Itaewon is known for many things including its infamous weekend nighttime revelry but it also attracts foodies at all hours who are attracted by the variety of international offerings. Ironically however, if you do a search on Itaewon restaurants, today's featured restaurant consistently lists in numerous results. And of all the wide variety of international cuisine and dishes found in this area, it is the humble dumpling that is famed here. Lines are common at all three (yes, three) branches of Johnny Dumpling- all in the Itaewon proper area and within a .5km radius- but picture the surprised ..read more

Most may equate spring seaon with cherry blossoms and other fauna but for Korean food lovers, spring is the season for a lot of food things in their peak including jjukumi. I've seen these guys translated as everything from webfoot octopus to short arm octopus but these little guys are said to increase stamina (though I feel that's said about most everything in season around here) and are at their best around this time. Though you can find jjukumi restaurants around, Chungmuro Jjukkumi Bulgogi stands out for many reasons not only because of its history and the great lengths gone to prepare th ..read more

Just on the outside perimeter of the extremely popular Ikseondong neighborhood, this unassuming udon house is easy to overlook but step inside and you might find yourself wondering if you've entered a small neighborhood noodle shop in the countryside. For some, this place will seem familiar as it's the new form of the original that once was a local favorite in Buamdong. Back then, the restaurant itself was really cozy in just a 4.5 pyeong size (hence the name) but thankfully it has grown a bit bigger since then in its Ikseondong iteration. Besides the restaurant's size many will say the food ..read more

A number of "food alleys" are found in and near Jongno District but over in Jongno 3-ga, just by Jongmyo Shrine, there also used to be a dakbokkeumtang alley. This alley is no more, unfortunately, but one restaurant has remained in business to this day with a 50+ year history to it. Gyerim dishes out the fan-favorite dakbokkeumtang dish except their take on the dish is quite a different take than the common fare. Here the dish is more savory than sweet, more soup than a braised dish, and it comes with a mountain of fresh minced garlic that goes atop before the whole dish is cooked on your tab ..read more

Do a simple search for Korean barbecue and you'll receive results on everything from restaurant recommendations to all the ingenious varieties out there. But do the same for Korean grilled fish and the number of results are quite a different story. Just like most Koreans don't normally barbecue meat at home due to the effort and smell, the act of prepping and grilling fish is quite laborious and messy which makes it a common dish to eat out. A post I made long ago on a popular fish grilling restaurant in Sinchon has remained a popular post on this blog, perhaps a sign of how there's a big unde ..read more

My friends know that I'm not crazy big on gamjatang, a dish that's misleading because the star of the dish is not "gamja" (aka potatoes which is just about my favorite food in the world) as the name would suggest but the pork spine (which is just about my least favorite food in the world). I've just never been a fan of strong pork scent in general but having to go through the laborious effort of digging through the nooks and crevices of the pork spine for specks of meat has always made me wonder if it's worth the effort. Which is why I'm genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed today's featu ..read more

It's very uncommon for me to cover a restaurant here outside of Seoul unless it's in a travel post but I decided to share this place as it's a popular restaurant located just by Gimpo International Airport (which quite a few readers I'm sure may utilize during their travels in Korea) and also the fact that its kalguksu is a bit different from others. Gonghang Kalguksu makes no attempt to be modest about its popularity as its walls are absolutely covered in hundreds of autographs and pictures of various celebrities who have dined here. In fact, it was the numerous mentions about this restauran ..read more

When it comes to Korea's coastal cities, arguably the cities around the southwestern coasts have largely taken a secondary role to other parts of Korea, that is, until Yeosu made its global debut with the 2012 Yeosu Expo. Even for Koreans pre-Yeosu Expo, it wasn't as highly sought after as a holiday destination like it is today, mostly remembered by the locals as the first and important naval base for revered national hero Admiral Yi Sun Shin of the Imjin Wars. In the years following the Expo, recognition and admiration of the largely untouched natural beauty of Yeosu as well as its tasty far ..read more

There's a sense of childhood nostalgia attached to tteokbokki for Koreans that has propelled this humble dish over the last half century to unofficially become the nation's #1 snack food, much in the same way a PB & J sandwich might do the same for Americans. Perhaps because I didn't grow up here I don't share nearly the same level of endearment to tteokbokki as the locals do but occasionally I come across a tteokbokki place that is noteworthy and actually draws me back. Today's featured tteokbokki restaurant is one of those handfuls I would recommend which is rather odd as it's not ..read more

There are several defining characteristics of modern Korean cuisine that defines it from the smorgasbord of side dishes to the love of spicy flavors and all the joy (or misery depending who you ask and when) the little cheap green bottle of spirits brings. One characteristic that's often overlooked however is the Koreans' love to pack their food in wraps made of greens. Also called "ssam", Koreans love packing their protein of choice into these leafy vehicles so much many restaurants have a "ssambap jeongshik" or ssam + rice and all the sides set meal. Making and eating ssam is a method of eat ..read more