Seoul 11.12 - near the hotel

We stayed at the Western COOP Residence in Seoul, and because it's located near (even though not right inside) the Dongdaemun shopping district, there were night life going on in the area.

First off, there were plenty of street vendors near by, where you could get snacks and little fashion accessories and such, and there were also restaurants in small streets everywhere.



And there was a police station near by. Looks pretty cool!

Oh, and there were many, and I mean many, different convenience stores within a few blocks of the hotel. Most of them were GS25 stores. You could find simple household necessities, snacks, and all sorts of beverages at these stores, and you could also buy tickets to events and trains. Convenience indeed!

The baked goods section at a GS25.

Snacks!

Different milk and coffee drinks.

Korean food essentials: gochujiang (chili paste), sesame oil, soy bean paste, etc., and cute mini mayo!

Most of the canned sodas we saw were 250ml (1 cup) in volume.


Someone recommended these Melon Flavor Ice Bars from GS25 and we tried one. It was creamy and very honeydew-y!

Browsing at convenience stores was fun!

Seoul 11.12 - Nolboo budae jjigae

One of the best things in Seoul is that many restaurants open 24 hours a day, and there are fun and exciting choices for all!

Near by our hotel there was a Nolboo. It's a popular chain restaurant that serves budae jjigae. Budae jjigae literally translated to "military/army stew," and it originally came about when, after the war, food was not readily available, and people uses the surplus food items that the U.S. Army bases supplied, mixed with chili paste and kimchi to make this "fusion" dish!

At the second floor.

Look who greeted us at the door!

There were different meats, vegetables, mushrooms, and rice cakes, and the ajuma was pouring broth into the pan.

These little rice cakes were my favorite. They were so cute!

Like Myeongdong Kyoja, the chopsticks and long spoons were in the drawers.

Of course there were some kimchi.

View from above the pan.

We let everything cook for a while, and then everything turned red! There must be some gochujiang (hot chili paste) hidden underneath from the beginning! Oh it was spicy and delicious!




The Budae Jjigae pan looked gigantic in the photos, but the pan itself was pretty shallow so there wasn't a ton of food, but with the rice, kimchi, and other sides that come with the jjigae it was a very satisfying meal.

And I really enjoyed these "eating while cooking for yourself" style of restaurants in Seoul!

Seoul 11.12 - Myeongdong Kyoja

We were a little hungry after arriving at Myeongdong, so we headed over to Myeongdong Kyoja (Myeongdong Dumplings) to have some early dinner/snack.

Myeongdong Kyoja has two locations within the Myeongdong shopping district. I'm not quite sure which one we ended up going in to, but it was the one I saw first!


We were seated at the second floor. The shop was busy! The server lady dropped off the menu and returned very quickly to take our orders and payment. Very efficient!

The condiments were on the table.

And the utensils were in the drawers under the table.

This was silly, but when the kimchi and soups came John and I wondered why the lady didn't bring us the utensils. We asked for chopsticks (using hand gestures) and the lady looked surprised (or shocked?) and pulled out the drawer right next to me.

So that was where the chopsticks and spoons were.

We got the steamed mandu (steamed dumplings) and bibimguksu (spicy cold noodles). They were delicious!

The steamed mandu.

The bibimguksu.

The steamed mandu was filled with juicy ground pork and vegetables, and the skin was thin and delicious, too!

And for the bibimguksu, the boy that brought the dish asked if we wanted to have it cut, and we said yes, so he cut the "pile" of noodles into four sections for easy-eating. The noodles were cooked well and their texture was QQ - soft yet "al dente". I really liked them!

The kimchi at Myeongdong Kyoja was also some of our favorite during this trip... very garlic-y! Yum.

mmm Myeongdong Kyoja!

Seoul 11.12 - Namdaemun black sugar pastry

Now I remember why John and I couldn't finish our ham hock lunch in Namdaemun. Prior to getting to the restaurant we shared a black sugar pastry. It was so delicious!

it was at this stand.

We were first attracted to the stand because of the sweet aromatics in the air, and there were quite a few people standing near by the stand.

These guys serve the traditional black sugar pastries, as well as fried street foods that people love, such as big corn dogs (!) and french fries on a stick (!) 

The guys made little dough balls with a cinnamon-brown sugar mixture rolled in the dough. They then fried the pastries on a griddle, pressed the balls down with a round-iron-tool. The pastries were done when both sides were golden brown. 

Oh my goodness. This sounded so simple and so delicious!

When we decided to get one, we told the guy who's frying the pastries and he picked up a fresh one off the griddle, placed it in a paper cup (!) and handed it to us. 

The outside of the pastry was hot, slightly crispy, but soft and chewy at the same time, and the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture had been melted during the frying... the combination of the outer skin and the center were just wonderful! mmm.

I had later on seen these pastries sold at little stands in other parts of the Seoul (Dongdaemun, Myeong-Dong, etc..) If you ever visit Seoul and see these, make sure you try one. They are yummy!

Seoul 11.12 - Namdaemun ham hocks

It was just about time for lunch while John and I were browsing through Namdaemun Market. I had read about these delicious ham hocks in an old shop inside Namdaemun, so I had my mind set on having ham hocks for lunch!

The ham hock shop was located inside Namdaemun Market, off and near exit 5 of Hoehyeon Station.

When we got close to where the shop was supposed to be I realized there were two ham hock shops couple door away from each other.



Which was the one that I read about? I couldn't read Korean so I had no idea what I was looking at on the signs. Both of the shops looked fine to me.

So we ended up walking into the one that had more people in it. As I think back now I still can't remember which one we picked!

Anyhow, I don't think you could go wrong with either of these shops. It's ham hocks, baby!

We walked into the shop. It was busy, and we were seated by a small table by the door. A lady came by and started saying things. I replied in Korean that I couldn't understand Korean, so she started using both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese to talk to me. I replied in Mandarin, and it worked!

She asked what size ham hocks we wanted, and if we wanted anything else with it.

We figured we would order a small one so we would have room left to have other yummy food later on.

And then the soups and side dishes came.


The lettuce and sides were for wrapping up the ham hock pieces, or simply for eating on their own. I tried all of them and they were delicious.

And then the ham hock came. The lady told us she brought us the "smallest one."


Yes she said it was the "smallest one."


Oh my. These ham hocks and sides were yummy! The meat and skin were soft and chewy (or as us Taiwanese people say it, "QQ") and when wrapped in the lettuce with various kimchi and spicy miso (?) it was simply amazing.


John and I ate and it didn't seem to dent the pile of ham hock slices much. Remember how it was the "smallest one"? We would take the rest to go if we were heading back to the hotel right away, but since our next stop was Myeongdong, we left the slightly-dented-pile-of-slices-of-the-smallest ham hock where they were. We thank the ladies at the shop and told the lady that spoke Mandarin it was delicious. They were happy, too.

Oh boy. I think I'm craving some soft and QQ ham hocks right now!

Seoul 11.12 - Namdaemun Market

After getting my new pair of glasses, John and I walked around Namdaemun Market. Namdaemun Market is a fairly traditional market, where you can find different foods, clothing, and household items. It's not a hip or hot shopping spot for youngsters like Myeong-Dong, but it's a very "real" people's market where there are  many interesting things to see at Namdaemun Market in my opinion.

a sale on something... I'm thinking it was on winter coats.

Lots of street vendors selling fresh vegetables, kimchi, and cooked silkworm cocoons(!)

We also saw two fun guys selling soft pulled-honey-treats (with nuts.) They even threw a live candy-making show for us! We bought some honey treats with chopped almonds. Yummy.

Ladies selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and homemade treats and pickles.

We also saw quite a few people making meal deliveries where they carries the food on their head!

Mmm. Grilled rice cakes.

Toasted chestnuts!

There was more great food and snacks that I will tell you about in my next post. Namdaemun was fun!