Anamdong - Random Korean Restaurant

                                

                                

So, we decided to order sin wui ju jeong sik. No idea if that's the right spelling (I only had four classes of Korean) or if that's even what the dish was called but we ended up picking a random Korean restaurant and ordering what looked the best on the menu. I'm not sure what was in it but it had a bunch of pork and soondae in it. I had expected it to be better but it had a strong smell. I thought pork but some people said fish so it's up in the air but that's the stock though. The pork itself was really good. Soondae is an experience itself, though. Still waiting to actually appreciate it. ..

Insadong - Sanchon

                                


                                

The pictures are blurry due to poor camera quality and poor lighting, apologies.

Sanchon is a vegetarian restaurant that deals with Buddhist-style cooking so be prepared. I had semi-high expectations since the Buddhist food I have eaten prior to this experience had been amazing but the food here was interesting -- to say the least. I feel like you have to really like burdock root and REAL Korean food to enjoy this place. I'm not one for the root so all the dishes that were in a circle were out of the picture and I can deal with Korean food but the mung bean soup and kimchi soup were -__-'' . It was an interesting experience. The place felt like a sanctuary. It was dimly lighted and decorated like one of those sageuk (historic) dramas but even though, the food was not to my liking, I had a really fun time there experiencing something that was truly Korean.

Verdict: If you're into the vegetarian, then you should come for the experience and food. The price was about 22, 000 won per person for lunch and you get all the food pictured. You don't get to choose, it's a set meal and it varies all the time. There were people who came after us who had a different menu so just be open-minded about eating everything.

Insadong - Teastory

Sorry, the picture of the tea shop isn't too lovely but this place would've been hard to find if it weren't for the ginormous sign next to it announcing 'BEAUTIFUL TEA MUSEUM,' or some derivative of that. Insadong is one of the more touristy places here so the tea shop offered a change of pace. It was very relaxing and calming but I was kind of disappointed there wasn't a real museum there. Go figure. 

We had milk tea and assam iced-tea. I don't know much about tea so no comment. My sweet potato rice cake, however, tasted more like sponge and less like sweet potato or cake but the green tea niblet since the picture makes it look bigger was good. The place was kinda pricey but I don't know what the average tea shop price is so ... I think we spent like 22, 000 won? 

Verdict: I'd come back for the atmosphere and to try their extensive list of different teas. 

Garosugil - Cafe 7 Gram

Nope, I'm not missing an "s" at the end of Gram. I have noticed a lack of pluralization here when it comes to English but don't let that fool you, the waffle here was delicious! It was my first time eating the infamous "wappull," and as an anti-fan of waffles, I have reconsidered my stance on it. Waffles are treated as dessert here and the one we had was decked out with vanilla and chocolate gelato, kiwi, peaches, banana, and a big dollop of fresh whipped cream. The batter is a little sweeter than the typical American waffle and they added crushed walnuts into the waffle and that totally just upped the ante. It was very fulling.  For about 9, 000 won, it was definitely worth it. I shared it with a friend and we barely finished.

Verdict: I love waffles! Be on the look out, there will be more waffle updates. Cafe 7 Gram was pretty amazing. The atmosphere was really nice and I can see myself hanging out there and studying except it's pretty far from my dorm. -_-'' Prices are decent. I'd probably come back if I find one closer to campus.

Garosugil - Unochubo Sushi

                                


                                

534-10 Shinsa-dong
Kangnam-gu, Seoul
02 549 2812
Line 3 - Sinsa Station

YAY! First review! It only took about four hours to figure out how to work html but it's up and running!

So, I'm currently studying at Korea University in Seoul so for the next four months all of these blogs will be about restaurants and food stalls in the surrounding districts.

Price: A bit too pricey for the sad, starving college student. Entrees ranged from about 20, 000 won and up but it is a Japanese restaurant.

Atmosphere: Pretty chill. There weren't that many people in there but it had a nice, first date kind of feel to it. They were playing Beautiful Mess by Jason Mraz which just happened to have been the song stuck in my head for the last two weeks so I was in a pretty good mood.

Service: The waitstaff were extremely helpful and friendly. They tried very hard to communicate with us in English and kept on coming back to check up on us.

Food: I can't remember EXACTLY what we ordered but I'll do a rough summary.

1. Chirashi - Though everything was fresh, this should never be ordered at a sushi restaurant, period.
2. Fish Roe and Rice - Not for the faint of heart. It was pretty fishy. It contained salmon, crab, uni, and a questionable fourth type of fish roe. It was served with Korean-style rice that should've been replaced with regular sushi rice. There were some parts of the crab roe that were pretty bitter and salty which kinda threw me off. It was alright but I wouldn't order it again. The amount of roe definitely was worth the price, though.
3. Clams with a bacon, vegetable medley that was garnished with thin, deep-fried pumpkin slices. Red and green peppers are show foods. They add nothing to a dish besides color but everything else was pretty appetizing. For 26,000 won, you get 5 clams. What a bargain.
4. Pork Neck - (the one served on the cement block) The best part of dinner was the pork neck. It was my first time eating it so I was really surprised. It literally melts in your mouth and the sauce tasted really good. I can't really put my tongue on what it's similar to but if you had the chicken skewers at Apgujeong. It tastes kinda like that but 10x better cuz it's pork. :)

VERDICT: It was a nice place with nice people but I didn't particularly care too much for the food. It's a nice place to treat yourself to, once and a while but for me, I'll stick to the Korean BBQ joint down the street.

it's the start of something new..

Since announcing the seriousness of starting this food blog, I have wasted away trying to come up with a blog name. Apparently, all the crazy ideas spewing from my head was not crazy enough since they were all taken so I had to settle for this. Not feeling it 100% but it was one of the first that was available so yeah. History of the name, check.

Introduction. This is an AMATEUR food blog so please don't expect quality pictures or even quality analyses. I'm just a food aficionado who wants to share her experiences with anyone who cares enough to read this blog. Currently my camera charger has been MIA so most pictures will be taken on my dinky iPod which does not capture wonderful lighting so I apologize in advance. I'll try my best to update on a regular basis but I'm not making any promises. I'm not one for commitment so hopefully, this blog won't be too short lived.

too many words. any questions just comment me or something.

ciao.