March 2008

Korea (the southern part, of course) is a bit overlooked in East Asia, overshadowed by China and Japan. Landing in Seoul, I wasn’t sure what to expect, generally or from a food standpoint. A huge and modern city of 21 million souls (including the burbs) living a few kilometres away from the world’s leading erratic dictator (now that Saddam has relinquished leadership of Iraq and the hide and seek championship title), Seoul has, threats of nuclear annihilation and a brief summer Olympics aside, never really been on my radar . I didn’t expect to be charmed, but found the city modern, without being alienating, the people pleasant, while still discreet and the food fantastic.

Street Food Near Sincheon Station

Street Food Near Sincheon Station

T-Bone and his lovely wife (let’s call her Porterhouse—they complement each other after all) had already been in town for a few days and had the inside track on restaurants, particularly the trendy little spots in Insadong not far from our hotels. When the JJ and I stepped off the plane suffering from the gastric slings and arrows of Beijing we were ushered into Gogung, an open and relaxed sit-on-the-floor joint in the basement of the Ssamzie market specializing in Jeonju bibimpap (featuring nuts and raw beef). We all opted for the dolsot (stone pot) bibimbap served with an ample selection of tangy kimchee and bottles of Hite (no, that’s not a typo).

Dolsot Bibimbap at Gogung: Just what the doctor ordered

Dolsot Bibimbap at Gogung: Just what the doctor ordered

And we kept being drawn back to trendy little Insadong, with its sidewalk food shops and cute little boutiques, day after day. A rainy visit of the Gyeongbokgunk (the main imperial palace) was followed by a walk up cute winding, hilly streets replete with restaurants, teahouses and little boutiques that would not have been out of place in San Francisco . We ended up near the top of the hill in Jongno-gu with growling stomachs and randomly walked (despite its suspiciously Canadian-friendly name) into the Maple Tree House, a neat little barbecue restaurant featuring sparse décor of polished wood, brass and cement.

Maple Tree House's Modern Industrial Look

Maple Tree House's Modern Industrial Look

Despite the language barrier, eating at the Maple Tree House was the epitome of the patient and attentive service we would experience everywhere in Seoul . The bilingual owner offered us a choice of meat for grilling (there are only six menu choices nailed to the wall), including fatty pork belly, strips of pork loin and thin, melting slices of beef beef .

Griling up a storm at Maple Tree House: evil garlic can be seen in background to right of grill

Griling up a storm at Maple Tree House: evil garlic can be seen in background to right of grill

A charcoal barbecue was placed on our table and a fan lowered to it. Our waitress did most of the grilling and showed us which meat to wrap in lettuce or perilla leaves and which condiments to add to them. Especially noteworthy was the maneul-jangajji, garlic pickled in soya, vinegar, sugar and a little chilli paste. I never thought I could eat 40 cloves of garlic but it was so good that I did. Really.

Drink Hite!

Drink Hite!

What could possibly top the barbecue experience at Maple Tree? T-Bone had asked one of his Korean colleagues to recommend an authentic galbi restaurant so we trundled off the subway at Sincheon station using our homemade map to negotiate through nearby back alleys. We ended up at a dingy looking restaurant with bare concrete floors and smoke wafting out of half open windows. There were no tables. There were no chairs. Just a bunch of stainless steel barrels with groups of people standing around them drinking beer and sochu, making the whole scene look a bit like a convention for homeless people.

The grill at Dak Galbi: only serious galbi fiends need apply

The grill at Dak Galbi: only serious galbi fiends need apply

This is Dak Galbi. The barrels are contain a core of smoldering charcoal and make surprisingly efficient stand-up grills. And there is only one thing on the menu here—galbi. The galbi here has nothing in common with the thin, flanken cut short ribs usually associated with this recipe. Dak Galbi short ribs, marinated in soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar and green onion, are monstrous—a couple of inches thick. Cooking is an interesting sequence of grilling, marinating in the sauce simmering on the grill, cutting with scrissors and more grilling. The only sides are cloves of raw garlic and mild green chili peppers that are alternately grilled and marinated as well. The meal was a free-for-all with bottles of Hite and sochu perched on a windowsill or getting precariously heated on the rim of the barrel. The crowd was boisterous but friendly and we kept ordering more galbi to grill until the restaurant ran out (around 8pm). One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had.

Grilling at Dak Galbi: try not to look too homeless

Grilling at Dak Galbi: try not to look too homeless

Once standing over a smoking barrel for two hours has left you with smelling like a side of smoked beef, what could be better than a visit to one of Seoul`s many teahouses. Koreans take their tea as seriously as any of their east Asian neighbours and Seoul boasts a wide variety of teahouses featuring a wide array of hot and cold teas, some conventional, others derived from fruit or roots and of a decidedly more medicinal bent. Insadong has a concentration of teashops including Sinyetchatjip, renowned essentially for having a bunch of birds flying around. Interesting, but birds truly are despicable creatures.

Korean Take on French Pastry: Sweet Potato Turnover

Korean Take on French Pastry: Sweet Potato Turnover

With the break of dawn came a visit to the DMZ and a drop-off in Itaewon, famous for being the district of Seoul that is most foreigner friendly, with U.S. forces congregating here whilst on leave. If I have one word of advice for anybody visiting Seoul it would be to avoid Itaewon, which is reminiscent of a stroll through Promenades Saint-Hubert, like the plague. This is the place to go if you’re looking for TGI Friday’s…which would make you a pretty sick bird given how well you can eat in this town.

Unmanned Street Food Stall in Myeong-Dong

Unmanned Street Food Stall in Myeong-Dong

For dinner, we wandered around Myeong-Dong looking for Baekje Samgyetang, a medicinal type dish featuring a whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng, garlic, jujubes and other healthy goodies and served in a clear chicken broth. Maybe its an acquired taste but for me the samgyetang was pretty bland after the all out flavour assault of two days of Korean barbecue. And the chopped roast chicken sauteed in kimchi I ordered to remedy the situation failed to impress as well.

Samgyetang: good for you

Samgyetang: good for you

One teahouse you shouldn’t miss in Myeong-Dong is the easy to remember (at least for us Westerners) O’Sulloc, a very modern, well lit affair chock full of blond wood and muted colors. The selection of teas is excellent and the desserts are great.

O'Sulloc: nice, modern and very relaxing

O'Sulloc: nice, modern and very relaxing

We bid goodbye to Seoul with a little meal at Yoogang, a packed Myeong-Dong eatery where they cook up delicious dishes such as marinated bulgogi fried rice and marinated chicken galbi in table top electric frying pans. Spicy and delicious, like most of what I ate in Seoul and only C$18 with a litre of Hite. We may only have scratched the surface of Korean cuisine on this trip, but, if we did, it was the right surface. Seoul is definitely on my radar as a foodie destination.

Last Meal at Yoogang: try not to smell too much like chili when you get on the plane

Last Meal at Yoogang: try not to smell too much like chili when you get on the plane

Pounding Rice to Make Tteok (Dessert Rice Cakes)

Pounding Rice to Make Tteok (Dessert Rice Cakes)

Thirty years of research! That must be some bossam

Thirty years of research! That must be some bossam