Restaurants in Korea: February 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Norangkong 노랑콩 - Trendy Cafe in Hongdae 홍대

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Norangkong is a small little cafe down a tiny little alleyway in Hongdae. The cafe is located in what Koreans call "half basements" which means that it is part of the way underground, but the windows are at the ground level. The interior is all yellow and it seems like a super modern trendy type of place. This is the type of place you could take your Korean friends and they'd be impressed at how cool the places are that you know. The music was cool, the atmosphere was cool and this is place I could see hanging out with a group of cool people.

We ordered the grapefruit aid along with the pancakes that come with cream and strawberries. The pancakes were sweet and buttery and combined perfectly with the syrup, cream and strawberries. The aid was a mix of sweet and sour and was a special treat as well. The food in this place is awesome, but probably the thing that makes it special is the unique and trendy atmosphere that it harbors.

Storefront

Sign

Pancakes and Aid

Closer

Very Close

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*This place is located at the end of a tiny alleyway between two buildings. It is a bit difficult to find. Just keep searching between the buildings in the area.

Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 332-37

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로29마길 10-3

Norangkong on Google Maps

Norangkong on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Norangkong

Extensive Pics of Interior, Storefront, Menu, Pancakes and Tiramisu

Pics of Various Drinks

Loads of Pics of the Cafe, Pancakes and Cakes

Ragushiktang 라구식당 - Pasta in Sinchon 신촌

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Ragushiktang is a small pasta place in Sinchon with a family type of atmosphere. It seems like the type of place that you might go with your family, friends or even on a date. It is wide open and has quite a few tables, but definitely does not have a formal type of feel.

The food in this place is in line with the atmosphere, and seems like something you might cook at home for yourself or something your Mother may have made for you growing up. It is very simple, yet very delicious. There are only essentially two main dishes on the menu, and we ordered one of each.

The first is a pasta dish that came with a serving of meat on top in some type of a tomato based sauce. The meat appeared to be ground beef and as I said before had a completely homey taste. Even the noodles seemed like the type you might receive in a school or some other type of cafeteria setting. Lasagna is the other main dish that they offer and this also seemed like a homemade dish. It was super cheesy and meaty and reminded me of home cooking. I really enjoyed this place and both of the dishes.

They also have two sides. The first is bread which we did not order, and the other is a salad which we did. The salad has a dressing of what I believe to be simply olive oil and balsamic vinegar and consists of simple leaves, tomatoes and cheese. This also seemed like something I could easily make myself, but still tasted great.

The prices at this place are not too expensive as well and overall I was satisfied. I will definitely go back to this place again.

Salad

Pasta

Lasagna

Everything!

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This restaurant is in some back alleys and is a little difficult to find. Make sure you bring the location with you on your phone.

Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 50-19

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 명물1길 28

Ragushiktang on Google Maps

Ragushiktang on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Ragushiktang

Storefront, Interior, Fruit, Pasta

Storefront, Interior, Pasta, Lasagna, Salad

Pasta, Lasagna, Fruit

Cafe Burano 카페부라노 - Brunch in Hongdae 홍대 브런치

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Cafe Burano is a very large, popular and bustling brunch restaurant that is located in Hongdae. It has the atmosphere of a typical American brunch place and was quite vibrant and filled with people on the Sunday afternoon that I visited. It is a large and wide open place that would be really good to go with a few friends or with a big group. This is really a place for all occasions.

Since this place had such a factory feel, I was a bit surprised at the quality of the food. The brunch come with several different options including a choice of different types of eggs and omelettes as well as a choice of waffles, pancakes or french toast and some other options as well. I went for the vegetable omelette and was pleasantly surprised. It was essentially scrambled eggs with grilled vegetables in the center. It also came with bacon, sausage which was actually a hot dog, salad and home fries. All of these were excellent, but I was especially impressed by the home fries. Additionally, the portions were huge which is always important to me.

This place is gives a ton of great quality food and I recommend going down there and giving it a try some lazy Sunday.

Storefront

Waffle Brunch

Pancake Brunch

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 201-16 1층

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교로23길 14 국제빌딩

Cafe Burano on Google Maps

Cafe Burano on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Cafe Burano

Tons of Pics Storefront, Menu, Pasta, Baked Goods, Brunch

Interior, Menu, Pasta, Brunch

Interior, Menu, Brunch, Burger

Blackstone 블랙스톤 - Steak in Sinchon 신촌

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Blackstone is a steak and pasta restaurant with excellent food that is located in Sinchon district in Seoul. This is the type of place that I have been looking for for a long time. The steak is great and the pasta is as well.

This restaurant is up high, I believe it is on the fifth floor of a very tall building and the interior feels very classy place for a romantic evening. This seems like the perfect spot to take your significant other for an expensive date on a special occasion. The food is quite pricey but as far as expensive restaurants go, it is definitely feasible to go here on a special occasion.

We ordered one of the mid range steaks at about 17,000 won and it weighed in at 200 grams. It comes on a tray with a black stone (hence the name) that is piping hot on which you can cook your steak. It also comes with butter, vegetables and rice. It is extremely uncommon that I get to eat steak in Korea, so this was an extremely special treat for me and oh how I missed the flavor. This place has cooks an awesome steak and I recommend giving it a try. The reason this place is a bit expensive is because of the size of the steak. It is not huge portions which means two hungry people could easily eat three things. If you only order two, it is not all that expensive, but you might leave hungry.

We also ordered a cream pasta with shrimp in it. This was actually one of the best cream pastas that I have ever had in Korea. Typical Korean cream pastas tend to seem like a cream soup with some pasta in it, but this is more like what I am used to back home. Mostly pasta with a thick sauce that is not overpowering. This was also absolutely delicious.

I highly recommend Blackstone as a date location on a special occasion and I look forward to going back to this place.

Cream Pasta with Shrimp

Steaks

Full Steak Tray

Everything

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 13-2 준성빌딩 5층

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 명물길 32 준성빌딩 5층

Blackstone on Google Maps

Blackstone on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Blackstone

Extensive Pics of Menu as well as Interior and Steak

Pics of Interior, Menu, Steak, Pasta

Pics of Steak, Pasta and Kimchi Risotto

Friday, February 19, 2016

Cali in the Bowl 캘리인더볼 - Hongdae Yeonnamdong 홍대 연남동

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Cali in the Bowl is a restaurant that serves California style food in Yeonnamdong. They have a pretty wide variety of menu items which include burritos, burgers and a variety of different "bowls". The bowls range from teriyaki bowls to burrito bowls and come with a variety of different meat or fish options as well.

I went to this place for the first time this week and I was not disappointed by the quality of the food. I ordered the chicken burrito bowl and the chicken was absolutely delicious. It was marinated to perfection and a decent cut of meat. There was a good amount of seasoned rice with salad on top. In full California style, many of the dishes came with avocado.

The food at this place was absolutely delicious and I would recommend anyone to give this place a try. However, I honestly don't think I will be eating at this place all that often. My main issue is that the portions were just not large enough to merit the price no matter how tasty they were. If you are a bit eater like me, expect to have to order two things which can make this place quite pricey.

Burrito Bowl

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 445 1층

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연희로 32-1 1층

Cali in the Bowl on Google Maps

Cali in the Bowl on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Cali in the Bowl

Storefront, Menu, Interior, Bowls

Burrito, Burger, Bowls

Storefront, Menu, Bowls

B'Mucho Cantina 베무초칸티나 - Mexican in Hongdae Yeonnamdong 홍대 연남동

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B'Mucho Cantina has got to be my new favorite Mexican place in Korea after having gone here last week to try their enchiladas. The Mexican food in Korea just keeps getting better and better with every new place that opens up.

I ordered their enchiladas which came with about four enchiladas covered in a green sauce that had quite a bit of jalapeno in it. It was a little bit spicy and also came with two slices of toast which is not something I have ever seen before, but they were good for mopping up the left over sauce. Although this place does not measure up to the standards of California, it comes dam close. The chicken inside the enchiladas was fantastic and the sauce was spot on.

I am eager and excited to go back to this place and try more of their menu items as I was completely impressed with the food. The food is slightly expensive. The enchiladas were 12,000. That being said, they were large enough to be considered a full meal and were absolutely delicious. The portions at many restaurants in Yeonnamdong are way too small, but this place does it right.

Storefront

More Menu Items

Enchiladas

Flautas

Both Together

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 227-8

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교로46길 40

B'Mucho Cantina on Google Maps

B'Mucho Cantina on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about B'Mucho Cantina

Great Pics of Interior, Menu, Tacos and Burritos

Pics of Storefront, Interior, Burrito, Quesadillas

Pics of Tacos, Burritos and Enchiladas

Sunday, February 14, 2016

La Celtique 라쎌틱 - Crepes in Sinchon 신촌에 있는 크레이프집

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La Celtique is a small crepe place that is located kind of between Sinchon and Idae near the train station that is located near Yeonsei university. I have known about this place for ages and never taken the time to go there because the price seemed a little bit high, but as yesterday was Valentine's Day, I decided to treat myself to a crepe.

We ordered two crepes. One was an apple cinnamon crepe and the other was one that the owner recommended and appeared to be some sort of a seasonal special which was a strawberry crepe. Both of these crepes were quite similar in their layout. There was a crepe on the bottom, and in the center a scoop of ice cream surrounded by the fruit. The apples appeared to have been baked with the cinnamon and there were not too many of them. The strawberry crepe was quite a bit bigger and also came with chocolate and whipped cream. I found the strawberry crepe to be quite a bit better than the apple cinnamon one.

Probably the most impressive thing about this place is the atmosphere which feels very European. The tables are made of wood and the table clothes look like something you would bring to a picnic. There are all kinds of decorations and flags scattered throughout the place as well. Additionally, they serve a variety of European beers and wines. This seems like a very classy place to come and enjoy some European alcohol on a relaxing evening with friends.

I did like this place quite a bit, but I do not feel that I would return to this place personally. The main issue is that the price is a bit high for what you get. The crepe was delicious, but there are tons of restaurants in the area that serve similar style things that are larger, cheaper and similar quality. That being said, if you have a lot of money or it is a special day, this would be a great place to visit.

Apple Cinnamon Crepe

Strawberry Crepe

Both Together

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 5-10

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 명물길 72

La Celtique on Google Maps

La Celtique on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about La Celtique

Loads of Pics: Storefront, Interior, Menu, Food, Owner, Etc.

Nice Pics of Interior and Crepes

Great Pics of Crepes and Interior

The Egg and Spoon Race 에그앤스푼레이스 - Idae Brunch 이대에 있는 브런치집

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The Egg and Spoon Race is an American style brunch place that is located near Idae and among other things, they serve American style breakfast food. This would include a variety of mixed plates that include waffles, pancakes or french toast along side bacon, sausage, eggs and salad. They also have a variety of omelettes as well as some pasta and risotto dishes.

This restaurant was originally down the street and a tiny place, but they expanded to much larger restaurant that is spitting distance from their original location. This speaks to the quality of the food and the popularity of the restaurant. The atmosphere is like a relaxing cafe restaurant hybrid that is excellent for a Sunday morning.

The food in this place is good and for the most part standard price as far as brunch places in the area go which means a little on the expensive side. I have not been disappointed with anything and as far as the omelettes go I really like the potato omelette. For the mixed plates, I like the waffle dish which comes with sausage that is actually a hot dog, bacon, an alright salad and scrambled eggs.

The restaurant is now rather large which makes this place great for groups.

Storefront

Waffle Dish

Chicken and Cream Omelette

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 대현동 54-9

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 이화여대길 26

The Egg and Spoon Race on Google Maps

The Egg and Spoon Race on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about The Egg and Spoon Race

Pics of Storefront, Menu, Food

Pics of Steak and Pizza

Pics of Menu, Steak, Omelette

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Oneuli Yeoneo (Today's Salmon) 오늘의 연어 - Sushi in Yeonnamdong Hongdae 홍대 연남동에 있는 스시집

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Oneuli Yeoneo is a salmon sashimi place that is located in Hongdae's new and trendy Yeonnamdong. As I have stated in other posts, if you have not had the chance to check out Yeonnamdong, then you should for sure give it a try. It is a super cool area filled with bars and excellent restaurants, both foreign and Korean.

The atmosphere at Oneoli Yeoneo is just like any other sushi place. There is a bar where you can sit next to the chef as he prepares the sushi and then there are little booths where you can sit for a bit more privacy. The place is classy looking, clean and excellent for a date with your significant other.

We ordered the mixed salmon sashimi platter at dinner time and it came with about six different cuts of salmon. Some of the cuts were standard cuts and then about half of them were the fattier cuts which are my favorites. It also came with some ginger, lemon, wasabi and a few sides as any platter ordinarily would.

There are some salmon or other things over rice as well, but these can normally only be ordered at lunch. However, if you first order the sashimi, you are then free to order one of these as an add on. We ordered the meat over rice plate as well which turned out to be hanu that was partially cooked, but raw for the most part over seasoned rice with a bunch of veggies on top.

The salmon was among the best that I have had in Korea and the rice dish was top notch as well. I recommend checking this place out to fulfill your sushi needs.

Storefront

Fish

Salmon Plate

Closeup

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 152-13

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교로 212-9

Oneuli Yeoneo on Google Maps

Oneuli Yeoneo on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Oneuli Yeoneo

Great Pics Storefront, Menu, Shrimp, Salmon

Storefront, Menu, Interior, Salmon, Beef

Great Salmon and Beef Rice Pics

Stew Pics

Ou 오우 - Korean Place in Hongdae's Yeonnamdong 홍대연남동에 있는 한식집

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Ou is a very modern and clean Korean place that is located in Hongdae's vibrant Yeonnamdong. This place advertises itself as the healthy Korean food place which based upon my assessment of their food is not far from the truth. All of the food contained a lot of fresh vegetables and it seemed that the food was prepared extremely delicately.

The quality of the food in this place was not questionable. You could tell that real care is put into making this food come out so well. The rice is cooked to perfection, the meat is marinated perfectly and the sides are all absolutely delicious. There was not one thing on the plate that was not excellent and there was a wide variety of vegetables as well. The sides included mushrooms and various vegetables as well as the standard radish, etc. that you get everywhere.

The quality in this place is absolutely amazing, but the only issue is that the portions are not enormous which is something to keep in mind if you are very hungry. We all had to order a second round on sides (which is free and the restaurant obliged), but it seemed the consensus was we could have gone for thirds which we did not ask for. I did leave having eaten an adequate amount of food, but I definitely could have eaten more as well.

Bibimbap

Usamgyup Bibimbap

Ou Teukseon

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 203-56 1층

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 월드컵북로6길 26 삼기빌딩

Ou on Google Maps

Ou on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Ou

Great Pics of Interior, Menu, Food

Menu, Interior and Great Food Pics

Menu, Interior, Extensive Food Pics

Cafe Interview 카페인터뷰 - Yeonnamdong Hongdae 홍대 연남동

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Interview is a really cool little spot right out exit 3 of Hongdae in Yeonnamdong which is a cool new happening area anyone should really check out. There are a ton of Korean as well as foreign restaurants, a park and loads of cafes in the area. There are a surplus of Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants, but also a ton of other spots to explore with awesome food.

Cafe Interview is a small spot right near the station where the drinks are good and reasonably priced as are the cakes. Most menu items are 5,300 won or less for the drinks and the cakes are for the most part 4,000 won. All are pretty good quality and the atmosphere is nice and relaxing. The place is wide open and the music is cool. You should give it a try.

We ordered three drinks and two cakes. The drinks were good and the cakes were tiramisu and a chocolate brownie like thing with a whipped cream topping.

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 154-1 2층

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 양화로21길 21

Cafe Interview on Google Maps

Cafe Interview on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Cafe Interview

Tons of Pics of Storefront and Interior

Flapjack Pantry 플랩잭팬트리 - Brunch in Yeonnamdong Hongdae 홍대 연남동 브런치집

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Flapjack Pantry is a brunch place that is located in Hongdae's vibrant Yeonnamdong. I'd like to start off by saying that if you have never been to Yeonnamdong, you should definitely give it a try. There is a really cool park that they put in about a year ago and a ton of different restaurants Korean and foreign. There is a huge concentration of Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants, but there are a ton of other foreign options as well.

Flapjack Pantry is a western style brunch place with a very nice and relaxing atmosphere. It is wide open and they were playing some pretty chill music when I visited as well. The spacious interior feels like a mix between a restaurant and a cafe and has a welcoming atmosphere that feels like you could stay there and have a chat after you've finished your meal.

The food in this place is not all that cheap, but to me the massive American style portions that they serve makes up for this. It is getting more and more difficult to find places that serve enough food for a guy like me, but you should not have an issue when you visit this place. Both of the dishes that we ordered were mixed brunch plates and both were excellent. One came with scrambled eggs and a salad, the other with a sausage (which was actually a hot dog), a sunny side up egg, beans and tomatoes. Both dishes included bacon, pineapple, hash browns, and a pancake.

The eggs tasted exactly like any American brunch place as did the bacon. The hash browns did not appear to be homemade, but rather a store bought type of thing. They were still pretty good despite this. The sausage was not the typical breakfast sausage served in the States, but rather a hot dog. The beans appeared to be canned baked beans and the pineapple was also canned. The tomato was a huge grilled piece of tomato and the salad had a ton of different types of greens. Finally, the pancake was just a singular huge pancake and was absolutely delicious. This is one of the best brunch deals in the area considering the portions, the quality of the food and atmosphere of this place. You should definitely give this place a try.

Interior

English Breakfast

All Day Brunch

Close Up

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 연남동 488-4 1층

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 성미산로 109 1층

Flapjack Pantry on Google Maps

Flapjack Pantry on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Flapjack Pantry

Tons of Food Pics Including Burgers

Storefront, Interior, Menu, Food

Lots of Food Pics

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam 장충왕족발보쌈 - Sinchon 신촌

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Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam is a great restaurant located in Seoul's vibrant Sinchon district. There are a ton of bossam and jokbal places scattered throughout the area and all of them have a little bit of different taste and feel, but I think this is one of the better ones and I'd like to explain why.

There is one other bossam place located in the area that I had already recommended on this blog and that place has more of a homemade type of atmosphere. I would say that Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam is not exactly the homemade type of atmosphere, but is much more similar to the type of bossam that you might expect at any large bossam chain place.

That being said, it is still flavored excellently. Bossam is a piece of pork belly that has been boiled in water with a ton a spices and all different types of flavors then cut and served which makes it appear like a piece of steamed meat. It is also served with two different types of kimchi that specific to bossam places. In addition this comes with some excellent ssamjang, a mix of onions and other vegetables as well as a dwenjang jjigae. The jjigae in this place is heavy on the dwenjang which is the way that I like it and another part of the reason why I enjoy this place over others. The other sides like the kimchi are also very crisp and fresh which is the way I like it.

There are several dishes to try at this place and I have tried a few of them. They have jokbal as is stated in the name as well as a kimchi jjigae that is absolutely excellent. This is the type of place that Koreans would go after a night of drinking to recover. The stew is sour and thick with loads of kimchi and meat. I highly recommend trying this if you are like this type of thing.

Finally this is a restaurant for all occasions. The interior looks like a very standard large chain type of place without any type of specific feel making it acceptable to just about anyone and for any type of occasion. They are open extremely late as well, so you can come for dinner or in the middle of night when you are out drinking with friends.

Full Spread

Bossam

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 13-33 1층

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로4길 19

Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam on Google Maps

Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam on Naver Maps

Additional Blogs about Jangchungwang Jokbal Bossam

Pics of Storefront, Menu, Kimchi Jjigae, Jeon

Pics of Jokbal

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Hinokigongbang 히노키공방 - Japanese Food Between Sinchon and Hongdae 신촌하고 홍대 사이에 있는 일본 식당

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Hinokigongbang is a small Japanese place that is located in between Sinchon and Hongdae. The restaurant is pretty small and only seats a few groups of people, so expect that you may have to wait to get a table if the restaurant is busy at all. It has a nice cozy type of atmosphere and feels is a great place to go with friends or a date.

I have only been to this place once, but the food was very unique and felt like home cooking so I wanted to add them to the blog. I ordered some kind of a beef dish, and my friend got the kimchi tonkatsu. My beef dish had a very interesting flavor that I had not tasted in quite a long time. It was definitely a decent dish, but to be honest the kimchi tonkatsu was a whole lot better. The was a huge piece of pork breaded and fried in a sauce that contained kimchi and red peppers.

There is not much else that I can say about this place other than that if you like home cooking and small mom and pop restaurants this is a really unique experience to try if you are in the area. I can't wait to go back to this place and try a few more of their menu items.