Seoul Trip Report December 2024

I’m in Seoul right now, staying for a little over a week. It’s my first time in Seoul and my first time in South Korea. I’m taking a mostly ad hoc approach to dining on this trip because I didn’t do much planning prior. There is political turmoil in South Korea and in the capital right now - President Yoon declared and quickly lifted martial law last week, and there was an impeachment vote on him over the weekend that failed. There have been protests near the presidential office that shut down a subway station for a bit on the weekend. From my tourist/visitor’s perspective though things seem to be business as usual for the most part.


Hadongkwan 인사말

I arrived in the early morning on a Saturday after a 12 hour flight from SFO, and took the limo bus from ICN to Myeongdong where I was staying. The limo bus was convenient and pretty inexpensive. After dropping off my bags at my hotel and wandering around aimlessly in Myeongdong for awhile I had an early lunch at the original location of Hadongkwan, a restaurant founded in 1939 and specializing in somtang or oxtail soup. It was a bit cold with temperatures in the 30’s, and some warm soup sounded like just the ticket.

When you enter, you order and pay right away. There were three options pointed out - “original,” “recommended,” and “more meat,” which I think is the recommended with more meat. I neglected to ask what was the difference between recommended and original and just ordered and paid for the recommended. They asked if intestines were ok? Sure!

Soon the bowl of soup arrived. There was Napa cabbage kimchi, a lot of sliced scallions, and soy sauce for dipping.

The kimchi was very good. I put all of the scallions into my bowl, which had some rice already mixed in. There was thinly sliced beef, I think from brisket, and pieces of intestine that were tender and a little chewy also. The clear beef soup was quite nice. I added a little bit of salt and pepper to taste. It was a very nice bowl of soup, and it definitely hit the spot in the cold weather.


Lotte Department Store Food Hall

I still had a few hours after lunch before I could check into my hotel, so I spent some time exploring the massive Lotte department store in Myeongdong for a bit. I was most interested in the food hall in the basement though. It’s really quite impressive. Here’s some pics.

There were so many food options that looked really good. I only had room for a snack though and chose an Americano and an apple bun from Koryodang Bakery, which was quite nice. It had a red topping that looked like an apple, and was filled with cream cheese and a sweet chunky apple filling.

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Oh my! Wonderful but more important, stay safe please! I don’t know when you arrived in Seoul, but there’s been extensive coverage of the situation there in the news channels that I follow.

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(post deleted by author)

Stay safe!
The last time I was in Seoul, one of the best meals I had was at Mugunghwa atop the Lotte Hotel.

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There’s so much good food in Korea. When it’s cold (and even when it’s not) one of my favorites is gamja-tang (감자탕) or pork back-bone stew is a spicy Korean soup made from the spine or neck bones of a pig. It usually contains potatoes, and often cellophane noodles, greens, perilla leaves, green onions, hot peppers and ground perilla seeds. You can easily find it in the outdoor markets like Namdaemun. If you see a bunch of pigs heads on display outside a shop, they will almost certainly have it.

Have a great time.

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I really enjoy your posts. Thanks for taking us along!

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You should go to Gwangjang Market. It is the big central market that is like a rabbit’s warren of covered alleys. The bindattoek (mung bean pancakes) vendors are the star of the show. Get a fresh one and enjoy.

Noodles are the first thing to suffer once you get out of Asia, so go for kalguksu (often with manila clams), kongguksu (cold soy milk noodle soup), and sujebi (hand torn noodles).

Galbi jim is done so much better over there.

Dubu kimchi is a two-part dish. One side is a fresh kimchi, not fermented, with sliced pork, carrot, and onion. The other part is steamed tofu.

I would seek out marinated duck, though it is more closely associated with country than city living and is not so easily found in Seoul. You can find places like that (or goat) on top of Namhansanseong Provincial Park, just south of Seoul.

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Killin’ me over here @steve. Those are like 3 major food groups. Carb-heavy but yum! :yum:

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Thanks!

Thanks for the rec!

Thanks for the recs! I’m definitely on the lookout for some gamjatang that one can tackle solo.

Thanks!

Thanks for the recs! Gwangjang Market was definitely on the list, actually I went there yesterday for dinner. And also kalguksu - already had a few bowls!

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Cheongwaok - 청와옥

After checking in to my hotel and getting situated, I went looking for a place to have dinner on Naver Maps. Just down the street was a branch of Cheongwaok, a restaurant specializing in sundae / Korean blood sausage and sundaeguk / blood sausage soup in particular.

It is was quite busy on a Saturday night. They use a kiosk from a company / app called CatchTable as a waiting list, which was similar to a Yelp waiting list in the US. It accepted email for notifications and I got on the list. After a short wait I got a table. One orders using a QR code. I got the Spicy Sundae Soup (₩11,000), selected spice level 2 out of 3, and added a Set Plate (₩4,000) and a Nutrition Pot Rice (₩2,000).

A bottle opener, silverware, and napkins were in a secret compartment:

Condiments and kimchi - salted shrimp / saeujeot for adding to the soup, some spicy doenjang I think, gochujang, radish kimchi (?), garlic chives, daikon kimchi.

The “set plate” turned out to be a platter of meat and sundae on a bed of slightly wilted mung bean sprouts, presented in a fancy looking octagonal wooden box. There were I think two types of sundae - on the left was a rice filled one, and on the right was a delightfully chewy one made with glass noodles. In between there were slices of fatty pork meat.

The nutrition pot rice - mixed rice with thinly sliced trumpet mushrooms, one of which was branded, and some gingko nuts. There was a carafe of hot water to use to loosen some of the crispy bits on the bottom for a soup afterwards.

And the main event - the spicy sundaeguk. This was great! The broth was super flavorful, and there was sundae of course and pieces of fatty pork within. Spice level two was plenty spicy for me. I added some of the salted shrimp, garlic chives, and rice to my bowl.

This was a delicious first dinner in Seoul. The service was very friendly.

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Fascinating and looks delicious! Can’t wait for future installments!

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That looks like a right proper sundaeguk. You did well for yourself!

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Tosokchon Samgyetang 토속촌 삼계탕

I was visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace the next day, the largest of the five palaces within Seoul. I had lunch nearby at Tosokchon, a restaurant specializing in samgyetang. Samgyetang is a chicken soup with ginseng that contains a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice among other things.

Rotisserie chickens were on display.

Tosokchon opened in 1968 and is a large restaurant with several rooms, some of which have traditional floor seating where one takes off their shoes. I was seated at a normal table though. I didn’t have to wait in line at around 11:30 in the morning but there was a long queue outside when I left.

The menu included helpful eating instructions.


Some kimchi arrived - radish and Napa cabbage, and a small cup of ginseng liquor / insam-ju. There was also a container for placing chicken bones.

I also ordered a bottle of the insam-ju (₩15,000), which had a ginseng root in it. It’s a bit over 6% ABV, about as strong as beer. This was nice to sip on with the chicken. It was slightly sweet and slightly herbal.

For lunch I had the samgyetang with black chicken (₩31,000). The chicken arrived and I broke it down a bit with my chopsticks and spoon. It is a whole bird but it’s a small chicken and single person sized.

Here’s a closeup of the glutinous sticky rice within.

There was a little bottle of shredded and dried ginseng to apply yourself. I put some on after trying the samgyetang by itself.

And also a whole ginseng root.

This was a very satisfying bowl of samgyetang. The black chicken (silky fowl) I understand is supposed to be a bit more gamy than a regular yellow bird. I didn’t detect much gaminess but the it was quite flavorful, and also very tender. It pretty much fell off the bone. The soup was slightly thick and milky white and was very comforting, as was the sticky rice stuffed in the chicken. Just a delicious bowl of chicken soup scented with ginseng. It was great in the cold weather but apparently this dish is often consumed in the summer because of the “cooling” properties of ginseng.

More pics.

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I can find samgyetang near me, but certainly not with the black chicken. That looks very serious.

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B and I went eons ago on a frigid January day. Sounds like it’s still the best-known purveyor of this dish. Bring a pescatarian but not super-strict about it, I shared the broth and rice with B (they may have also given me my own bowl of the broth and rice). B was surprised at how mild it initially was but after I urged him to add the ginseng and the radish kimchee to taste, he found his sweet spot. He struggled bit to eat all the chicken (I think he got the non-black chicken…too intimidating for him). Thanks for conjuring good memories for me—that trip was our honeymoon 14 years ago (we were transiting to Palau)!

I’m so curious if you’re witnessing any of the celebrations after the impeachment. Koreans love a good demonstration. My parents would tell me that when they were in university, there would seemingly be a demonstration every week about something.

I keep editing…I’m like, when the hell did we get married?! :grin:

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Thanks for sharing that story, and it must have been a big weather change from Seoul in January to Palau! Re: the seasoning of the soup - I also forgot to mention there is some doenjang (I think) to add to the soup for additional seasoning, and also garlic, and salt IIRC. I thought it was good enough by itself but I did add some of the doenjang.

Re: the demonstrations and the successful impeachment vote - I did get the news (via the NYT app haha) and saw some video of the celebrations afterwards, though not in person - I was wandering around Suwon a bit outside Seoul when it happened as a clueless tourist. I should have went and walked around Hongdae or Itaewon tonight, it may have been more lit than usual!

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Interestingly the black silken chickens don’t really taste very different than the type of chickens available in the US, just that they are ‘personal-sized’ and have mild medicinal/ nutritional benefits.

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Yes! Those were definitely provided and added. I thought so but not certain and you jogged my memory.

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I would say that these days Gwangjang Market has become even more of a tourist trap than before. Not very impressed when I went there in March. Most vendors were selling the same few items and quality was poor

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Forgot to mention that we almost always opted to sit on the floor whenever it was available. Quite often, the floor is heated which was so very nice during our trip. It does take some getting used to—sitting cross-legged for extended periods of time—but the warmth is welcome during the wintertime.

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