With that said, here's a quick summary of what I've enjoyed. (I'll be sharing non-food related stories in the future):
Cost key:
W1,000 = ~$0.92
W1,500 = ~$1.40
"Ice Cream Waffle Pie". Waffles are big, from fancy dessert places to this lovely thing I got at one of the subway stations. Cost? W1,500. It's cheap and delicious. You can also get a regular "waffle pie" for W1,000.
Ho dduk. Basically rice cake with a nutmeg/brown sugar filling, with extra goodies thrown in, depending on the vendor. This was my best one so far. Compared to ho dduk I had in LA, I'd say this was just as good but different. In LA the ho dduk was thinner. This one is like the deep dish pizza of ho dduk's. Cost: W1,000
Just one sample of the amaaaaazing pastries in Korea. The most common bakery in Korea is Paris Baguette. You can easily find several within a few minutes of walking distance from each other. And of course, like a lot of food in Korea, it's sooo cheap compared to American prices!
I only had this once, but this shabu-shabu (I don't know the Korean word for it) was delicious. Buuut I have to say, Shabu House in Des Plaines, Illinois still stands as my best shabu shabu meal.
A small sampling of the street food that is available right around the corner (I plated it for effect). Three pieces of tempura (twee-gim in Korean), a cup of sweet chicken (ddak jahng juhng), and three breaded dumplings (something something mandoo) for about $3.75. I'm tempted to eat this every other day, but have gotten my intake down to 1-2 times a week.
Green tea/Vanilla swirl, W1,000. These machines are everywhere, too. Love it, especially in summer weather!
Deeeelicious soba and donkatsu in Seobingo. This is a chain known for their soba, apparently, and their reputation is well-deserved. I forget how much I paid for it, but it was reasonable and totally worth it.
I've had jjah jjah myung a few times here, but to be honest, I haven't been wowed by any of them. Maybe I was expecting too much?
Tied for best ramen I've ever had. My ramen at that Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights, IL was a few years ago but that's up there as well. Anyway, this was delicious, and only cost me W5,000.
A "home-cooked" meal. At the local market (not the chain stores) they only sell kimchi by the kilo. So I bought 2.2 pounds of cucumber kimchi and 2.2 pounds of cabbage kimchi, all for W10,000. Of course, you have the lightly toasted spam and some beans soaked in soy sauce, and some rice at the bottom.
Last but not least, three different types of instant noodles. The jjah jjah myung tastes like what I expected. The big surprises were the instant jjam pohng and instant suhl lung tang. I haven't had the jjam pohng yet but the suhl lung tang is actually pretty good.Other notes:
"HOF" chicken is every where (cut up, deep fried chicken)
Budaejigae. "Army stew." Spam, hot dogs, bacon, ground beef (depending on the restaurant), instant ramen noodles, assorted veggies, and rice cake cooked in one pot. I'm surprised I don't have any pictures of the several that I've had, but I think that's because I was so excited to eat it when it came out. They cook it from the very beginning right in front of you, and I have never tasted budaejigae this good. Oh my goodness, the flavors that develop are incredible. I always felt obligated to enjoy this in the States because it has so much meat, but here it's something I genuinely look forward to.
Basically all kimchi. Maybe it's the fact that I'm in Korea, but all the kimchi seems to have an extra flavor that makes it extra-enjoyable.
Lastly,
I still think about my week in LA. I'm convinced LA has at least food as good as Korea, but with Western twists (cheaper and higher quality beef, more meat in each serving)
I have one more post to do on Galbi, and food posts will be on break for awhile. =)
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