've completely stopped eating crap sushi (whether for lunch or dinner) just so that once in a while when the occasion comes along to impress someone with lunch/dinner... I immediately take the initiative to make the booking before it gets full.

I'm sure there will are couple (not plenty) of other places in Seoul where you can find just as high quality (and maybe MAYBE even better) sushi... but definitely not a this price level! You are fed with so much sushi (good sushi that is) that you leave the restaurant not regretting a single WON you have just spent on the meal. It is truly a bargain for the quality and most of all (my favourite actually) the overall atmosphere and experience... It's just one of those few restaurants you can truly have a 'special' and 'intimate' dinner with friends or family without having to worry about whether you are wearing the right clothes, with the right people, holding your utensils correctly or not.. And most of all not be hurried to finish your food at a ridiculous rate and move to the next destination!

In other words it's simply DIVINE! 

The set lunch starts with porridge, small portion of salad and miso soup and as you watch in absolute awe (I never stop being impressed) your chef begins preparing your lunch right in front of you.

How can you NOT get excited when there's this happening?

He lays each sushi one at a time carefully explaining each dish and how it was prepared and how it should be eaten.

I always ask if I can have close-to-nothing rice as I realize many times that there is absolutely no way for me to finish the whole lunch set otherwise... (and i'd rather give up the rice to eat MORE sushi)

We also ordered glasses of sake for each of us and it was actually really nice and went well with the cold sushi. We had initially thought that it was flower petals floating on top of the sake but we quickly realised that they were dried fish fins that gave the sake the slightest fishy-flavour, which surprisingly was not ghastly or weird!

My brother was impressed :P

After what feels like an endless servings of so many different types of fish (you start loosing track of how many you ate!) Final serving of warm udon that I personally find so so delicious and wish that I had a bigger stomach to finish.... and then voila~ you are done! 

I keep on finding myself returning to this same place over and over again despite my usual habit of never settling on one restaurant.. I know whenever I go and whoever I go with.. the experience will as marvellous (if not better) than last time... and that in a fast paced and rapidly changing city like Seoul is something that should be cherished.

Paragliding in Korea

Paragliding in Danyang

PRICE: 80,000 WON (with 20% discount we got through meet-up --> Paragliding in Korea)
               +20,000 WON if you want to video the flight

PLACE: Danyang, Korea (2-3 hour drive away from Seoul - you get picked up if at sports-complex if you go with Meet-up and then it's 25,000 WON for the drive both ways. If not there's a direct bus from East Seoul Bus Terminal to Danyang at 13,000 WON per ride )



It kind of just happened really.

One day I was kinda tired and disappointed at myself for spending weekends after weekends just eating lunches and dinners with friends rather than going out and really exploring or "doing something" as I had promised my self  I would once I get to Korea.

Feeling rather blue about how dull my life had become, I was scrolling through 'meet up' suggestions when I stumbled across "Paragliding in Korea" and signed myself up +1 (just in case I could get ANYONE to tag along).

I had expected my brother to want to tag along but he said he was busy/broke that weekend... but as soon as I had asked my coworker she immediately responded with "YES - it's on my bucket list of things to get done!"

So.. off we went - luckily on the clearest day - with just enough wind to fly my ass up up up into the sky.

The meet-up group! There was a lot more people (around 13 in total I think) so we had to split the group into two so that one could go explore the cave first (photos in the end).

The view on top of the hill/mountain was gorgeous - but it did fail to impress the swiss guy... way to be a mountain snob (although the alps.. kinda does make any mountain seem puny and unimpressive..)

We got our own pilots that would fly with us and proceeded to gear up in sky-suits to brace ourselves for the chilly wind. The ridiculous number of seat belts that were attached to the suit did comfort me... as there were no way I was going to 'fall off' with these many shackles... Plus the pilot reassured me that he had been doing this for over 15 years and he's still alive! Yay!

All ready to go! 

 

It was FANTASTIC!  Unlike Bungee jumping or sky-diving, which were filled with such adrenaline pumping and heart stopping adrenaline ride... This was just so calm and soothing flying through the air as if I was literally a bird. The view as well as the cold wind were so liberating and refreshing.... it really made me understand how some people are so obsessed with the notion of flying. It is truly an experience that you don't forget...

We were lucky enough to have a long ride of around 15 min. I've been told it really depends on the wind and on the day. The pilot also did some crazy swirls and what he called "vikings" towards the end that made me kind of dizzy but also dying of laughing out of sheer childish joy! Was GREAT! :D

As part of our trip we also did get to go explore a cave called Gosu Cave (고수 동굴) which was nearby. I had never been inside a cave like this one... and although some parts of it was rather 'gothic' an freaky looking, it was definitely an interesting walk inside (plus only 4,000 WON entrance).
If you do end up going to Danyang for paragliding it's definitely worth the quick trip into the cave (although it does get rather humid/hot in there!) 

 I'm not quite sure how i'm going to top paragliding in the near future... but i'm sure i'll find something as interesting if not entirely different to paragliding to 'sparkle' my seemingly 'mundane' life as a 20 something year old working in Korea.

:)

Buddhist Temple Food in Sanchon, Insadong!

산촌 - Sanchon

서울특별시 종로구 관훈동 14

14 Gwanhun-dong,

Jongno-gu, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

google map// naver map

www.sanchon.com

Open from 11:30am - 10:00PM

Lunch Set: 33,000 won 

After my computer breaking down twice in a row... I fell behind in posting photos for things I've done in Seoul, that and life was rather hectic for a while. Although now that I have my mac back, I should dig through the photos and post the ones that did matter (like paragliding and my very first lunar new year in Seoul!).

Anyhow, last weekend I met up with my friend in Seoul to go try "Buddhist Temple Food" after listening to him moan about lack of vegetarian/healthy food options in Seoul. The restaurant is hidden within the maze that is Insadong... so I highly recommend making sure where it is before visiting.

They have fixed lunch sets and dinner sets. It is definitely not cheap but the whole atmosphere and the food is worth it for a special occasion. I think the dinner set was around 60,000 - 70,000 won and the dinner set includes a traditional dance performance (free of charge).

 I wish the lighting had been better so that I can take better photos (I really need to get a move on to buy a camera...) but you can at least get a glimpse of these lovely lotus shaped lanterns and the simple wooden furnitures. The best part (that you can't see through the photos) are the heated floors! They are simply divine.... who would've thought having warm butt whilst eating could be such a delight :)

Unlike other restaurants in Seoul, the ambiance is really relaxed here and the food/service is slow so if you are in need of a quick lunch this is DEFINITELY not the place. I on the other hand, enjoyed the lack of attention given to us, and the slow paced serving that helped us digest the enormous amount of food that was coming.

 Always start light with a cup of tea ;)

Then came the entrée of non-translatable food.. (note: the english translation of Korean food leaves most of the people more confused and slightly disturbed to try them...) Lots of it were Korean roots, vegetables and a bowl of sweet pumpkin porridge.

 Then came the Korean Pancakes and what I think was dduk (korean rice cake), which was rather tasty but a little oil for my liking.

After our pancakes we were already starting to feel quite full... when we were told that now our "main meal" will be served. To our delight/horror, our server began to lay out literally 20 or so dishes filling the tables completely with food... as if we were just "starting" our lunch. 

None of the dishes themselves specially 'stand out' or is 'extra-ordinary'. But I guess that is besides the point of Buddhist Temple food. All the food in their simplicity and 'humbleness' came together to form a great representation of what Korean food is about. Aside from the bold flavours that seem to dominate the korean food and culture, there is also an alternate side to Korean food that should also be embraced and remembered!

Overall, it was a delight spending 2 hours or so slowly making our way through Korean Buddhist Temple food. It's definitely a place to take someone new to the country to let them sample some of the less famous Korean food that are traditionally eaten at home. All the while getting enough peace and quiet to finally have a long chat without disruptions in this busy busy busy city. 

 After finishing our meal, we were so stuffed that we could barely keep our eyes open... talk about a food coma. ... so as a last minute plan to at least attempt to keep our figures -we decided to take advantage of the first blue sky in weeks and take a walk up to the Namsan Tower!

What a city eh? 

Weekend in Andong (안동)

 Andong 안동

Day ONE:

After taking a 3 hour bus-ride from Seoul to Andong via Central Terminal in 고속터미널 (the tickets can be purchased either via internet or at the station at ~16,500won), I finally arrived in Andong feeling rather famished and excited.

It was the first time I had been to Andong, which I just simply knew as a city famous for its traditional village and the famous soy-sauce stew chicken famously named "안동 찜닭(Andong Stewed Chicken)". So to many of my friends, I had travelled for 3 hours to eat the ORGINAL 안동찜닭.... now that's dedication to finding good food around seoul.

After arriving at the bus-terminal (rather far from city central), I met my friend who travelled from Busan to take the local bus into town. Almost all the buses go to the city central (just a matter of shorter/longer route).. I recommend taking the BUS 11 or BUS 0-1 and getting off at 안동초등학교 (Andong Elementary School) just in time for dinner or lunch at the infamous 안동찜닭골목 Andong Chicken Street! you know a town is serious about its chicken... when you have a whole street dedicated to just chicken. Literally it was shops after shops selling the SAME thing and all proclaiming they were the original and the best. 

However, as always, I came prepared to try only the best. After all I had travelled all the way from Seoul for this dinner! After spending silly amount of times researching in the internet.... I found THIS ONE coincidently sharing my name (which came highly recommended by locals) - google/naver 

The menu is rather straight forward and simple (and no portions to choose from... so if you're travelling with just two... you have no choice to be insanely bloated).  The Andong Stewed Chicken was ~18,000won enough for 2-3 (or even 3-4) people!

Even for all of those reading (if any) who had tried this famous korean dish before in Seoul or any other city... has not truly tried Stewed Chicken unless they have had it here! Rather than the overly sweet and mundane Chicken Stew... The one you got in 유진안동찜닭 was the right mix of spiciness and sweetness filled with perfectly cooked noodles and chicken!  It  had left the two of us (rather small girls) happily bloated to literally waddle out of the shop as the shopkeeper looked at us with half admiration and half pity.

We stayed at a guesthouse called Guesthouse Gotaya (tripadvisor), which is conveniently located in downtown (near the train station) and rather guest-friendly + cheap! We had stayed in a clean female dorm but I did hear that they had private rooms as well for those interested. 

Day TWO:

We woke up early (as the bus to the Folk Village runs every hour - check the schedule beforehand!), to quickly head to the Mammoth Bakery to buy breakfast before catching the bus. Mammoth Bakery 맘모스제과 is apparently one of the Top 3 bakeries in Korea and apparently featured in the Michelin Guide. It is located in the city center (naver map/ google map), and as such there's always a long queue of people greedily piling on breads on their trays.

Their most famous bread is the Cream Cheese Bread and Walnut Cream Bread (as well as the Blueberry pie bread(?). Due to the popularity of the bakery the breads get sold out so quickly so it's a matter of luck which type is left (there's also a great variety of croissants, pastries, baguettes and so forth).

We managed to score the two of the "best" items (which were rather expensive at 4,000won each).

They also have a extensive selection of cakes, which are also said to be of excellent quality (some of which my friend later came back to buy for her family).

Although we wanted to try some of the cakes as well, we were rathe pressed for time to make the bus (8:50AM) that we bagged the two buns and dashed off to the bus-station (only 20m from the shop).

Although the walnut cream bun was rather disappointing (too sweet) the cream-cheese bun was surprisingly good! But it didn't really live up to its fame in my opinion unlike our chicken! :D' The bus ride to the folk village takes around 50 - 60 min, after which you arrive at this picturesque village by the mountains. Make sure you go when it is warm (or wear appropriate boots) or you'll end up freezing your toes off like we did. There's also lots of traditional guesthouses where you get to experience sleeping in these amazing houses. I heard they were quite expensive, but it is definitely an experience that I wouldn't mind returning for!

Another thing Andong is famous for is there SOJU. Andong Soju is much much stronger than the normal soju (at 40% alcohol content).  The generic soju is a chemical based alcohol where as Andong Soju is still distilled from wheat.  As such, I am told that Andong Soju has a much cleaner and deeper taste as well as the added bonus of a 'clearer' head the next day.

There's also a great variety of programs such as mask making or calligraphy that you can try at the village... and such this is my attempt at calligraphy :)

After a morning walk around town, we made our way back to the city where we had a traditional sardines lunch set at 일직식당 (naver map), which came recommended by our guesthouse. 

The rest of our short trip involved the walk to the 벽화마을 which is a small part of town where the walls are decorated/spray-painted as well as the walk to the famous wooden bridge (1-2km away from town). The bridge called 월영교 (wol-young-gyo) is the longest wooden bridge in Korea, only a short distance away from the Andong Dam (안동댐). Although we couldn't visit the dam due to time-constraint, I hear it is worth the drive/walk up :)