Food Street in Myeongdong, Seoul

Sotetsu Fresa Inn, the hotel where we stayed in Seoul is situated right next to Myeongdong Walking Street. Myeongdong is where tourists come to shop at the numerous shopping complexes and departmental stores that are aplenty in this area. But significant number of visitors come to eat at the makeshift food stalls that lined along either side of Myeongdong Walking Steet. 

Every late afternoon, this Walking Street is transformed from a normal vehicular road to become pedestrian walkway. Stall owners move in their mobile stalls as early as 4pm and set up their stalls. This Street reminds me of our Jalan Alor Food Street in Kuala Lumpur. It is said that Jalan Alor Food Street offer some of the best culinary delights that Malaysia has to offer and at reasonable price, i.e. far below prices quoted in the overpriced restaurants. This cannot be said about food sold in Myeongdong Walking Street, they are comparatively more pricy!

Unlike Jalan Alor Food Street where almost all stalls are provided with dining tables and chairs by the road sides for diners to enjoy their meals, visitors to Myeongdong Walking Street do not have this privilege. They all have to eat while standing next to the stalls or find some nearby empty spots. 

The baked sweet potato was good!

Royal Meal in Seoul

When our niece asked whether we like to have a Royal Meal in Korea, we had no hesitation and asked her to proceed with the booking. We were looking forward to it and had high hope of enjoying a Royal Meal at Myongdongjeong, a restaurant that specializes in royal cuisine.

In the end, the meal turned out to be at best mediocre and nothing to brag about. While the number of dishes are very substantial, they are just plain ordinary dishes, far from food that royalty are supposed to enjoy. 

On another note, if the Korean royalty indeed eat similar ordinary food just like their subjects, then it's a consolation to appreciate the simplicity of Korean royalty considering the extravagance and wastage of some royalties of many nations!

On the cost of the meal, I consider the prices charged are disproportionate to the quality of these dishes. I doubt I will ever recommend to friends to have a go for it!

The only consolation after the meal was probably the "exclusive" time granted for us to try out all the Korean costumes normally offered to customers. Since we were the last group of guests in that afternoon, we had all the time until closing of the closing of the restaurant.

Korean Broth

Koreans are proud of their "Tang" or broth which we call soup. A Korean TV documentary series called "A Nation of Broth" was produced to highlight the importance of broth in Korean cuisine. A meal without broth is unimaginable to the Koreans!

In Seoul, we had a chance to savour some of the "Tang" shown in the the documentary. We had "Samgyetang" or ginseng chicken soup at Tosokchon Samgyetang. This restaurant was reported to be frequented by the late Korean President, Roh Moo-Hyun. 

Most customers come for the most popular dish, the Samgyetang which is made from a host of ingredient - ginseng, glutinous rice, pumpkin seeds, black sesame, walnut, pine, chestnut, ginkgo, garlic, sunflower seeds, Chinese date and other special ingredients.

Long queue of customers waiting to be called in.

***********************************************

Myeongdong Kyoja in Seoul is accredited with Michelin Bib Gourmand for seven years from 2017 to 2023. This restaurant is known for four dishes - Mandu (Dumpling), Kalgulsu, Bibimguksu (Mixed Noodle) and Kongguksu (Soy Milk Bean Noodle). 

We ordered three of them except the more spicy Bibimguksu. Both the Kalgulsu and Konggusu are served with their typical broth.

Kalgulsu and Mandu. 

Broth of Kalgulsu is typically made from dried anchovies, shellfish and kelp. Korean Mandu is similar to our Chinese Jiaozi but served typically with kimchi and soy-vinegar-chili dipping sauce.

Kongguksu - The broth is thick and whitish because of the soy milk content.

In terms of pricing, it's rather pricy. Obviously, the cost of living in Korea comparatively is higher than in Malaysia. A bowl of Mandu with 10 dumplings costs RM40, a bowl of Kalgulsu costs RM33, a bowl of Bibimguksu (Mixed Noodle) costs RM33 and a bowl of Kongguksu (Bean Noodle) costs RM40.

**************************************************

We had Dwaeji Gukbap for our breakfast in our last day in Korea. Unlike our Nyau Chap, the dish is rather simple. It consists of slices of boiled pork served in bone broth. Mee or meehon is replaced by rice!

First Time Experience of Eating Raw Crabs

We spent some time trying to locate the restaurant that served Ganjang Gejang (Raw Crabs Marinated in Soy Sauce) in Seoul. The outlet called Jinma Sikdang in Seoul has no fancy signboard and the interior is simple and plain. It is tucked in a very obscure location and is rather difficult to find. Surprisingly, it is an outlet that is accredited with Michelin Guide for five years from 2017 to 2022 except 2019 because of the raw crabs they serve. 

A search in the internet shows that this dish takes quite an effort to prepare. A marinade of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, scallions, ginger, garlic and red chilli pepper paste is boiled first before being poured over the salted crabs. Crabs are thoroughly cleaned and then salted for about six hours. An hour later, the marinade is removed and reboiled and poured over the salted crabs again. This process is repeated a few times before the dish is chilled and eaten cold.

There is no specific way to eat this marinated raw crabs. My niece demonstrated how she normally eat them. The salted raw crab meat is squeezed out from the crab over steamed rice spread over Nori sheet or seaweed sheet. Depending on individual preference, one can add in kimchi and mixed vege before wrapping up for consumption!

This is one dish I do not consider as a dish I am particularly fond of. This is probably my first and the last :)