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 :)

Crêpes, Galettes and a Bottle of Cider at La Celtique

La Celtique 

서울특별시 종로구 체부동 19

5-10 ChangCheon-dong,

Seodaemungu, Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

google map// naver map

Galettes (11,000 ~ 13,000 won) + Crêpe (5,000 ~10,000 won)

Merry Christmas!!

Although I had not been expecting today would be the day I would write about this crêperie, as I did visit the place as an 'early christmas celebration' that I so dearly miss AND after what is my 3rd glass of wine... I thought it would be a good secret place to share. 

Ever since falling in love with Galettes (which I learnt later on were buckwheat crêpes) in Hong Kong, I've been trying to look out for anything similar ever since. Yet despite the surge in brunch spots around town, there seemed to be a distinct lack of anything as similar to a half-cooked egg bathed in melted emmanuel cheese with truffles.

Anyhow, as we were in a mood for a 'light' lunch before our  'early christmas celebration', I was searching for later brunch options when I stumbled across this crêperie that was apparently run by an actual french guy (who we later discovered looks like an aging Waldo). After quickly convincing my early christmas date on merits of a crêpe, we made our way to Shinchon for my very first crêpe in Seoul.

And look they even have proper cider that is not magners or strongbow! :D

The place was very very homey and christmas themed (and you can see our aged waldo lookalike chef in the back-ground!

After getting a glass or two of french cider (which seem to be a lot less sweet and stronger than the apple-flavoured Strongbow and Magners!), we finally decided on our galettes :) we got the supreme with mushrooms, cheese and half-cooked egg and the galette Saucisse which came with homemade sausages and onions!

Our chef cooking away :)

He even kindly explained that the egg should be cut and spread before eating, which I never knew before. But there, now I know how to properly eat a galette.
If you're into a dish full of strong bold flavours then you should definitely go for the sausage galette instead.. as the dish was very simple and rustic tasting (which I loved).
If there was one thing i would do differently... would be either to add more cheese :D :D and definitely definitely a scoop of truffle to go with it.

Although I've never been much of a dessert person, we thought it was only fair if we left the crêperie after trying a crêpe as well.. .which led to us having one with chocolate and orange marmalade! I had never tried the combination before.. and it turned out to be a divine surprise to eat and munch our way through!

Our lunch was definitely a success! And I have a feeling I will be returning to this place time after time maybe even just to say hi at the adorable french waldo chef. 

Lemon Tarts at Aux Petits Verre

Aux Petits Verre

서울특별시 종로구 체부동 19

19 Chebu-dong (24 Jahamunro 5gagil), 

Jongrogu, SEOUL, KOREA

google map// naver map

Lemon Tart (7,000 WON) + Tea (5,000 WON)

Although I didn't think it would take this long for me to start blogging about the food, drinks, places or any odd bits and pieces of my life in Seoul...it has been more than 4 months since I started my hectic life here. 

Although I've been to several excellent restaurants, today's little dessert shop was just what I needed on a sunday afternoon feeling slightly home-sick and slightly displaced. 

The shop is apparently owned by Master Chef Korea season one runner-up Park Jun Ooh (박준우),

and is famous for their lemon tarts!

I've come to learn that everything that's 'famous' in Korea, means that it's super over-crowded, super unfriendly and usually not that impressive.. (especially the western cuisine/desserts).

However I was surprised to visit on a sunday afternoon a rather tiny and quiet shop, where there was nothing on the menu except 5-6 tarts (and meringue cake), teas and french wine.

It is strange but the more concentrated and short the menus are these days... the more faith I have in the quality of the food... :)

Anyhow.. after looking through the menu and walking around to take a peak at the tarts,

we decided to share a lemon tart and a glass of tea (which I forgotten the name of.. )

It was a nice concept to be able to smell the teas prior to choosing them, and we were soon persuaded to try a cup of tea rather than a cup of coffee.

I think I'll just have to come back for the chocolate tart and the strawberry one...

Although i really was not expecting a proper lemon tart... This little surprise turned out to be one of the best lemon tarts I've tasted in a while. Delightfully light on top of a perfect crust..., it was neither overly sweet nor sour and really (ACTUALLY) tasted like lemons! 

It took enormous amount of self-control to not suggest to my friend to order another one.. perhaps the strawberry one.. going along the lines of "how much damage can a little tart do?"

But going along with the rationale it better to leave the place craving for another bite so that soon i'll just have to return for another bite, we quickly exited the tiny little place hidden in Seoul.

And now, although i'm not sure if anyone does read my blog anymore,

begins my journey through finding what I love to eat in Seoul!