A new trendy meal in Seoul is called 부대볶음. It’s basically 부대찌개, army soup, but without the soup. Bean sprouts line the bottom of the pan and only a little bit of broth is used. The broth is cooked until absorbed by the vegetables, making it a mostly soup-less meal.
부대 comes from the English word ‘army’ and 볶음 means ‘fried’ or ‘pan broiled.’
Restaurant Name: 민속콩탕 minsok-kong-tang. 민속 means ‘folk’ and 콩탕 means ‘soybean soup’. It’s a small quaint soybean restaurant located in Yongin City, Geihung district, about an hour south of Seoul. The Korean Folk Village (민속촌 minsok-chon) is located directly opposite of the shop.
We ordered the 30,000Won 3-person set. It included a larger selection of food and side dishes including chestnut pancakes, soybean porridge, stinky tofu soup. Definitely recommended if you’re out to see the Folk Village.
메밀묵 memil-muk -buckwheat jelly (jelly pic on left)
도토리묵 dotori-muk -acorn jelly (jelly pic on right)
감자떡 gamja-tteok -potato mixed with rice cake (white, bottom left)
콩탕 kongtang -soybean soup (right side, immediately below)
A breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet at 홍익 돈까스 (Hong-ik Don-kkaseu) in Yongin city, Gyeonggi Province. Includes rice and udon noodles cooked in olive oil sauce. 8,900Won. Hong-ik is a chain restaurant with many locations in Gyeonggi and a branch in Seoul’s Dongdaemun neighborhood.
The pork cutlets are handmade and the deep fry oil is changed twice a day. Get there early as there’s usually a line during lunch and dinner hours.
Attended an 80th birthday buffet-party at the Riverside Hotel in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam Seoul. Turning 50 and 75 are big events in the US, but 70 and 80 are major celebrations here.
If you visit Korea, have brunch at one of the buffet restaurants. While not cheap, there’s a variety of food unlike I’ve seen back home. (55,000Won per person;$51USD). In general, buffets run from 25,000Won to 75,000Won. Lunch buffets are generally cheaper than dinner buffets and major credit cards get 10-15% discounts at chain buffets.
This buffet included Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Western, and lots of seafood. I enjoy the bite size desserts, especially green tea flavored cakes, pudding, and macaroons. The bilberry gelato (similar to blueberry) and grapefruit gelato were amazing.
This plates contains: blueberry pizza (a first for me), raw marinated beef, tuna sushi, bbq lamb, naan with curry, and Chinese-style chicken.
Best cake company worldwide (really!). Please try it if you come to Korea.
Kim YoungMo bakery
김영모
가정 Glutinous rice cake sticks, sticky rice cake sticks – gajeong
