O'ngo Food Tour

It was on my Korea bucket list - but Hubby isn't a fan of tours.
And I get it, some tours BLOW.
Especially when they are too big and you feel like you are just a number.
Most of the time we feel like we NEVER get our moneys worth on tours.
But Daniel Gray.
He's kind of cool.
I use his blog Seoul Eats for date nights ALL.THE.TIME!
Plus, he has been on the Kimchi Chronicles!
Like I said, he is cool.
And this tour did NOT BLOW.
It was all kinds of AWESOME.


I mean check it out....here I am with him and a couple of my girlfriend!
(Not all tours get Daniel....don't hate.)

Our tour was private.
The 6 of us + Daniel.
I was a bit disappointed when I found out we were going out in Insadong.  I thought "really, Insadong?  He is taking us to a freaking tourist area...I've been to Insadong many times."  I wasn't a happy camper.
UNTIL
He started weaving in and out of alleys and we landed here:

WHAT?!?!  How on earth have I missed this?  I've spent time in Insadong.  This little lesson taught me to EXPLORE a little more!   These alleys were packed with locals drinking and eating! 

And how fun is this?  I have NEVER experienced a coat check quite like this before!

After Daniel ordered the best pork I have ever eaten at this litte Korean BBQ joint he proceeded to teach us a drinking game.  Beer in a glass, slip a shot glass in and take turns pouring soju in the shot glass, little bits at a time.  The person to sink the shot glass has to down the drink.  Have I mentioned that Koreans drink the most 'Spirits' per capita than any other country?

And apparently, so does Betty.
Just kidding.
She doesn't really drink that much.
But when in Korea.....
You know the drill.

Shannon's turn!

I love the look on her Hubby's face....

This is a serious game.

And because one of the guys sank the shot glass they all decided to take a drink.

This is where I do a break in my regular blogging to tell you about Daniels Bar, Brew 3.14
I only spent a few moments in the bar as Daniel had called ahead and ordered a 'to go cocktail' for me since my friends were all drinking and didn't bother to pick anything up for me.  That my friends is service.  TOTALLY NOT feeling like a number on this tour.
Plus, I LOVE 'to go cocktail bags'!

Find out more about his bar here:  Brew 3.14

Directions to 3.14:

From Anguk Station: Exit 4 walk straight until you see Samil Daero 30-gil and make a left (you’ll see 낙원떡집 and Pizza Haven in the building on the corner). Walk Down the road past the crown hotel and Ibis Ambassador Hotel. You’ll see Proto on the corner, make a left down the alley. You’ll see a sign for Brew 3.14.

From Jongno 3-ga Exit 6,7,8 go up Donghwanmunro road. Walk until you see Secret Garden Cafe on the Right side. Cross the road and walk down the road until you pass an empty lot and before a building that reads Proto make a right.

Next up on our tour I mentioned that another thing on my bucket list was to eat live octopus. 
Shut the front door, Daniel was happy to oblige...he weaved in and out of some alleys, opened a back door and took us in for shasami, beondegi (silkworm larva), and LIVE OCTOPUS!

As you all know I have tried this bowl of nastiness before, but Daniel insisted that they taste different in the restaurant than they do on the streets.   Can you believe I tried them again?  Guess what...this time they weren't so bad.  I even ate a few.  Don't get me wrong, I won't go ordering them anytime soon, but it was nice to find out they are not as bad in the restaurant as they are on the street.

Next up, slimy, slippery, moving octopus. 
This really wasn't what I was expecting...I was expecting a whole baby octopus.
This guy was cut up, sesame oil poured on him and all his parts were wiggling around. 
That plate was MOVING!

Here is a piece on my chopsticks....getting ready to dive in.

Seriously, not bad AT ALL!
In fact we ate the entire plate of octopus.
Just make sure you chew those little suckers up so they don't stick to your throat...

Like they are sticking to Hubby's tongue.

Next up on our adventure was Gwangjang Market.  We have been here a couple of times, but one of the couples had never been.  However I had never seen this stall....check out all that foil.

Mung bean pancakes.
YUM-O!

This picture makes me laugh!

As if all the food we had already consumed wasn't enough Daniel took us to yet ANOTHER restaurant.
All I remember is that it was amazing...
I've never had it before in Korea.
And before you ask, not it is not Samgyetang.

And there was more soju.
Flavored soju.
There was a good one....
But for the life of me I can't remember which one it was.

At this point our tour was over.
BUT...we didn't stop there.
We invited Daniel to come with us to OB's Cabin.
A place for live music, beer and fried chicken.
Yes, we ate again.

If you are looking for a place to kick back, relax listen to music and possibly do a little dancing in the aisles OB's is the place to go.  I apologize as I cannot tell you how to get there....you are going to need to google this one! 

Here's one last picture of the group with a new friend we found on the dance floor....or aisle.

SO in review....
We  had a GREAT time! 
We didn't feel like a number.
We felt like our tour was worth EVERY PENNY and possibly more!

If you are new to Seoul or have lived here for years you should look up O'ngo Tours and book one today.

And by the way there are NON-alcoholic tours as well.

They also have cooking classes!  I'm trying to collect a few friends to join me for a cooking class in February.
O'ngo Tours is offereing 15% off cooking classes in the months of Jan/Feb if you mention you saw the ad on their website!   (You must mention the word "snowfall"!)

Happy Eating!