I love Korean food but if I had to pick my next favorite, it would be Japanese. Ever since I came to Korea, I've been craving really good Japanese food that I was so used to back at home in Hawaii. I know I can have all the Korean food that I can possibly want in the world but I need variety and diversity. And I realized once again how much I loved Japanese food! I miss Japan!
Feeling nostalgic and homesick, I was happy to find this Japanese stonepot rice restaurant called Doriking in Insadong, near Anguk Station. Koreans use kama or stonepots for a lot of their dish. Dolsot-bibimbap would be a Korean equivalent of kamameshi. But the Japanese style stonepot rice is more subtle in flavor, concentrating on the ingredients focusing on each vegetable's unique flavor. Some Koreans may feel this is bland but only through these subtle seasoning, the real flavor of each vegetable can come out and be appreciated. I had the mushroom kamameshi teishoku. Miso soup was a nice change from 된장찌개 Korean miso soup. A close up of the kamameshi...mushrooms and sweet potato...yum... My mouth was in heaven~
When I tell people that I like intestines, I always get a weird look. I'm told most girls don't like to eat intestines. But I LOVE intestines...of beef, pork, chicken, you name it! I like it in a soup or stir-fried, deep-fried, etc... Am I not normal for enjoying intestines so much? I also get a kick out of people getting grossed out when they see me eat links of intestines... ^^
The place I went in to for an awesome pork intestine is just a small neighborhood restaurant. It is so cheap. I just love these little restaurants in my neighborhood where most of the dishes are less than 10,000 won! I ordered 오돌뼈. not really sure what you call this in English but I think it's some sort of a pork cartilage, very crunchy. Only 6000Won and very spicy. The seasoning is sweet and spicy and the spiciness hits you later. The highlight of the night...vegetable pork intestines... there's long rice, lots of veggies, I especially like the sesame seed leaves. The aroma of it just makes the whole dish smell scrumptious. This too is spicy and 6000Won. The whole meal only costed us 12,000Won or 8bucks? Try beat this price! Like most of Korean food, you eat this pork intestines wrapped in lettuce. Definitely softens the spiciness with the lettuce leaves. And of course a shot of soju... I need to do a review of all the soju brands in Korea soon. I never had so many choices and selections to choose from for soju before. But I know I'm becoming more Korean, when I start calling my soju at the restaurant. My usual pick is 처음처럼 but I really wanna try J next time. ^^
피맛골 or Pimatgol is a food alley famous from Joseon Dynasty in Jongno, its name derived from 피마 pima meaning avoiding horses. Jongno is a famous street from long ago where government officials on their horses frequently used. So most of the commoners used this backstreet, Pimatgol in order to avoid the officials on their horses. Soon this street turned into a local hangout for the commoners, where they gathered and opened up businesses for food and drinks. Up until recently, this tradition continued and restaurants here were although shabby on the outside, provided inexpensive and yet delicious meals for commoners on a tight budget. But as you can see from the picture on the right, with Seoul revelopment projects, they completely demolished this historical street, getting rid of restaurants that were as old as 60 years. Fortunately, more famous restaurants have relocated nearby, but in a modern business building, losing its original color, tradition, and culture.
One of the most famous restaurants of Pimatgol that survived this revelopment is Suhrin Nakji (octopus). I'm so glad that although they lost their original beauty, they have remained nearby for people to reminisce about the past and still enjoy the food they once had in the old pimatgol.
Entrance into the restaurant.
View of the inside. Already a full restaurant at 6pm. You'll find everyone eating the same thing here. Spicy Nakji (octopus). Be forewarned. It is spicy!!!
This place is unique because unlike other octopus restaurants, it has a slight fusion touch. Along with octopus, there are sausages and bacons. It has a nice modern touch to a traditional dish.
A close-up of sausages, bacons, and octopus. yummy~~ A serving for two was definitely more than enough. OH, everyone drinks here. This dish has to be eaten with soju! ^^
I'm on a roll with the burger joints. I'm not sure if you remember my older post with my favorite chicken place, Thunder Chicken? Well, I found a burger place called Thunder Burger. Apparently thunder is a popular name for restaurants. I found out about this place through some of the blogs that I follow and it made it to someone's best burgers in Seoul list so I figured it would be worth a try to give it a taste.
Thunder Burger in Itaewon. Itaewon is known to have lots of foreigners and food that is more eclectic than other parts of Seoul.
Menu- On the pricey side with most of the set menu costing over 10,000 won or (8bucks). I guess it's not that bad in U.S. standards but this is expensive for Korea! I ordered Spicy burger set and my friend order mushroom burger. Mine cost 11,000 won. ouch!
interior of the restaurant... more sitting on the street... I forgot to get a picture of that...oops...
they cut the burger in half for you here... easier to eat for sure and share your burger with your friends ^^
The burger on the left is the spicy burger and the one on the right is the mushroom burger. My burger was so dry, and not spicy at all. NOT RECOMMENDED! but the mushroom burger was pretty good I say. ^^ But they were both on the small side. For 11000 Won, they need to beef up their burgers!
But the french fries were good and the drink was refillable. I got like 3-4 refills. Gotta get my money's worth somewhere! So my overall ranking for this place is.... B-?
I'm not a big fan of burgers. I would have cravings here and there but I'm pretty much a rice and a soup kind of girl. But I found a burger that fit my taste buds perfectly. LOTTERIA! I've been to Lotteria in Japan a few times and I really liked their ebi-fry(fried shrimp) burgers. I'm still not sure how the Lotteria in Korea and Japan is related but the menu is definitely different. For example, Veggie Bulgogi Burger? You can only find this in Korea. Apparently they had a bulgogi kimchi burger before it got discontinued... very unfortunate. I would've totally loved that burger too. Anyway, this burger is a rice burger which means instead of a regular bun, they use rice. It's not the plain rice bun that the Mos Burger from Japan serve for their rice burger. This one's more like fried rice bun, where you can see bits of carrots and onions in the rice. Then you have your patty which is seasoned with bulgogi sauce. I was hoping for real bulgogi but I guess that was close enough. I was also nicely surprised to find bacon in the burger. Bacon is always an upgrade for an average burger. Then you have your mayo, lettuce and tomato. I didn't have much expectation but I was really impressed with the burger. It was filling and I definitely felt like I had a full meal. Only disappointment would be their french fries. They need to do something about those fries... bake it or season it or something! But overall, I would go back for more of veggie bulgogi burgers!!!
menu is pretty impressive... some of the interesting burgers they have are like Avocado shrimp burger, spicy love sandwich, Paprika bacon beef, bulgogi-kalbi burger, bulgogi burger, bulgogi and fried chicken combo, and my favorite veggie-bulgogi rice burger. Price range is about 4000 Won to 5,500 Won for a set menu. (about $4)
the wrapping has the ingredients on the side...
close up of the burger. they are pretty generous with mayo here. see the fried rice buns?
This is Lee Seung Chul's song from his 8th album. Kind of old from few years back, but I just love the lyrics of this song... screaming out for your love to come back, but only from your heart.
*Translation done by me ^^.
많이 생각날텐데 많이 그리울텐데 I will think of you a lot, I will miss you a lot 많이 힘겨울텐데 많이 아파올텐데 It will be hard, it will hurt a lot 눈을 감아보아도 너만 떠오를텐데 Even when I close my eyes, I will only see you 정말 보고싶어서 그냥 혼자소리쳐 from missing you so much. And I scream out
많이 생각날텐데 많이 그리울텐데 I will think of you a lot, I will miss you a lot 많이 힘겨울텐데 많이 아파올텐데 It will be hard, it will hurt a lot 니가 보고싶어서 숨이 막힐것같아 I can't breathe from missing you so much 정말 보고싶을땐 그냥 혼자소리쳐 When I miss you, I just scream out by myself
널 가슴에 품고 난 살아가겠지 I will live with you in my heart 서로 모른 척 하며 pretending to not know each other 서로 잊은 척 하며 pretending to have forgotten 워어 예이예이예에 wo~~
가지말라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming 'don't go' 가지말라고 말했어 I told you not to go 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 I love ONLY you
돌아오라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming, 'come back' 돌아오라고 말했어 I told you to come back to me 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 소리쳐 I'm screaming out I love ONLY you
널 가슴에 품고 난 살아 가겠지 I will live with you in my heart 서로 모른 척 하며 pretending to not know each other 서로 잊은 척 하며 pretending to have forgotten 워어 예이예이예에 wo~~
가지말라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming 'don't go' 가지말라고 말했어 I told you not to go 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 I love ONLY you
돌아오라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming, 'come back' 돌아오라고 말했어 I told you to come back to me 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 I love ONLY you
가지말라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming 'don't go' 가지말라고 말했어 I told you not to go 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 I love ONLY you
돌아오라고 소리쳐 I'm screaming, 'come back' 돌아오라고 말했어 I told you to come back to me 사랑한다고 사랑한다고 I'm telling you I love you 사랑한다고 너만을 소리쳐 I'm screaming out I love ONLY you
My first concert in Seoul...unfortunately this was the day Former President Roh Moo-hyun passed away (May 23, 2009). All of major city and government events were canceled on that day but I was relieved to know this concert was still on. It was held outdoors in the War Museum in Samgakji and although expected, I was still surprised to find mostly middle-aged fans at the conert, revealing how old Lee Seung Chul is. But I'm still proud to say I'm his fan since I find all of his music, timeless. And hearing all the songs that I've heard as a child and the new songs performed live, just made me appreciate his music a little more. At that moment, realized once again, how rich Seoul is in culture and entertainment and felt so lucky to be in Seoul. ^^
This concert was to promote his 10th album Mutopia, which I had bought. ^^ I love all of the songs on there but my favorites are 손톱이 빠져서 and 그런사람또없습니다. I'm posting the videos of these songs that I recorded from the concert. I just can't believe how good he is. You'll mistaken his live voice to be recorded! Enjoy!
그런 사람 또 없습니다 There is no one like that Please excuse my singing...couldn't help but sing along and it's shaky because I was waving my hand to the music...^^
people lined up to enter the concert...as you can see they are mostly middle-aged folks...
very colorful background...almost psychedelic
reminded me of a Hawaiian Luau with all this fire...
It's my first blog and my first return to Korea in 20 years. This is year 2 of my life in Seoul and the lauching of my blog, Eat Play & Love. Hopefully I can update it frequently with more great food, entertainment, and travel.
Thanks for visiting my site. Just so that I know who to thank, leave me comments! I'm still a baby blogger so I would appreciate any feedback from you.
Koreans use kama or stonepots for a lot of their dish. Dolsot-bibimbap would be a Korean equivalent of kamameshi. But the Japanese style stonepot rice is more subtle in flavor, concentrating on the ingredients focusing on each vegetable's unique flavor. Some Koreans may feel this is bland but only through these subtle seasoning, the real flavor of each vegetable can come out and be appreciated.
I had the mushroom kamameshi teishoku. Miso soup was a nice change from 된장찌개 Korean miso soup.
A close up of the kamameshi...mushrooms and sweet potato...yum...
My mouth was in heaven~
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