Category: Korean Food

Grammy Visits Gwangjang Market

1/10/2014

I previously wrote about Gwangjang Market here.
We knew Grammy would love this place when she came to visit!
(She visited back in October.)
Here we go Gwangjang Market with Grammy:

Shopping in the market:
These are Korean Wedding Ducks.
Wedding ducks are a pair of duck carvings, traditionally Mandarin ducks. They are used in Korean wedding ceremonies and often giving as marriage gifts. Mandarin ducks are used because it is believed that unlike any other types of ducks Mandarins mate for life and if one of them dies the other will mourn. I'm not sure for how long, but they mourn. :) Korean believe the Mandarin ducks represent peace, fidelity and lots of kids.
Female ducks are red, males are green or blue.

The craziness of the market.
Motorcycles in the aisle, no rhyme or reason.
Blanket stall right next to a food stall.

I'm not sure if this is plastic food molded to look like fish or rice cakes molded to look like fish.

A common site all over Korea.

The nucleus of the market - the FOOD STALLS!
Where Koreans from all over come to eat some of the best and oldest style of street food available in Korea!

Hubby made sure his momma had food...

I made sure she had makkoli!

She had no desire to eat some of the cuisine here:

But she did enjoy the mung bean pancakes!

All in all a great trip to the Gwangjang Market!

To get there:
Jongno-3-ga Station Exit 12.
Walk straight for a few blocks, you will come to a bigger intersection, look to your right and you will see the entrance to the Gwangjang Market.
Enter and walk down the alley for quite a while...you will start seeing food stalls, but don't stop until you hit the mother load and start seeing places to sit and eat. You will know when you have arrived.
Good luck and happy eating!! :)

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Tuesdays With Trish - Bulgogi and Squid Restaurant Near Hannam Village

8/22/2013

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As most of you know I drive a 'hooptie' over here. If you unfamiliar with what a hooptie is click here and check it out.
Anyway, if you go back to that old post I said we got a 'great deal'. HAHAHAHA! I'm cracking up over that one...but OK, if this car will last us for another 10 months I'm still insisting we got a good deal. :o)

Aren't my friends pretty? Wonder what they are up to? Well the back seat of my 'hooptie' is broken. Stuck. The seat won't lift up. They are sitting on top of the folded down seat and yes, we are driving out into the world's 3rd largest city to go to lunch. You think we are crazy? Well maybe, but they had a choice, drive in Korea or let Trishie drive and sit in an unsafe car. This was their choice. And they are happy about it. And we all lived to tell the tale.

Now on to our lunch story:
This is where we had lunch.
We don't know the name of it.
Heck, we didn't even know where we were going.
Diane was a fearless leader.
She told me where to go.
But check it out....see that van?
That is my van.
That is valet parking.
I parked the car myself.
I gave the 'valet' my key.
When we were done I gave him 2,000 won.
He gave my key back to me.
Valet parking at its finest.

Upon entry we saw the drink cooler.
Marci eyeballed this Plum Wine.
We had to drink it because....well....really, who would not want to be seduced into softness?

Ready to be seduced.

WOW.....seduced into softness.
Maybe not.
I made that face....you know the one.
The one that after you have tasted something so bad you gag a little.
Yeah that one.

Give me a bowl of makkoli any day.
Michelle made the face with the Makkoli.
(Don't worry, I only had a few sips - I was driving remember!)

We had a dish that is bulgogi and squid in a spicy sauce with all this yummy goodness on top.
As with many Korean restaurants you cook your own food.
I've got to tell you, I LOVED this restaurant.
The food was amazing.
Perfect amount of spice for me.
Some of the other girls weren't huge fans, but only because they are new to Korea and they don't like seafood.
We should have ordered the plain bulgogi for the newbies.

When you are almost done and there is just a little bit of goodness left in the bottom of your cooking pan, they make fried rice out of the leftovers. The lady comes over tosses in the rice and all the left over goodies from your table and you cook it up. YUM, YUM, YUM!

From what I understand this little hole in the wall is a pretty famous for the dish we ate. There are signatures all over the walls and from what I was told these are signatures of famous Koreans.

To drive here from post:
Exit Commissary gate - turn left
Stay right - Turn right onto Itaewon Street
Turn left on Daesagwan-ro - this street has a light.
(You will be going through a street with many lights and lots of people walking - near Hannam Village)
At the light pretty far down just before you come to the big intersection (Daesagwan-ro) turn left a - it's kind of a crazy light - I think it is just flashing, maybe not even a light at all - but more of a 4 way stop.
The restaurant is on your right just a few stores down.
Park on the street in front of the restaurant.

Good luck!!

3 Comments

Tuesday's With Trish - Omega 3 Samgyetang

5/20/2013

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A few of the girls and I have started a 'lunch bunch' on Tuesdays.
One day a week where we get together with no kids, eat a (hopefully) delicious lunch and share all the things that are going on in our lives (the awesome, the good, the bad and the ugly).
There are a few rules and it seems I am breaking one of them right now....
"What happens in lunch bunch stays in lunch bunch".
I just can't help sharing.
It is who I am.

I had been dying to try Samgyetang even though I didn't really expect to like it.
Samgyetang translates to "'ginseng chicken soup".
Hubby was glad I took the 'Lunch Bunch' because he was afraid I was going to make him tag along. :o)

In Korean culture it is believed that this soup can prevent illness.
Samgyetang is traditionally eaten during the summer months to replace nutrients lost through excessive sweating.

However you can eat it any time of the year as there are restaurants dedicated only to Samgyetang (like the one we went to) and since I really don't want to eat this hot dish during the heat of the summer so we tried it towards the end of winter.

The lady that worked at the restaurant wanted to make sure I got a picture of the ginseng. I was glad she did because sometime workers can be put off by all my picture taking. :o)

Nice restaurant for Korea!

My friend Julie is new to the peninsula, and was pretty impressed by the silverware in the drawer of the table (as we all are the first time we encounter it!). Kris, AKA Vanna showing us the drawer. Love these girls!

And here it is!
The star of the show...
Samgyetang!

What did I think?
Well, it was WAY better than what I expected! The ginseng wasn't too strong and the broth was a bit like chicken and dumplings broth. Kind of simple. I liked it. It is not something I would have weekly or monthly, but give me a cold day in winter and I might just find myself heading back over to Omega 3.

Plus you get a wishbone and that's just cool.

How to get there:
(I only know how to drive there.)
Leave from Visitors Center gate 13 - turn right and get in the right hand lane.
Take the first right (at the light) and go over the railroad tracks. Stay in the left lane.
At the first light make a left.
At the first right make a right.
Go until you see a small 4 way intersection - look across the street to the left and you will see Omega 3 Samgyetang restaurant on the bottom floor.
Park in the lot.
I didn't pay for parking - I don't think you have to as many people were helping me park and unpark. :o)
The outside of Omega 3 looks like this:

Omega 3 Samgyetang
02-790-7555
302-90 Ichon 1 (il)-dong (17 Ichon-ro 54-gil)

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“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou

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Hi, I'm Trish, the writer, creator and photographer of this blog. I started this blog for 2 reasons, 1 - When I found out we were moving to Korea back in 2008 I was a little freaked out and started scouring the internet for information on Korea. At that time there wasn't much out there so I am doing my part in helping families across the world not be so freaked out when it comes time to move to Korea. The 2nd reason I started this blog was to help stay connected to family members back in the states. Today it is so much more that.
I hope you enjoy our journey.

Are you moving to Korea? Do you have questions, concerns? Are you freaking out? Freak out no further - click the button to ask a question. I'll do my best to answer open and honestly.

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Grammy Visits Gwangjang Market

Tuesdays With Trish - Bulgogi and Squid Restaurant Near Hannam Village

Tuesday's With Trish - Omega 3 Samgyetang

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