Saturday, June 11, 2016

Little Cuba! 리틀쿠바 - Cuban Bar and Grill in Sinchon 신촌

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Little Cuba is a great little bar that is located right in the middle of Sinchon.  The owner of this place, his wife and all the workers are super friendly and warm and the atmosphere in the place is great.  All the customers are super friendly as well and you can easily just go in there, talk to anyone and make friends easily.  It is very relaxing and cool place to go if you have nothing to do in the evening.

I have been to this place a few times, and one of the things that really makes this place stand out among all the restaurants in Sinchon is the quality of the food.  The food here is absolutely delicious and that is do to extreme attention to detail on the part of the owner.  Nearly everything that the guy serves is imported or made fresh and he seems to go to great lengths to get all of the ingredients he needs to make it taste just like it does at home.  He does not cheap out on any aspect of the dish.

There are a number of Cuban dishes such as picadillo and bistec, but the one that I really thought stood out as one of the best was the ropa vieja.  Give that a try when you go.  Cuban sandwiches seem to be hitting a trendy in Korea and I feel like that is all I have been eating lately as there is a new Cuban sandwich place everywhere I turn, but this place makes a Cuban sandwich that is far beyond any other place that I have tried.  With huge meat portions that are marinated to perfection the flavor is absolutely amazing.

Finally the owner imports a ton of alcohol directly from Cuba and sells shots at a very reasonable 3,000 won per a shot.  When I tasted the high quality Cuban rum (it was Legedario) it really made me feel great after drinking all the terrible tasting alcohol that they usually have in Korea.  It also gives you a great feeling.  The prices of the food are generally around 12 - 16,000 won and the portions are not huge, but that is because meticulous attention to detail goes into every serving.  I highly recommend this place.




Cuban Sandwich


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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 52-157

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로11길 25

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Food Trucks at the River! - Yeoido 여의도

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I love spending time outdoors and one of my favorite things to do in the summer in Korea is to go down to Han River and get a bike.  There are quite a few places you can rent a bike down there for an extremely reasonable 3,000 won an hour so I usually go down there all the time during spring and summer.  I was spending my usual time down at the river and got a bike and ended up just hanging around until the evening.

Quite to my surprise a ton of food trucks started pulling up all over the place along the river.  There must have been at least fifty of them out there serving all different kinds of food both Western and Asian.  There were Japenese, Korean, Cuban, American, Hawaiian and all different kinds of other food prepared right along the beautiful Han River.  There was not only food for sale but a handful of other vendors selling necklaces, jewelry and a bunch of other hand made items.

The river is lovely at night and the food trucks make an awesome experience.  I asked about them and they said that they will be there from Thursday to Sunday every week until October.  Although this was awesome to see and a great experience, not everything about the food truck is great.  A few of the immediate drawbacks I noticed included: not so high quality food, higher prices and extremely long lines.  I think they need to start some sort of ticketing system so you can just go sit down rather than standing in this ridiculously long line for an hour to get a burger.

We went to two food trucks getting a couple burgers and a Cuban sandwich.  The Cuban sandwich place I do not recommend as the food was highly mediocre and there are tons of much better places that have popped up around Seoul.  The burger was a greasy and cheesy delight which I really did enjoy and it was great to enjoy it riverside.




Food Trucks on the Left; Vendors on the Right



More Food Trucks



Cuban Sandwich

The food trucks are located near where the cherry blossom trees are along with the little swimming area for kids.  It is more on the Western side of the island close to the National Assembly.  They are very close to the water side stage in Yeoido called the 여의도물빛무대 (Yeoido mulbitmude).



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Friday, June 10, 2016

Gogitjib 고깃집 - Reasonably Priced Beef Sinchon 신촌

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Gogitjib meaning literally meat house is named after the word that Koreans use to describe BBQ places here in Seoul.  Gogitjib is an excellent restaurant at a reasonable price and that is why I wanted to add it to my blog.  Normally in Korea the meat places are far too expensive especially when they are serving beef they can go to absolutely outrageous prices, but Gogitjib maintains a good balance of price and quality.

It is a brand new place so it is relatively clean for a barbecue place here in Seoul.  We had the kalbisal which is one of my favorite cuts of beef here in Korea and it was absolutely delicious.  Go give it a try for yourself!




Storefront



Menu



Raw Beef



Grill with Sides



Grilling Meat



Cold Noodles



Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 18-84

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로2길 7


Monster Pizza 몬스터피자 - Pizza by the Slice in Hongdae and Yeonnamdong 홍대 연남동

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Monster Pizza is an extremely popular pizza place that most people who have gone out drinking in Hongdae have been to at least once.  They are one of the very few pizza by the slice places in all of Korea and have been there for quite a long time.  Monster Pizza makes a dam fine pizza despite being a tiny shop and the charge a reasonable price.

The pizza is doughy and greasy, and to be perfectly honest with you I do not think it compares to any of the pizza places in America, and even throughout Korea there are probably better pizza places, but the pizza is still cheap, decent and they sell by the slice which is really what their unique selling point is.  Almost everyone has been to the Monster Pizza that is in the bar area in Hongdae, but they also opened up a new location in Yeonnamdong.



Storefront



Menu



Pepperoni Pizza


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Hongdae Location

Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 363-1

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로 73

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Yeonnamdong Location

Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 154-8

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 월드컵북로2길 93

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Thursday, June 9, 2016

Brooklyn Pig 브루클린피그 - Excellent Burger and Sandwich Bar in Hongdae's Yeonnamdong 홍대 연남동

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I have stumbled across this place a number of times and unfortunately never actually ended up going in until quite recently.  After trying the food one time I went back a few more times right after because I was impressed by it just that much.  When I was heading over to Yeonnamdong on the night that I finally ended up trying the Brooklyn Pig, I was actually heading over to Cuban Sandwich restaurant that always seems to be closed every time I go.  Anyways, I quite happily ended up at the Brooklyn Pig.

This place is a little bit like a bar and also a little bit like an American diner on the inside.  The owner is a hilarious and very friendly Korean guy who had a lot to say to me as I was eating my sandwich.  He was very funny and he had a good energy and even offered me a few free things after our discussion.

I ordered one of the burgers and along with the Brooklyn sandwich.  The burger was probably one of the best burgers that I have ever had.  I am not exactly sure what the ingredients in the thing were, but I highly recommend you head over to this place just to get a taste of it yourself it is absolutely amazing.  The Brooklyn sandwich has some very interesting ingredients including chopped apple and other fresh veggies.

On my second visit I had the Cuban sandwich which had a ton of cheese, pickles and fried pork on the flat bread as with most Cuban sandwiches.  The sandwich in this place is absolutely delicious, but it is absolutely rivaled by the sandwich they have over at Little Cuba which contains quite a bit more meat in it.

The thing that really makes the Brooklyn Pig so delicious is the extremely high quality of the ingredients used.  You are paying a bit more at this restaurant than at other cheap burger places, but that is because the ingredients that the guy uses are all super fresh and high quality.  In fact, it is difficult to even find ingredients as high quality as this guy uses in the supermarkets in Korea.  Come give this place a try!




Storefront



Menu



Burger



Tampa Sandwich



Cuban Sandwich


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Old Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 동교동 155-36

New Address System: 서울특별시 마포구 월드컵북로2길 90

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Patio 파티오 - Garden Cafe in Sinchon 신촌

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I have seen this little cafe in Sinchon a ton of times, but I have never actually taken the time to go over there and go in despite it looking really nice from the outside.  This place has one of the coolest atmospheres out of all the cafes in Sinchon which is saying a lot because there are countless cafes in Sinchon.  The thing that makes this place so special is the garden that they have inside the cafe.

The outside of the cafe has a ton of brightly colored flowers and other plants and when as you walk into the cafe you go through an atrium like patio where the dirt floor has stones and an outdoor table. It is also filled with plants as is the indoor area.  Additionally the drinks are quite good we were served watermelon along with are drinks which was an excellent touch.  This is a great date spot and I highly recommend checking it out.




Cafe Patio


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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 62-31

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로5다길 28

Patio on Google Maps

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Extensive Pics of Plants, Menu, Drinks and Fruit

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Pics of Patio

Jan 잔 - Sake and Beer in Sinchon 신촌

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To be perfectly honest with you, I have only been to this place to have beer on one occasion and it was a really long time ago.  As I recall it the beer was fine and the anju was average, but that is not what I am here to talk to you about today.  This restaurant has a ridiculously cheap lunch special and that is what I am here to recommend.  We all know the pricing in Sinchon and Hongdae is going through the roof!  It seems like every time I go to a restaurant the portions have gotten smaller and the price has gone up.

Jan is a great break from that on their lunch special.  At a very reasonable 3,900 won you can get a bowl of pho which although is not huge as you might imagine does come with a decent amount of meat considering the price.  This is an excellent place to get lunch if you are on a budget and enjoy soup.  This and another nearby pho place called Miss Saigon are by far the cheapest places in the area.

The quality of the food in Jan is also very good.  The broth is delicious and it comes with a decent amount of veggies and finally topped with a good amount of what appeared to be chicken breast.  Cheap and great restaurant when you are looking for a quick bite.



Storefront



3,900 Won!



Pho!



Pho!!

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Old Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 창천동 5-43

New Address System: 서울특별시 서대문구 연세로4길 55



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